OUR LOVE & PRIDE — UNITED NATIONS
In 1945, following the devastation of World War II, the United Nations (UN) was established with a core mission: to maintain international peace and security. The war had claimed over 60 million lives, and the UN was formed to prevent such a catastrophe from happening again. Despite ongoing conflicts today and the difficulty nations face in agreeing on peaceful coexistence, the UN continues its efforts.
Headquartered in New York, the UN is an international organization comprising 193 member states, working to prevent another world war. The Secretary-General, currently Mr. António Guterres of Portugal, serves as a symbol of the UN’s ideals and a voice for the world’s people, especially the poor and vulnerable. Mr. Guterres has been in office since January 1, 2017, and is the ninth person to hold this post.
The UN’s most powerful body is the Security Council, tasked with maintaining peace. It includes five permanent members — China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States — and 10 non-permanent members elected by the General Assembly for two-year terms.
The United Nations represents the second major global peace effort, following the League of Nations, which was created in 1919 after World War I but dissolved due to its inability to prevent another global conflict. The League had 58 members, but notably, the United States was not one of them.
The UN is not a government and cannot enforce laws; instead, it operates through the power of diplomacy and persuasion. All member states contribute financially to the UN, with their contributions determined by a scale of assessments. This scale is reviewed every three years and ranges from a minimum of 0.001% to a maximum of 22%, with the least developed countries contributing a maximum of 0.01%. The current assessment period covers the years 2016–2018.
The United States contributes the largest share, at 22%, which reflects its Gross National Product (GNP) being approximately 27% of the combined GNP of all member countries. Japan is the second-largest contributor at 9.68%, followed by China (7.92%), Germany (6.39%), France (4.86%), and the United Kingdom (4.46%). Brazil ranks sixth with a contribution of 3.82%. Together, the top 20 contributing countries provide 83.78% of the total budget, while the remaining 173 countries contribute just 16.22%. The top 10 contributors alone account for 68.89% of the total budget. The regular UN budget for 2016–17 was $5.6 billion.
The United Nations is often described as a “family” where every individual plays a part in ensuring others feel safe, protected, and cared for. Its vision is of a world where every person has the right to be born, fed, educated, loved, and supported by a caring community. Dialogue is seen as the cornerstone of progress, development, and care for both humanity and the planet.
