In my primary school, we used to learn about abbreviations, one of the main abbreviations we learnt, and actually I memorized was UNHCR, which mean “United Nations High Commission for Refugees.” By then, it was a matter of knowing the abbreviation and nothing much. Sometime later, as I was walking, I saw a car written on the same abbreviation I had learnt at school. I started wondering why it was so, but didn’t get the answer by then. As time passed, I would see several cars, and many individuals in uniforms with the same abbreviation, and they were heading to an area of refugees in my country, so, it came to my mind that UNHCR was working with refugees. As I grew up, in my high school, we learnt about United Nations, and the abbreviation UNHCR appeared again, and since then, I linked the two. In the news, United Nations was in most times reported to have given/rendered support to my country, and many other countries, mainly , in times of problems/disasters like landslides, wars, hunger and famine ,and others. Then I started to understand some of the roles of the United Nations, though I didn’t go into details.
The United Nations is an international organization founded in 1945 after the Second World War by 51 countries committed to maintaining international peace and security, developing friendly relations among nations and promoting social progress, better living standards and human rights. As a person I have known them in terms of an international organization for economic development, social progress, world peace as well as international peace this is evident in my my homeland, Uganda.
In Uganda, The UN came in to render a hand when there was a great sudden outbreak of an unknown disease called Ebola, it killed in 24 hours and its mode of spreading was by contact, I should say, it was great work done by UN and other volunteers. I have been lucky that when the person in charge of a certain department in UN came to my university, Albukhary international University, she spoke about a glance about UN. She spoke about the departments which are the main bodies, and they include; the General Assembly, Security Council, Economic & Social Council, Trusteeship Council, International Court of Justice, Secretariat.
Other bodies related to UN include the UNHCR, UNICEF, World Health Organization (WHO), and the World Food Programme (WFP), among others. Due to its unique international character, and the powers vested in its founding Charter, the Organization can take action on a wide range of issues, and provide a forum for its 193 Member States to express their views, through the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council and other bodies and committees. Sometimes when I interact with my friends from other countries I ask them. Is your country under the UN and if so, how has the UN benefitted your country? To some since they have had lots of problems in their countries, the stories never end.
The work of the United Nations reaches every corner of the globe. Although best known for peacekeeping, peace building, conflict prevention and humanitarian assistance, there are many other ways the United Nations and its System (specialized agencies, funds and programmes) affect our lives and make the world a better place. The Organization works on a broad range of fundamental issues, from sustainable development, environment and refugees protection, disaster relief, counter terrorism, disarmament and non-proliferation, to promoting democracy, human rights, gender equality and the advancement of women, governance, economic and social development and international health, clearing landmines, expanding food production, and more, in order to achieve its goals and coordinate efforts for a safer world for this and future generations. In my opinion, the United Nations has done great work, though it still has some loopholes, which we look forward to be fixed. Before, I wasn’t so concerned about UN, but this Al-bukhary International University (AiU )course,(Current Affairs) has opened up the door for me to learn more, to explore a lot more about the UN, and my journey starts now.