Introduction
The United Nations has a great role to play in current world affairs despite the few perspectives of its failure. The role of the United Nations goes beyond political and security matters. At the same time, the organization has been successful in a number of ways. It can thus be said that the world is a better place due to the role played by the United Nations. As a result, the United Nations is of great significant to the world today than it was before. The paper seeks to explore the role of the United Nations in the current affairs of the world.
Role of United Nations
The United Nations was formed in 1945 after the Second World War. One of the main reasons behind its formation was the issue of world security. After two devastating world wars, it was thought that an international organization was needed for the sake of peace. However, the organization handles a number of matters (Kostiner 34). It is thus not restricted to security and matters of governance. The United Nations has several agencies through which it offers services to the world in areas of education, health among others. The United Nations has been successful in very many ways (Mango& Osmańczyk 315). First and foremost is the fostering of peace in the world with very many countries. This has been a challenge for the United Nations since it was formed when there were few countries. Due to a large number of countries, the chances of conflict are very high. In this regard, the United Nations has helped mitigate conflicts across the world. For instance, the organization has so far negotiated more than 170 agreements of peace. These helped put an end to conflicts (Thakur 182). Politically the UN has assisted people in more than forty countries to have free and fair elections.
As far as peacekeeping is concerned the UN has been involved in forty-three missions across the world. The United Nations plays important role in humanitarian activities. In this regard, the organization has assisted refugees in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East (Adams & Watts 24). This involves the provision of food and shelter to war refugees. This has been a fundamental role of the organization in war-torn areas. It is against this background that without the UN things could be worse with the increasing rate of conflict. The UN also provides developmental assistance to many developing countries. In this area, the organization has given aid to 170 upcoming countries. Its specialized agencies are actively providing development assistance in agriculture, health education, and many other areas. In virtually all these aspects the UN has been successful in making the world better than it was (Shelley 87). As far as conflict is concerned the UN is of great importance due to the high probability of international conflict. This is due to the limited resources with a growing population. The increase in the number of countries is also another factor. Therefore the UN provides a forum through which dialogue is made possible to avert possible conflict and outbreak of war.
Conclusion
The United Nations cannot be considered irrelevant in the world today. This is due to the great role it plays in making the world more peaceful and prosperous. The organization plays a significant role in diverse areas. From global security to development and humanitarian activities, the UN is more important now than when it was formed. Due to the increase in the number of countries and the nature of life today the chances of conflict and war are high. The UN provides a forum through which peace can be negotiated and war averted. As a result, the organization is of great relevance in the affairs of the world today.
Works Cited
Adams, Simon & Watts, Barrie. The Role of the United Nations. New York: Black Rabbit Books, 2004.
Kostiner, Joseph. Conflict and cooperation in the Gulf region. California: VS Verlag, 2009.
Mango, Anthony & Osmańczyk, Edmund. Encyclopedia of the United Nations and International Agreements: A to F. Washington: Taylor & Francis, 2003.
Shelley, Becky. Democratic development in East Asia. New York: Routledge, 2005.
Thakur, Ramesh. The United Nations, peace and security: from collective security to the responsibility to protect. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006.