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but space was reserved for its signature on the Charter. Meeting in San Francisco Opera House, the delegates
worked in four main commissions and 12 technical committees.
In tribute to the memory of President Roosevelt, who died just before the Conference convened, his proposal
that the new world body be called the «United Nations» was accepted by acclamation. It was also decided
that the first nation to affix its signature to the Charter would be China, the first country to be attacked in the
Second World War.
The General Assembly decided that 24 October should henceforth be officially called «United Nations
Day» and be devoted to making known to the peoples of the world the sins and achievements of the
Organization and to gaining their support for its work.
The Charter that emerged from San Francisco provided a constitution for an organization to preserve
peace and promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom. All nations signing the
Charter are obligated to settle international disputes by peaceful means and to refrain from the threat or use
of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any other State. They must also refrain
from giving assistance to any State against which the United Nations is taking preventive or enforcement
action. Nothing, however, in the Charter authorizes the United Nations to intervene in matters which are
essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any State.
While the primary aim is the maintenance of world peace, the Charter sought also «to establish
conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of
international law can be maintained, and to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger
freedom». Its six «principal organs», named in the Charter, provide the means to build agreement and
facilitate peaceful change, but unless Governments are willing to work together the machinery cannot
operate.
With the exception of the International Court of Justice which has its seat at the Hague in the
Netherlands, all the principal organs are based in New York.
The six principal organs are:
• the General Assembly, in which all Member State are represented (more than 192);
• the 15-member Security Council, with five permanent members (China, France, Russia, the United
Kingdom and the United States) and 10 other members elected by the General Assembly for two-year terms;
• the 54-member Economic and Social Council, which is elected by and reports to the General
Assembly;
• the five-member Trusteeship Council, which reports to the Security Council;
• the 15-member International Court of Justice, with the judges elected for 9-year terms by the
General Assembly and Security Council jointly;
• an internationally staffed Secretariat headed by a SecretaryGeneral who is appointed by the
General Assembly on the recommendations of the Security Council for a renewable term, usually five years.
Every Country sends 5 delegates but has only one vote at the meeting. The head of the delegation is
usually the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The General Assembly meets once a year, in September.

Task 7. Read the text with the proper pronunciation of the words and intonation. Remember that your
reading time is not more than 3 minutes.

Task 8. Answer the following questions.
1. Why did the delegations from 50 nations meet in San Francisco after the World War II?
Name the date.
2. When was the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic admitted to the Conference?
3. Why was Poland unrepresented?
4. What building was chosen for the meeting?
5. How was the work of the delegates organized?
6. Why was the new world body called the «United Nations»?
7. Why was China the first nation to affix its signature to the Charter?
8. When is United Nations Day celebrated?
9. What kind of document is the Charter of the UNO?
10. What are the main principles of the Charter?
11. What are all nations signing the Charter obligated to?
12. How must the nations behave if the United Nations is taking preventive or enforcement
action against some state?
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