The charter was passed unanimously and even the press got up and cheered.

But whether the idealism was really that strong or universal is doubtful. Right from the start, the victors from World War II - the US, the Soviet Union, Britain, France and China - insisted that they be given veto powers.

They were determined not to allow any action or intervention with which they seriously disagreed and, for the duration of the Cold War, this was a recipe for UN paralysis.

The notable exception was the Korean War, which the Security Council launched to stop the North from conquering the South. The Council was able to act only because of the self-defeating absence of the Soviet Union. It was boycotting the Council at the time in a row over who should represent China. It soon returned and did not make the same mistake again.

Sidelined

Blocked from a real role, the UN fell back on useful humanitarian and monitoring missions but also took refuge in passing resolutions which had little bearing on actual world politics.

The Middle East is an example of its impotence. It failed to stop wars in 1956, 1967, 1973 and 1982. Its key Security Council resolution 242, outlining a solution for the Israelis and along the lines of land for peace, has been only partially fulfilled, and in the Middle East partially has meant not nearly enough.

It did send troops to the Congo in the 1960s when the country began to fall apart after the precipitate departure of the Belgians. The breakaway province of Katanga was brought back under central control, but the experience was not a happy one for the UN, and was symbolised by the death in an air accident in the jungle of its Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold.

In more recent years, it has perhaps been more successful.

Its sanctions helped persuade white South Africans to hand over to majority rule. Its quiet diplomacy helped bring an end to the Iran-Iraq War, and it played useful roles in winding up conflicts and developing democracy in Namibia, Mozambique, Cambodia, El Salvador and East Timor.

However it failed in Bosnia (where intervention was led by the US and its Nato allies) and Kosovo (it was Nato which acted against Serbia, not the UN) and above all in Rwanda where it failed to prevent genocide. It became immersed in scandal over its programme to send food and medicines to Iraq.

‘Two cheers’

And in the background, it was developing international obligations - against torture, against the of nuclear weapons, on the Law of the Sea among many others - which helped to bind the member states together in a worldwide rule of law.

It also drew up plans and goals to alleviative poverty in an effort to show the poorer countries that it was interested in more than war.

It did lose the confidence of the US under President Bush and, partly to try to regain that confidence, the UN decided to reform itself last year.

The results have been worth “two cheers”, said David Hannay.

The two cheers would acknowledge the decision to set up a Peacebuilding Commission to try to avoid future conflicts, the Council on Human Rights to take over from the discredited Commission on Human Rights, a commitment to a convention against terrorism by July and the new duty on member states to fulfil a ” to protect” their citizens, which if not honoured could open the way for UN intervention.

The absent cheer would mark a failure to take tougher action on the spread of nuclear weapons, to define terrorism and to lay our clear guidelines for the use of force.

And there has been no agreement on enlarging the Security Council.

The five permanent members remain the same as those who first took their seats as veto-holders in 1945.

Paul.@bbc.co.uk

Scott Currie, who caused the death of three pensioners in a car crash, hanged himself in a staff-only toilet at Porterfield prison, Inverness, in 2004.

Sheriff Principal Steven Young said Currie, 31, was solely responsible.

But his mother, Carloyn Currie, said they had contacted the prison with concerns over his state of mind.

A Fatal Accident Inquiry in June heard that Currie had previously talked about hanging himself with a belt.

The father-of-four was jailed for four years after crashing head-on into a car on the A96 and killing Kenneth Thomson, 66, from Bucksburn, Aberdeen, and his sisters Mabel, 76, and Dorothy, 81.

They had been travelling from Inverness to Aberdeen on their way home from a family funeral.

The for Mr Currie’s death lay, not with them (prison staff), but with Mr Currie himself Steven Young Sheriff Principal

At the FAI, Currie’s wife Sarah gave evidence that her husband had been suicide which she had reported to prison authorities and raised with local MP David Stewart.

Currie was on the prison’s suicide management programme at the time.

On the night before his death on 20 September, he also had a telephone with his wife in which she told her husband how she was struggling to cope on her own.

Sheriff Young’s findings were:

• Currie’s death was not the result of anything said or done by prison staff
  

• Despite receiving extensive support from a variety of sources in the prison, Currie was determined to take his own life
  

• The telephone conversation the night before Currie’s death was unlikely to be a factor. The decision was either “spur of the moment” or made some days earlier
  

• No-one will ever know why Currie committed suicide that morning.

In a written statement, Sheriff Young said: “I can appreciate the sense of impotence and frustration which was evidently felt by Mrs Currie, and indeed also other adult members of Mr Currie’s family, as they observed his distress in prison.”

The sheriff said he understood that Mrs Currie might have felt let down by the prison authorities, over a lack of action by the prison authorities and her search for “persons at whom the finger of blame for Mr Currie’s death might be pointed”.

Sheriff Young accepted that suicide watch procedures were not always rigidly adhered to by staff at the prison.

The wasn’t even told that Scott had a history of mental health problems and was on medication Carloyn Currie Scott Currie’s mother

However, he added: “I would reiterate that, notwithstanding any shortcomings that there were on their part, the responsibility for Mr Currie’s death lay, not with them, but with Mr Currie himself.”

But Mrs Currie, 55, said she felt helpless and was with the findings.

“They have posters all over that prison advising relatives to contact staff if they are worried about any of the inmates,” she said.

Mrs Currie said that the family had contacted the prison with their concerns but felt not enough had been done.

The family has contacted local Labour MSP Maureen McMillan, who has raised the matter with Justice Minister Cathy Jamieson.

Mrs Currie said she was waiting to hear back before deciding on her next move.

A spokesman for the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) said: “The SPS welcomes the report, but we do recognise that such events are very, very difficult for the family and close relatives of the individuals involved.”

Here BBC readers and listeners share their routine, from negotiating roadblocks, riding buses and greeting the roadside cobbler to hating having to leave a baby at home.

At 0530 I go to the chapel for my morning meditation to make sure that God looks over me during the day.

After this, I set out to go to mass and walk for 15 minutes down a dirty and smelly path - but at least I get to greet people as I walk.

Sometimes I don’t know how to get home because of the road blocks

After the service I go to work in a small mobile clinic in an area where is very common.

I see a lot of miserable people and sad things here.

There are many children dying of Aids and malaria.

At 1430 I leave for my second job - teaching the prostitutes how to read and write.

My day is always uncertain because of the political situation in the country and sometimes I don’t know how to get home because of the road blocks.

But when I eventually do get home, I listen to the news in English, before saying my prayers and retiring to my bed at 2230.

The BBC news bulletin starts my day at around 0300. I sometimes send my via text… but they never get read.

Most of Imadede’s day is spent in the hospital or on buses

I’ll keep trying though.

I stay in bed listening to the radio until 0500, then I do my household chores quickly and leave home by 0630.

I am a nurse in a hospital very far from my home so I spend most of my day riding on buses.

I enjoy my job, but I love the bus rides because no matter how stressed I am, I can calm down with some humour from the peddlers who sell their medicines on the buses.

They claim to have cures for all diseases from impotence to downs syndrome.

I am a health worker, so you can imagine how I feel about their so-called remedies.

By the time I get home it is late and I do a few things before going back to bed with my radio tuned to the BBC.

Its 0700 on a Monday morning, I leave the house on my way to the office.

As I walk the stretch to the bus stop, I meet a young man staggering, half his face swollen.

I choose the bus I like and board

“My mother’s money is sweet,” he mumbles. “Some of it was stolen from me, if she says anything funny I will drink rat poison.”

I move on, hoping he is bluffing.

I greet the cobbler by the roadside.

Everyone greets the cobbler.

He seems to know everyone in the neighbourhood.

At the bus stop the call boys are busy shouting. Each trying to lure me to his bus. Finally I choose the bus I like and board.

Twenty minutes later I am in the office.

I open my Microsoft Outlook and beep beep beep, the reminders pop up.

My day has begun.

Usually I wake up reluctantly, courtesy of my three-month-old son, Shaun, who keeps me half-awake through the night.

I start a fresh day by breastfeeding him as I listen to the radio.

He showers my husband and I with sweet smiles - an assurance that the day will be fine.

I always love coming home to see my husband and baby

After quickly getting ready for work, I have to prepare a bottle of milk for Shaun that will sustain him until evening.

Oh how I hate to leave my little baby.

We live 20 kilometres away from our capital and I finally get to work at 0830.

I check my email and attend to tasks as soon as possible. There are always lots of deadlines to meet.

Some days are so overwhelming that I never hit the mark.

Before I know it, my stomach begins grumbling and it’s time to take a lunch break. I have my lunch at work most times because it’s expensive in town.

At this time I call the nanny at home to confirm that little Shaun is well.

This gives me a push for the afternoon. I can’t imagine what the world was like before the invention of the mobile phone.

I return to my desk and on completing my scheduled tasks for the day.

Time rushes by so fast.

At 1700 I head home early to avoid traffic jams so I can see Shaun before he retires to sleep.

I always love coming home to see my husband and baby - they relieve my stress.

Your African Day

What does your typical day say about you and the place you live? Share the striking, joyful, painful or even frustrating events that mark your day in the new 2006 BBC competition - My Day in Africa.

If you have photos to accompany your send them to newsonline.africa@bbc.co.uk, otherwise use the form at the bottom of the page. Entries should be no more than 300 words.

The best will be published on the BBC News website and broadcast on the BBC World Service’s Network Africa programme. Some will receive small prizes.

Use the form below to send your entry.

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