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The last decade has seen the United Nations having to change and evolve in order to face new challenges in global politics. The UN was formed after the Second World War in an attempt to create a more effective global system of collective security than its predecessor, the League of Nations which failed to prevent WW2. The new organization was headed by a Security Council made up of the victorious powers, three of whom were European, the Soviet Union, Britain and France. However, the defeat of Germany left a power vacuum in Europe which was contested by the Western Allies on the one side and the Soviet Union on the other, leading to the Cold War.

The Cold War saw international politics becoming polarised and thus proved a major obstacle to obtaining peacekeeping agreements. When the Cold War ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union, there was much enthusiasm for the UN to once again fulfil its role as an organisation for national co-operation and peace in a world where armed conflict continued in various parts of the world. However, the position of international dominance America assumed after the Cold War posed many fresh challenges for the UN.

Global poverty is an issue which is constantly being brought into the public eye via the media and events such as Live 8. In the past decade the UN General assembly has held international conferences to centre international attention on the issue of global poverty and form a basis for united action. For example, in June 1996 The Second UN Conference on Human Settlements was held in Istanbul. The conference highlighted the problems facing human settlement development and management for the future. The purpose of the second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements wass to address two themes of equal global importance; adequate shelter for all and sustainable human settlements development in an urbanizing world.

The UN has attempted to relieve poverty in developing countries with varying degrees of success. With the assistance of other aid organisations such as the Red Cross, the humanitarian arms of the UN such as the World Food Programme and the High Commission for Refugees provide humanitarian aid such as shelter, water and food to areas where famines, natural disasters or war have afflicted the population. Recent examples of this include aid efforts in tsunami stricken Thailand and war-torn Sudan.

As well as fulfilling its humanitarian aims, the preservation of human rights was also an integral part of the creation

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