unitednationorganizationcomittee

Mr. Luis AGUILAR VILLANUEVA (Mexico)
Mr. Aguilar Villanueva is currently the General Director of Gerencia Pública, s.c., a consulting firm providing services to governments in strategic management, quality management and organizational (re)design since 1992, and Professor of Public Policy in the Autonomous Metropolitan University (UAM). He is a Doctor in Philosophy, with specialty in political philosophy (1973), a National Researcher of the "National Research System" (SNI) in the area of government and public administration, and he teaches regularly on subjects of policy analysis and public management in Mexico City and other countries. In the public sector, he served as a Vice-Minister of Political Development (1994-1995) and Chief of Staff of the Minister of Interior of Mexican Federal Government (1996-1997). He has been a member of the Executive Board of the National Institute of Public Administration (1993-1997), founding President of the Mexican Academy of Public Policy Analysis and a member of several boards of civil associations and editorial councils.


Mr. Peter ANYANG' NYONG'O (Kenya)
Mr. Anyang' Nyong'o was appointed the Minister of Planning and National Development of the Republic of Kenya in 2003. He specializes in the area of socio-economic and pro-poor policies. He has served as Member of the Parliament, Kisumu Rural Constituency, from 1992-1997 and presently for the term 2003-2007. He was also formerly the Chairman of the Public Investments Committee from 1994 to 1996. He previously served as Member of the Board of Directors of the Nelson Mandela Institute for the Advancement of Knowledge, Science and Technology. In 1995, he was given the German-African Award for his contribution to scholarship and democratization. This year, he received the Africa Brain Gain Award from the Kenyan American Professional Association and Career Nation for his contribution to reversing African's brain drain. He also served as the Head of Programmes for the African Academy of Science from 1987 to 1991.


Mr. Ousmane BATOKO (Benin)
Mr. Batoko is currently the Civil Administrator for the Government of Benin, specializing in public administration and management and installation of local authorities. He was the former Minister of Public Services. He has broad experience in administrative reform, leadership in the African public sector, local and regional development, decentralization, civil society participation and community development. He also has some experience in democratization and democracy. He has served as an Expert and Consultant for various local and international agencies that include the International Agency for French-Speaking Nations, Paris, Municipal Development for Cotonou, Benin, Sahel Club, Paris, African Civil Services Observatory (OFPA), African Training and Research Centre in Administration for Development (CAFRAD), Tanger, and the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations, New York. From 1998 to 2003, he was the President of the National Commission of Administrative Reform in Benin.


Ms. Marie-Françoise BECHTEL (France)Ms. Bechtel, since 2002, has served in Conseil d'Etat as a Counsellor of State, particularly in executing judgements in public law cases, administrative conflicts (highest degree), consulting for government in elaboration of laws and regulation (field: justice, institutions, education, home affairs and decentralization, and media regulation). From October 2003 to June 2004, she also served as Member and Vice-President of the jury in charge of the selection of University professors (highest degree) in administrative, constitutional, fiscal and European law. She was previously the Director of Ecole Nationale d'Administration (ENA) from September 2000 to December 2002. She has contributed to the 2003 French review of civil service (Cahiers de la fonction publique), 2004 reform of ENA and to the civil service and the merit system, selection and evaluation. Further, she has authored a book to be published by the end of 2005 on "Reform or Public Decision? About Governance in France and in the World."


Dr. Rachid Benmokhtar BENABDELLAH (Morocco)Dr. Benabdellah, in June 1998, was appointed by the Late King Hassan II as the President of Al Akhawayn University. Prior to this appointment, he was Minister of Education from 1995 to 1998. He is the holder of the Albert Einstein medal for Education and Peace, Chevalier of the Ouissam Alaouite and Officer of the Legion of Honour of the French Republic. He is the President of the Moroccan Foundation for Man and Nature (FMNH). He is also a member of the World Bank Institute Advisory Council (WBI), member of Maroc-Telecom Board of trustees, member of the Advisory Group of the first Arab Regional Human Development Report of the United Nations Development Programme, and member of the Holcim Board of Trustees.


Ms. Emilia BONCODIN (Philippines)
Ms. Boncodin is currently a professor at the National College of Public Administration and Governance of the University of the Philippines. She is also a lecturer at various universities in the Philippines, including the Ateneo de Manila University and the Lyceum of the Philippines. She was a former Secretary of the Department of Budget and Management, where she served the Department since 1978 and occupied the following positions: Director; Assistant Director; Chief Fiscal Planning Specialist; Senior Fiscal Planning Specialist; Fiscal Planning Specialist; 1989-91, Assistant Secretary; 1991-98, Undersecretary and Chief of Staff; 1998, Secretary. She also served as Consultant/Adviser to public and private institutions and was a Professional Lecturer in various schools including the University of the Philippines and the Lyceum of the Philippines. She has been a recipient of many awards and citations attesting to her diligence and technical proficiency: the Most Outstanding Technical Employee in 1978 as well as the Most Outstanding Division Chief in 1981. She was also the Outstanding Alumna of the University of the Philippines College of Business Administration in 1992 and more importantly, an Awardee of Outstanding Women in Nation's Service in 1995. She was also the 1996 Dwight Eisenhower Fellow for the Philippines.


The Honourable Jocelyne BOURGON (Canada)The Honourable Bourgon was the Ambassador, Canadian Permanent Mission to the OECD, and the President Emeritus of the Canadian Centre for Management Development. In 1989, she was appointed to the rank of Deputy Minister. From 1989 to 1994 she was, in turn, Deputy Minister of Consumer and Corporate Affairs, Secretary to the Cabinet for the Federal Provincial Relations Office, President of the Canadian International Development Agency, and Deputy Minister of Transport. In 1994, she was appointed Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet. She was the first woman to hold this position. She served as Clerk of the Privy Council, Secretary to the Cabinet and head of the Public Service of Canada from 1994 to 1999. In December 1998, she was summoned to the Queen's Privy Council for Canada in recognition of her contribution to the service of her country. She is an active member of various advisory boards, including the Commonwealth Association for Public Administration and Management (CAPAM), Singapore Civil Service College, Canadian Unity Council, Heart Institute (University of Ottawa), National Council on Leadership, Forum of Federations, the Public Executive Programme (Queen's University), University of Ottawa, and Opera Lyra Ottawa.


Dr. Luiz Carlos BRESSER-PEREIRA (Brazil)Dr. Bresser-Pereira is currently a Professor of Economics at Getúlio Vargas Foundation in São Paulo, since 1959; President of the Centro de Economia Política and editor of the quarterly Brazilian Journal of Political Economy, since 1980; President of the Scientific Council of CLAD - Consejo Latinoamericano de Administración para el Desarrollo, since 1998; and Assistant to the President Fernando Henrique Cardoso for international affairs related to social democracy and progressive governance, since August 1999. He was Honorary Professor of the University of Buenos Aires, 1996; Visiting Professor at the École d'Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris, January-February, 1990 and September-October 1993; and Visiting Professor at the Institut du Développement Economique et Social (IEDES), University of Paris I (Sorbonne), September 1977 - February 1978. He was Minister of Science and Technology (Cardoso Administration), January - July 1999; Minister of Federal Administration and Reform of the State (Cardoso Administration), 1995-1998; and Finance Minister (Sarney Administration) 29 April to 18 December 1987.


Mr. Mario P. CHITI (Italy)Mr. Chiti, since 1980, has been a Professor (full Chair) of the Administrative Law at the University of Firenze, Italy, where he is also the President of the Specialized Course on European Studies, and teacher of European Administrative Law, as Jean Monnet Professor with European Chair ad personam. He is currently the President of the Italian Institute of Administrative Sciences, for the mandate 2004-2008. He has been a member of the Executive Committee, and Vice President of the Scientific Committee, of the International Institute of Administrative Sciences (IIAS) for the period 1994-2004. He has been teaching at the Universities of Pisa, Cagliari and Firenze, Visiting Professor and speaker at many European universities (London, Oslo, Madrid, Paris II, Berlin, Munich, Utrecht, etc.) and around the world, in China, India, Argentina, Mexico, etc. Mr. Chiti is Adviser of many State Departments, Regions and Local authorities. He has been a member of the Italian Statistical Institute since 1993. His main fields of interest are the general institutes of Administrative Law (procedure, judicial review, etc.), and the developing of European Administrative Law. He is also a barrister before the Supreme Court, mostly in Public Law and European Law Litigation.


Mr. Mikhail DMITRIEV (Russia)
Mr. Dmitriev is currently the Research Director of the Center for Strategic Research. He was formerly the First Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade of the Russian Federation for the Government of Russia (2000-2004), specifically in the areas of civil service and public administration reform, regulatory reforms, social policy, pension reform, health, education, labor legislation. He also served as the First Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Development of the Russian Federation from 1997-1998. He was a Scholar at the Carnegie Moscow Centre of Carnegie Endowment for International Peace from 1998 to 2000, and specialized in the areas of civil service reform, social policy, pension reform, financial sector, macroeconomic and fiscal policy. He is also a Member of the Board of Trustees at the New Economic School (Moscow), the Independent Institute for Social Policy (Moscow) and the Bureau of Economic Analysis (Moscow).


Ms. Geraldine FRASER-MOLEKETI (South Africa)Ms. Fraser-Moleketi is the Minister for Public Service and Administration of South Africa (since June 1999). She previously served as Minister for Welfare and Population Development (1996-1999); Deputy Minister for Welfare and Population Development (1995-1996); and Co-Deputy Elections Coordinator of the National Elections Commission of the African National Congress (1993-1994). She has been a Member of Parliament from 1994 to date. She is a member of the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress of South Africa and a member of the Commonwealth Association of Public Administration and Management Board (CAPAM), as well as the Chairperson of the Innovation Committee of CAPAM. She was awarded a fellowship to Harvard University, Institute of Politics, Kennedy School of Government, which focused on policy analysis and investigated comparative aspects of national constitutions.


Mr. Edgar Alfonso GONZALEZ Salas (Colombia)
Mr. González is an administrator specialist in Public Finance, magister (schoolmaster) in Economy and specialist in systems oriented to the education. He has 20 years of experience as investigator in economic topics, of the public sector, formulation of public policies, and analyst in diverse topics of the State. He has international experience in the formulation of public policies, especially in Colombia, Nicaragua, Venezuela and the Dominican Republic. He has 21 years of experience as educator in diverse public and private universities, 15 years of experience as consultant of the state of diverse international development programmes, 15 years of experience as coordinator in diverse government programmes, and adviser in the territorial fiscal area of the Constituent National Assembly. He has served as Adviser of the Ministry of Health, Vice Minister of Health, General Secretary of the Ministry of Health, National Superintendent of Health, Director of the Administrative Department of the Public Function and Technical Director of several institutional adjustments. He is an expert in social topics including family, childhood, education, health, attention to vulnerable groups and decentralization. He has authored several books and essays on public policies, political partnership, public finances and country administration.


Dr. Werner JANN (Germany)Dr. Jann holds the chair for Political Science, Administration and Organization at the University of Potsdam, Germany. He studied political science, mathematics and economics at the FU-Berlin and University of Edinburgh, Scotland (Dipl.Pol. FU-Berlin 1976) and was research fellow and associate professor at the Postgraduate School of Administrative Sciences Speyer (Dr. rer. publ. Speyer 1982), Congressional Fellow and Legislative Assistant in the House of Representatives, Washington, D.C., and research fellow at the University of California, Berkeley (Habilitation for Political Science and Administrative Science Speyer 1989). He has also served as a civil servant, as the Director of the "Denkfrabrik" (think-tank) in the Prime Minister's Office in Kiel. His main publications are in the field of Comparative Public Policy and Administration, Administrative Culture, Modernization of the Public Sector and Public Governance. He has served on a number of government commissions, and is a member of the Executive Committee of the International Institute of Administrative Sciences in Brussels, and was formerly President of the European Group of Public Administration (EGPA).


Mr. Taher KANAAN (Jordan) Mr. Kanaan, since June 2004, has been the Executive Vice-President of The Higher Council for Science and Technology in Amman, Jordan and the Managing Director of the Jordan Centre for Public Policy Research and Dialogue. He was the former Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of State for Development Affairs and the Head of the Cabinet Economic Team, from August 1989 to March 1999. He served as the Minister of Planning from April 1986 to April 1989 and was a member of the Board of Higher Education of the Government of Jordan. He has been a member of the Board of Governors, Governor for Jordan, World Bank from 1986 - 1989 and the Board of Governors, Governor for Jordan, Arab Fund for Economic & Social Development, from 1986 to 1989. He has served as a Member of the United Nations Committee for Development Policy (Planning) from 1996 to 2000 and is currently a Member of the Advisory Team for the UNDP Arab Human Development Reports.


Dr. Pan Suk KIM (Republic of Korea)Dr. Kim is former Secretary to the President for Personnel Policy in the Office of the President of Korea. He is currently Professor of Public Administration in the College of Government and Business at Yonsei University. He has broad experience as an expert in governmental affairs, having served as a member of the Administrative Reform Committee (ARC) and a working member of the Presidential Commission on Government Innovation (PCGI). He was also on the Policy Advisory Committee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MOFAT), the Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs (MOGAHA), the Civil Service Commission (CSC), and various public advisory bodies and committees. He is currently an editorial board member of several major international journals in the field of public administration and policy. He has been the Editor-in-Chief of the Korean Policy Studies Review, the International Review of Public Administration, and the president of the Korean Association of Personnel Administration. He has been the Rapporteur-General of the 26th International Congress of Administrative Sciences in 2004 and the Sixth Global Forum on Reinventing Government in 2005. He was a Fulbright Visiting Scholar of Government at Georgetown University in 2005.


Dr. Barbara KUDRYCKA (Poland)
Dr. Kudrycka is a Rector of the Bialystok School of Public Administration and Professor at the School of Law, Bialystok University, Poland. She is also a Member of the European Parliament. She holds a Ph.D (1985) and venia legendi (habilitation) (1995) in administrative law and public administration from Warsaw University, School of Law and Administration. Ms. Kudrycka is a member of the Steering Committee of the Network of the Institutes and Schools of Public Administration Central and Eastern Europe (NISPAcee) and Vice-President of the Polish Association of Public Administration Education. She received awards from the British Council and NATO. She has been chairperson of the special commission mandated to develop the civil service code of ethics in Poland, and also as Rapporteur of the Workshop III "The Changing Position and Status of Civil Servants" at the Twenty-fifth International Congress of Administrative Sciences of IIAS.


Mr. Florin LUPESCU (Romania)Mr. Lupescu is currently the Minister Counsellor and Director of European Affairs for the Government of Romania. He previously served as the Counsellor of State for Euro Atlantic Affairs for the Office of the Vice-Prime Minister for Coordination on European Union (EU) Affairs (May 2004 to January 2005), Counsellor of State for EU Affairs and NATO to the President of Romania (January 2001 to May 2004), Consultant for the Convention on the Future of Europe (2002-2003), Counsellor and Director for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania (2000-2001), and Director in the Department for European Integration, Government of Romania (1997-2000). He is also currently the National Project Director of the UNDP Project on "Strengthening the Institutional Capacity of the Presidential Administration of Romania." Further, Mr. Lupescu is a Visiting Professor at the International Centre of Euro-regional Research, University of Oradea, and at the Department for International Relations and European Studies at the University of Bucharest.


Mr. Anthony MAKRYDEMETRES (Greece) Mr. Makrydemetres, since 1998, has been a Professor of Administrative Science at the Department of Political Science and Public Administration, University of Athens. He also served as a Special Adviser to the Prime Minister of Greece on matters of Public Administration since 2004 and to the Secretary of State for Public Administration from 1990 to 1991. Among his notable professional activities are: Director of the Institute of In-Service Training and Development, National Centre of Public Administration (1986 to 1988), Member of the Commission for the Reform of the Public Administration and co-author (with Professor J. Anastopoulos) of the final report (1989-1990), Member of the Board of Governors of the Hellenic Institute of Administrative Sciences (since 1990) and Representative of the Greek Government to the Resumed Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations on Public Administration and Development (April 1996).


Prof. Jose Oscar MONTEIRO (Mozambique)Prof. Monteiro is a law graduate, he has a Master of Arts in African Studies, University Paris I (Panthéon-Sorbonne), and has lectured in the Faculty of Law at University Eduardo Mondlane. He established the degree of Public Management at the same University, and is currently a Visiting Professor at the Graduate School of Public and Development Management, Faculty of Commerce Law and Management, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. He advises the Ministry of Public Administration, the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology, the Public Service Reform Unit, and currently chairs the Establishment Committee for the training system of Higher Education for civil servants in Mozambique. He has acted as Special Adviser to the Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations for the Peace Process in Mozambique and chaired the Steering Committee of the first two National Human Development Reports, Mozambique, 1999 and 2000, and the Steering Committee of the first Regional Southern Africa Report, 2000-2001, UNDP.


Mr. Siripurapu Kesava RAO (India) Mr. Rao is currently the Principal, Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI) a management training institution for in-service administrators and managers of the public and private sectors. He was also previously employed as Economic Adviser, Ministry of Commerce, New Delhi. From 1978 to 2001, he worked at the Commonwealth Secretariat in London in various diplomatic capacities in the Economic Affairs Division, and then as Director of the Strategic Planning and Evaluation Division. He led the Strategic Planning and Evaluation Division, which sought to act as a think-tank for the Secretariat. During 1993 to 2000, he served as member of the Management Committee chaired by the Commonwealth Secretary-General, the body responsible for running the Commonwealth Secretariat.


Mr. Prijono TJIPTOHERIJANTO (Indonesia)Mr. Tjiptoherijanto is currently a Professor in the Faculty of Economy at the University of Indonesia. From 2002 to 2005, he served as Secretary to the Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia, specializing in the area of public administration and public services. He also served as Assistant to the State Secretary for Governmental Affairs (March 1999 to April 2000) and was the Vice-Coordinator of the International Training Programme Coordinating Agency for National Family Planning. Among his professional affiliations are: Board of National Wages Research, Board of National Productivity, National Commission: Habitat II Minister for People's Settlement, Delegation to the ASEAN Ministerial on Rural Development and Member of the Technical Team in Strengthening Poverty Eradication Programme in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).


Mr. WANG, Xiaochu (China)Mr. Wang is Vice-Minister of Personnel of the People's Republic of China. He is a Board Member of the Chinese Society of Public Administration. From 1996 to 2003, he served successively as Deputy Director-General, Acting Director-General and Director-General of the Department of International Exchange and Cooperation of the Ministry of Personnel. He was the Executive Director of the Organizing Committee of the 3rd International Conference of Administrative Sciences co-sponsored by the Chinese Government and IIAS in Beijing, 1996. From 1998 to 2000, he was the Lead Shepherd of the Human Resources Development Working Group of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. He organized and chaired the 19th, 20th, 21st and 22nd Working Group meetings, and co-chaired the Planning Committees of the 3rd (Washington, D.C., United States, 1998) and 4th (Kumamoto, Japan, 2000) APEC Ministerial Meetings on Human Resources Development. He was the Executive Director of the Organizing Committee of the APEC High-Level Meeting on Human Capacity-Building (Beijing, 2001). From 1993 to 1996, he worked at the Chinese Mission to the United Nations in New York as a Counsellor. He was a member of the Chinese delegation from the forty-seventh through fiftieth sessions of the General Assembly of the United Nations, and representative of China to the Fifth Committee.


Dr. Gwendoline WILLIAMS (Trinidad & Tobago)
Dr. Williams has worked at all levels of the education system in the Caribbean. Since 1978, she has been in the post-secondary and tertiary sectors as teacher educator, lecturer and Head, Department of Management Studies and Deputy Dean in the Faculty of Social Sciences/Management Studies. She is currently an Associate Faculty at the University of the West Indies Institute of Business Teaching in the Executive and International MBA and in the Masters in Human Resource Management Programmes. She is also on the change management team of the Trinidad and TobagoMinistry of Public Utilities and the Environment and the Judiciary; as well as involved in the reform of the UN agencies of UNESCO and UNDP that is intended to lead to more results based approaches in the education and social sciences sector (gender and management). Dr. Williams specializes in management training and development in the public, private and voluntary sectors and her major focus has been on capacity-building in the areas of management development, organizational development/management of change, human resource management, and gender and youth development. She has been involved in strategic planning and mainstreaming gender in policy and planning the public sector through the Commonwealth Secretariat and DFID in the Hasemite Kingdom of Jordan, in Uganda, Malta, the Maldives and the Gambia. Dr. Williams has been a member of several project consulting teams for regional and international organizations such as the Caribbean Community Secretariat (CARICOM), the Caribbean Network of Educational Innovation for Development (CARNEID), the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU), the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), the World Bank, and the British Council (DFID).

unitednationorganization

Francis Kabina works with the victims of unimaginable horror: young girls who were raped and abused; boys forced to fight and kill; men who saw their homes and families destroyed; women, children and the elderly whose limbs were hacked off. These are Francis’ people.A trauma and community reintegration specialist, 33-year old Francis has worked in Sierra Leone as a United Nations volunteer since November 1998. He counsels people traumatized by a savage war that killed 75,000 and displaced half the country’s population of 4.4 million. Francis, who comes from Tanzania, has also experienced the brutality first hand. He was evacuated three times from Sierra Leone, once after anti-government rebels beat him so severely, he almost lost his life.Francis has taken on a Herculean task: reintegrating the communities of ex-combatants and their victims. He holds public meetings in schools, churches, mosques and refugee camps so victims can release their pent-up anger in a controlled environment. Drama is used to help people deal with their experiences. Villagers relive the atrocities and act out their flight from rebels. Amputees describe how armed gangs cut off their limbs and they carry out mock assaults on ex-combatants who mutilated them."I have seen a lot of people go through a lot of suffering", says Francis. "People are angry and they have been hurt. If they keep that anger locked up inside, they will lose their balance and will start exploding."Once victims understand the importance of not seeking revenge, he advises ex-combatants to go back to their communities. Many former rebels make public confessions in churches and mosques. Although people are still coming to terms with their turbulent past, they are showing a willingness to listen and even to forgive.Francis uses an intensive two-week trauma counselling session to train community leaders — social workers, teachers, pastors and imams who he enlists to help others. The new trainees are supervised closely for three months and given regular two-day follow-up sessions, where they exchange experiences and discuss ways to handle new and difficult issues."Slowly, slowly this approach is working," says Francis acknowledging that it will take time to overcome all the pain and suffering. "The ex-combatants have left marks that the people cannot erase easily," he admits. Francis and his colleagues estimate they have helped more than 20,000 people in the Freetown area. However, outside the capital, where rebel forces are still active, Francis has been unable to extend his counselling services. In towns like Moyamba and Bo, it has been "two steps forward and three steps back," he says.Francis Kabina works on behalf of the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) with about 70 other volunteer specialists recruited from 30 countries by the United Nations Volunteers programme (UNV). These volunteers provide services to the UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL), which implements its human rights mandate in collaboration with government and national institutions, UN agencies, human rights and humanitarian organizations, civil society and religious communities. Priority is given to human rights monitoring, reporting, advocacy and training.The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and UNAMSIL are working with the Government to establish a Truth and Reconciliation Commission and a Human Rights Commission in Sierra Leone.FIND OUT MORE about the UN’s work to protect human rights and about UN Volunteers. Go to the links next to the photo of Sierra Leone amputees acting out their traumatic experiences.

unitednationorganization

The earliest concrete plan for the formation of a new world organization was begun under the aegis of the U.S. State Department late in 1939. The name United Nations was coined by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1941 to describe the countries fighting against the Axis. It was first used officially on Jan. 1, 1942, when 26 states joined in the Declaration by the United Nations, pledging themselves to continue their joint war effort and not to make peace separately. The need for an international organization to replace the League of Nations was first stated officially on Oct. 30, 1943, in the Moscow Declaration, issued by China, Great Britain, the United States, and the USSR.
At the Dumbarton Oaks Conference (Aug.–Oct., 1944), those four countries drafted specific proposals for a charter for the new organization, and at the Yalta Conference (Feb., 1945) further agreement was reached. All the states that had ultimately adhered to the 1942 declaration and had declared war on Germany or Japan by Mar. 1, 1945, were called to the founding conference held in San Francisco (Apr. 25–June 26, 1945). Drafted at San Francisco, the UN charter was signed on June 26 and ratified by the required number of states on Oct. 24 (officially United Nations Day). The General Assembly first met in London on Jan. 10, 1946.
It was decided to locate the UN headquarters in the E United States. In Dec., 1946, the General Assembly accepted the $8.5 million gift of John D. Rockefeller, Jr., to buy a tract of land along the East River, New York City, for its headquarters. The principal buildings there, the Secretariat, the General Assembly, and the Conference Building, were completed in 1952. The Dag Hammarskjöld Memorial Library was dedicated in 1961.
Original Vision and Cold War Realities
In practice the UN has not evolved as was first envisaged. Originally it was composed largely of the Allies of World War II, mainly European countries, Commonwealth countries, and nations of the Americas. It was conceived as an organization of “peace-loving” nations, who were combining to prevent future aggression and for other humanitarian purposes. Close cooperation among members was expected; the Security Council especially was expected to work in relative unanimity. Hopes for essential accord were soon dashed by the frictions of the cold war, which affected the functioning of the Security Council and other UN organs.
The charter had envisaged a regular military force available to the Security Council and directed the creation of the Military Staff Committee to make appropriate plans. The committee—consisting of the chiefs of staff (or their deputies) of the Big Five—was unable to reach agreement, with the USSR and the other four states on opposing sides; thus no regular forces were established. The same split frustrated the activities of two special Security Council bodies, the Atomic Energy Commission and the Commission on Conventional Armaments. Hence no arrangements were concluded for regulating the production of atomic bombs or reducing other types of armaments (see disarmament, nuclear). The charter anticipated that regional security agreements would supplement the overall UN system, but in fact such comprehensive alliances as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the Organization of American States, the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization, and the Warsaw Treaty Organization to an extent bypassed the UN system.
There were some early instances of Soviet cooperation with the United States and other powers that allowed for UN successes in restoring or preserving peace. These included the settlement (1946) of the complaint of Syria and Lebanon that France and Great Britain were illegally occupying their territory; the partitioning of Palestine (see Israel); the fighting over Kashmir between India and Pakistan (see India-Pakistan Wars); and the withdrawal of the Dutch from Indonesia. However, in many other issues of more direct importance to the great powers, conflict between the USSR and the remaining members of the Big Five prevented resolution. The Security Council was crippled by the veto, which by the end of 1955 had been used 78 times, 75 of them by the Soviet Union.
Growing Activity of the Assembly
In reaction to the limitations that the cold war imposed on the Security Council, the United States, Britain, France, and other nations tried to develop the General Assembly beyond its original scope. In the assembly the United States and Great Britain had strong support from among the Commonwealth and Latin American countries and generally commanded a majority. The Soviet Union could muster only a smaller bloc, sufficient to create debate between East and West but less effective in voting.
Of more importance were procedures evolved in the Korean crisis in 1950