What is the UN?

The United Nations (UN) is an organisation of independent countries that have joined together to work for world peace and fight poverty and injustice. It was created on 24 October 1945 and 51 member states signed up. United Nations Day is celebrated on 24 October each year. Currently, the UN has 191 member states.

In 1945, Franklin D Roosevelt (President of the US) met with Winston Churchill (Prime Minister of the UK) and Joseph Stalin (leader of the Soviet Union) to work out a way to prevent another world war. They decided to form the UN, an organisation of all the countries in the world, to prevent a world war from happening ever again.

A Charter was drawn up by the countries at the UN Conference on International Organisation in 1945. It is a treaty which sets out basic principles for international relations. The Charter was signed on 26 June 1945 by representatives of 50 countries. Poland signed later.