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The General Assembly of the United Nations is the main assembly and includes all Member States. This assembly meets each year but can meet for emergencies as well.
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The Security Council of the United Nations is in charge of maintaining security and peace and has power to make decisions that must be followed.
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The Secretariat of the United Nations is responsible for administrative support of the other UN organs.
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The International Court of Justice of the United Nations is the UN's court. It is responsible for international law pertaining to war crimes, international disputes between countries, and other issues.
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The Economic and Social Council of the United Nations promotes the social and economic cooperation of countries.
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The UN Trustee Council is currently inactive but was originally meant to manage the League of Nations trust territories. The last one attained independence in 1994 and this council was not necessary anymore.
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The United Nations has many specialized agencies including IMF (International Monetary Fund), WTO (World Tourism Organization), WHO (World Health Organization), and WMO (World Meteorological Organization), among others.
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Membership in the United Nations is based upon a country's peace status, and their willingness to accept the UN Charter and follow the UN's requirements of membership.
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There are two non-member, observer states of the UN. One is Vatican City (Holy See), and the other is the State of Palestine.
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The UN has a peacekeeping division. Following Security Council approval the peacekeepers are sent to conflict regions in an effort to restore peace and agreements by discouraging further hostilities.
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Soldiers in the UN peacekeeping division are often referred to as Blue Helmets because of their gear (which includes a blue helmet).
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The United Nations is funded by contributions of member states. This amount is determined by the General Assembly which bases the contributions on the country's ability to pay. There is a maximum amount any country is expected to contribute.
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Several people and agencies from the UN have been awarded the Nobel Peace prize for their work, including Kofi Annan, Ralph Bunche, Rene Cassin, Cordell Hull, Lester B. Pearson, and Dag Hammarskjold.
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In the 1990s the OIOS (Office of Internal Oversight Services) was established to respond to corruption allegations.
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Although the United Nations has not been able to prevent everything it has set out to in every case, it has benefitted many people and countries around the world in many ways from preserving human rights to addressing environmental concerns, to dealing with epidemics, and helping to stop atrocities.
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