Sound+-+Australia+and+the+United+Nations

Explain how Australia has acted as a Global Citizen.

 * **Your answer should include:**
 * 1) **The Creation of the United Nations**
 * 2) **Peacekeeping**
 * 3) **Humanitarian Aid**
 * 4) **UN Conventions**

This Question will be answered by (please select a colour to write in)
 * 1) Harley
 * 2) Tom
 * 3) Kyle (pictures)

=** - Australia and the UN - **Plays the leading role on human rights issues and emphasizes the importance of human rights at the international and national levels.=
 * Promotes international co-operation for human rights.
 * Stimulates and co-ordinates action for human rights throughout the United Nations system.
 * Promotes universal ratification and implementation of international standards.
 * Assists in the development of new norms.
 * Supports human rights organs and treaty monitoring bodies.
 * Responds to serious violations of human rights; Undertakes preventive human rights action.
 * Promotes the establishment of national human rights infrastructures.
 * Undertakes human rights field activities and operations.
 * And also provides education, information advisory services and technical assistance in the field of human rights.

Over the past six decades, United Nations peacekeeping has evolved into a complex, global undertaking. During this time, the conduct of United Nations peacekeeping operations has been guided by a largely unwritten body of principles and informed by the experiences of the many thousands of men and women who have served in the more than 60 operations launched since 1948. The UN Security Council frequently deploys peacekeeping operations as a means to end conflicts or to preserve shaky peace accords. Today the UN has over 100,000 peacekeeping personnel in the field, mostly soldiers, but also police and civilian advisors, divided among more than a dozen operations. Only 2% of those involved in the UN Peacekeeping activities are women. But in 1989 Bangladesh sent women to the UN peacekeeping, to outtake a mission in Namibia. Since then Bangladesh has sent 6,369 officers to several UN peacekeeping missions.

The Charter of the United Nations was signed, in San Francisco, on 26th of June, 1945 and is the foundation document for all the UN's work. The United Nations was established to "save succeeding generations from the scourge of war" and one of its main purposes is to maintain international peace and security. Peacekeeping, although not explicitly provided for in the Charter, has evolved into one of the main tools used by the United Nations to achieve this purpose. Peacekeeping is one among a range of activities undertaken by the United Nations and other international actors to maintain international peace and security throughout the world. Conflict prevention involves the application of structural or diplomatic measures to keep intra-state or inter-state tensions and disputes from escalating into violent conflict. Ideally, it should build on structured early warning, information gathering and a careful analysis of the factors driving the conflict. Peacemaking generally includes measures to address conflicts in progress and usually involves diplomatic action to bring hostile parties to a negotiated agreement. Traditional United Nations peacekeeping operations are deployed as an interim measure to help manage a conflict and create conditions in which the negotiation of a lasting settlement can proceed.

Australia has been a consistent and long-term contributor to United Nations efforts to safeguard international peace and security. We are, for example, the 13th largest contributor to the United Nations budget. We have contributed to many United Nations peacekeeping operations. UNAA (United Nations Association of Australia) offers you the opportunity to be involved in the wide range of issues that confront the United Nations and Australia: from human rights to peacekeeping, from greenhouse gases to clean water. Not only is Australia an active member of the United Nations, but this country's Federal, State and Territory laws are, in many cases, part of Australia's international obligations. UNAA gives you a chance to be heard.