Learn More About the UN

The United Nations is an international organisation founded in 1945 after the Second World War by 51 countries committed to maintaining international peace and security, developing friendly relations among nations and promoting social progress, better living standards and human rights. There are currently 192 Member States.

The UN is present all over the world, though it is primarily best known for peace-keeping and conflict resolution. The UN works on a wide variety of issues through various councils, agencies, technical support bodies, and committees – covering sustainable development, environment and refugees protection, disaster relief, disarmament and non-proliferation, promoting democracy, human rights, gender equality and the advancement of women, governance, economic and social development and international health, clearing landmines, expanding food production, and others.

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Overview of the UN

For a quick overview of the various parts of the UN, click here to see the UN’s organisational chart.

The UN is organised as follows:

The General Assembly: this is main body of the UN and contains representatives from each Member State. Decisions on questions of global importance are taken up by the General Assembly. Each Member State gets one vote. The General Assembly has several subsidiary organs - Boards, Commissions, Committees, Councils and Panel, and Working Groups. The General Assembly Secretariat is located in New York, USA.

The Security Council has the responsibility of maintaining international peace and security. The SC also has several subsidiary bodies, including the International Criminal Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. The SC is also empowered to investigate disputes or threats, recommend actions, and, in extreme cases, call for economic sanctions to stop aggression, or to call for military action. The SC has 5 permanent members (China, France, Russia, UK, and US) and ten non-permanent members.

The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is the principal UN organ to coordinate economic, social, and related work of the 14 UN specialized agencies, functional commissions and five regional commissions. The Council also receives reports from 11 UN funds and programmes. ECOSOC serves as the central forum for discussing international economic and social issues, and for formulating policy recommendations addressed to Member States and the United Nations system. There are 54 members of the Economic and Social Council. It is responsible for:

  • Promoting higher standards of living, full employment, and economic and social progress;
  • Identifying solutions to international economic, social and health problems;
  • Facilitating international cultural and educational cooperation; and
  • Encouraging universal respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.

The other main bodies of the UN are the International Court of Justice (with 15 judges), the Trusteeship Council, and the Secretariat.

Below is a list of other UN agencies, bodies, commissions, committees, and others. Those in bold are directly or indirectly relevant to SI’s work.

Under the General Assembly:

Programmes and Funds

Research and Training Institutes

Other UN Entities

Under ECOSOC:

The following bodies report directly to Economic and Social Council.

Functional Commissions

Regional Commissions

Standing Committees

Ad hoc bodies

  • Ad hoc Open-ended Working Group on Informatics

Expert Bodies composed of governmental experts

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