UN
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental
organization whose stated purposes are to maintain
international peace and security, develop friendly
relations among nations, achieve international
cooperation, and be a center for coordinating the
actions between member’s nations.
It is the world's largest and most familiar international
organization.
The UN is headquartered on international territory
in New York City, and has other main offices in
Geneva, Nairobi, Vienna, and The Hague (home to the
International Court of Justice).
The UN was established after World War II with the
aim of preventing future world wars, succeeding the
League of Nations, which was described as
unsuccessful.
On 25 April 1945, 50 governments met in San
Francisco for a conference and started drafting the UN
Charter, which was adopted on 25 June 1945 and took
effect on 24 October 1945, when the UN began
operations.
At its founding, the UN had 51 member states; with
the addition of South Sudan in 2011, membership is
now 193, representing almost all of the world's
sovereign states.
The UN has six principal organs:
1-the General Assembly
2-the Security Council
3-the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)
4- the Trusteeship Council
5-the International Court of Justice and
6-the UN Secretariat.
The UN System includes a multitude of
specialized agencies, funds and programs
such as the World Bank Group, the World
Health Organization, the World Food Program,
UNESCO, UNICEF & More .
Autonomous organizations linked to the
UN through special agreements include:
1. FAO (Food and Agriculture
Organization of the UN) Works to
improve agricultural productivity and
food security, and to better the living
standards of rural populations.
2. IAEA (International Atomic Energy
Agency) An autonomous
intergovernmental organization under
the aegis of the UN, it works for the
safe and peaceful uses of atomic
energy.
3. ICAO (International Civil Aviation
Organization) Sets international
standards for the safety, security and
efficiency of air transport, and serves
as the coordinator for international
cooperation in all areas of civil
aviation.
4. IFAD (International Fund for
Agricultural Development) Mobilizes
financial resources to raise food
production and nutrition levels among
the poor in developing countries.
5. ILO (International Labor Organization)
Formulates policies and programs to
improve working condition and
employment opportunities, and sets
labor standards used by countries
around the world.
6. IMF (International Monetary Fund)
Facilitates international monetary
cooperation and financial stability and
provides a permanent forum for
consultation, advice and assistance
on financial issues.
7. IMO (International Maritime
Organization) Works to improve
international shipping procedures,
raise standards in marine safety and
reduce marine pollution by ships.
8. ITU (International Telecommunication
Union) Fosters international
cooperation to improve
telecommunications of all kinds,
coordinates usage of radio and TV
frequencies, promotes safety
measures and conducts research.
9. UNESCO (UN Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organization) Promotes
education for all, cultural
development, protection of the world’s
natural and cultural heritage,
international cooperation in science,
press freedom and communication.
10. UNIDO (UN Industrial
Development Organization) Promotes
the industrial advancement of
developing countries through
technical assistance, advisory
services and training.
11. UPU (Universal Postal Union)
Establishes international regulations
for postal services, provides technical
assistance and promotes cooperation
in postal matters.
12. WHO (World Health Organization)
Coordinates programs aimed at
solving health problems and the
attainment by all people of the highest
possible level of health. It works in
such areas as immunization, health
education and the provision of
essential drugs.
13. WIPO (World Intellectual Property
Organization) Promotes international
protection of intellectual property and
fosters cooperation on copyrights,
trademarks, industrial designs and
patents.
14. WMO (World Meteorological
Organization) Promotes scientific
research on the Earth’s atmosphere
and on climate change, and facilitates
the global exchange of meteorological
data.
15. World Bank Group Provides loans
and technical assistance to
developing countries to reduce
poverty and advance sustainable
economic growth.
16. WTO (World Tourism
Organization) Serves as a global
forum for tourism policy issues and a
practical source of tourism know-how.
Additionally, non-governmental
organizations may be granted consultative
status with ECOSOC and other agencies to
participate in the UN's work.
The UN's chief administrative officer is the
secretary-general, currently Portuguese politician
and diplomat António Guterres, who began his first
five year-term on 1 January 2017 and was re-
elected on 8 June 2021.
General Assembly
United Nations General Assembly
The General Assembly is the main deliberative
assembly of the UN. Composed of all UN member
states, the assembly meets in regular yearly
sessions at the General Assembly Hall, but
emergency sessions can also be called.
The assembly is led by a president, elected from
among the member states on a rotating regional
basis, and 21 vice-presidents.
The first session convened 10 January 1946 in the
Methodist Central Hall in London and included
representatives of 51 nations.
When the General Assembly decides on important
questions such as those on peace and security,
admission of new members and budgetary matters,
a two-thirds majority of those present and voting is
required.
1.First Committee (Disarmament and
International Security)
2.Second Committee (Economic and Financial)
3.Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian, and
Cultural)
4.Fourth Committee (Special Political and
Decolonization)
5.Fifth Committee (Administrative and
Budgetary)
6.Sixth Committee (Legal)
As well as by the following two committees:
General Committee – a supervisory committee
consisting of the assembly's president, vice-
president, and committee heads
Credentials Committee – responsible for
determining the credentials of each member
nation's UN representatives
Security Council
United Nations Security Council
The Security Council is charged with maintaining
peace and security among countries. While other
organs of the UN can only make
"recommendations" to member states, the Security
Council has the power to make binding decisions
that member states have agreed to carry out, under
the terms of Charter Article 25.
The decisions of the council are known as United
Nations Security Council resolutions.
The Security Council is made up of fifteen
member states, consisting of five permanent
members …..
((China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and
the United States )) and
ten non-permanent members elected for two-year
terms by the General Assembly.
The five permanent members hold veto power
over UN resolutions, allowing a permanent member
to block adoption of a resolution, though not
debate.
The ten temporary seats are held for two-year
terms, with five member states per year voted in by
the General Assembly on a regional basis.
The presidency of the Security Council rotates
alphabetically each month.
UN Secretariat
United Nations Secretariat and Secretary-General
of the United Nations
António Guterres, the current secretary-general
The UN Secretariat carries out the day-to-day
duties required to operate and maintain the UN
system.
The secretary-general is appointed by the General
Assembly, after being recommended by the
Security Council, where the permanent members
have veto power.
There are no specific criteria for the post, but over
the years it has become accepted that the position
shall be held for one or two terms of five years.
The current secretary-general is António Guterres
of Portugal, who replaced Ban Ki-moon in 2017.
- Gladwyn Jebb United Kingdom 24 October 1945 2 February 1946
Served as acting secretary-general until Lie's election
1 Trygve Lie Norway 2 February 1946 10 November 1952 Resigned
2 Dag Hammarskjöld Sweden 10 April 1953 18 September
1961 Died in office
3 U Thant Burma 30 November 1961 31 December 1971 First non-
European to hold office
4 Kurt Waldheim Austria 1 January 1972 31 December 1981
5 Javier Pérez de Cuéllar Peru 1 January 1982 31 December 1991
6 Boutros Boutros-Ghali Egypt 1 January 1992 31 December
1996 Served for the shortest time
7 Kofi Annan Ghana 1 January 1997 31 December 2006
8 Ban Ki-moon South Korea 1 January 2007 31 December
2016
9 António Guterres Portugal 1 January 2017
International Court of Justice
The International Court of Justice (ICJ), sometimes
known as the World Court.
The court is the primary judicial body part of the
UN. It is the successor to the Permanent Court of
International Justice and occupies that body's
former headquarters in the Peace Palace in The
Hague, Netherlands, making it the only principal
organ not based in New York City.
The ICJ's main function is adjudicating disputes
among states; it has heard cases concerning war
crimes, violations of state sovereignty, ethnic
cleansing, and other issues.
The court can also be called upon by other UN
organs to provide advisory opinions on matters of
international law.
All UN member states are parties to the ICJ
Statute, which forms an integral part of the UN
Charter, and nonmembers may also become
parties.
The ICJ's rulings are binding upon parties and,
along with its advisory opinions, serve as sources
of international law.
The court is composed of 15 judges appointed to
nine-year terms by the General Assembly; every
sitting judge must be from a different nation.
Economic and Social Council
The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)
assists the General Assembly in promoting
international economic, social, and humanitarian
co-operation and development.
It was established to serve as the UN's primary
forum for global issues and is the largest and most
complex UN body.
ECOSOC's functions include gathering data,
conducting studies, advising member nations, and
making recommendations.
List of specialized agencies of the United
Nations
The UN Charter stipulates that each primary organ
of the United Nations can establish various
specialized agencies to fulfil its duties.
There are fifteen specialized agencies, which
perform functions as diverse as facilitating
international travel, preventing and addressing
pandemics, and promoting economic development.
Specialized agencies of the United Nations
No. Acronym Agency Headquarters Head
Established in
1 FAO Food and Agriculture Organization
Italy Rome, ItalyChina Qu Dongyu 1945
2 ICAO International Civil Aviation
Organization Canada Montreal, Quebec,
CanadaColombia Juan Carlos Salazar 1947
3 IFAD International Fund for Agricultural
Development Italy Rome, ItalySpain Alvaro Lario
1977
4 ILO International Labour Organization
Switzerland Geneva, Switzerland Togo
Gilbert Houngbo 1946 (1919)
5 IMO International Maritime Organization
United Kingdom London, United Kingdom
South Korea Kitack Lim 1948
6 IMFInternational Monetary Fund United States
Washington, D.C., United StatesBulgaria Kristalina
Georgieva 1945 (1944)
7 ITU International Telecommunication Union
Switzerland Geneva, Switzerland China
Houlin Zhao1947 (1865)
8 UNESCO United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization France Paris,
France France Audrey Azoulay 1946
9 UNIDO United Nations Industrial Development
Organization Austria Vienna, Austria Germany
Gerd Müller 1967
10 UNWTO World Tourism Organization Spain
Madrid, Spain Georgia (country) Zurab
Pololikashvili 1974
11 UPU Universal Postal Union Switzerland
Bern, Switzerland Japan Masahiko Metoki 1947
(1874)
12 WBG World Bank Group United States
Washington, D.C., United StatesUnited States
David Malpass (president) 1945 (1944)
13 WHO World Health Organization
Switzerland Geneva, Switzerland Ethiopia
Tedros Adhanom 1948
14 WIPO World Intellectual Property
Organization Switzerland Geneva, Switzerland
Singapore Daren Tang 1974
15 WMO World Meteorological Organization
Switzerland Geneva, Switzerland Finland
Petteri Taalas (secretary-general)
Germany Gerhard Adrian [de] (president) 1950
(1873)
Member states of the United Nations
193 UN Member States
2 UN Observer States (Palestine, Vatican)
2 eligible Non-Member States (Niue, Cook
Islands)
17 non-self-governing territories
Antarctica (international territory)
All the world's undisputed independent states,
apart from Vatican City, are members of the United
Nations.
South Sudan, which joined 14 July 2011, is the
most recent addition, bringing a total of 193 UN
member states.
Indonesia is the first and the only nation to
withdraw its membership from the United Nations,
in protest to the election of Malaysia as a non-
permanent member of the Security Council in 1965
during conflict between the two countries.
After forming CONEFO as a short-lived rival to the
UN, Indonesia resumed its full membership in
1966.
Group of 77
The Group of 77 (G77) at the UN is a loose
coalition of developing nations, designed to
promote its members' collective economic interests
and create an enhanced joint negotiating capacity
in the UN. Seventy-seven nations founded the
organization, but by November 2013 the
organization had since expanded to 133 member
countries.
The group was founded 15 June 1964 by the "Joint
Declaration of the Seventy-Seven Countries"
issued at the United Nations Conference on Trade
and Development (UNCTAD).
The group held its first major meeting in Algiers in
1967, where it adopted the Charter of Algiers and
established the basis for permanent institutional
structures.
With the adoption of the New International
Economic Order by developing countries in the
1970s, the work of the G77 spread throughout the
UN system. Similar groupings of developing states
also operate in other UN agencies, such as the
Group of 24 (G-24), which operates in the IMF on
monetary affairs.
Most people knew about an international Climate
Conference, COP27.
COP, or the Conference of the Parties, traces its
origins to the United Nation’s first major
Conference on the Environment and Development.
The parties are the national and international
governments of the world.
COP26, in Glasgow, Scotland was postponed by a
year to November of 2021.
COP26 is set to be the biggest climate conference
yet, slated as the largest gathering of world leaders
ever to be hosted by the UK. Its significance lies in
it being the first to review and strengthen the
commitments of the Paris Agreement.
