165-495: The United Nations Transition Assistance Group ( UNTAG ) was a United Nations (UN) peacekeeping force deployed from April 1989 to March 1990 in Namibia , known at the time as South West Africa , to monitor the peace process and elections there. Namibia had been occupied by South Africa since 1915, first under a League of Nations mandate and later illegally. Since 1966, South African forces had been combating an insurgency by
330-560: A Special Representative of the Secretary-General , who would be assisted by a "United Nations Transition Assistance Group" (UNTAG). Later in 1978, the UN Security Council approved a resolution with a specific, timetabled plan for SADF withdrawal and Namibian elections and authorized UNTAG, with a combined military and civilian force, to facilitate the transition to independence. The plan depended on an agreement on
495-693: A "false renaissance" for the organization, given the more troubled missions that followed. Beginning in the last decades of the Cold War , critics of the UN condemned the organization for perceived mismanagement and corruption. In 1984, American President Ronald Reagan withdrew the United States' funding from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (or UNESCO) over allegations of mismanagement, followed by
660-512: A Constituent Assembly which would write a constitution for the nation. In preparation, a number of legal changes were demanded. On 12 June, AG Pienaar proclaimed a general amnesty for Namibians living abroad, and repealed or amended 56 discriminatory laws. He also authorised the release of political prisoners and captured combatants, who were resettled under UNTAG's supervision. SWAPO was also required to release captured members of South African security forces. Both SWAPO and South Africa claimed that
825-542: A November 1978 special communique, Portuguese troops were among the 20,000 MPLA troops that participated in a major offensive in central and southern Angola. The FNLA formed parallel to the MPLA and was initially devoted to defending the interests of the Bakongo people and supporting the restoration of the historical Kongo Empire . It rapidly developed into a nationalist movement, supported in its struggle against Portugal by
990-607: A ceasefire agreement, set to begin on 8 August 1988. A final meeting in Brazzaville , Congo , set 1 April 1989 as "D-Day" when the implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 435 would begin. The New York Accords between Cuba, Angola and South Africa were formally signed at UN headquarters in New York City on 22 December 1988, officially ending the South African Border War though
1155-597: A center for coordinating the actions of member nations. It is widely recognised as the world's largest international organization. The UN is headquartered in New York City , in international territory with certain privileges extraterritorial to the United States, and the UN has other offices in Geneva , Nairobi , Vienna , and The Hague , where the International Court of Justice is headquartered at
1320-875: A coalition government took over there. However, the coalition quickly broke down and the Angolan Civil War began. The United States and South Africa supported one group, the National Union for the Total independence of Angola ( UNITA ), the Soviet Union backed the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola ( MPLA ), and the People's Republic of China supported the National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA). The MPLA occupied
1485-413: A commitment to achieve international development in areas such as poverty reduction , gender equality and public health . Progress towards these goals, which were to be met by 2015, was ultimately uneven. The 2005 World Summit reaffirmed the UN's focus on promoting development, peacekeeping, human rights and global security. The Sustainable Development Goals (or SDGs) were launched in 2015 to succeed
1650-492: A compromise, United Nations Secretary General , Javier Pérez de Cuéllar , decided to decrease the initial deployment from 7000 to 4650, leaving the additional 2350 stationed in their home countries to be deployed if requested by the commanding officer and approved by the head of UNTAG, the Secretary-General, and the Security Council. In place of these soldiers extra police observers and military observers were added to
1815-615: A coup against Neto. By the time he returned, Neto had grown suspicious of Alves' growing power and sought to neutralize him and his followers, the Nitistas. Neto called a plenum meeting of the Central Committee of the MPLA. Neto formally designated the party as Marxist-Leninist , abolished the Interior Ministry (of which Alves was the head), and established a Commission of Enquiry. Neto used the commission to target
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#17327653034031980-532: A few settlements. In this context, they also moved further south along the coast and founded the "third bridgehead" of Moçâmedes . In the course of this expansion, they entered into conflict with several of the African political units. Territorial occupation only became a central concern for Portugal in the last decades of the 19th century, during the European powers' " Scramble for Africa ", especially following
2145-648: A large-scale military intervention nicknamed Operation Carlota in support of the MPLA. Cuba had initially provided the MPLA with 230 military advisers prior to the South African intervention. The Cuban intervention proved decisive in repelling the South African-UNITA advance. The FNLA were likewise routed at the Battle of Quifangondo and forced to retreat towards Zaire. The defeat of the FNLA allowed
2310-459: A massive influx of Bantu people who came from the north and east. The Bantu influx began around 500 BC, and some continued their migrations inside the territory well into the 20th century. They established a number of major political units, of which the most important was the Kongo Empire , whose centre was located in the northwest of what today is Angola and which stretched northwards into
2475-552: A meager $ 15 million-worth of non-military aid. American timidity during the war prompted a shift in Zaire's foreign policy towards greater engagement with France, which became Zaire's largest supplier of arms after the intervention. Neto and Mobutu signed a border agreement on 22 July 1977. John Stockwell , the CIA's station chief in Angola, resigned after the invasion, explaining in
2640-1013: A myriad of autonomous, separately administered funds, programmes, research and training institutes, and other subsidiary bodies . Each of these entities have their own area of work, governance structure, and budgets such as the World Trade Organization (or the WTO) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (or the IAEA), operate independently of the UN but maintain formal partnership agreements. The UN performs much of its humanitarian work through these institutions, such as preventing famine and malnutrition (the World Food Programme ), protecting vulnerable and displaced people (the UNHCR ), and combating
2805-461: A number of local languages aimed at educating the people about their rights and responsibilities in the upcoming election and in democracy. UNTAG was also responsible for registering voters all over the vast and sparsely populated country. 70 registration centers were set up along with 110 mobile registration teams for the more remote areas. All Namibians over 18 were eligible to vote and registration exceeded expectations, illustrating enthusiasm across
2970-537: A reporter for The New York Times , revealed IA Feature to the public on 13 December 1975. Clark proposed an amendment to the Arms Export Control Act , barring aid to private groups engaged in military or paramilitary operations in Angola. The Senate passed the bill, voting 54–22 on 19 December 1975, and the House of Representatives passed the bill, voting 323–99 on 27 January 1976. Ford signed
3135-564: A resolution , over strenuous American and Israeli opposition, declaring Zionism to be a form of racism . The resolution was repealed on 16 December 1991, shortly after the end of the Cold War. With an increasing Third World presence and the failure of UN mediation in conflicts in the Middle East , Vietnam , and Kashmir , the UN increasingly shifted its attention to its secondary goals of economic development and cultural exchange. By
3300-456: A restraining business, not releasing troops but trying to restrain them. Otherwise, the entire South African military might have gone after the Namibian guerrillas, and I think they might have gone into Angola. By limiting South African retaliation to half a dozen army battalions and police units, the transition process was ultimately saved." A period of intense fighting followed resulting in
3465-538: A settlement of the Namibian situation" was eventually agreed between the negotiators and presented to the Security Council on 10 April 1978. The settlement proposal contained a negotiated compromise. Described as a "working arrangement" which would "in no way constitute recognition of the legality of the South African presence in and administration of Namibia", it allowed South Africa, through an Administrator-General designated by it, to administer elections, but under United Nations supervision and control exercised through
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#17327653034033630-545: A so-called "D-Day" for the beginning of the ceasefire. However, by that point, South Africa had been drawn into the conflict in Angola in an attempt to crack down on the SWAPO insurgency and made a new demand: the so-called "linkage" of the withdrawal of Cuban troops from Angola and their withdrawal from Namibia. Other issues, such as the composition of the UNTAG forces and the status of Namibia's important port Walvis Bay also kept
3795-473: A special international regime. The plan failed and a civil war broke out in Palestine, that led to the creation of the state of Israel afterward. Two years later, Ralph Bunche , a UN official, negotiated an armistice to the resulting conflict , with the Security Council deciding that “an armistice shall be established in all sectors of Palestine”. On 7 November 1956, the first UN peacekeeping force
3960-413: A trip to Namibia, meeting with the political leaders encouraging national unity. UNTAG members and the political parties met with political leaders at all levels, to ensure that intimidation, vote buying, and other irregularities were not encouraged and to communicate that they would not be tolerated by the election observers or the party leaders. The Group also sponsored television, radio, and print media in
4125-1033: A wide variety of topics. These include the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues , which advises UN agencies on issues relating to indigenous peoples , the United Nations Forum on Forests , which coordinates and promotes sustainable forest management, the United Nations Statistical Commission , which co-ordinates information-gathering efforts between agencies, and the Commission on Sustainable Development , which co-ordinates efforts between UN agencies and NGOs working towards sustainable development . ECOSOC may also grant consultative status to non-governmental organizations. as of April 2021 almost 5,600 organizations have this status. The UN Charter stipulates that each primary organ of
4290-749: A world body to guarantee peace. The winners of the war, the Allies , met to decide on formal peace terms at the Paris Peace Conference . The League of Nations was approved and started operations, but the United States never joined. On 10 January 1920, the League of Nations formally came into being when the Covenant of the League of Nations , ratified by 42 nations in 1919, took effect. The League Council acted as an executive body directing
4455-512: Is administered by the UN organizations. The General Assembly is the primary deliberative assembly of the UN. Composed of all UN member states , the assembly gathers at annual sessions at the General Assembly Hall , but emergency sessions can be summoned. The assembly is led by a president , elected by the member states on a rotating regional basis, and 21 vice-presidents. The first session convened on 10 January 1946 in
4620-521: Is appointed by the General Assembly, after being recommended by the Security Council, where the permanent members have veto power. There are no specific criteria for the post, but over the years it has become accepted that the position shall be held for one or two terms of five years. The current secretary-general is António Guterres of Portugal, who replaced Ban Ki-moon in 2017. The International Court of Justice (or ICJ), sometimes known as
4785-589: Is thus reasonable to talk of Angola as a defined territorial entity from this point onwards. In 1961, the FNLA and the MPLA, based in neighbouring countries, began a guerrilla campaign against Portuguese rule on several fronts. The Portuguese Colonial War , which included the Angolan War of Independence , lasted until the Portuguese regime's overthrow in 1974 through a leftist military coup in Lisbon . When
4950-579: Is widely considered a Cold War proxy conflict , as the Soviet Union and the United States, with their respective allies Cuba and South Africa , assisted the opposing factions. The conflict became closely intertwined with the Second Congo War in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo and the South African Border War . Land mines still litter the countryside and contribute to
5115-465: The 1884 Berlin Conference . Several military expeditions were organized as preconditions for obtaining territory, which roughly corresponded to present-day Angola. By 1906, about 6% of that territory was effectively occupied, and the military campaigns had to continue. By the mid-1920s, the limits of the territory were finally fixed, and the last "primary resistance" was quelled in the early 1940s. It
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5280-646: The Caribbean . In addition, Benguela developed commerce in ivory , wax , and honey , which they bought from Ovimbundu caravans which fetched these goods from among the Ganguela peoples in the eastern part of what is now Angola. Nonetheless, the Portuguese presence on the Angolan coast remained limited for much of the colonial period. The degree of real colonial settlement was minor, and, with few exceptions,
5445-710: The Charter of the United Nations was completed over the following two months, and it was signed on 26 June 1945 by the representatives of the 50 countries. The UN officially came into existence on 24 October 1945, upon ratification of the Charter by the five permanent members of the Security Council : the United States, the United Kingdom, France, the Soviet Union and China — and by a majority of
5610-580: The Cold War . Two notable exceptions were a Security Council resolution on 7 July 1950 authorizing a US-led coalition to repel the North Korean invasion of South Korea , passed in the absence of the Soviet Union, and the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement on 27 July 1953. On 29 November 1947, the General Assembly approved resolution 181 , a proposal to partition Palestine into two state, with Jerusalem placed under
5775-733: The Congolese National Liberation Front (FNLC) invaded the Shaba Province (modern-day Katanga Province) in Zaire from eastern Angola on 7 March 1977. The FNLC wanted to overthrow Mobutu, and the MPLA government, suffering from Mobutu's support for the FNLA and UNITA, did not try to stop the invasion. The FNLC failed to capture Kolwezi , Zaire's economic heartland, but took Kasaji and Mutshatsha. The Zairean army (the Forces Armées Zaïroises )
5940-999: The General Assembly , the Security Council , the Economic and Social Council , the International Court of Justice , the UN Secretariat , and the Trusteeship Council , although the Trusteeship Council has been suspended since 1994. The UN System includes a multitude of specialized agencies , funds, and programmes, including the World Bank Group , the World Health Organization , the World Food Programme , UNESCO , and UNICEF . Additionally, non-governmental organizations may be granted consultative status with
6105-739: The Haiti earthquake . Acting under the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973 in 2011, NATO countries intervened in the First Libyan Civil War . The Millennium Summit was held in 2000 to discuss the UN's role in the 21st century. The three-day meeting was the largest gathering of world leaders in history, and it culminated in the adoption by all member states of the Millennium Development Goals (or MDGs),
6270-531: The ICJ Statute , which forms an integral part of the UN Charter, and non-members may also become parties. The ICJ's rulings are binding upon parties and, along with its advisory opinions, serve as sources of international law . The court is composed of 15 judges appointed to nine-year terms by the General Assembly. Every sitting judge must be from a different nation. The Economic and Social Council (or
6435-691: The International Court of Justice and the UN Secretariat . A sixth principal organ, the Trusteeship Council , suspended its operations on 1 November 1994 upon the independence of Palau ; the last remaining UN trustee territory. Four of the five principal organs are located at the main UN Headquarters in New York City, while the International Court of Justice is seated in The Hague . Most other major agencies are based in
6600-411: The Kongo Empire , maintaining a continuous presence in its territory and enjoying considerable cultural and religious influence after that. In 1575, Portugal established a settlement and fort called Saint Paul of Luanda on the coast south of the Kongo Empire, in an area inhabited by Ambundu people. Another fort, Benguela , was established on the coast further south, in a region inhabited by ancestors of
6765-446: The Methodist Central Hall in London and comprised representatives of 51 nations. When the General Assembly decides on seminal questions such as those on peace and security, admission of new members and budgetary matters, a two-thirds majority of those present and voting is required. All other questions are decided by a majority vote. Each member has one vote. Apart from the approval of budgetary matters, resolutions are not binding on
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6930-427: The National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA), having fought the MPLA with UNITA during the Angolan War of Independence , played almost no role in the Civil War. Additionally, the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda (FLEC), an association of separatist militant groups, fought for the independence of the province of Cabinda from Angola. With the assistance of Cuban soldiers and Soviet support,
7095-401: The Ovimbundu of central Angola, who constituted about one-third of the country's population, but the organization also had roots among several less numerous peoples of eastern Angola. UNITA was founded in 1966 by Jonas Savimbi , who until then had been a prominent leader of the FNLA. During the anti-colonial war, UNITA received some support from the People's Republic of China. With the onset of
7260-425: The Ovimbundu people. Neither of these Portuguese settlement efforts was launched for the purpose of territorial conquest. Both gradually came to occupy and farm a broad area around their initial bridgeheads (in the case of Luanda, mostly along the lower Kwanza River ). Their main function was in the Atlantic slave trade . Slaves were bought from African intermediaries and sold to Portuguese colonies in Brazil and
7425-423: The Peace Palace . The UN was established after World War II with the aim of preventing future world wars , and succeeded the League of Nations , which was characterized as being ineffective. On 25 April 1945, 50 nations assembled in San Francisco , California, for a conference and initialised the drafting of the UN Charter , which was adopted on 25 June 1945. The charter took effect on 24 October 1945, when
7590-525: The People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN), the military wing of the Namibian-nationalist South West African People's Organization ( SWAPO ). The UN Security Council passed Resolution 435 in 1978, which set out a plan for elections administered by South Africa but under UN supervision and control after a ceasefire. However, only in 1988 were the two parties able to agree to a ceasefire. As UNTAG began to deploy peacekeepers, military observers, police, and political workers, hostilities were briefly renewed on
7755-415: The People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN). The first skirmish between PLAN and the South African Defence Force (SADF) in what became known as the Namibian War of Independence took place on 26 August 1966 at Omugulugwombashe . Over the next few years, there followed a series of General Assembly resolutions concerning the territory including one, in 1968 renaming it Namibia, and many others condemning
7920-480: The SWAPO and the MPLA in the mid-1970s, and regularly raised the issue of UNITA in political discussions between the two movements. Cuban logistics were primitive, relying on a few aging commercial aircraft, small cargo ships, and large fishing vessels to support a major, long-range military operation. In early September 1975, the Cuban merchant ships Viet Nam Heroico , Isla Coral , and La Plata , loaded with troops, vehicles, and 1,000 tons of gasoline, crossed
8085-406: The Salvadoran Civil War , launched a successful peacekeeping mission in Namibia , and oversaw democratic elections in post- apartheid South Africa and post- Khmer Rouge Cambodia. In 1991, the UN authorized a US-led coalition that repulsed Iraq's invasion of Kuwait . Brian Urquhart , the under-secretary-general of the UN from 1971 to 1985, later described the hopes raised by these successes as
8250-410: The Soviet Union . Cuba became the MPLA's strongest ally, sending significant combat and support personnel contingents to Angola. This support, as well as that of several other countries of the Eastern Bloc , e.g. East Germany, was maintained during the Civil War. Yugoslavia provided financial military support for the MPLA, including $ 14 million in 1977, as well as Yugoslav security personnel in
8415-412: The UN Assistance Mission for Rwanda failed to intervene in the Rwandan genocide amidst indecision in the Security Council. From the late 1990s to the early 2000s, international interventions authorized by the UN took a wider variety of forms. The United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 authorised the NATO -led Kosovo Force beginning in 1999. The UN mission in the Sierra Leone Civil War
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#17327653034038580-408: The UN High Commissioner for Refugees , became the ninth secretary-general. Guterres has highlighted several key goals for his administration, including an emphasis on diplomacy for preventing conflicts, more effective peacekeeping efforts, and streamlining the organization to be more responsive and versatile to international needs. On 13 June 2019, the UN signed a Strategic Partnership Framework with
8745-413: The UN offices at Geneva , Vienna , and Nairobi , and additional UN institutions are located throughout the world. The six official languages of the UN, used in intergovernmental meetings and documents, are Arabic , Chinese , English , French , Russian and Spanish . On the basis of the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations , the UN and its agencies are immune from
8910-427: The United Nations on 23 June 1976. Zambia forbade UNITA from launching attacks from its territory on 28 December 1976 after Angola under MPLA rule became a member of the United Nations. According to Ambassador William Scranton , the United States abstained from voting on the issue of Angola becoming a UN member state "out of respect for the sentiments expressed by its [our] African friends". About 1,500 members of
9075-445: The War in Darfur in Sudan and the Kivu conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and sent observers and chemical weapons inspectors to the Syrian Civil War . In 2013, an internal review of UN actions in the final battles of the Sri Lankan Civil War in 2009 concluded that the organization had suffered a "systemic failure". In 2010, the organization suffered the worst loss of life in its history, when 101 personnel died in
9240-418: The World Economic Forum in order to "jointly accelerate" the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development . The United Nations is part of the broader UN System, which includes an extensive network of institutions and entities. Central to the organization are five principal organs established by the UN Charter: the General Assembly , the Security Council , the Economic and Social Council ,
9405-472: The " Four Powers ", refers to the four major Allied countries, the United States, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, and China , emerged in the Declaration by the United Nations. On New Year's Day 1942, Roosevelt, Churchill, the Soviet Union's former Foreign Minister Maxim Litvinov , and the Chinese Premier T. V. Soong signed the " Declaration by United Nations ", and the next day the representatives of twenty-two other nations added their signatures. During
9570-475: The 1960s. Since then, 80 former colonies have gained independence, including 11 trust territories that had been monitored by the Trusteeship Council . By the 1970s, the UN's budget for economic and social development programmes vastly exceeded its spending on peacekeeping . After the end of the Cold War in 1991, the UN shifted and expanded its field operations, undertaking a wide variety of complex tasks. The UN comprises six principal operational organizations:
9735-453: The 1970s, the UN budget for social and economic development was far greater than its peacekeeping budget. After the Cold War, the UN saw a radical expansion in its peacekeeping duties, taking on more missions in five years than it had in the previous four decades. Between 1988 and 2000, the number of adopted Security Council resolutions more than doubled, and the peacekeeping budget increased by more than tenfold. The UN negotiated an end to
9900-462: The Active Revolt during Angola's War of Independence. Factionalism within the MPLA became a major challenge to Neto's power by late 1975 and Neto gave Alves the task of once again clamping down on dissent. Alves shut down the Cabral and Henda Committees while expanding his influence within the MPLA through his control of the nation's newspapers and state-run television. Alves visited the Soviet Union in October 1976, and may have obtained Soviet support for
10065-418: The April 1977 The Washington Post article "Why I'm Leaving the CIA" that he had warned Secretary of State Henry Kissinger that continued American support for anti-government rebels in Angola could provoke a war with Zaire. He also said that covert Soviet involvement in Angola came after, and in response to, U.S. involvement. The FNLC invaded Shaba again on 11 May 1978, capturing Kolwezi in two days. While
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#173276530340310230-399: The Assembly's business. It began with four permanent members—the United Kingdom , France , Italy , and Japan . After some limited successes and failures during the 1920s, the League proved ineffective in the 1930s, as it failed to act against the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1933. Forty nations voted for Japan to withdraw from Manchuria but Japan voted against it and walked out of
10395-416: The Atlantic and sailed to Angola. The United States held a secret, high-level talk with Cuba to express its consternation over Cuba's actions, but this had little effect. The Cuban troops landed in early October. On 7 November, Cuba began a thirteen-day airlift of a 650-man special forces battalion. The Cubans used old Bristol Britannia turboprop aircraft, making refueling stops in Barbados, Guinea-Bissau, and
10560-412: The Carter Administration had accepted Cuba's insistence on its non-involvement in Shaba I, and therefore did not stand with Mobutu, the U.S. government now accused Castro of complicity. This time, when Mobutu appealed for foreign assistance, the U.S. government worked with the French and Belgian militaries to beat back the invasion, the first military cooperation between France and the United States since
10725-420: The Chinese seat on the Security Council in place of the Republic of China (also known as Taiwan). The vote was widely seen as a sign of waning American influence in the organization. Third World nations organized themselves into the Group of 77 under the leadership of Algeria, which briefly became a dominant power at the UN. On 10 November 1975, a bloc comprising the Soviet Union and Third World nations passed
10890-404: The Congo by 11 May 1964. While travelling to meet rebel leader Moise Tshombe during the conflict, Dag Hammarskjöld , often named as one of the UN's most effective secretaries-general, died in a plane crash . Months later he was posthumously awarded the Nobel Peace Prize . In 1964, Hammarskjöld's successor, U Thant , deployed the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus , which would become one of
11055-531: The Congo joined the Cubans on 12 November. The Soviet leadership expressly forbade the Cubans from intervening in Angola's civil war, focusing the mission on containing South Africa. In 1975 and 1976 most foreign forces, with the exception of Cuba, withdrew. The last elements of the Portuguese military withdrew in 1975 and the South African military withdrew in February 1976. Cuba's troop force in Angola increased from 5,500 in December 1975 to 11,000 in February 1976. Sweden provided humanitarian assistance to both
11220-484: The Congo before landing in Luanda. The troops traveled as "tourists," carrying machine guns in briefcases. They packed 75mm cannons, 82mm mortars, and small arms into the aircraft's cargo holds. On 14 October, four South African columns totaling 3,000 troops launched Operation Savannah in an attempt to capture Luanda from the south. The Cubans suffered major reversals, including one at Catofe, where South African forces surprised them and caused numerous casualties. However,
11385-408: The Cubans ultimately halted the South African advance by 26 November. Later, another 4,000 South African soldiers entered southern Angola to establish a buffer zone along the Namibian border. The MPLA received support from 3,000 Katangan exiles, a Mozambican battalion, 3,000 East German personnel, and 1,000 Soviet advisors. The pivotal intervention came from 18,000 Cuban troops, who defeated the FNLA in
11550-428: The ECOSOC) assists the General Assembly in promoting international economic and social co-operation and development. It was established to serve as the UN's primary forum for global issues and is the largest and most complex UN body. The ECOSOC's functions include gathering data, conducting studies and advising and making recommendations to member states. Its work is carried out primarily by subsidiary bodies focused on
11715-552: The Economic and Social Council and other agencies. The UN's chief administrative officer is the secretary-general , currently António Guterres , who is a Portuguese politician and diplomat. He began his first five-year term on 1 January 2017 and was re-elected on 8 June 2021. The organization is financed by assessed and voluntary contributions from its member states. The UN, its officers, and its agencies have won multiple Nobel Peace Prizes , although other evaluations of its effectiveness have been contentious. Some commentators believe
11880-430: The FNLA and UNITA. Zaire, in a bid to install a pro- Kinshasa government and thwart the MPLA's drive for power, deployed armored cars, paratroopers, and three infantry battalions to Angola in support of the FNLA. Within three weeks, South African and UNITA forces had captured five provincial capitals, including Novo Redondo and Benguela . In response to the South African intervention, Cuba sent 18,000 soldiers as part of
12045-516: The FNLA, was mainly composed of Ovimbundu people , Angola's largest ethnic group, from the Bié Plateau . Since its formation in the 1950s, the MPLA's main social base has been among the Ambundu people and the multiracial intelligentsia of cities such as Luanda , Benguela and Huambo . During its anti-colonial struggle of 1962–1974, the MPLA was supported by several African countries and
12210-543: The FNLC. The counter-invasion force pushed the last of the militants, along with numerous refugees, into Angola and Zambia in April 1977. Mobutu accused the MPLA, Cuban and Soviet governments of complicity in the war. While Neto did support the FNLC, the MPLA government's support came in response to Mobutu's continued support for Angola's FNLA. The Carter Administration , unconvinced of Cuban involvement, responded by offering
12375-531: The Ford administration could use diplomacy to campaign against foreign aid to the communist MPLA, refuse to take sides in factional fighting, or increase support for the FNLA and UNITA. He warned that supporting UNITA would not sit well with Mobutu Sese Seko , the president of Zaire. Dick Clark , a Democratic Senator from Iowa , discovered the operation during a fact-finding mission in Africa, but Seymour Hersh ,
12540-638: The French government, declared the independence of the Republic of Cabinda from Paris . The FNLA and UNITA forged an alliance on 23 November, proclaiming their own coalition government, the Democratic People's Republic of Angola , based in Huambo with Holden Roberto and Jonas Savimbi as co-presidents , and José Ndelé and Johnny Pinnock Eduardo as co-Prime Ministers . In early November 1975,
12705-539: The General Assembly on a regional basis . The presidency of the Security Council rotates alphabetically each month. The UN Secretariat carries out the day-to-day duties required to operate and maintain the UN system. It is composed of tens of thousands of international civil servants worldwide and headed by the secretary-general , who is assisted by the deputy secretary-general . The Secretariat's duties include providing information and facilities needed by UN bodies for their meetings and carrying out tasks as directed by
12870-1044: The HIV/AIDS pandemic (the UNAIDS ). Angolan Civil War MPLA victory [REDACTED] People's Republic of Angola / Republic of Angola [REDACTED] Cuba (1975–1989) [REDACTED] SWAPO (1975–1989) [REDACTED] ANC (1975–1989) Executive Outcomes (1993–1995) [REDACTED] FLNC (1975–2001) [REDACTED] Namibia (2001–2002) [REDACTED] Democratic People's Republic of Angola [REDACTED] FNLA (1976–1978) [REDACTED] South Africa (1975–1989) [REDACTED] Zaire (1975) [REDACTED] MPLA troops: [REDACTED] Cuban troops: [REDACTED] Soviet troops : [REDACTED] UNITA militants: [REDACTED] FNLA militants: [REDACTED] South African troops : The Angolan Civil War ( Portuguese : Guerra Civil Angolana )
13035-522: The League instead of withdrawing from Manchuria. It also failed to act against the Second Italo-Ethiopian War , after the appeal for international intervention by Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie I at Geneva in 1936 went with no avail, including when calls for economic sanctions against Italy failed. Italy and other nations left the League. When war broke out in 1939 , the League effectively closed down. The first step towards
13200-613: The Lomba River in September and laid siege to Cuito Cuanavale for months until 12,000 Cuban troops broke the blockade in March 1988. On 26 June, South African forces engaged Cuban forces at Techipa, killing several Cuban troops. In response, Cuba launched an air strike on SADF positions the following day, killing nearly a dozen South African troops. Both sides promptly withdrew to prevent further escalation of hostilities. President of
13365-487: The MPLA and Zairean governments led to a peace accord in 1979 and an end to support for insurgencies in each other's respective countries. Zaire temporarily cut off support to the FLEC, the FNLA and UNITA, and Angola forbade further activity by the FNLC. By the late 1970s, Interior Minister Nito Alves had become a powerful member of the MPLA government. Alves had successfully put down Daniel Chipenda 's Eastern Revolt and
13530-493: The MPLA managed to win the initial phase of conventional fighting, oust the FNLA from Luanda , and become the de facto Angolan government. The FNLA disintegrated, but the U.S.- and South Africa-backed UNITA continued its irregular warfare against the MPLA government from its base in the east and south of the country. The 27-year war can be divided roughly into three periods of major fighting – from 1975 to 1991, 1992 to 1994 and from 1998 to 2002 – with fragile periods of peace. By
13695-823: The MPLA to consolidate power over the capital Luanda . Agostinho Neto , the leader of the MPLA, declared the independence of the Portuguese Overseas Province of Angola as the People's Republic of Angola on 11 November 1975. UNITA declared Angolan independence as the Social Democratic Republic of Angola based in Huambo , and the FNLA declared the Democratic Republic of Angola based in Ambriz . FLEC, armed and backed by
13860-680: The MPLA. After the Carnation Revolution in Lisbon and the end of the Angolan War of Independence , the parties of the conflict signed the Alvor Accords on 15 January 1975. In July 1975, the MPLA violently forced the FNLA out of Luanda, and UNITA voluntarily withdrew to its stronghold in the south. By August, the MPLA had control of 11 of the 15 provincial capitals, including Cabinda and Luanda . South Africa intervened on 23 October, sending between 1,500 and 2,000 troops from Namibia into southern Angola in order to support
14025-537: The Millennium Development Goals. In addition to addressing global challenges, the UN has sought to improve its accountability and democratic legitimacy by engaging more with civil society and fostering a global constituency. In an effort to enhance transparency, in 2016 the organization held its first public debate between candidates for secretary-general. On 1 January 2017, Portuguese diplomat António Guterres , who had previously served as
14190-428: The Portuguese did not interfere by means other than commercial in the social and political dynamics of the native peoples. There was no real delimitation of territory; Angola, to all intents and purposes, did not yet exist. In the 19th century, the Portuguese began a more serious program of advancing into the continental interior. They wanted a de facto overlordship that allowed them to establish commercial networks and
14355-482: The SADF for crimes committed in during the war. In the months after the election, UNTAG forces were slowly drawn down and the final SADF forces were withdrawn. By the independence day, all UNTAG forces had been left with the exception of some Kenyan troops who remained to train the new Namibian Army under an independent agreement. Several UN diplomatic personnel also stayed to assist the newly independent state. UNTAG
14520-419: The SADF. UNTAG's head, Martti Ahtisaari , came under pressure from British prime minister, Margaret Thatcher , who was visiting Southern Africa at the time, and from South African foreign minister, Pik Botha , to allow SADF forces to leave their bases and repel the SWAPO incursions. Ahtisaari quickly decided to allow a limited deployment. He would later describe this decision as his most difficult: "We were in
14685-474: The Security Council, the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council, and other UN bodies. The secretary-general acts as the spokesperson and leader of the UN. The position is defined in the UN Charter as the organization's chief administrative officer. Article 99 of the charter states that the secretary-general can bring to the Security Council's attention "any matter which in their opinion may threaten
14850-570: The South African government warned Savimbi and Roberto that the South African Defence Force (SADF) would soon end operations in Angola despite the failure of the coalition to capture Luanda and therefore secure international recognition for their government. Savimbi, desperate to avoid the withdrawal of South Africa, asked General Constand Viljoen to arrange a meeting for him with Prime Minister of South Africa John Vorster , who had been Savimbi's ally since October 1974. On
15015-463: The South African occupation and calling for elections. The UN Security Council endorsed the actions of the General Assembly in United Nations Security Council Resolution 264 of 1969. Meanwhile, South Africa went about creating its own regime in Namibia, without free elections or international participation. In 1975, Angola , Namibia's northern neighbour, gained its independence from Portugal and
15180-449: The UN began operations. The UN's objectives, as outlined by its charter, include maintaining international peace and security, protecting human rights , delivering humanitarian aid , promoting sustainable development , and upholding international law . At its founding, the UN had 51 member states ; as of 2024 , it has 193 sovereign states , nearly all of the world's recognized sovereign states. The UN's mission to preserve world peace
15345-420: The UN can only make recommendations to member states, the Security Council has the power to make binding decisions that member states have agreed to carry out, under the terms of Charter Article 25. The decisions of the council are known as United Nations Security Council resolutions . The Security Council is made up of fifteen member states: five permanent members (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and
15510-513: The UN increased the number of police and appointed Joseph Legwaila of Botswana to be Mr. Ahtisaari's Deputy. After the Etjo agreement, the withdrawal and verification passed without incident and by the end UNTAG was almost fully deployed, albeit a month behind schedule. Despite the delay caused by the fighting of early April, the withdrawal of South African military personnel continued on schedule, with troops confined to base by 13 May and reduced to
15675-621: The UN system obey the Noblemaire principle , which calls for salaries that will attract and retain citizens of countries where compensation is highest, and which ensures equal pay for work of equal value regardless of the employee's nationality. In practice, the International Civil Service Commission , which governs the conditions of UN personnel, takes reference to the highest-paying national civil service. Staff salaries are subject to an internal tax that
15840-399: The UN's longest-running peacekeeping missions. With the spread of decolonization in the 1960s, the UN's membership shot up due to an influx of newly independent nations. In 1960 alone, 17 new states joined the UN, 16 of them from Africa. On 25 October 1971, with opposition from the United States, but with the support of many Third World nations, the People's Republic of China was given
16005-454: The US, NGOs, and UNTAG itself, of police intimidation practices and even preparation for vote rigging. Voting took place over a five-day period from 7–11 November. Voting went smoothly with reports of intimidation decreasing as the election approached and no violence reported during the election. Voters stood in lines up to half a mile long in some places to vote, but in the end participation of 97%
16170-484: The United Kingdom and Singapore. Boutros Boutros-Ghali , the secretary-general from 1992 to 1996, initiated a reform of the Secretariat, somewhat reducing the size of the organisation. His successor, Kofi Annan , initiated further management reforms in the face of threats from the US to withhold its UN dues. Though the UN Charter had been written primarily to prevent aggression by one nation against another, in
16335-580: The United Nations can establish various specialized agencies to fulfill its duties. Specialized agencies are autonomous organizations working with the United Nations and each other through the coordinating machinery of the Economic and Social Council. Each was integrated into the UN system through an agreement with the UN under UN Charter article 57. There are fifteen specialized agencies, which perform functions as diverse as facilitating international travel, preventing and addressing pandemics, and promoting economic development. The United Nations system includes
16500-685: The United Nations. After months of planning, the UN Conference on International Organization opened in San Francisco on 25 April 1945. It was attended by 50 nations' governments and a number of non-governmental organizations. The delegations of the Big Four chaired the plenary meetings. Previously, Churchill had urged Roosevelt to restore France to its status of a major power after the liberation of Paris in August 1944. The drafting of
16665-763: The United States Gerald Ford approved covert aid to UNITA and the FNLA through Operation IA Feature on 18 July 1975, despite strong opposition from officials in the State Department and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Ford told William Colby , the Director of Central Intelligence , to establish the operation, providing an initial US$ 6 million. He granted an additional $ 8 million on 27 July and another $ 25 million in August. Two days before
16830-554: The United States) and ten non-permanent members (currently Algeria , Ecuador , Guyana , Japan , Malta , Mozambique , the Republic of Korea , Sierra Leone , Slovenia and Switzerland ). The five permanent members hold veto power over UN resolutions, allowing a permanent member to block adoption of a resolution, though not debate. The ten temporary seats are held for two-year terms, with five members elected each year by
16995-621: The Vietnam War. The French Foreign Legion took back Kolwezi after a seven-day battle and airlifted 2,250 European citizens to Belgium, but not before the FNLC massacred 80 Europeans and 200 Africans. In one instance, the FNLC killed 34 European civilians who had hidden in a room. The FNLC retreated to Zambia, vowing to return to Angola. The Zairean army then forcibly evicted civilians along Shaba's border with Angola. Mobutu, wanting to prevent any chance of another invasion, ordered his troops to shoot on sight. U.S.-mediated negotiations between
17160-796: The World Court, is the primary judicial organ of the UN. It is the successor to the Permanent Court of International Justice and occupies the body's former headquarters in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands , making it the only principal organ not based in New York City. The ICJ's main function is adjudicating disputes among nations. Examples of issues they have heard include war crimes, violations of state sovereignty and ethnic cleansing. The court can also be called upon by other UN organs to provide advisory opinions on matters of international law. All UN member states are parties to
17325-443: The agreed-upon 1500 by 24 June 1989. UNTAG also confirmed a second disarmament of sizable militia, primarily the 22,000 strong South West African Territorial Force and the 11,000 local "citizen forces". These were made up of South African-paid and controlled militia, who had been disarmed and disbanded before 1 April, but were called up again to fight in the early April clashes. By 1 June, they had been demobilized once again. UNTAG
17490-637: The bill into law on 9 February 1976. Even after the Clark Amendment became law, then- Director of Central Intelligence , George H. W. Bush , refused to concede that all U.S. aid to Angola had ceased. According to foreign affairs analyst Jane Hunter, Israel stepped in as a proxy arms supplier for South Africa after the Clark Amendment took effect. Israel and South Africa established a longstanding military alliance, in which Israel provided weapons and training, as well as conducting joint military exercises. The U.S. government vetoed Angolan entry into
17655-411: The budget for the mission until 1 March 1989 and, due to continuing financial problems, even then the UN did not have reserve funds to begin making requests to member states. Full deployment of UNTAG was delayed by nearly a full month. The UNTAG mandate under Resolution 435 was primarily to create an environment suitable for free and fair elections for a constituent assembly to draft a constitution for
17820-446: The capital and the economically crucial oil fields with the help of Cuban troops and was soon recognized as the legitimate government by many countries, although UNITA and FNLA united and continued to control large swaths of the country. The MPLA allowed SWAPO to establish bases on Angolan soil from which to launch attacks on the SADF and other targets. On 30 January 1976 the Security Council adopted Resolution 385 which declared that it
17985-552: The ceasefire collapsed in Angola several months later. The Security Council expressed concern about the cost of implementing the resolution, as the UN had been suffering from a severe financial crisis in the late 1980s. However, several groups, including the Organization for African Unity (OAU), the Non-Aligned Movement , and SWAPO objected to a reduction in the size of the force from the number set in 1978. As
18150-608: The civil war, the United States decided to support UNITA and considerably augmented their aid to UNITA in the following decades. In the latter period, UNITA's main ally was the apartheid regime of South Africa . Angola, like most African countries, became constituted as a nation through colonial intervention. Angola's colonial power was Portugal, which was present and active in the territory, in one way or another, for over four centuries. The original population of this territory were dispersed Khoisan groups. These were absorbed or pushed southwards, where residual groups still exist, by
18315-529: The country and diplomatic training for Angolans in Belgrade . The United States Ambassador to Yugoslavia wrote of the Yugoslav relationship with the MPLA and remarked, " Tito clearly enjoys his role as patriarch of guerrilla liberation struggle." Agostinho Neto , MPLA's leader during the civil war, declared in 1977 that Yugoslav aid was constant and firm and described the help as extraordinary. According to
18480-451: The country for the elections. UNTAG also registered ten political parties for the election. Over 350 polling stations were set up across the country and personnel from the police, military, civilian elements of UNTAG were set on election monitoring duty, along with hundreds of extra election specialists contributed from more than 25 member states. In the months leading up to the elections, complaints came from several quarters, including SWAPO,
18645-469: The country, the national economy began to sink into depression . The South African government initially became involved in an effort to counter the Chinese presence in Angola, which was feared might escalate the conflict into a local theatre of the Cold War . In 1975, South African Prime Minister B.J. Vorster authorized Operation Savannah , which began as an effort to protect engineers constructing
18810-596: The country. Though there was talk of official union, the government never officially acted to annex the territory. After World War II , when the United Nations superseded the League of Nations, South Africa refused to accept a UN Trusteeship over South West Africa and simultaneously declared the League Mandate void, as the League no longer existed. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) declared that though South Africa had no legal obligation to accept
18975-458: The dam at Calueque after unruly UNITA soldiers took over. The dam, paid for by South Africa, was felt to be at risk. The South African Defence Force (SADF) dispatched an armoured task force to secure Calueque. From this, Operation Savannah escalated; no formal government was in place and thus, no clear lines of authority. The South Africans came to commit thousands of soldiers to the intervention and ultimately clashed with Cuban forces assisting
19140-477: The day the transition process was supposed to begin. After a new round of negotiations, a second date was set and the elections process began in earnest. Elections for the constitutional assembly took place in November 1989. They were peaceful and declared free and fair; SWAPO won a majority of the seats. The new constitution was adopted four months later and it was followed by Namibia's official independence and
19305-580: The deaths of at least 263 guerrillas and 27 South Africans. Tense and rushed negotiations at Mount Etjo, a safari lodge in central Namibia, ended with a recommitment from both sides to the peace process and the leader of SWAPO, Sam Nujoma , calling for all SWAPO fighters to return to their bases in Angola. However, the SADF maintained positions very close to UNTAG collection points for SWAPO fighters and most therefore refused to approach and rejected UNTAG escorts. Clashes continued between SADF troops and SWAPO forces claiming to be returning to Angola. A new agreement
19470-673: The delegations from the Allied Big Four at the Dumbarton Oaks Conference from 21 September to 7 October 1944. They agreed on proposals for the aims, structure and functioning of the new organization. It took the conference at Yalta in February 1945, and further negotiations with the Soviet Union, before all the issues were resolved. By 1 March 1945, 21 additional states had signed the Declaration by
19635-489: The early 1990s the UN faced several simultaneous, serious crises within Somalia, Haiti, Mozambique, and the nations that previously made up Yugoslavia. The UN mission in Somalia was widely viewed as a failure after the United States' withdrawal following casualties in the Battle of Mogadishu . The UN mission to Bosnia faced worldwide ridicule for its indecisive and confused mission in the face of ethnic cleansing. In 1994,
19800-668: The eight governments in exile of countries under Axis occupation , together with the Soviet Union and representatives of the Free French Forces , unanimously adopted adherence to the common principles of policy set forth by Britain and the United States. Roosevelt and Churchill met at the White House in December 1941 for the Arcadia Conference . Roosevelt is considered a founder of the UN, and coined
19965-803: The establishment of the United Nations was the Inter-Allied Conference in London that led to the Declaration of St James's Palace on 12 June 1941. By August 1941, American President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill had drafted the Atlantic Charter ; which defined goals for the post-war world. At the subsequent meeting of the Inter-Allied Council in London on 24 September 1941,
20130-468: The former Koevoet forces and command structures be done away with, since most of the Koevoet personnel were not trained as police. South Africa claimed, however, that the massing of SWAPO forces at the border demanded the former Koevoet forces. These forces were finally disbanded 1 September 1989, several weeks before the election. The ultimate goal of the mission was to organize free and fair elections for
20295-474: The government of Mobutu Sese Seko in Zaire . During 1974, the FNLA was also briefly supported by the People's Republic of China ; but the aid was quickly withdrawn since China mainly supported the UNITA during the Angolan War of Independence . The United States refused to support the FNLA during the movement's war against Portugal, a NATO member but agreed during the civil war. UNITA's main social basis were
20460-477: The informal ceasefire had held for nearly seven months. However, in the early morning, SADF reported that heavily armed groups of PLAN fighters had begun crossing the border and establishing positions in northern Namibia in violations of the agreement that they should be confined to their Angolan bases. SWAPO initially denied that it had violated the terms of the agreement, and claimed that its fighters had been going to turn in weapons to UNTAG and had been attacked by
20625-495: The laws of the countries where they operate, safeguarding the UN's impartiality with regard to host and member countries. Below the six organs are, in the words of the author Linda Fasulo, "an amazing collection of entities and organizations, some of which are actually older than the UN itself and operate with almost complete independence from it". These include specialized agencies, research and training institutions, programmes and funds and other UN entities. All organizations in
20790-497: The main forces maintaining law and order in the province. The UNTAG police forces were hard pressed to monitor all of the police forces, which were not always perfectly cooperative. There were numerous reports of police misbehavior, though they decreased over the course of the UNTAG deployment. Former members of the Koevoet , a paramilitary counter-insurgency group that was disbanded in 1989 and incorporated into SWAPOL, proved to be
20955-410: The maintenance of international peace and security", a phrase that secretaries-general since Trygve Lie have interpreted as giving the position broad scope for action on the world stage. The office has evolved into a dual role of an administrator of the UN organization and a diplomat and mediator addressing disputes between member states and finding consensus to global issues . The secretary-general
21120-428: The members. The Assembly may make recommendations on any matters within the scope of the UN, except matters of peace and security that are under consideration by the Security Council. Draft resolutions can be forwarded to the General Assembly by its six main committees: As well as by the following two committees: The Security Council is charged with maintaining peace and security among nations. While other organs of
21285-486: The mission. Finally, on 9 February 1989, the Secretary-General presented the Security Council with a resolution along with a statement of urgency, saying that everything must be done quickly if all the plans in Resolution 435 were to be carried out on schedule. The Security Council approved the mission on 16 February 1989 in United Nations Security Council Resolution 632 . The General Assembly, however, did not approve
21450-504: The most problematic. According to the UN report, for the first several months, the former Koevoet units travelled heavily armed and were often reported to have behaved violently and engaged in intimidation, just as they had during the insurgency. As these reports came in, UNTAG began negotiations with AG Pienaar and the South African Government, demanding that all South African forces in Namibia be lightly armed and that
21615-578: The nation. The entire mission was under the control of the Special Representative, Martti Ahtisaari. The military component was commanded by Lieutenant-General Dewan Prem Chand of India. UNTAG was based in Windhoek , Namibia's capital and largest city. The civilian component of the mission had a number of parts as follows: The military component (MILCOM) was responsible for monitoring the ceasefire, disarming SWAPO militants, overseeing
21780-462: The night of 10 November, the day before the formal declaration of independence, Savimbi secretly flew to Pretoria to meet Vorster. In a reversal of policy, Vorster not only agreed to keep his troops in Angola through November, but also promised to withdraw the SADF only after the OAU meeting on 9 December. While Cuban officers led the mission and provided the bulk of the troop force, 60 Soviet officers in
21945-533: The north and UNITA in the south, concluding the conventional war by 12 February 1976. In Cabinda, the Cubans launched a series of successful operations against the FLEC separatist movement. By March 1977, the MPLA controlled enough of the country to permit Castro to pay a state visit. However, in May, Nito Alves and José Jacinto Van-Dúnem attempted an unsuccessful coup against Agostinho Neto. Cuban troops helped defeat
22110-501: The ongoing civilian casualties. Angola's three rebel movements had their roots in the anti-colonial movements of the 1950s. The MPLA was primarily an urban-based movement in Luanda and its surrounding area. It was largely composed of Mbundu people . By contrast, the other two major anti-colonial movements, the FNLA and UNITA, were rural groups. The FNLA primarily consisted of Bakongo people from Northern Angola. UNITA, an offshoot of
22275-606: The organization to be a leader in peace and human development, while others have criticized it for ineffectiveness, bias, and corruption . In the century prior to the UN's creation, several international organizations such as the International Committee of the Red Cross were formed to ensure protection and assistance for victims of armed conflict and strife. During World War I , several major leaders, especially U.S. President Woodrow Wilson , advocated for
22440-667: The other 46 nations. The first meetings of the General Assembly , with 51 nations represented, and the Security Council took place in London beginning in January 1946. Debates began at once, covering topical issues such as the presence of Russian troops in Iranian Azerbaijan and British forces in Greece . British diplomat Gladwyn Jebb served as interim secretary-general. The General Assembly selected New York City as
22605-417: The other side continued to hold prisoners, accusations repeatedly denied by each. Alleged detention locations were searched by UNTAG personnel and the lists of missing persons were examined and eventually reduced to just over 300 unaccounted for individuals. Refugees were also assisted after the amnesty. Many were airlifted into the country, registered, and given aid. The repatriation and resettlement of refugees
22770-431: The parties from reaching an agreement on a ceasefire date. Talks stagnated during the following decade as the civil war in Angola continued. It was not until 1988 that Cuba, Angola, and South Africa came to an agreement, called the " Tripartite Accord " or the "New York Accords," mediated by US Assistant Secretary of State Chester Crocker . A series of meetings starting in London and culminating in Geneva resulted in
22935-529: The program's approval, Nathaniel Davis , the Assistant Secretary of State, told Henry Kissinger , the Secretary of State , that he believed maintaining the secrecy of IA Feature would be impossible. Davis correctly predicted the Soviet Union would respond by increasing involvement in the Angolan conflict, leading to more violence and negative publicity for the United States. When Ford approved
23100-431: The program, Davis resigned. John Stockwell , the CIA's station chief in Angola, echoed Davis' criticism saying that success required the expansion of the program, but its size already exceeded what could be hidden from the public eye. Davis' deputy, former U.S. ambassador to Chile Edward Mulcahy , also opposed direct involvement. Mulcahy presented three options for U.S. policy towards Angola on 13 May 1975. Mulcahy believed
23265-538: The rebels. In May 1978, South Africa initiated Operation Reindeer, during which an airstrike on a Cuban convoy resulted in the loss of 150 Cuban troops. By July 1978, Cuba had suffered 5,600 casualties in its African wars (Angola and Ethiopia), including 1,000 killed in Angola and 400 killed against Somali forces in the Ethiopian Ogaden. In 1987, 6,000 South African soldiers reentered the Angolan war, clashing with Cuban forces. They defeated four MPLA brigades at
23430-531: The results of the election met to consider a draft Constitution , which was adopted on 9 February 1990. The Assembly determined that 21 March 1990 would be Namibia's independence day. After the elections, AG Pienaar continued his role alongside UN Special Representative Ahtisaari and UNTAG. One of Pienaar's final acts was to amend the amnesty against future prosecution granted to Namibian exiles in June 1989 to cover anyone, including South African officials, militia, and
23595-437: The site for the headquarters of the UN. Construction began on 14 September 1948 and the facility was completed on 9 October 1952. The Norwegian Foreign Minister, Trygve Lie , was the first elected UN secretary-general . Though the UN's primary mandate was peacekeeping , the division between the United States and the Soviet Union often paralysed the organization; generally allowing it to intervene only in conflicts distant from
23760-560: The south of the territory, and the north of present-day Namibia , lay the Kwanyama kingdom, along with minor realms on the central highlands. All these political units were a reflection of ethnic cleavages that slowly developed among the Bantu populations and were instrumental in consolidating these cleavages and fostering the emergence of new and distinct social identities. At the end of the 15th century, Portuguese settlers made contact with
23925-625: The successful conclusion of UNTAG. During World War I , South Africa occupied German South West Africa , present-day Namibia. After the war, South Africa was granted the League of Nations Mandate to administer the territory of South West Africa as a colony. South Africa ran the country as if it were simply another province, granting it political representation in the South African Parliament (though under discriminatory apartheid restrictions), and integrating it economically into
24090-605: The term United Nations to describe the Allied countries . Churchill accepted it, noting its use by Lord Byron . The text of the Declaration by United Nations was drafted on 29 December 1941, by Roosevelt, Churchill, and Harry Hopkins . It incorporated Soviet suggestions but included no role for France. One major change from the Atlantic Charter was the addition of a provision for religious freedom , which Stalin approved after Roosevelt insisted. Roosevelt's idea of
24255-450: The time the MPLA achieved victory in 2002, between 500,000 and 800,000 people had died and over one million had been internally displaced . The war devastated Angola's infrastructure and severely damaged public administration, the economy, and religious institutions. The Angolan Civil War was notable due to the combination of Angola's violent internal dynamics and the exceptional degree of foreign military and political involvement. The war
24420-451: The timeline for independence became known, most of the roughly 500,000 ethnic Portuguese Angolans fled the territory during the weeks before or after that deadline. Portugal left behind a newly independent country whose population was mainly composed of Ambundu, Ovimbundu, and Bakongo peoples. The Portuguese that lived in Angola accounted for the majority of the skilled workers in public administration, agriculture, and industry; once they fled
24585-419: The trusteeship, it also had no legal right to void the Mandate. In 1966, the UN General Assembly revoked South Africa's Mandate and declared South West Africa to be under UN administration until it could gain independence. Also in 1966, SWAPO, which had become the preeminent nationalist organization in Namibia in the early 1960s, begin to launch guerrilla attacks from Zambia with its military wing, known as
24750-407: The war, the United Nations became the official term for the Allies. In order to join, countries had to sign the Declaration and declare war on the Axis powers . The October 1943 Moscow Conference resulted in the Moscow Declarations , including the Four Power Declaration on General Security which aimed for the creation "at the earliest possible date of a general international organization". This
24915-418: The west of the present Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the south and west of the contemporary Republic of Congo and even the southernmost part of Gabon . Also of historical importance were the Ndongo and Matamba kingdoms to the south of the Kongo Empire, in the Ambundu area. Additionally, the Lunda Empire occupied a portion of north-eastern Angola in the south-east of the present-day DRC. In
25080-465: The withdrawal of the SADF, and controlling the borders. The force was organised as follows: The following countries provided troops, military observers, civilian police and military headquarters personnel to this Mission: On 1 April 1989—"D-Day" for the peace plan—UNTAG was still not fully deployed and the units that were deployed, mostly civilians and monitors, lacked equipment for both transportation and communication. Despite this, hopes were high, as
25245-586: Was a civil war in Angola , beginning in 1975 and continuing, with interludes, until 2002. The war began immediately after Angola became independent from Portugal in November 1975. It was a power struggle between two former anti-colonial guerrilla movements, the communist People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) and the anti-communist National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA). The MPLA and UNITA had different roots in Angolan society and mutually incompatible leaderships, despite their shared aim of ending colonial rule. A third movement,
25410-401: Was also charged with monitoring the SWAPO forces based in southern Angola and, despite numerous charges, mostly from the South Africans, that they were massing at the border or violating the border agreements, these allegations were denied by UNTAG. After the restriction of the SADF to base, the South West African Police (SWAPOL) were the only South African controlled force in Namibia and also
25575-423: Was complicated in its initial decades due in part to Cold War tensions that existed between the United States and Soviet Union and their respective allies. Its mission has included the provision of primarily unarmed military observers and lightly armed troops charged with primarily monitoring, reporting and confidence-building roles. UN membership grew significantly following the widespread decolonization in
25740-464: Was considered very successful by the UN and its member states. Namibia became a democracy, without the racial segregation seen under the apartheid system. The security problems had decreased during the UNTAG deployment and the elections had gone off better than expected. Despite tensions, after the elections, the Namibian and South African governments had established formal diplomatic relations. Furthermore, worries about costs were proven unfounded as UNTAG
25905-467: Was defeated without difficulty and the FNLC continued to advance. On 2 April, Mobutu appealed to William Eteki of Cameroon , Chairman of the Organization of African Unity , for assistance. Eight days later, the French government responded to Mobutu's plea and airlifted 1,500 Moroccan troops into Kinshasa . This force worked in conjunction with the Zairean army, the FNLA and Egyptian pilots flying French-made Zairean Mirage fighter aircraft to beat back
26070-414: Was established to end the Suez Crisis ; however, the UN was unable to intervene against the Soviet Union's simultaneous invasion of Hungary , following the country's revolution . On 14 July 1960, the UN established the United Nations Operation in the Congo (or UNOC), the largest military force of its early decades, to bring order to Katanga , restoring it to the control of the Democratic Republic of
26235-400: Was imperative to hold free elections under UN supervision and control for the whole of Namibia as one political entity. Because South Africa did not initially accept the plan, the five Western members of the Security Council (the Contact Group ) held a series of talks with the "Frontline States", SWAPO, South Africa and the UN Commissioner for Namibia , Martti Ahtisaari , until a "proposal for
26400-426: Was one of the most widely celebrated and successful functions of UNTAG, while the conflict over the release of prisoners was one of the most difficult. After rejecting the election law proposed by AG Pienaar as seriously flawed, UNTAG officials with the input of the leaders of the political parties drew up rules for political parties defining their role in the new democracy in Namibia. The UN Secretary-General also made
26565-417: Was reached on 20 April 1989 when SADF forces withdrew to base for 60 hours, allowing SWAPO forces to withdraw peacefully. The SADF then had two weeks to confirm that SWAPO had indeed left Namibia and also to capture any weapons caches discovered. The renewed fighting and Ahtisaari's decision to allow South African forces out of their barracks, caused a backlash, particularly among African nations. In response,
26730-399: Was reported with only slightly more than 1% of ballots being declared invalid. The election was declared free and fair by all the international observer groups present and the UN Special Representative, Martti Ahtisaari . SWAPO won the elections with 57% of the votes, short of the two-thirds majority needed to control the constitutional process entirely. A Constituent Assembly based on
26895-405: Was supplemented by a British military intervention . The invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 was overseen by NATO. In 2003, the United States invaded Iraq despite failing to pass a UN Security Council resolution for authorization, prompting a new round of questioning of the UN's effectiveness. Under the eighth secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon , the UN intervened with peacekeepers in crises such as
27060-407: Was the first public announcement that a new international organization was being contemplated to replace the League of Nations. The Tehran Conference followed shortly afterwards at which Roosevelt, Churchill and Joseph Stalin , the leader of the Soviet Union, met and discussed the idea of a post-war international organization. The new international organisation was formulated and negotiated amongst
27225-531: Was well under the original budget of US$ 700 million, and even well under the reduced budget passed by the Security Council of US$ 416 million, costing less than US$ 368.6 million. There were 19 fatalities to UN personnel in just over a year. United Nations The United Nations ( UN ) is a diplomatic and political international organization with the intended purpose of maintaining international peace and security , developing friendly relations among nations, achieving international cooperation, and serving as
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