Welcome to the United Nations will enable you to explore the UN's main bodies, including the General Assembly, Security Council, Economic and Social Council and International Court of Justice.
You can research exactly what the UN does through these links:
https://www.un.org/en/about-us
https://www.un.org/en/our-work
https://www.un.org/en/events-and-news
The “UN Journal” (on the Events and News website) links directly to UN web TV and Noon Briefings, enabling you to follow daily events at the UN.
Next, you can think about current issues being tackled by the UN through these links:
Economic Development https://news.un.org/en/news/topic/economic-development
Climate and Environment https://news.un.org/en/news/topic/climate-change
Health https://news.un.org/en/news/topic/health
Culture and Education https://news.un.org/en/news/topic/culture-and-education
Read the UN Charter (the founding document of the UN):
https://www.un.org/en/about-us/un-charter
Think, in particular, about Chapter 1 (Purposes and Principles) and Chapter VII (Action with Respect to Threats to the Peace, Breaches of the Peace and Acts of Aggression). Chapter VII sets out the actions the UN may take, and has taken on many times over the last 70 years, when acts of aggression, such as invasions, take place. Often this leads to the establishment, by the UN, of a peace-keeping mission.
Review the UN International Peace and Security website:
https://www.un.org/en/our-work/maintain-international-peace-and-security
and watch “Under a Blue Helmet” YouTube video, linked to that website.
Consider the UN Peace-Keeping website:
https://peacekeeping.un.org/en
and explore some of the 12 current UN peace-keeping or observation mission. Think about the impact of conflict on land prices, urban and rural housing, commercial real estate, food prices, banking systems, public health and education. Consider the differences between inter-state and intra-state conflicts. How might each impact land prices? Commercial real estate? Banking systems? Food production? Investment in infrastructure?
Review how UN peace-keeping is funded:
https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/how-we-are-funded
The annual budget is around $6.38bn. Where does that money come from? Is peace-keeping good value for money? Why or why not? How would you measure the effectiveness of peace-keeping?
Next, think about the UN system:
https://www.un.org/en/about-us/un-system
The system includes many specialised organizations and agencies including:
World Bank www.worldbank.org
International Monetary Fund www.imf.org
Food and Agriculture Organization www.fao.org
World Food Programme www.wfp.org
UN Human Habitats Programme www.unhabitats.org
United Nations Development Programme www.undp.org
United Nations Environment Programme www.unep.org
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) www.iaea.org
Secretariat to the United Nations Framework on Climate Change www.unfcc.int
and many others.
Chose one UN organization or agency that interests you, and research it, using its website. If, for example, you are interested in energy, review the work of the IAEA. When and why was it founded (hint: nuclear bombs in 1945)? What are its aims? How is it governed? How would you measure its effectiveness?