The United Nations (UN) was created in June 1945 with the main purpose of maintaining international peace and security. The organization determined that it needed to address the causes of conflict to prevent further destructive wars. The United Nations looked to promote international cooperation by addressing economic, social, cultural, and humanitarian problems.

The United Nations was founded by 51 charter countries that worked to facilitate friendly relations among nations while supporting better living standards and human rights for all.

The organization has since grown to 193 members that focus on peacekeeping, peacebuilding, conflict prevention, and humanitarian assistance. As the issues of the world have changed, so has the work of the United Nations.

Click below to see a map of the United Nations member states in the world today.

The World Today

The United Nations has grown to include six principal organs and more than one hundred related committees. Click here to see an organizational chart of the United Nations System.

The chart below explains the function of the United Nations Principal Organs.

Read the following current four main purposes of the United Nations.

1. To keep peace throughout the world
2. To develop friendly relations among nations
3. To help nations work together to improve the lives of poor people, to conquer hunger, disease and illiteracy, and to encourage respect for each other's rights and freedoms
4. To be a center for harmonizing the actions of nations to achieve these goals
   From UN at a Glance

Click on the link to read about the work of the United Nations.

In the following activity, you will determine how the actions of the United Nations meet its four main purposes listed above. The four main purposes of the United Nations are represented by the folders below.

Scroll over the folders to read about the main purposes of the United Nations, and then categorize four United Nations actions by clicking on the corresponding folder for each.