The United Nations (U.N.) is a global political and diplomatic organization that is primarily committed to international stability and peace. This organization was established officially in 1945 after the horrific events experienced during World War II. After this war, international leaders came together with the proposition to create a global organization that would foster international peace and keeps all abuses of war at bay. The U.N. started off with just 51 members, a number that has grown to 193 members today (Fomerand, et al., 2018) . The key U.N. initiatives include the provision of medical and food assistance in emergencies, prevention of conflict by looking into various options that ensure peace and offering humanitarian assistance and support to millions of people worldwide. While the United Nations has accomplished several successful peacekeeping missions, this has been accompanied by several failures and accusations of spending and bureaucracy (Trueman, 2015) . This essay focuses on the various challenges that the U.N. faced during its creation and struggle to grow to become a powerful organization that it is today.
The U.N. was founded on the pillars of four freedoms: the freedom of speech and expression, the freedom to worship God as one pleases, the freedom from want, and the freedom from fear (Sengupta, 2017) . The conceptual framework of these freedoms accounts for the key challenges that the organization faced during its foundation. The goal of these freedoms was to create a unifying conceptual framework for the institutional reforms by the United Nations and all the associated proposals to come. The core function of the UN is to save nations from the scourge of war and promote peace. However, achieving this goal has not been easy for the organization, and often times, there are a lot of questions regarding the effectiveness of the UN in achieving its key goal of peace and security. Over the years, there have been several cases of bombing and terror attacks and most of the time national instead of human security priorities take dominance in the global narrative. So, has the UN been effective in its pursuit to sustain peace so far? To a major extent, it has. However, we cannot deny the fact that this organization has faced major challenges in pursuit of its objectives.
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The UN came to existence at almost the same time as the nuclear age. The horrors experienced during the Second World Way and culminated with the infamous Hiroshima and Nagasaki nuclear blasts were the first issue to bring to attention the need to address the issue of nuclear bombing (Global Issues Overview, 2019) . The General Assembly immediately creates the UN Atomic Energy Commission whose role was to deal with the issues that came with the discovery of atomic energy. The use of nuclear reactors has been on the rise over the years, and by December 2018, 30 countries were operating about 454 nuclear reactors for electricity purposes. While it is the responsibility of every nation using nuclear technology to ensure nuclear safety, the UN has still had the challenge of ensuring proper use of the technology. The UN has had to deal with a number of nuclear energy accidents, for example, the Chernobyl plant accident in Ukraine in 1986 and the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant explosion in 2011. After the Chernobyl accident, the Soviet authorities withdrew their support and only committed to offering support for explosions at a national level. This withdrawal by Soviet left the UN on its own to deal with the consequences of atomic explosions. All the same, the UN has made major efforts to deal with the issue of nuclear energy, with the most effective one being the conference on disarmament (Global Issues Overview, 2019) . This disarmament forum resulted in the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty in 1996 to promote nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament and also deal with nuclear terrorism.
Another major challenge that the UN had to deal with upon its creation was the issue of AIDS, which was identified in 1983. Since the AIDS epidemic started, over 78 million people have been infected, and there have been approximately 35 million deaths due to AIDS-related illnesses. The rate of infection has seen a dramatic rise since the discovery of the disease, and major efforts have been made to develop an antiretroviral treatment that has helped to improve and extend the lives of those who are infected. The UN was established at a time when HIV infections were at the peak and treatment was yet to be found. The organization has been on the frontline of all the efforts to come up with an effective treatment for the same (Rigour & Flair, 2015). Since 1996, the UNAIDS, a joint UN program on HIV/AIDS has been coordinated all efforts and resources for the UN with the goal of uniting the world against AIDS. In fact, one of the key objectives by UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is to end AIDS by 2030 as evidenced in SDG 3: good health and well-being.
At the time when the UN was established in 1945, nearly a third of the population in the world (750 million) were living in territories that were under colonial powers. Today, less than 2 million people are living under colonial rule, and it can all be attributed to the efforts of the UN. Decolonization was one of the key challenges that the UN took upon itself, and it is one of its first great success, which has greatly changed the face of the planet. The UN strived to enable nations that were under the colonial rule to stand on their feet and thrive on their own. Since the UN was created, 80 nations that were formerly under colonial rule have gained independence (Global Issues Overview, 2019) . These include all the 11 Trust Territories that have attained self-determination through free association with an independent state or independence.
Another key challenge that the UN has had to deal with is the issue of geopolitical inflexibility and aggression. There have been several intense rivalries observed between regional powers and global powers as they support commissions to put up war overseas. As a result, there have been prolonged wars between nations. Prime examples are the wars that were observed in Yemen and Syria. In such a case like this, the UN has a hard time ending a war that is already deeply rooted in various geopolitical issues (Fomerand, Mingst, & Lynch, 2018). On the same note, most nations have the practice of often re-labeling conflicts as struggles against terror. As a result, the actors and factors driving conflicts are often neglected, and this erodes the space that is needed to rebuild peace. Such occurrences have been seen in profile cases such as Turkey, Egypt, and Syria. The UN is, therefore, faced by the challenge of leaders using the excuse of counter-terror to crush political opposition. As a result, the violent conflict ends up being escalated instead of reducing.
The issue of population has been another key challenge that the UN had to deal with upon its foundation in 1945. The world population in 1950 was estimated to be approximately 2.6 billion people. By 1999, it was at 6 billion, which was a very steep growth trajectory (Global Issues Overview, 2019) . This dramatic population growth can be mainly attributed to the increasing number of people who survive to reproductive age, an increase in urbanization, and changes in fertility rates. The UN has had to deal with this fast-rising population growth, and it has been challenging to avail all the necessary resources like food and health aid (Sengupta, 2017) . The organization has been addressing these issues mainly through the UN Population Division and the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), which collect all population information that is needed during the formulation of policies by the UN.
A look at all these issues that the United Nations has had to deal with is an indication that the organization was not off to the best start. While several efforts have been made to deal with all these issues, the question remains on whether it is possible to strengthen the United Nation and better position it to accomplish its purpose. The answer is, yes. A report by (Forum, 2005) argues that there is need for the organization and its practice to move with the times, that the United Nations needs to focus on being a useful instrument to benefit its member states and the world in general, and that it should be fully adapted to meet the needs and circumstances encountered in the 21st century. Furthermore, the strength of the UN should be drawn from its ability to bring together its partners in effective partnerships to facilitate change across all spectrums, and where the action is needed (Forum, 2015).
It is also important that the developing countries get to a point that they accept the status quo that is present in the global political and economic spheres and let go of challenging the realities of power, be it economic, military, or political. The current international system is perceived to be being exploitative, being steered by the powerful and rich who are in pursuit of their interests only, and lacking democracy, equity, and justice (Telegraph, 2015) . This situation poses a major institutional challenge that cannot be evaded but can be minimized.
References
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Forum, G. P., 2005. "In Larger Freedom": A Challenge to the United Nations and to the South, South Centre: s.n.
Global Issues Overview (2019). Global Issues Overview . [online] Un.org. Available at: http://www.un.org/en/sections/issues-depth/global-issues-overview/ [Accessed 26 Jan. 2019]. Historian, 2008. The Formation of the United Nations, 1945. Office of the Historian , 6 February, pp. 1-5.
Nations, U., 2015. Global Issues Overview. [Online] Available at: http://www.un.org/en/sections/issues-depth/global-issues-overview/ [Accessed January 09 2019].
Rigour, A. & Flair, J., 2015. Five challenges for the UN in 2015. The Conversation, Volume III, pp. 50-62.
Sengupta, S., 2017. The United Nations Explained: Its Purpose, Power and Problems. New York Times , 17 September.
Telegraph, T., 2015. UN at 70: Five greatest successes and failures. [Online] Available at: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/switzerland/11700969/UN-at-70-Five-greatest-successes-and-failures.html [Accessed 15 January 2019].
Trueman, C. N., 2015. The United Nations and its problems. [Online] Available at: https://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/modern-world-history-1918-to-1980/the-united-nations/the-united-nations-and-its-problems/ [Accessed 15 January 2019].
