Question

The United Nations Organisation was established to maintain peace and promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom. With reference to this, explain the following:

1. The composition of the Security Council.
2. The functions of the Security Council related to maintaining world peace.
3. The role of UNESCO in the development of Science and Technology.

Answer 1

1. The Security Council consists of fifteen members.
   1. It has five permanent members: China, France, Russia, Britain, and the United States of America.
   2. The 10 nonpermanent members are distributed regionally as follows: 5 Afro-Asian countries, 2 Latin American countries, 2 West European and other countries, and 1 East European country.
   3. The ten non-permanent members are elected by the General Assembly with a two-thirds majority for two-year terms.
   4. A retiring member is ineligible for immediate re-election.
   5. The Council's Presidency rotates monthly, following the English alphabetical listing of its member states.
2. The Security Council's functions relating to ensuring global peace are as follows:
   1. To sustain international peace and security in conformity with the United Nations' principles and purposes.
   2. Investigate any issue or situation that may cause international friction and take military action against an aggressor.
   3. Make recommendations on how to resolve such disputes or the terms of settlement.
   4. Develop proposals for the development of an arms control system.
   5. Determine the presence of a threat to peace or an act of aggression and recommend the appropriate course of action.
   6. To urge Members to adopt economic sanctions and other non-violent methods to prevent or end aggression.
   7. Take military action against an aggressor.
3. The scientific activities undertaken by the UNESCO are:
   1. UNESCO organises seminars and conferences of scientists of various countries and circulates information through journals, press and exhibitions. Courier' is the official monthly magazine of UNESCO. Its Hindi and Tamil editions are available in India.
   2. It promotes basic research in fields like Geology, Mathematics, Physics and Oceanography. As a result, it finances engineering and technology schemes in a number of developing countries.
   3. It helps in correcting the imbalance in scientific and technological manpower that exists because 90% of trained manpower is concentrated in the industrialised countries.
   4. It encourages the study of social sciences in order to focus attention on combating all forms of discrimination, improving the status of women and helping the youth in solving their problems.