The United Nations (UN), then and now

What you'll need

• Laptop and projector
• "History of the United Nations" video (Source: Behind the news)
• “UNEP mind map instructions" handout, 1 per groups of 3 or 4 students
• Pens or pencils for each student

1. Start with a class discussion asking students if they know anything about the United Nations. When was it created? Why was it created? 
2. Watch this video: "History of the United Nations".
3. Review key points of the video. 
   • The UN was created in 1945, with the goal of maintaining global peace, after millions died in World War II. 
   • Today, there are 193 member states. 
   • The Security Council has military decision-making power, with five permanent members (United Kingdom, France, USA, Russia, China) and 10 members on two-year terms. 
4. Ask students why they think an international body like the UN would be useful in addressing big global problems like world peace. Let them think about why it would be useful to have all the different countries in one room together, and how it can help break down barriers to understanding, encourage cooperation, and make it easier for leaders to have conversations with people who they might consider “enemies”. 
5. As a class, brainstorm what other global problems the UN is addressing or could help to address. Write ideas down on the board. Some ideas may include climate change, poverty, pollution, plastic in the ocean, health crises like COVID-19 or HIV/AIDS. These issues affect people around the world and an organization like the UN can help countries to work together toward solutions. 
6. The UN has many agencies and programs. Ask students to consider if they have heard of any like UNICEF. 
   • The UN established UNICEF in 1946 to meet the emergency needs of children in post-war Europe and China. 
   • In 1950 UNICEF’s mandate was extended to address the long-term needs of children and women in developing countries everywhere.
7. Next, ask students to focus on the environment and climate change. In 1972, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) was created to address global environmental issues. For example, in 1987, the UNEP brought countries together to negotiate the Montreal Protocol, which addressed the problem of chemicals that were creating a hole in the ozone layer, and because of agreements to ban harmful chemicals like chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), the hole is projected to heal by the 2060s. 
8. Provide groups the “UNEP mind map instructions" handout. Students will brainstorm roles for the UNEP to combat current environmental problems. 
   • Tell students that they will work in small groups (3 or 4) to create mind maps to explore ways UNEP could be combatting global environmental issues.
   • On the handout is the mission of the UNEP which is to inspire, inform, and enable nations and peoples to improve their quality of life without compromising that of future generations. 
   • Have them choose 3 to 4 big topics like water, agriculture, or energy, choosing from the list that was created during the class brainstorm. Remind students that the UN’s role is to create international programs and agreements, so they should be thinking of projects on an international scale.
   • Once they have chosen their topics challenge them to come up with 2 to 5 ideas for projects that the UNEP could do to address those problems. 
9. When the mind maps are complete, ask each group to share their project ideas with the class.  
10. Either on a screen visible to the class, or each student on individual devices, explore existing UNEP programs on their website. Ask students to look for programs that match their own ideas to see if they already exist.