Hello, my name's Ms. Ikomi, and I'm a teacher from London.

I'm going to be guiding you through today's lesson.

We've got lots to get through, so we're gonna get started.

Today's lesson is called "What is the UK's role in the United Nations?" It's part of the wider unit "How does the UK still play a meaningful role in the international community?" By the end of today's lesson, you will be able to explain the organisation of the United Nations and the part that the UK plays in this.

The keywords we're going to hear in today's lesson are the United Nations, or the UN.

This is an international organisation comprising of most countries in the world which aims to promote peace, security, and international cooperation.

The Security Council.

The UN Security Council is made up of 15 members, 5 permanent and 10 rotating.

It's primarily responsible for international peace and security.

The General Assembly.

This is the main meeting of all UN Member States where each one has to vote to discuss global issues and suggest actions.

Permanent member.

These are the five nations who permanently sit on the UN Security Council.

They have the power to veto UN actions and decisions.

Veto means the right to reject a decision or a proposal.

Keep an eye out for these keywords in today's lesson.

We're going to begin by thinking about what is the United Nations? The United Nations, the UN, is an international organisation that was founded in 1945.

This time period is significant because it was straight after the Second World War.

One of the aims of the UN was to prevent another world war from occurring.

It also recognised that the end of a war brings about many challenges globally.

We have displaced people and the need to rebuild countries.

Therefore, we need an organisation that was going to support with this on a wide scale.

As of 2025, the UN has 193 member countries, and these are known as Member States.

These include most countries from across the world, countries like the UK, Germany, India, and Congo.

Some countries, for example, the Holy See, the Vatican, and Palestine, are observers, not full members.

The purpose of the UN is outlined in its Charter.

This is a document that sets out organization's rules, roles, and aims. Sometimes schools have a charter that do something similar.

The UN aims to maintain international peace and security, to protect human rights, to deliver humanitarian aid, to promote sustainable development, and to uphold international law.

These are all outlined within its Charter, and there are lots of different ways and processes they use to support these aims. The UN headquarters are in New York City.

However, the land that it sits on is actually considered to be international territory.

That means it's not actually owned by the United States of America, even though it's located there.

Diplomats, who are people that work to represent countries and have conversations, from different Member States travel to the UN headquarters regularly to have those meetings.

The United Nation meets to discuss global issues and aims to solve problems through open discussions before they escalate and move into things that could end in conflict.

It also works through special agencies.

These agencies focus on specific areas to support different problems and challenges in the world.

One example is the UN World Food Programme.

This provides emergency food in instances where we have crisis, and it also supports long-term food aid projects.

So there are lots of different agencies that are working in these specific areas.

You might have heard of UNICEF.

Let's do another check.

I'd like you to fill in the blanks in the sentence below.

Pause your video and have a go at this now.

Let's check our answers.

The UN was founded in 1945.

It was created after the Second World War.

The Charter of the UN is a document that sets out the aims of the UN.

These aims include to maintain international peace and justice and protect human rights.

The UN has had lots of achievements throughout its history.

One of these is the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was created by the UN in 1945.

This sets out all the basic rights and freedoms that everyone is entitled to.

This was the first international agreement on what everybody's entitled to as a right.

We can see a picture on the slide of Eleanor Roosevelt holding the UDHR.

Although this document isn't legally enforceable, it forms the basis of human rights laws around the world, and countries write this into their own laws to look after the principles.

In the UK, the Human Rights Act of 1998 was based on this document to legally embed these principles.

The United Nations Declaration of Human Rights contains 30 rights that everybody is universally entitled to.

Things like freedom from discrimination, freedom from slavery, freedom from torture, and equality before the law.

Although everyone is entitled to these rights, sometimes these rights are not respected, which is why it's so important we have documents that lay this out.

The World Food Programme that we heard about before is the world's largest humanitarian organisation focused on food aid.

It was created by the UN in 1961.

The WFP provides emergency food in instances of crisis.

It also supports long-term development, like helping communities grow or access food in a more sustainable way, so we can see how it works together with other agencies and communities in different circumstances.

By 2023, the World Food Programme had supported 152 million people in over 120 countries.

In 2020, it was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for its efforts to fight hunger.

Another example of something that the United Nations does is peacekeeping deployment.

The UN has peacekeeping forces.

These are forces that are made up of soldiers and personnel from lots of different Member States.

They're authorised by the United Nations Security Council, which we'll think about later.

Peacekeepers work to protect civilians, support peace agreements, and help to ensure that international law is respected.

In Central African Republic, a civil war began in 2012.

This caused thousands of deaths.

In 2014, the UN deployed the peacekeepers to help prevent further violence.

This was to stop conflict also spreading to nearby countries.

So the principles of the peacekeepers isn't to fight.

It is to maintain peace.

However, there are instances where they may have to use force.

Another important thing that's come out of the United Nations are the Sustainable Development Goals.

In 2015, the UN launched 17 Sustainable Development Goals, aiming to improve life for people around the world and reduce inequality between countries.

The Sustainable Development Goals cover lots of areas, things surrounding climate change, but also things like education, gender equality, health, and poverty because a lot of these things link together.

The UN tracks progress on these goals every year.

The target is to achieve them by 2030.

We can see examples of the goals on the slide now.

At the top, we see no poverty.

However, we also have things about quality education.

Towards the bottom, we can see life below water and life on land, and how might link to climate change.

Let's do a check.

Which UN achievement won a Nobel Peace Prize? Was it A, the peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic, B, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, or C, the World Food Programme? Pause your video and choose your answer.

The correct answer is C.

We're going to spend a bit longer putting what we've done so far into practise.

In your own words, I'd like you to explain what the United Nations is.

Then choose an achievement of the United Nations and explain why this is important.

Pause your video and have a go at this now.

I asked you to explain what the UN is and one of the achievements that it has had.

You might have said: The UN is an international organisation that was set up in 1945 after the Second World War.

Its aims are set out in the UN Charter and include maintaining international peace and security.

It has 193 Member States, which is most of the countries in the world.

One achievement of the UN is the creation of the World Food Programme in 1961.

This provides emergency food in crises and long-term support to help countries improve access to food.

Since it began, it's helped millions of people in over 100 countries.

In 2020, it was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for this work.

Next, we're going to think about how is the United Nations organised? The United Nations is made up of lots of different parts which are called organs.

Just like in the human body, each organ has a different job, but they all work together to help the UN carry out its work.

If one organ stopped, it would be difficult for the other ones.

We're going to look at the General Assembly and the Security Council in more detail, but the other parts of the UN are also really important.

They are responsible for implementing some of the decisions that come out of the General Assembly and Security Council.

We also have the International Court of Justice, which is really important for managing disputes between different Member States.

The General Assembly is where the UN Member States meet to discuss global issues.

They hold one main session each year, but also emergency sessions can also be called if something big has happened globally.

The General Assembly discusses and votes on resolutions.

These are recommendations that the UN encourages Member States to follow.

These resolutions aren't legally binding, so the UN can't force Member States to act.

Every member state has one vote when they meet at the General Assembly.

Aisha's telling us, "The UN's General Assembly provides an open forum for Member States to raise issues and discuss solutions.

All nations are equal in this General Assembly so they can contribute meaningfully to solve the world's problems." Laura's saying, "The UN's General Assembly meets in the assembly room.

Delegates listen to the discussions in their own language.

Teams of translators relay what's said into headphones.

This means that everyone can speak in their own language and ensure that everyone else is understood." True or false? The General Assembly passes legally binding laws that all Member States must follow.

Pause your video and choose your answer.

The correct answer is false.

The UN General Assembly can pass resolutions.

However, these are recommendations, not laws.

It's up to Member States to follow the resolutions by making them laws in their own country, and they could decide not to do this.

The next part of the United Nation organisation we're going to look at is the Security Council.

This is smaller than the General Assembly, and it meets more often, usually when there is a crisis.

It has five permanent members, which means that these countries stay on the council without rotating.

The five permanent members of the UN Security Council are China, the UK, France, Russia, and the USA.

These represent the main powers who won the Second World War.

The permanent members have a special power which is called veto.

That means that they can veto, say no, to decisions made by other members of the Security Council.

They can also block new countries from joining the United Nations.

For example, in 2024, the US used its veto power to block Palestine from becoming a full United Nation member.

The Security Council also has 10 rotating members.

These are other nations who are able to join the council for a time-limited period of two years.

These countries are elected by other countries in their region.

For example, African states are able to take three seats on the council, and they are elected by other African states.

The Security Council's main aim is to maintain peace and security.

As such, resolutions by the council are supported by peacekeepers.

The UN Charter requires all members to follow the Security Council decisions.

While the council does prefer peaceful solutions, it has the power to impose sanctions or use force if necessary.

Let's do another check.

I'd like you to read and correct the following sentences.

Pause your video and have a go at this now.

Then we'll check our answers.

Let's check our answers.

Your corrected sentences would look like this: The UN Security Council has five permanent members.

They represent the main powers who won the Second World War.

The Security Council passes resolutions which are normally followed by all members of the UN.

They can use peacekeeping forces if they pass a resolution to do so.

The Security Council has a power to block.

This is called a veto.

Let's do another task to put this into practise.

I would like you to complete the table below and state four differences between the Security Council and the General Assembly.

Pause your video and have a go at this now.

Your completed table of differences might look like this: For General Assembly, you might have said that all Member States get one vote each, which makes all nations equal, whereas in the Security Council, the members get a veto power, and that blocks decisions that could be made by the UN.

For General Assembly, all nations are members, whereas in the Security Council, there are only 15 members.

For General Assembly, the resolutions are not laws; they're recommendations.

For the Security Council, resolutions should be followed by all members, and this is laid out in the UN Charter.

For the General Assembly, they meet annually.

For the Security Council, they meet regularly, but particularly when there is a global crisis or problem.

Last, we're going to think about what part does the UK play in the United Nations? The UK has an important role in the United Nations because it is one of the five permanent members of the Security Council.

This means that the UK has a lot of influence over the UN's actions and decisions.

As a permanent member of the Security Council, the UK also has the power to veto decisions that are happening in those spaces.

As of 2024, the UK had used the veto power 29 times.

The last time was in 1989 when the UK voted with France and the USA to block a UN resolution criticising the USA for invading Panama.

True or false? The UK is a permanent member of the General Assembly.

Pause your video and choose your answer.

The correct answer is false.

This is because the General Assembly is all members of the UN, and therefore the UK would always be a part of this.

The Security Council has five permanent members, and that is the one that the UK is part of.

Izzy's telling us, "Some people have suggested that the UK is not as important or influential in the UN anymore.

They accept that as a permanent member of the Security Council, they have certain rights and powers that lots of other nations don't have.

However, increasingly, the UN has lost power and influence across the rest of the UN.

Why is this the case?" We're going to think about a case study that might demonstrate this.

In 1968, Britain gave Mauritius independence from the British Empire.

Before this, the UK separated the Chagos Islands from Mauritius and made them part of a new territory called British Indian Ocean Territory.

Between 1968 and 1973, the Chagossian people were forcibly removed from the islands.

Since 1971, the UK and USA have operated a military base on one of those islands, Diego Garcia.

Mauritius continues to dispute this at the UN and in international courts, arguing that the islands should be returned to Mauritius as opposed to being part of UK territory.

In 2017, 94 Member States voted to request the UN International Court of Justice give their advice on the territorial dispute.

In 2019, the court advised that the UK should end its control of the Chagos Islands.

Only one judge supported the UK's position, showing that it was very much in favour of giving the islands back.

This incident highlights that the UK has less power in the UN's General Assembly where lots of Member States voted against its position.

It also highlights the role of the International Court of Justice in settling international disputes.

In 2024, the UK agreed to transfer the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, and in 2025, the United States of America also agreed to the deal.

Let's do another check.

What did the ICJ advise the UK to do in 2019 regarding the Chagos Islands? Pause your video and choose your answer now.

The correct answer is B, return the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.

The UK contributes to the UN to support its global initiatives.

In 2025, the UK contributed over $136 million to the UN's regular budget.

The total regular budget for 2025 is $3.

72 billion.

The budget supports lots of different aspects of the UN's work.

For example, peacekeeping operations, humanitarian assistance for countries that are in crisis, developing programmes within development, and global initiatives, things like climate action or health.

The budget is agreed upon annually by all the Member States, and this happens through the General Assembly.

The UK supports peacekeeping by providing military personnel and financial contributions.

Around 5% of the UK's total UN payment goes towards peacekeeping operations.

The UK also sends military experts, observers, and troops to support missions around the world.

Since 2019, the UK has supported UN operations globally, including in Cyprus, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Somalia, and South Sudan.

These operations have been very important to maintain peace and security and uphold human rights.

We can see in this table the number of soldiers that have been committed to UN peacekeeping operations.

This doesn't include the total soldiers involved in training or other soldiers around the world, so actually, the peacekeeping mission can look even wider than this.

We can see that this has gone down slightly.

In 2019, it was 2,284, whereas most recently in 2023, it's 1,211.

Let's do a check.

Which of these countries has the UK contributed peacekeeping forces to? Pause your video and choose your answer.

The correct answer is Cyprus.

We're going to do a final task to check what we've learned.

I'd like you to evaluate Jun's claim.

Jun has argued, "The UK does not have an important role in the UN." I'd like you to provide both sides of the argument.

Pause your video and have a go at this now.

I asked you to evaluate Jun's claim that the UK does not have an important role in the UN.

You might have said: Some might agree with this statement because in 2017, 94 Member States voted against the UK's position on the Chagos Islands in the UN General Assembly.

This suggests that the UK may not have as much influence over other countries as it once did.

The International Court of Justice also advised the UK to end its control of the islands, and by 2024, the UK did agree to return them to Mauritius.

However, others may disagree.

The UK is one of five permanent members of the UN Security Council.

That gives it significant influence.

It has the power to veto decisions and contributes to peacekeeping missions in places like Somalia and Cyprus.

The UK also contributes financially to the UN.

For example, in 2025, the UK contributed over $136 million to the UN's regular budget.

Today, we have been learning about what is the UK's role in the United Nations? We have learned that the UN is an international organisation founded in 1945 to promote peace, human rights, and global cooperation.

It has 193 Member States and has led major initiatives like the WFP.

The UN is made up of different parts called organs.

The UN General Assembly gives every member state a chance to discuss global issues, whilst the Security Council, made up of 5 permanent members and 10 rotating members, is responsible for resolving conflicts and maintaining peace.

The UK plays a key role in the UN as a permanent member of the Security Council, contributing to peacekeeping missions and funding international discussions.

However, its influence can be challenged by other Member States.

That's the end of today's lesson.

Thank you for joining me.