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Tomorrow is United Nations Day!
UN Day celebrates the day that the organization's charter went into effect.
The Charter of the United Nations was signed on 26 June 1945, in San Francisco, at the conclusion of the United Nations Conference on International Organization, and came into force on 24 October 1945. The United Nations comprises 192 member countries (nearly every country in the world) and works toward maintaining international peace and security and finding solutions for global economic and humanitarian problems.
Now that we've got all the "official history" stuff out of the way...
Our Mom Spot members are from Australia, Canada, and the United States.... so, here's a look at what our countries pledged to contribute to this year's UN Budget & how we compare to some of the other big contributors.
Member Country.....Percentage of Contribution to total UN Budget.... PLANNED Net Contribution (US Dollars)
Australia..........1.787%..........$43,536,970
Canada..........2.977%..........$72,529,132
United States of America..........22.00%..........$598,292,101
China..........2.667%..........$64,976,552
Germany..........8.577%..........$123,740,497
Japan..........16.624%..........$405,013,197
Mexico..........2.257%..........$54,987,656
Republic of Korea..........2.173%.........$52,941,150
Spain..........2.968%..........$72,309,863
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland..........6.642%..........$161,820,119 Old drama: There has been constant conflict between the U.S. and the U.N....to include the UN declaring US military action in Iraq "illegal" and the USA refusing to pay (billions) UN dues. This year, the US announced that it will pay up... Is this is an indication that things will improve? As a side note Australia and Canada have both paid their 2009 dues in full.
Recent drama: The U.S. Delegation walked out of the United Nations General Assembly on September 23rd during a speech by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - after the Iranian president made repeated anti-Semitic remarks and remaks the Delegation perceived to be anti U.S. ... In that same meeting, Libya's Moammar Gadhafi said the H1N1 swine flu was a conspracy. He called for new investigations into the assassinations of President Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr., and demanded European countries repay African countries for colonialism.
On a more positive note, (according to USA Today) here are some things that the UN has done:
* The United Nations consistently sends peacekeepers to countries and regions where industrial powers such as the United States refuse to deploy troops.
As of June, the United Nations had 15 peacekeeping operations ongoing. They include nearly 44,000 military personnel and civilian police in areas stretching from East Timor to Sierra Leone to Bosnia-Herzegovina. The world body has had 1,674 fatalities during 54 peacekeeping operations since 1948.
* The United Nations remains one of the world's largest sources of aid to refugees, children and the poor.
More than 50 million refugees, for example, have received U.N. aid since 1951. In developing nations, U.N. efforts have cut child mortality rates in half and helped eradicate smallpox. Counting all humanitarian missions, the United Nations distributed more than 3 million tons of food to more than 83 million people last year.
Visit the UN's Webpage to learn more about the organization and how it affects the world we live in.
At the very least you'll be able to help your kid with his / her report - LOL!
Brought to you by Our Mom Spot InfoSquad 
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