International Law explainers / What is the UN's role in all this?

It's one of the most complex organisations in the world.

Understanding how it works can help you understand the way the world works.

Nations was set up after the horrors of World War Two to stop anything like that happening again.

By providing a platform for nations to talk to each other.

After country started talking, they began to make agreements about how they saw the world, like the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

UN holds more than 560 multilateral treaties, which are a major source of international law.

UN also has many agencies running projects on everything from child literacy to sustainable farming.

Of course, it doesn't always work.

Some say the UN is too expensive and bureaucratic.

And, because countries can't always agree, it can be slow to act.