This Issue:

Table of Contents

Cover Story

Cover Story - Spanish Version

Mini-Lesson

Comprehension Quiz

Teacher's Guide and Worksheets

The U.N.'s Brave Dream Turns 50

Most dreams end when the sun comes up. But some last for years and take lots of hard work. It was that sort of dream that brought the representatives of 51 nations to San Francisco in the spring of 1945.

World War II was just coming to an end. Millions of people had lost their lives and homes. Cities in Europe and Japan lay in ruins. So it is easy to understand why those who met in San Francisco dreamed of a world without war.

Over the next months, the representatives worked together. On October 24 they signed a charter creating a new organization to stop wars, called the United Nations. U.S. President Harry S Truman called the U.N. Charter "a declaration of great faith by the nations of the earth--faith that peace can be maintained."

Next week the United Nations will be 50 years old. The original 51 member countries now number 185. Their representatives will be in New York City to celebrate the U.N.'s birthday--and to reflect on whether the U.N.'s brave dream is still alive.

50 Years Of Hard Work
The most familiar image of the U.N. today is its Blue Helmets: soldiers trying to keep the peace in war-torn lands like Bosnia or standing guard so free elections can take place in nations like Haiti. But this is only a small part of what the U.N. does.

For half a century, the U.N. has provided a place where countries can argue and exchange ideas without exchanging gunfire. It has helped create international laws on such matters as the use of the world's oceans and outer space and controlling the spread of nuclear weapons. It has organized important meetings such as the 1992 Earth Summit in Brazil, which focused on the environment, and the Women's Conference last month in China.

The United Nations family includes many organizations that have improved life for the world's people.

The World Health Organization fights disease by making sure children get their shots. Smallpox had been wiped out by 1980. By 1990, 80% of the world's children younger than 1 year old were protected against six other major diseases, including polio and measles. That's remarkable because in 1974 only 5% of babies had this protection.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees provides food, shelter, and protection for 14.5 million people who are victims of war. Right now, the commissioner is Sadako Ogata of Japan. She has created emergency teams that can respond to a crisis within 48 hours (two days).

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) helps children all over the globe.

The Food and Agriculture Organization helps people in poor nations with food and teaches them better ways to farm.

Is The U.N. Doing Its Job?
In recent years the United Nations has been criticized by many of its members, who say the organization has become too large and isn't spending its money wisely. Some of these members, including the United States, have even refused to pay their full U.N. dues. The failure of U.N. soldiers to keep the peace in Bosnia has also drawn complaints.

The head of the U.N., Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt, says people hear about the U.N.'s failures but don't remember its successes. "The United Nations has done a lot," he says. He points out that 70,000 U.N. peacekeepers have helped many nations, including Cambodia, Mozambique and El Salvador, move toward peace.

As for the war in Bosnia, it was impossible to keep the peace when no one there wanted to stop fighting, says General Kofi Annan of Ghana, head of U.N. peacekeeping operations. "It's like building a firehouse when the fire is already burning."

Even Boutros-Ghali admits the U.N. is far from perfect. The original dream of stopping all war may be impossible to achieve. But now, he insists, the world needs the U.N. even more than it did 50 years ago. So many problems today require the cooperation of many nations, he says: "the problem of the environment, drugs, the forests in Brazil." If the U.N. did not exist, he says, we would have to invent something just like it: "There is no other way."

---

THE PENNIES THAT SAVE
What would you buy ifyou had only 6¢? A piece of gum? Candy? How about enough vitamin A to stop another kid from going blind? You could do it if you slipped your 6¢ into a UNICEF box.

Every Halloween, more than 1 million kids trick-or-treat for UNICEF (the United Nations Children's Fund). The pennies, nickels and quarters they collect help change other children's lives. For 45 years, UNICEF has worked by letting kids help other kids.

Since the program began, kids in the United States have raised more than $100 million. UNICEF uses that money to make sure the world's poorest children get the things they need to survive: health care, clean water, good nutrition and education.

By teaching families the benefits of eating the right foods, UNICEF keeps kids healthy. The agency also gives vitamins to mothers, babies and children. Only a few cents a year pays for enough vitamins to stop a child from getting sick.

UNICEF was started in 1946 to help children in Europe and Asia. Today it helps kids in more than 140 countries around the world. Although it is part of the United Nations, it does not get any money from dues paid by member countries. All of UNICEF's money comes from people like you who give to it.

Next: The World's Greatest Honor