The Role of Global Values in the Creation of the United Nations

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Otto Spijkers
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Global Values

Building UNESCO science from the “dark zone”: Joseph Needham, Empire, and the wartime reorganization of international science from China, 1942–6

2021 ◽  
pp. 007327532098742
Author(s):  
Thomas Mougey
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
British Empire ◽  
Modern Science ◽  
Second World War ◽  
Scientific Cooperation ◽  
International Diplomacy ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Second World

In recent years historians have revisited the creation of the United Nations (UN) system by highlighting the enduring influence of Empire and recognizing the substantial role of cultural and scientific actors in wartime international diplomacy. The British biochemist Joseph Needham, who participated in the creation of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), was one of them. Yet, if historians have recognized his role as the leading architect of the sciences at UNESCO, they still fall short of engaging with the Chinese and imperial geography of his involvement with UNESCO. During the Second World War, Needham was stationed in war-torn China. As director of the Sino-British Scientific Cooperation Office, Needham not only organized Sino-British scientific cooperation against the Japanese invasion, but his mission inspired his engagement for a reform of international science and fueled an international campaign that led him to become the director of UNESCO’s Natural Science division after the war. By reconstructing his campaign in context, this article seeks to demonstrate how the imperial and transnational scientific networks of the wartime era fostered the creation of a scientific mandate for UNESCO. It situates Needham’s activism and ideas in the context of the Sino-Japanese war, imperial wartime technocracy, and China’s scientific nationalism. In so doing, it reveals a string of forgotten partners from China and the British Empire. Their conception of a reorganized international science and shared belief in modern science and its ideal of universality shaped Needham’s vision for science at UNESCO, while their activism contributed decisively to the success of his campaign. This inquiry hence participates in recent efforts to challenge the existing Eurocentrism corseting the historiography of the UN and expands the historiography of scientific internationalism beyond Europe and North America. Importantly, it also contributes to uncovering the technocratic ties established between Empire and the UN system from its onset.

scholarly journals The Role of the UN International Law Commission in the Codification of International Law

2020 ◽  
pp. 1384-1387
Author(s):  
Pedro Keil
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
International Law ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
Progressive Development ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
International Law Commission ◽  
Law Commission

The creation of the International Law Commission arouses from the necessity imposed by the text of the UN Charter. According to article 13 paragraph 1 (a) of the Charter of the United Nations, the General Assembly is responsible for the promotion of the progressive development of international law and codification of such. In this regard, the Resolution 174 (II) of 21 November 1947 came with this purpose. So, the Commission’s nature is of an institutional and permanent subsidiary organ to the General Assembly of the UN, serving the purpose of perfecting the sources of law in the international ambit.

scholarly journals Powstanie Powszechnej deklaracji praw człowieka. Kontrowersje dotyczące autorstwa i podziału ról w przygotowywaniu i przyjęciu tekstu dokumentu

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
pp. 118-130
Author(s):  
Arkadiusz Domagała
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Universal Declaration ◽  
Human Right ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The United Nations

The creation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Disputes on authorship and roles of individuals concerning preparation and adopting of the DeclarationThe Universal Declaration of Human Right was prepared, revised and finally adopted by many representatives to the United Nations bodies. The study presents the drafting of the Declaration from the perspective of people whose contribution was the most essential. They were members of the Commission of Human Rights and its drafting committee Eleanor Roosevelt, Peng-chun Chang, Charles Malik, René Cassin, the UN Secretariat John P. Humphrey. All of them can be labeled as the authors of the Declaration which seems to be an unnecessary generalisation. The underestimated role of Humphrey and overestimated role of Cassin are presented in detail. The paper concludes that the contribution to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights may be differentiated. Ultimately, the author argues that roles of a sponsor, an initiator, a creator, a redactor, a guard and a reviser can be distinguished.

Part 3 The United Nations: What it Does, 21 Disaster Relief

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Higgins Dame Rosalyn, DBE, QC ◽  
Webb Philippa ◽  
Akande Dapo ◽  
Sivakumaran Sandesh ◽  
Sloan James
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
International Law ◽  
Disaster Relief ◽  
The State ◽  
General Applicability ◽  
Legal Standards ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The United Nations

This chapter begins by discussing the notion of disaster relief. Disaster relief is the relief provided by entities following a disaster, for present purposes, by actors outside the state affected by the disaster. As with the notion of a disaster, different instruments take different approaches to the content of disaster relief. The international law of disaster relief exists as a patchwork of norms. There are a few multilateral conventions in the area, which regulate the response to specific types of disasters, or to particular aspects of disasters. Other conventions of more general applicability also contain provisions that concern disaster relief. The remainder of the chapter covers the historical provision of disaster relief; the role of the United Nations (UN) in the creation of international law relating to disaster relief; and the provision of disaster relief, including coordination, cooperation, legal standards, funding, and reporting.

Where Do We Stand and Where Do We Go

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 130-167
Author(s):  
Teresa F Mayr
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Member States ◽  
Robust Approach ◽  
Accountability System ◽  
Potential Source ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The United Nations

The value of resorting to the flexible concept of experts on mission is strongly engrained in the United Nations’ pursuit of its institutional mandate. However, the discretion left to the Organization in the process is a potential source of disputes with its member states. Besides the 1946 Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations, both the protection and the accountability system of experts has undergone little development since the creation of the United Nations. This article attempts to build the necessary framework for such a system, including by discussing its theoretical underpinnings as well as creating a hierarchy of authorities to settle disputes involving experts on mission. It departs from current ad hoc practices and advocates for a more robust approach that is based on the treaty text of the 1946 Convention but guided by a more realistic understanding of the role of experts.

Provision of Remedies for Violation of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: A Comparative Study of the United Nations, Inter-American and African Human Rights Systems

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 298-318
Author(s):  
Roman Girma Teshome
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Comparative Study ◽  
Economic Rights ◽  
Regional Monitoring ◽  
Cultural Rights ◽  
The Past ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
To Receive

The effectiveness of human rights adjudicative procedures partly, if not most importantly, hinges upon the adequacy of the remedies they grant and the implementation of those remedies. This assertion also holds water with regard to the international and regional monitoring bodies established to receive individual complaints related to economic, social and cultural rights (hereinafter ‘ESC rights’ or ‘socio-economic rights’). Remedies can serve two major functions: they are meant, first, to rectify the pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage sustained by the particular victim, and second, to resolve systematic problems existing in the state machinery in order to ensure the non-repetition of the act. Hence, the role of remedies is not confined to correcting the past but also shaping the future by providing reforming measures a state has to undertake. The adequacy of remedies awarded by international and regional human rights bodies is also assessed based on these two benchmarks. The present article examines these issues in relation to individual complaint procedures that deal with the violation of ESC rights, with particular reference to the case laws of the three jurisdictions selected for this work, i.e. the United Nations, Inter-American and African Human Rights Systems.

The UN Secretary-General and the Security Council

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Security Council ◽  
United Nations Security Council ◽  
Secretary General ◽  
Organizational Relationships ◽  
Dynamic Relationship ◽  
International Mediation ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
The Relationship

The United Nations Secretary-General and the United Nations Security Council spend significant amounts of time on their relationship with each other. They rely on each other for such important activities as peacekeeping, international mediation, and the formulation and application of normative standards in defense of international peace and security—in other words, the executive aspects of the UN’s work. The edited book The UN Secretary-General and the Security Council: A Dynamic Relationship aims to fill an important lacuna in the scholarship on the UN system. Although there exists an impressive body of literature on the development and significance of the Secretariat and the Security Council as separate organs, an important gap remains in our understanding of the interactions between them. Bringing together some of the most prominent authorities on the subject, this volume is the first book-length treatment of this topic. It studies the UN from an innovative angle, creating new insights on the (autonomous) policy-making of international organizations and adding to our understanding of the dynamics of intra-organizational relationships. Within the book, the contributors examine how each Secretary-General interacted with the Security Council, touching upon such issues as the role of personality, the formal and informal infrastructure of the relationship, the selection and appointment processes, as well as the Secretary-General’s threefold role as a crisis manager, administrative manager, and manager of ideas.

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