Background+on+United+Nations

====** Reminder : All material, activities and responses on this page should be placed in the Background of the United Nations section of your Notebook or page break section of your Model UN section of your wiki**====

**Guide Questions**:
1. What is the mission of the United Nations? 2. To Accomplish its mission, what do member countries agree to do? 3. How did the founders of the United Nations attempt to avoid the failures of the League of Nations? 4. Identify and describe the 6 organs of the UN and their functions 5. Explain how each of these organs helps the UN achieve its mission 7. What kind of occupational skills would a person need to be a staff member or diplomat at the United Nations? 8. Explain how the use of military action is in keeping with the UN mission and goals 9. What efforts has the UN made in protecting human rights? 10. Describe UN efforts in improving health care and expanding education around the world.


 * Opening Activities on the United Nations **:


 * **Place in this section of your wiki the summary of the article you read on actions of the UN that you found in paper or digital newspapers or magazines**


 * **Also add a list of samples of other articles found by your classmates**


 * **Complete the Visual Discovery activity on the United Nations flag found here**....[[file:I SEE IT MEANS UN SYMBOL.doc]]


 * Read about and listen to the Hymn of the United Nations here...[|United Nations Hymn]
 * Below are the words of the poem that became the lyrics of the song**:

**Lyrics to United Nations Hymn**:

Eagerly, musician. Sweep your string, So we may sing. Elated, optative, Our several voices Interblending, Playfully contending, Not interfering But co-inhering, For all within The cincture of the sound, Is holy ground Where all are brothers, None faceless Others,

Let mortals beware Of words, for With words we lie, Can say peace When we mean war, Foul thought speak- fair And promise falsely, But song is true: Let music for peace Be the paradigm, For peace means to change At the right time, as the World-Clock Goes Tick- and Tock.

So may the story Of our human city Presently move Like music, when Begotten notes New notes beget Making the flowing Of time a growing Till what it could be,

At last it is, Where even sadness Is a form of gladness, Where fate is freedom, Grace and Surprise.

Below is a short video entitled "United Nations for Kids"

media type="youtube" key="0baMsmuR29Q" height="315" width="420"

Jot down some notes on what you learned from the video Here:
 * You can write them directly into your wiki
 * You can create a word document and upload to your wiki

**Insert notes or word document here** ..........

**Attached is an excellent source for learning about the function and goals of the UN** : [|United Nations for Students] Complete guide questions to the above site located here ......

BBC profile on the UN is another excellent site: [|BBC Profile of UN]

= =
 * Here are terms on the United Nations that you should be familiar with ..... [[file:Model UN Terms on Background-2.doc]]

[|UN Charter]



**Opener: What Does it Mean to be Human ????**

Copy the words: **Human** and ** Rights ** in your wiki


 * Under the word Human, brainstorm: What qualities define a human being?
 * What do you think is necessary to protect, enhance, and fully develop these qualities?

media type="youtube" key="hTlrSYbCbHE" height="315" width="560"

As you watch the video, take notes on what you learn about the **Universal Declaration of Human Rights**:

//**Read the comments of Eleanor Roosevelt, Chair of the UN commission that drafted the UDHR, on the importance of universal human rights standard**// s:

//Where, after all, do universal rights begin? In small places, close to home – so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person; the neighborhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm or office where he works. Such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerned citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world.//

Eleanor Roosevelt The Great Question, 1958


 * ===** What do you think Eleanor Roosevelt means by "universal rights"? **===


 * ===** Some people feel that universal values or standards of behavior are impossible. What do you think? **===


 * ===** Why do you think the UN chose the word universal instead of the word international when naming the UDHR? **===


 * ===** Paraphrase the final sentence of the quotation. What does it say about individual responsibility for human rights? What do you think Eleanor Roosevelt means by "concerned citizen action to uphold" rights close to home? **===

Below are the original Declaration of Human Rights and a "Student Friendly" version if you need help:


 * Read the Preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
 * **Identify the key reasons for the UDHR presented in the preamble**

[|Declaration of Human Rights]

[|plain language version of Declaration]


 * **Read through the UDHR and list what you believe to be the articles that most mirror our Bill of Rights?**


 * **List what you believe are the top ten most important articles of the UDHR**

Here is a document from Model UN of Greater Boston that may help with the breakdown of the UDHR >>>>

__//**Take another look at the UDHR and place the articles under the appropriate column**//__ :
Right to recognized as a person throughout the world || Righht to fair wages Right to an adequate standard of Living ||
 * **Civic and Political Rights:** || **Economic/Social and Cultural Rights:** ||
 * Personal security

Complete a Frayer on Human Rights

**Here are some quizzes you can take to test your knowledge of the United Nations** :

[|UN in or Out]

[|United Nations]



This is an overview of the 1st committee of the General Assembly that we will represent ....[|DISEC]

This is a good summary of the History of the DISEC ...

Direct link to DISEC site in the UN [|DISEC link]

[|Role of UN in 21st Century]