HIST103: World History (1600–Present)

The six official languages of the United Nations include those of the founding nations: Chinese, English, French, and Russian, as well as Spanish (UN Charter, Article 111) and Arabic (S/RES/528 (1982)). All formal meetings and all official documents, in print or online, are interpreted in all six languages.

UN membership is open to all states that accept the obligations of the UN Charter and, in the judgment of the organization, are able and willing to fulfill these obligations.[6] The General Assembly determines admission upon recommendation of the Security Council.

Security Council

The United Nations Security Council is the most powerful organ of the United Nations. It is charged with maintaining peace and security between nations. While other organs of the UN only make recommendations to member governments, the Security Council has the power to make decisions that member governments must carry out under the United Nations Charter.

A decision of the council is known as a resolution. Since 1965, the Security Council has been composed of the original five permanent members (P5) – the United States, United Kingdom, France, Russia, and China – plus ten non-permanent members. Non-permanent members serve for two years; five are elected each year by the General Assembly and are chosen to achieve equitable regional representation.

General Assembly

The United Nations General Assembly is made up of all United Nations member states and meets in regular yearly sessions, beginning in September, and in special sessions, under a president elected annually from among the representatives of five regional groups of states.

As the only UN organ in which all members are represented, the assembly serves as a forum for members to express official government positions and launch initiatives on international questions of peace, economic progress, and human rights. It can initiate studies, make recommendations, develop and codify international law, promote human rights, and further international economic, social, cultural, and educational programs.

Secretariat

António Guterres, United Nations secretary-general, took office in January 2017

The United Nations Secretariat is headed by the United Nations secretary-general, who is assisted by a staff of international civil servants worldwide. It provides studies, information, and facilities needed by United Nations bodies for their meetings. It also carries out tasks as directed by the UN Security Council, the UN General Assembly, the UN Economic and Social Council, and other UN bodies. The United Nations Charter provides that the staff be chosen by application of the "highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity," with due regard for the importance of recruiting on a wide geographical basis.

The term of office of the secretary-general is five years, elected by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the Security Council (closed session "straw votes" of candidates for secretary-general usually precede the council's formal recommendation). Most often, a secretary-general can be re-elected to a second five-year term. The current Secretary-General is António Guterres, who replaced Ban Ki-moon in 2017.^[7]

The secretary-general's duties include helping resolve international disputes, administering peacekeeping operations, organizing international conferences, oversight of the implementation of Security Council decisions, and consulting with member governments regarding various initiatives. Key Secretariat offices in this area include the Office of the Coordinator of Humanitarian Affairs, the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, and the Department of Political Affairs.

List of Secretaries-General

Economic and Social Council

The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations assists the General Assembly in promoting international economic and social cooperation and development. ECOSOC has 54 members, 18 of whom are elected each year by the General Assembly for overlapping three-year terms. The president is elected for a one-year term. Each member of ECOSOC has one vote, and decisions are made by a majority of the members present and voting. ECOSOC meets once a year in July for a four-week session. Since 1998, it has held another meeting each April with finance ministers heading key committees of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Viewed separate from the specialized bodies it coordinates, ECOSOC's functions include information gathering, advising member nations, and making recommendations. ECOSOC seeks advice from non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and has granted many NGOs consultative status.^[8] ECOSOC is well-positioned to provide policy coherence and coordinate the overlapping functions of the UN's subsidiary bodies and NGOs.

Trusteeship Council

The United Nations Trusteeship Council was established to help ensure that non-self-governing territories were administered in the best interests of the inhabitants and of international peace and security. The trust territories, most of them former mandates of the League of Nations or territories of nations defeated at the end of World War II, have all now attained self-government or independence, either as separate nations or by joining neighboring independent countries. The last was Palau, which became a member of the United Nations in December 1994.

Its mission fulfilled, the Trusteeship Council suspended its operation on November 1, 1994, although under the United Nations Charter it continues to formally exist.

International Court of Justice

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) (also known as the World Court) is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, located in the Peace Palace at The Hague, Netherlands. Established in 1946 as a successor to the Permanent Court of International Justice under the League of Nations, its main functions are to settle disputes submitted to it by states and to give advisory opinions on legal questions submitted to it by the General Assembly or Security Council.

A related court, the International Criminal Court (ICC), began operating in 2002 through international discussions initiated by the General Assembly. It is the first permanent international court charged with trying those who commit the most serious crimes under international law, including war crimes and genocide. The ICC tries those who could not be brought to justice by their own people, given that the ICJ was created to handle only inter-state cases.