What countries are in the United Nations?
In 1945, representatives of 50 countries met in San Francisco to draw up the United Nations Charter. The Organization officially came into existence on 24 October 1945, with a core group of 51 countries signing up to it straight away. The United Nations Charter The UN Charter is the document that describes, among other things, what the organisation is supposed to do, how it should do it, how members join and what their rights and responsibilities are. All the member countries have to agree with the Charter. What does the United Nations Do? The purposes of the United Nations are to… • maintain international peace and security; • develop friendly relations among nations; • cooperate in solving international economic, social, cultural and humanitarian problems • promote respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms; • be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations in attaining these objectives . The number of member countries has often changed since the beginnings of the UN, wit