United Nation

            Far away, on America's Pacific Coast, a conference was meeting to create the United Nations. Shortly after Roosevelt's death, and slightly before the first nuclear bomb test, the world's leaders argued about the structure of the organization they were building. They debated the "fundamental human rights" to which they dedicated themselves to. Rights included social progress for better standards of living and equal rights for men and women. Another word was added to this list--justice. The Charter of the United Nations was signed on June 26, 1945. It states that the main objective of the new organization is "to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war and to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights." In 1946, the U.N. established the Commission on Human Rights the principal policy-making body within the U.N. system.
             On December 10, 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted and proclaimed by the General Assembly of the United Nations. This act went through by Resolution 217A (III). There were forty-eight votes for the Declaration and none against it. However, there were eight countries that stayed away from this. These countries included White Russia, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine, USSR, South Africa, and Yugoslavia.
             The United Nations was designed to include all peace loving states. They also left the great powers to enforce this peace. Although the U.N. failed to attain its dreams, it has provided a valuable "sounding board" for world opinion. It also developed a center for secret crisis negotiations. Since WWII, the U.N. has helped ease unendurable pressures. The Charter of the United Nations contains noble phrases with regard to human rights and fundamental freedoms. Some skeptics believe that the Declaration of Human Rights is just words. On the contrary, millions of people around the world look to these principles to bring them to the rights and freedoms that they are entitled to.