United Nations الأمم المتحدة 联合国 Organisation des Nations unies Организация Объединённых Наций Organización de las Naciones Unidas
Flag
Map showing the Member states of the United Nations This map does not represent the view of its members or the UN concerning the legal status of any country,[1] nor does it accurately reflect which areas' governments have UN representation.
Headquarters		International territory in New York City, New York USA
Official languages		Arabic Chinese English French Russian Spanish
Membership		193 member states
Leaders
-	Secretary-General	Ban Ki-moon
-	Deputy Secretary-General	Asha-Rose Migiro
-	General Assembly President	Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser
-	Security Council President	Susan Rice
Establishment
-	United Nations Charter signed	26 June 1945 (1945-06-26)
-	Entry into force of Charter	24 October 1945 (1945-10-24)
Website UN.org

The United Nations (abbreviated UN in English, and ONU in its other official languages), is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace. The UN was founded in 1945 after World War II to replace the League of Nations, to stop wars between countries, and to provide a platform for dialogue. It contains multiple subsidiary organizations to carry out its missions.

There are 193 member states, including every internationally recognised sovereign state in the world but Vatican City. From its offices around the world, the UN and its specialized agencies decide on substantive and administrative issues in regular meetings held throughout the year. The organization has six principal organs: the General Assembly (the main deliberative assembly); the Security Council (for deciding certain resolutions for peace and security); the Economic and Social Council (for assisting in promoting international economic and social cooperation and development); the Secretariat (for providing studies, information, and facilities needed by the UN); the International Court of Justice (the primary judicial organ); and the United Nations Trusteeship Council (which is currently inactive). Other prominent UN System agencies include the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Food Programme (WFP) and United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). The UN's most prominent position is Secretary-General which has been held by Ban Ki-moon of South Korea since 2007.

The United Nations Headquarters resides in international territory in New York City, with further main offices at Geneva, Nairobi, and Vienna. The organization is financed from assessed and voluntary contributions from its member states, and has six official languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish.^[2]

History[link]

The League of Nations failed to prevent World War II (1939–1945). Because of the widespread recognition that humankind could not afford a third world war, the United Nations was established to replace the flawed League of Nations in 1945 in order to maintain international peace and promote cooperation in solving international economic, social and humanitarian problems. The earliest concrete plan for a new world organization was begun under the aegis of the U.S. State Department in 1939. Franklin D. Roosevelt first coined the term 'United Nations' as a term to describe the Allied countries. The term was first officially used on 1 January 1942, when 26 governments signed the Atlantic Charter, pledging to continue the war effort.^[3] On 25 April 1945, the UN Conference on International Organization began in San Francisco, attended by 50 governments and a number of non-governmental organizations involved in drafting the United Nations Charter. The UN officially came into existence on 24 October 1945 upon ratification of the Charter by the five then-permanent members of the Security Council—France, the Republic of China, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States—and by a majority of the other 46 signatories. The first meetings of the General Assembly, with 51 nations represented, and the Security Council, took place in Westminster Central Hall in London in January 1946.^[4]

The organization was based at the Sperry Gyroscope Corporation's facility in Lake Success, New York, from 1946–1952, before moving to the United Nations Headquarters building in Manhattan upon its completion.

Since its creation, there has been controversy and criticism of the United Nations. In the United States, an early opponent of the UN was the John Birch Society, which began a "get US out of the UN" campaign in 1959, charging that the UN's aim was to establish a "One World Government." After the Second World War, the French Committee of National Liberation was late to be recognized by the US as the government of France, and so the country was initially excluded from the conferences that aimed at creating the new organization. Charles de Gaulle criticized the UN, famously calling it le machin ("the thing"), and was not convinced that a global security alliance would help maintain world peace, preferring direct defence treaties between countries.^[5]

Legal basis of establishment[link]

Shortly after its establishment the UN sought recognition as an international legal person due to the case of Reparations for Injuries Suffered in the Service of the United Nations^[6] with the advisory opinion delivered by the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The question arose whether the United Nations, as an organisation, had "the capacity to bring an international claim against a government regarding injuries that the organisation alleged had been caused by that state."^[7]

The Court stated: the Organization was intended to exercise and enjoy, and is in fact exercising and enjoying functions and rights, which can only be explained on the basis of the possession of a large measure of international personality and the capacity to operate upon an international plane ... Accordingly, the Court has come to the conclusion that the Organization is an international person. That is not the same thing as saying that it is a State, which it certainly is not, or that its legal personality and rights and duties are the same as those of a State ... What it does mean is that it is a subject of international law and capable of possessing international rights and duties, and that it has capacity to maintain its rights by bringing international claims.^[8]

Organization[link]

The United Nations' system is based on five principal organs (formerly six – the Trusteeship Council suspended operations in 1994, upon the independence of Palau, the last remaining UN trustee territory);^[9] the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the Secretariat, and the International Court of Justice.

Four of the five principal organs are located at the main United Nations Headquarters located on international territory in New York City.^[10] The International Court of Justice is located in The Hague, while other major agencies are based in the UN offices at Geneva,^[11] Vienna,^[12] and Nairobi.^[13] Other UN institutions are located throughout the world.

The six official languages of the United Nations, used in intergovernmental meetings and documents, are Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish.^[2] The Secretariat uses two working languages, English and French. Four of the official languages are the national languages of the permanent members of the Security Council (the United Kingdom and the United States share English as a de facto official language); Spanish and Arabic are the languages of the two largest blocs of official languages outside of the permanent members (Spanish being official in 20 countries, Arabic in 26). Five of the official languages were chosen when the UN was founded; Arabic was added later in 1973. The United Nations Editorial Manual states that the standard for English language documents is British usage and Oxford spelling, the Chinese writing standard is Simplified Chinese. This replaced Traditional Chinese in 1971 when the UN representation of China was changed from the Republic of China to the People's Republic of China (see China and the United Nations for details).

General Assembly[link]

United Nations General Assembly hall

The General Assembly is the main deliberative assembly of the United Nations. Composed of all United Nations member states, the assembly meets in regular yearly sessions under a president elected from among the member states. Over a two-week period at the start of each session, all members have the opportunity to address the assembly. Traditionally, the Secretary-General makes the first statement, followed by the president of the assembly. The first session was convened on 10 January 1946 in the Westminster Central Hall in London and included representatives of 51 nations.

When the General Assembly votes on important questions, a two-thirds majority of those present and voting is required. Examples of important questions include: recommendations on peace and security; election of members to organs; admission, suspension, and expulsion of members; and, budgetary matters. All other questions are decided by majority vote. Each member country has one vote. Apart from approval of budgetary matters, resolutions are not binding on the members. The Assembly may make recommendations on any matters within the scope of the UN, except matters of peace and security that are under Security Council consideration.

Conceivably, the one state, one vote power structure could enable states comprising just eight percent of the world population to pass a resolution by a two-thirds vote (see List of countries by population). However, as no more than recommendations, it is difficult to imagine a situation in which a recommendation by member states constituting just eight percent of the world's population, would be adhered to by the remaining ninety-two percent of the population, should they object.^{[citation needed]}

Security Council[link]

United Nations Security Council chamber

The Security Council is charged with maintaining peace and security among countries. While other organs of the United Nations can only make 'recommendations' to member governments, the Security Council has the power to make binding decisions that member governments have agreed to carry out, under the terms of Charter Article 25.^[14] The decisions of the Council are known as United Nations Security Council resolutions.

The Security Council is made up of 15 member states, consisting of 5 permanent members–China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States–and 10 non-permanent members, currently Azerbaijan, India, South Africa, Colombia, Morocco, Togo, Germany, Pakistan, Guatemala, and Portugal.^[15] The five permanent members hold veto power over substantive but not procedural resolutions allowing a permanent member to block adoption but not to block the debate of a resolution unacceptable to it. The ten temporary seats are held for two-year terms with member states voted in by the General Assembly on a regional basis. The presidency of the Security Council is rotated alphabetically each month.^[16]

Secretariat[link]

The United Nations Secretariat Building at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City.

The United Nations Secretariat is headed by the Secretary-General, 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 Charter provides that the staff shall not seek or receive instructions from any authority other than the UN. Each UN member country is enjoined to respect the international character of the Secretariat and not seek to influence its staff. The Secretary-General alone is responsible for staff selection.

The Secretary-General's duties include helping resolve international disputes, administering peacekeeping operations, organizing international conferences, gathering information on 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 and the Department of Peacekeeping Operations. The Secretary-General may bring to the attention of the Security Council any matter that, in his or her opinion, may threaten international peace and security.^{[citation needed]}

Secretary-General[link]

The current Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon

The Secretariat is headed by the Secretary-General, who acts as the de facto spokesperson and leader of the UN. The current Secretary-General is Ban Ki-moon, who took over from Kofi Annan in 2007 and has been elected for a second term to conclude at the end of 2016.^[17]

Envisioned by Franklin D. Roosevelt as a "world moderator", the position is defined in the UN Charter as the organization's "chief administrative officer",^[18] but the Charter also states that the Secretary-General can bring to the Security Council's attention "any matter which in his opinion may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security",^[19] giving the position greater scope for action on the world stage. The position has evolved into a dual role of an administrator of the UN organization, and a diplomat and mediator addressing disputes between member states and finding consensus to global issues.^[20]

The Secretary-General is appointed by the General Assembly, after being recommended by the Security Council, where the permanent members have veto power.^[21] The General Assembly can theoretically override the Security Council's recommendation if a majority vote is not achieved, although this has not happened so far.^[22] There are no specific criteria for the post, but over the years, it has become accepted that the post shall be held for one or two terms of five years, that the post shall be appointed on the basis of geographical rotation, and that the Secretary-General shall not originate from one of the five permanent Security Council member states.^[22]

Secretaries-General of the United Nations^[23]

No.	Name	Country of origin	Took office	Left office	Note
1	Trygve Lie	Norway	2 February 1946	10 November 1952	Resigned
2	Dag Hammarskjöld	Sweden	10 April 1953	18 September 1961	Died while in office
3	U Thant	Burma	30 November 1961	31 December 1971	First Secretary-General from Asia
4	Kurt Waldheim	Austria	1 January 1972	31 December 1981
5	Javier Pérez de Cuéllar	Peru	1 January 1982	31 December 1991	First Secretary-General from the Americas
6	Boutros Boutros-Ghali	Egypt	1 January 1992	31 December 1996	First Secretary-General from Africa
7	Kofi Annan	Ghana	1 January 1997	31 December 2006
8	Ban Ki-moon	South Korea	1 January 2007	Incumbent

International Court of Justice[link]

Peace Palace, seat of the International Court of Justice at The Hague, Netherlands

The International Court of Justice (ICJ), located in The Hague, Netherlands, is the primary judicial organ of the United Nations. Established in 1945 by the United Nations Charter, the Court began work in 1946 as the successor to the Permanent Court of International Justice. The Statute of the International Court of Justice, similar to that of its predecessor, is the main constitutional document constituting and regulating the Court.^[24]

It is based in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands, sharing the building with the Hague Academy of International Law, a private centre for the study of international law. Several of the Court's current judges are either alumni or former faculty members of the Academy. Its purpose is to adjudicate disputes among states. The court has heard cases related to war crimes, illegal state interference and ethnic cleansing, among others, and continues to hear cases.^[25]

International Criminal Court[link]

The International Criminal Court (ICC), it came into being on 1 July 2002 with the entering into force of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court which was adopted on 17 July 1998. It is the first permanent international court charged with trying those who commit the most serious crimes under international law, including war crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression (although it cannot exercise jurisdiction over this crime prior to 2017). The ICC is functionally independent of the UN in terms of personnel and financing, but some meetings of the ICC governing body, the Assembly of the States Parties to the Rome Statute, are held at the United Nations. There is a "relationship agreement" between the ICC and the UN that governs how the two institutions regard each other legally.^[26]

Economic and Social Council[link]

The ECOSOC chamber

The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) assists the General Assembly in promoting international economic and social cooperation and development. ECOSOC has 54 members, all of which are elected by the General Assembly for a three-year term. The president is elected for a one-year term and chosen amongst the small or middle powers represented on ECOSOC. 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. In addition, ECOSOC is well-positioned to provide policy coherence and coordinate the overlapping functions of the UN’s subsidiary bodies and it is in these roles that it is most active.

Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues[link]

The United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII or PFII) is the UN's central coordinating body for matters relating to the concerns and rights of the world's indigenous peoples. The forum, which evolved from the United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Populations, is an advisory body within the framework of the United Nations System that reports to the UN's Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC); however, it performs an advisory function in relation to other branches of the United Nations system. It also works with other U.N. bodies as they address indigenous rights through Conventions such as the International Labour Organization’s Convention No.169 and the Convention on Biological Diversity (Article 8j).^[27]

The Forum's mandate is to:

• Provide expert advice and recommendations to the Economic and Social Council and to the various programmes, funds and agencies of the United Nations System through the Council;
• Raise awareness and promote the integration and coordination of activities related to indigenous issues within the UN system;
• Prepare and disseminate information on these issues.

Since the passage of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2007, much of the work of UNPFII has surrounded the compliance of U.N. member states to the standards of that declaration.^[27] However, it performs many other international functions as well.^[28]

Specialized institutions[link]

Many UN organizations and agencies exist to work on particular issues. Some of the most well-known agencies are the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Food and Agriculture Organization, UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), the World Bank and the World Health Organization.

It is through these agencies that the UN performs most of its humanitarian work. Examples include mass vaccination programmes (through the WHO), the avoidance of famine and malnutrition (through the work of the WFP) and the protection of vulnerable and displaced people (for example, by the UNHCR).

The United Nations Charter stipulates that each primary organ of the UN can establish various specialized agencies to fulfil its duties.

Organizations and specialized agencies of the United Nations

No.	Acronyms	Logo	Agency	Headquarters	Head	Established in
1	FAO		Food and Agriculture Organization	Rome, Italy	José Graziano da Silva	1945
2	IAEA		International Atomic Energy Agency	Vienna, Austria	Yukiya Amano	1957
3	ICAO		International Civil Aviation Organization	Montreal, Canada	Raymond Benjamin	1947
4	IFAD		International Fund for Agricultural Development	Rome, Italy	Kanayo F. Nwanze	1977
5	ILO		International Labour Organization	Geneva, Switzerland	Juan Somavía	1946 (1919)
6	IMO		International Maritime Organization	London, United Kingdom	Efthimios E. Mitropoulos	1948
7	IMF		International Monetary Fund	Washington, D.C., USA	Christine Lagarde	1945 (1944)
8	ITU		International Telecommunication Union	Geneva, Switzerland	Hamadoun Touré	1947 (1865)
9	UNESCO		United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization	Paris, France	Irina Bokova	1946
10	UNIDO		United Nations Industrial Development Organization	Vienna, Austria	Kandeh Yumkella	1967
11	UPU		Universal Postal Union	Bern, Switzerland	Edouard Dayan	1947 (1874)
12	WB		World Bank	Washington, D.C., USA	Robert B. Zoellick	1945 (1944)
13	WFP		World Food Programme	Rome, Italy	Josette Sheeran	1963
14	WHO		World Health Organization	Geneva, Switzerland	Margaret Chan	1948
15	WIPO		World Intellectual Property Organization	Geneva, Switzerland	Francis Gurry	1974
16	WMO		World Meteorological Organization	Geneva, Switzerland	Alexander Bedritsky	1950 (1873)
17	UNWTO		World Tourism Organization	Madrid, Spain	Taleb Rifai	1974

Membership[link]

An animation showing the timeline of accession of UN member states, according to the UN. Note that Antarctica has no government; political control of Western Sahara is in dispute; and the territories administered by the Republic of China (Taiwan) and Kosovo are considered by the UN to be provinces of the People's Republic of China and Republic of Serbia, respectively.

With the addition of South Sudan on 14 July 2011,^[29] there are currently 193 United Nations member states, including all fully recognized independent states^[30] apart from Vatican City (the Holy See, which holds sovereignty over the state of Vatican City, is a permanent observer).^[31]

The United Nations Charter outlines the rules for membership:

1. Membership in the United Nations is open to all other peace-loving states that accept the obligations contained in the present Charter and, in the judgment of the Organization, are able and willing to carry out these obligations.
2. The admission of any such state to membership in the United Nations will be effected by a decision of the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council.

—United Nations Charter, Chapter 2, Article 4, http://www.un.org/aboutun/charter/

Group of 77[link]

The Group of 77 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 United Nations. There were 77 founding members of the organization, but the organization has since expanded to 130 member countries. The group was founded on 15 June 1964 by the "Joint Declaration of the Seventy-Seven Countries" issued at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The first major meeting was in Algiers in 1967, where the Charter of Algiers was adopted and the basis for permanent institutional structures was begun.^[32]

Stated objectives[link]

Peacekeeping and security[link]

Darfur

Western Sahara

Israel/Palestine

Kosovo

Cyprus

Golan

Lebanon

Haiti

Liberia

Côte d'Ivoire

DR Congo

Sudan

East Timor

Jammu and Kashmir

Afghanistan

Current UN peacekeeping missions

The UN, after approval by the Security Council, sends peacekeepers to regions where armed conflict has recently ceased or paused to enforce the terms of peace agreements and to discourage combatants from resuming hostilities. Since the UN does not maintain its own military, peacekeeping forces are voluntarily provided by member states of the UN. The forces, also called the "Blue Helmets", who enforce UN accords, are awarded United Nations Medals, which are considered international decorations instead of military decorations. The peacekeeping force as a whole received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1988.^[33]

The founders of the UN had envisaged that the organization would act to prevent conflicts between nations and make future wars impossible, however the outbreak of the Cold War made peacekeeping agreements extremely difficult because of the division of the world into hostile camps. Following the end of the Cold War, there were renewed calls for the UN to become the agency for achieving world peace, as several dozen ongoing conflicts continue to rage around the globe.

A 2005 RAND Corp study found the UN to be successful in two out of three peacekeeping efforts. It compared UN nation-building efforts to those of the United States, and found that seven out of eight UN cases are at peace, as compared with four out of eight US cases at peace.^[34] Also in 2005, the Human Security Report documented a decline in the number of wars, genocides and human rights abuses since the end of the Cold War, and presented evidence, albeit circumstantial, that international activism—mostly spearheaded by the UN—has been the main cause of the decline in armed conflict since the end of the Cold War.^[35] Situations where the UN has not only acted to keep the peace but also occasionally intervened include the Korean War (1950–1953), and the authorization of intervention in Iraq after the Persian Gulf War in 1990.

The UN has also drawn criticism for perceived failures. In many cases, member states have shown reluctance to achieve or enforce Security Council resolutions, an issue that stems from the UN's intergovernmental nature—seen by some as simply an association of 193 member states who must reach consensus, not an independent organization. Disagreements in the Security Council about military action and intervention are seen as having failed to prevent the 1994 Rwandan Genocide,^[36] failed to provide humanitarian aid and intervene in the Second Congo War, failed to intervene in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre and protect a refugee haven by authorizing peacekeepers to use force, failure to deliver food to starving people in Somalia, failure to implement provisions of Security Council resolutions related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and continuing failure to prevent genocide or provide assistance in Darfur. UN peacekeepers have also been accused of child rape, sexual abuse or soliciting prostitutes during various peacekeeping missions, starting in 2003, in the Congo,^[37] Haiti,^[38][39] Liberia,^[40] Sudan and what is now South Sudan,^[41] Burundi and Côte d'Ivoire.^[42] In 2004, former Israeli ambassador to the UN Dore Gold criticized what it called the organization's moral relativism in the face of (and occasional support of)^[43] genocide and terrorism that occurred between the moral clarity of its founding period and the present day. Gold specifically mentions Yasser Arafat's 1988 invitation to address the General Assembly as a low point in the UN's history.^[44]

In addition to peacekeeping, the UN is also active in encouraging disarmament. Regulation of armaments was included in the writing of the United Nations Charter in 1945 and was envisioned as a way of limiting the use of human and economic resources for the creation of them.^[45] However, the advent of nuclear weapons came only weeks after the signing of the charter and immediately halted concepts of arms limitation and disarmament, resulting in the first resolution of the first ever General Assembly meeting calling for specific proposals for "the elimination from national armaments of atomic weapons and of all other major weapons adaptable to mass destruction".^[46] The principal forums for disarmament issues are the General Assembly First Committee, the UN Disarmament Commission, and the Conference on Disarmament, and considerations have been made of the merits of a ban on testing nuclear weapons, outer space arms control, the banning of chemical weapons and land mines, nuclear and conventional disarmament, nuclear-weapon-free zones, the reduction of military budgets, and measures to strengthen international security.

The UN is one of the official supporters of the World Security Forum, a major international conference on the effects of global catastrophes and disasters, which took place in the United Arab Emirates in October 2008.

Human rights and humanitarian assistance[link]

Eleanor Roosevelt with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1949

The pursuit of human rights was a central reason for creating the UN. World War II atrocities and genocide led to a ready consensus that the new organization must work to prevent any similar tragedies in the future. An early objective was creating a legal framework for considering and acting on complaints about human rights violations. The UN Charter obliges all member nations to promote "universal respect for, and observance of, human rights" and to take "joint and separate action" to that end. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, though not legally binding, was adopted by the General Assembly in 1948 as a common standard of achievement for all. The Assembly regularly takes up human rights issues.

The UN and its agencies are central in upholding and implementing the principles enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. A case in point is support by the UN for countries in transition to democracy. Technical assistance in providing free and fair elections, improving judicial structures, drafting constitutions, training human rights officials, and transforming armed movements into political parties have contributed significantly to democratization worldwide. The UN has helped run elections in countries with little or no democratic history, including recently in Afghanistan and East Timor. The UN is also a forum to support the right of women to participate fully in the political, economic, and social life of their countries. The UN contributes to raising consciousness of the concept of human rights through its covenants and its attention to specific abuses through its General Assembly, Security Council resolutions, or International Court of Justice rulings.

The purpose of the United Nations Human Rights Council, established in 2006,^[47] is to address human rights violations. The Council is the successor to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, which was often criticized for the high-profile positions it gave to member states that did not guarantee the human rights of their own citizens.^[48] The council has 47 members distributed by region, which each serve three-year terms, and may not serve three consecutive terms.^[49] A candidate to the body must be approved by a majority of the General Assembly. In addition, the council has strict rules for membership, including a universal human rights review. While some members with questionable human rights records have been elected, it is fewer than before with the increased focus on each member state's human rights record.^[50]

The rights of some 370 million indigenous peoples around the world are also a focus for the UN, with a Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples being approved by the General Assembly in 2007.^[51] The declaration outlines the individual and collective rights to culture, language, education, identity, employment and health, thereby addressing post-colonial issues that had confronted indigenous peoples for centuries. The declaration aims to maintain, strengthen and encourage the growth of indigenous institutions, cultures and traditions. It also prohibits discrimination against indigenous peoples and promotes their active participation in matters that concern their past, present and future.^[51] The United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues is the UN's central coordinating body for matters relating to the concerns and rights of the world's indigenous peoples. The forum is an advisory body within the framework of the United Nations System that reports to the UN's Economic and Social Council.

In conjunction with other organizations such as the Red Cross, the UN provides food, drinking water, shelter and other humanitarian services to populaces suffering from famine, displaced by war, or afflicted by other disasters. Major humanitarian branches of the UN are the World Food Programme (which helps feed more than 100 million people a year in 80 countries), the office of the High Commissioner for Refugees with projects in over 116 countries, as well as peacekeeping projects in over 24 countries.

Social and economic development[link]

The UN is involved in supporting development, e.g. by the formulation of the Millennium Development Goals. The UN Development Programme (UNDP) is the largest multilateral source of grant technical assistance in the world. Organizations like the World Health Organization (WHO), UNAIDS, and The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria are leading institutions in the battle against diseases around the world, especially in poor countries. The UN Population Fund is a major provider of reproductive services. 32 UN agencies performing tasks on development are coordinating their efforts through the United Nations Development Group or UNDG.^[52]

The UN also promotes human development through some related agencies, particularly the UNDP.^[53] The World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund (IMF), for example, are independent, specialized agencies and observers within the UN framework, according to a 1947 agreement. They were initially formed as separate from the UN through the Bretton Woods Agreement in 1944.^[54]

The UNDP annually publishes the Human Development Index (HDI), a comparative measure ranking countries by poverty, literacy, education, life expectancy, and other factors.^[55]

The Millennium Development Goals (declared in the United Nations Millennium Declaration, signed in September 2000) are eight goals that all of the then 192 United Nations member states have agreed to try to achieve by the year 2015.^[56]

Mandates[link]

From time to time, the different bodies of the United Nations pass resolutions that contain operating paragraphs that begin with the words "requests", "calls upon", or "encourages", which the Secretary-General interprets as a mandate to set up a temporary organization or do something. These mandates can be as little as researching and publishing a written report, or mounting a full-scale peacekeeping operation (usually the exclusive domain of the Security Council).

Although the specialized institutions, such as the WHO, were originally set up by this means, they are not the same as mandates because they are permanent organizations that exist independently of the UN with their own membership structure. One could say that original mandate was simply to cover the process of setting up the institution, and has therefore long expired. Most mandates expire after a limited period and require renewal from the body, which set them up.

One of the outcomes of the 2005 World Summit was a mandate (labelled id 17171) for the Secretary-General to "review all mandates older than five years originating from resolutions of the General Assembly and other organs". To facilitate this review and to finally bring coherence to the organization, the Secretariat has produced an on-line registry of mandates to draw together the reports relating to each one and create an overall picture.^[57]

Greening the Blue[link]

On 5 June 2007, World Environment Day, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon made public his ambition to make the United Nations more efficient in its operations: “I would like to see our renovated Headquarters complex eventually become a globally acclaimed model of efficient use of energy and resources. Beyond New York, the initiative should include the other United Nations headquarters and offices around the globe.” The UN's progress towards achieving this goal is communicated through the initiative Greening the Blue (see external links below).

Other[link]

Over the lifetime of the UN, over 80 colonies have attained independence.^[58] The General Assembly adopted the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples in 1960 with no votes against but abstentions from all major colonial powers. Through the UN Committee on Decolonization,^[59] created in 1962, the UN has focused considerable attention on decolonization. It has also supported the new states that have arisen as a result of self-determination initiatives. The committee has overseen the decolonization of every country larger than 20,000 km² and removed them from the United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories, besides Western Sahara, a country larger than the UK only relinquished by Spain in 1975.

The UN declares and coordinates international observances, periods of time to observe some issue of international interest or concern. Using the symbolism of the UN, a specially designed logo for the year, and the infrastructure of the United Nations System, various days and years have become catalysts to advancing key issues of concern on a global scale. For example, World Tuberculosis Day, Earth Day and International Year of Deserts and Desertification.

Funding[link]

Top 10 donators to the UN budget, 2011^[60]

Member state	Contribution (% of UN budget)
USA	22.000%
Japan	12.530%
Germany	8.018%
United Kingdom	6.604%
France	6.123%
Italy	4.999%
Canada	3.207%
China	3.189%
Spain	3.177%
Mexico	2.356%
Other member states	27.797%

The UN is financed from assessed and voluntary contributions from member states. The General Assembly approves the regular budget and determines the assessment for each member. This is broadly based on the relative capacity of each country to pay, as measured by their gross national income (GNI), with adjustments for external debt and low per capita income.^[61]

The Assembly has established the principle that the UN should not be overly dependent on any one member to finance its operations. Thus, there is a 'ceiling' rate, setting the maximum amount any member is assessed for the regular budget. In December 2000, the Assembly revised the scale of assessments to reflect current global circumstances. As part of that revision, the regular budget ceiling was reduced from 25% to 22%. For the least developed countries (LDCs), a ceiling rate of 0.01% is applied.^[61] In addition to the ceiling rates, the minimum amount assessed to any member nation (or 'floor' rate) is set at 0.001% of the UN budget. Refer to the table for major contributors.

A large share of UN expenditures addresses the core UN mission of peace and security. The peacekeeping budget for the 2005–2006 fiscal year was approximately US$5 billion, €2.5 billion (compared to approximately US$1.5 billion, €995 million for the UN core budget over the same period), with some 70,000 troops deployed in 17 missions around the world.^[62] UN peace operations are funded by assessments, using a formula derived from the regular funding scale, but including a weighted surcharge for the five permanent Security Council members, who must approve all peacekeeping operations. This surcharge serves to offset discounted peacekeeping assessment rates for less developed countries. As of 1 January 2011, the top 10 providers of assessed financial contributions to United Nations peacekeeping operations were: the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, China, Canada, Spain and the Republic of Korea.^[63]

Special UN programmes not included in the regular budget (such as UNICEF, the WFP and UNDP) are financed by voluntary contributions from other member governments. Most of this is financial contributions, but some is in the form of agricultural commodities donated for afflicted populations. Since their funding is voluntary, many of these agencies suffer severe shortages during economic recessions. In July 2009, the World Food Programme reported that it has been forced to cut services because of insufficient funding.^[64] It has received barely a quarter of the total it needed for the 09/10 financial year.

Personnel policy[link]

The UN and its agencies are immune to the laws of the countries where they operate, safeguarding UN's impartiality with regard to the host and member countries.^[65]

Despite their independence in matters of human resources policy, the UN and its agencies voluntarily apply the laws of member states regarding same-sex marriages, allowing decisions about the status of employees in a same-sex partnership to be based on nationality. The UN and its agencies recognize same-sex marriages only if the employees are citizens of countries that recognize the marriage. This practice is not specific to the recognition of same-sex marriage but reflects a common practice of the UN for a number of human resources matters. It has to be noted though that some agencies provide limited benefits to domestic partners of their staff and that some agencies do not recognise same-sex marriage or domestic partnership of their staff.^{[citation needed]}

Reform[link]

In 2005, then-Secretary General Kofi Annan published his report In Larger Freedom, a proposal for reform of the UN.

Since its founding, there have been many calls for reform of the United Nations, although little consensus on how to do so. Some want the UN to play a greater or more effective role in world affairs, while others want its role reduced to humanitarian work.^[66] There have also been numerous calls for the UN Security Council's membership to be increased, for different ways of electing the UN's Secretary-General, and for a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly.

The UN has also been accused of bureaucratic inefficiency and waste. During the 1990s, the United States withheld dues citing inefficiency, and only started repayment on the condition that a major reforms initiative was introduced. In 1994, the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) was established by the General Assembly to serve as an efficiency watchdog.^[67]

An official reform programme was begun by Kofi Annan in 1997. Reforms mentioned include changing the permanent membership of the Security Council (which currently reflects the power relations of 1945), making the bureaucracy more transparent, accountable and efficient, making the UN more democratic, and imposing an international tariff on arms manufacturers worldwide.^{[citation needed]}

In September 2005, the UN convened a World Summit that brought together the heads of most member states, calling the summit "a once-in-a-generation opportunity to take bold decisions in the areas of development, security, human rights and reform of the United Nations."^[68] Kofi Annan had proposed that the summit agree on a global "grand bargain" to reform the UN, renewing the organization's focus on peace, security, human rights and development, and to make it better equipped at facing 21st century issues. The World Summit Outcome Document delineated the conclusions of the meeting, including: the creation of a Peacebuilding Commission, to help countries emerging from conflict; a Human Rights Council and a democracy fund; a clear and unambiguous condemnation of terrorism "in all its forms and manifestations"; agreements to devote more resources to the Office of Internal Oversight Services; agreements to spend billions more on achieving the Millennium Development Goals; the dissolution of the Trusteeship Council, because of the completion of its mission; and, the agreement that individual states, with the assistance of the international community, have the "responsibility to protect" populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity- with the understanding that the international community is prepared to act "collectively" in a “timely and decisive manner” to protect vulnerable civilians should a state "manifestly fail" in fulfilling its responsibility.^[69]

The Office of Internal Oversight Services is being restructured to better define its scope and mandate, and will receive more resources. In addition, to improve the oversight and auditing capabilities of the General Assembly, an Independent Audit Advisory Committee (IAAC) is being created. In June 2007, the Fifth Committee created a draft resolution for the terms of reference of this committee.^[70][71] An ethics office was established in 2006, responsible for administering new financial disclosure and whistleblower protection policies. Working with the OIOS, the ethics office also plans to implement a policy to avoid fraud and corruption.^[72] The Secretariat is in the process of reviewing all UN mandates that are more than five years old. The review is intended to determine which duplicative or unnecessary programmes should be eliminated. Not all member states agree on which of the over 7000 mandates should be reviewed. The dispute centres on whether mandates that have been renewed should be examined.^[73] Indeed, the obstacles identified – in particular, the lack of information on the resource implications of each mandate – constituted sufficient justification for the General Assembly to discontinue the mandate review in September 2008. In the meantime, the General Assembly launched a number of new loosely related reform initiatives in April 2007, covering international environmental governance, ‘Delivering as One’ at the country level to enhance the consolidation of UN programme activities and a unified gender organization. Whereas little was achieved on the first two issues, the General Assembly approved in September 2010 the establishment of ‘UN Women’ as the new UN organization for gender equality and the empowerment of women. UN Women was established by unifying the resources and mandates of four small entities for greater impact and its first head is Ms. Michelle Bachelet, former President of Chile.^{[citation needed]}

See also[link]

Collective security High-level Panel on United Nations Systemwide Coherence International relations List of current Permanent Representatives to the United Nations Model United Nations Official statistics UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Goodwill Ambassador UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Official languages of the United Nations United Nations Association United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea

United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names (UNGEGN) United Nations in popular culture United Nations International School United Nations Peace Messenger Cities United Nations Postal Administration United Nations Security Council United Nations University University for Peace World Heritage Site Yearbook of the United Nations

United Nations portal

Relations between specific states and the United Nations[link]

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• United Nations Intellectual History Project Book Series. Indiana University Press.
• "Think Again: The United Nations", Madeleine K. Albright, Foreign Policy, September/October 2004.
• Hans Köchler, Quo Vadis, United Nations?, in: Law Review, Polytechnic University of the Philippines, College of Law, May 2005 Online version.
• An Insider's Guide to the UN, Linda Fasulo, Yale University Press (1 November 2003), hardcover, 272 pages, ISBN 0-300-10155-4.
• United Nations: The First Fifty Years, Stanley Mesler, Atlantic Monthly Press (1 March 1997), hardcover, 416 pages, ISBN 0-87113-656-2.
• Act of Creation: The Founding of the United Nations, Stephen Schlesinger, Westview Press (1 September 2003), softcover, 374 pages, ISBN 978-0-8133-3324-3.
• The United Nations Security Council and War: The Evolution of Thought and Practice since 1945, edited by Vaughan Lowe, Adam Roberts, Jennifer Welsh and Dominik Zaum, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2010, paperback, 794 pages. ISBN 978-0-19-958330-0. For US edition, click here.
• United Nations, Divided World: The UN's Roles in International Relations, edited by Adam Roberts and Benedict Kingsbury, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2nd edition, 1993, paperback, 589 pages. ISBN 0-19-827926-4. For US edition, click here.
• A Guide to Delegate Preparation: A Model United Nations Handbook, edited by Scott A. Leslie, The United Nations Association of the United States of America, 2004 edition (October 2004), softcover, 296 pages, ISBN 1-880632-71-3.
• "U.S. At War–International." Time Magazine XLV.19 7 May 1945: 25–28.
• The Oxford Handbook on the United Nations, edited by Thomas G. Weiss and Sam Daws, Oxford University Press, July 2007, hardcover, 896 pages, ISBN 978-0-19-927951-7, ISBN 0-19-927951-9.

• Gold, Dore. Tower of Babble: How the United Nations Has Fueled Global Chaos. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2004.

External links[link]

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Official websites

• United Nations official homepage
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• Journal of the United Nations: Programme of meetings and agenda.
• The United Nations Regional Information Centre (UNRIC)
• Greening the Blue: The United Nations' approach to managing its own sustainability performance
• UN Chronicle Magazine
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• World Map of UN websites and locations

Other

• United Nations Rule of Law, the United Nations' centralized website on the rule of law.
• Documents and Resources on UN, War, War Crimes and Genocide
• Eye on the UN–A Project of the Hudson Institute New York and the Touro Law Center Institute for Human Rights
• United Nations LibGuide resources from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign Library
• History of the United Nations–UK Government site
• Inner City Press–UN related news.
• Outcomes of the 2005 World SummitPDF (82.9 KB)
• Permanent Missions To The United Nations
• Searchable archive of UN discussions and votes
• List of UN datasets on CKAN, a registry of open data
• Task Force on United Nations–U.S. Institute of Peace
• UN watch–non-governmental organization based in Geneva whose mandate is to monitor the performance of the United Nations by the yardstick of its own Charter.
• United Nations Association of the UK: independent policy authority on the UN
• United Nations: Inside the Glass House–Independent news reports by the news agency Inter Press Service
• United Nations eLearning Unit created by ISRG–University of Innsbruck
• United Nations Research Guide from the Mississippi State University Libraries
• Website of the Global Policy Forum, an independent think-tank on the UN
• United Nations Offices Worldwide

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Hillel C. Neuer is executive director of UN Watch, a human rights NGO in Geneva, Switzerland.^[1]

Originally from Montreal, Neuer has written on law, politics and international affairs for publications such as the International Herald Tribune, Juriste International, Commentary, The New Republic Online and the Christian Science Monitor.^[1] He appears regularly before the UN Human Rights Council, intervening for a range of causes including the rape victims of Darfur, political prisoners in Cuba, and Middle East peace. He recently testified as an expert witness before a hearing of the U.S. Congress on UN reform, and is regularly quoted by major media organizations including the New York Times, Al Jazeera ,^[2] Die Welt, Le Figaro, Reuters, Al Ahram.^[3] Neuer has debated UN human rights issues on CNN, Fox News, and the BBC.^[1]

Prior to joining UN Watch, Neuer practiced commercial and civil rights litigation at the international law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP.^[1] Active as a human rights defender, Neuer was cited by the Federal Court of New York for the high quality of his pro bono advocacy on a precedent-setting First Amendment case for prisoners’ rights and freedom of religion, as reported in AIDS Litigation Digest and the New York Law Journal.^[1] Neuer served as a law clerk to the Supreme Court of Israel and a Graduate Fellow at the Shalem Center think tank. He holds a BA in intellectual history and political science from Concordia University, a BCL and LLB from the McGill University Faculty of Law, and an LLM in comparative constitutional law from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.^[1] Neuer is a member of the New York bar and co-author of the Annotated Copyright Act of Canada and Directors and Officers—A Canadian Legal Manual.^[1][4]

Education[link]

Neuer holds four degrees. He graduated from Concordia University with a Bachelor of Arts in intellectual history and political science. He also has a Bachelor of Civil Law and a Bachelor of Laws from the McGill University Faculty of Law, as well as a Master of Laws in comparative constitutional law from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Advocacy for Darfur Victims at United Nations[link]

Neuer is among the leading advocates at the United Nations for human rights victims in Darfur.^[5][6] Neuer chaired the NGO Activist Summit For Darfur in 2007.^[7] He challenged Sudan in 2007 for its rejection of human rights experts in Darfur.^[8] He demanded justice for child victims in Darfur in 2005.^[9]

In August 2007, Neuer was the keynote speaker at the Save Darfur Canada rally in Montreal.^[4] Neuer spoke together with Gen. Lewis MacKenzie, former commander of UN peacekeepers in the Balkans; Prof. Payam Akhavan, international law professor at McGill, and former senior advisor to the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court; Simon Deng, a black Christian from the south of Sudan who was sold into slavery into the Muslim north; Miss World Canada Nazanin Afshin-Jam; and Ayaan Hirsi Ali, author of Infidel.

United Nations Human Rights Testimony[link]

Neuer has represented human rights victims in regular testimony before the UN Human Rights Council. His outspoken advocacy for student Jenya Taranenko preceded her release from a Russian prison.^[10] Neuer debated Zimbabwe's UN ambassador on CNN over the Mugabe regime's dismal human rights record.^[11] In 2007 he spoke out for the Arab, Kurdish, and Bahá'í victims of violations in Iran.^[12] In 2004 he intervened on behalf of victims of torture and censorship in Cote d'Ivoire, Zimbabwe, Cuba, Nepal, Myanmar, and Pakistan.^[13] Neuer also spoke out for the Lebanese victims of Syrian political assassinations.^[14]

Human Rights Advocacy and Legal Career[link]

Neuer practiced commercial and civil rights litigation at the international law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP. Active as a human rights defender, Neuer was cited by the Federal Court of New York for the quality of his pro bono advocacy on a precedent-setting First Amendment case for prisoners’ rights and freedom of religion, as reported in AIDS Litigation Digest and the New York Law Journal. As an associate in the case of Reynolds v. Goord (United States District Court, Southern District of New York), Neuer helped defend the rights of a prisoner and contributed to the successful challenge of the coercive New York State prison tuberculosis control program. Neuer also worked on a major action for thousands of African-American members of the U.S. Air Force who claimed a pattern and practice of discrimination on the basis of race.^{[citation needed]}

Neuer was an associate in the Paul, Weiss legal team that successfully represented Raytheon Company in various claims against Hughes Electronics Corporation surrounding Raytheon's acquisition of Hughes’ defense business in 1997. Under terms of a 2001 settlement agreement, Hughes Electronics reimbursed Raytheon $635.5 million of its $9.5 billion purchase price.^[15]

Neuer's legal work as an associate also contributed to achieving victory for the California Public Utilities Commission in its efforts to uphold the validity of its settlement of various regulatory disputes with Pacific Gas and Electric Company arising from that company's bankruptcy.^[16] On December 22, 2003, Judge Montali of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California entered an order confirming a plan of reorganization for PG&E that was based on PG&E's settlement with the Commission.^[16] The Commission had approved the underlying settlement agreement with PG&E by a vote of three Commissioners in favor and two Commissioners opposed.^[16] The two dissenting Commissioners then purported to appeal to the United States District Court for the Northern District of California from the confirmation order entered by the bankruptcy court. The dissenting Commissioners argued, among other things, that the confirmation order unlawfully restricted the future exercise of their duties as Commissioners and infringed their rights under the First Amendment to oppose the settlement. On July 15, 2004, Judge Walker of the United States District Court heard oral argument on motions by the Commission and PG&E to dismiss the appeal on the ground that the dissenting Commissioners lacked appellate standing. Later that same day, Judge Walker issued a 23-page opinion granting the motions.^[16] Neuer was credited for his work on the Paul, Weiss legal team that achieved the victory.^[16]

Victimized During November US Visit[link]

On November 1, 2007, Neuer was invited to Yale University to present the first-ever report on the United Nations and Anti-Semitism since Secretary-General Kofi Annan's June 2004 call to action.^[17] The next day, on his way to lecture in Boston, Neuer passed through Needham, Massachusetts and was almost killed in a case of mistaken identity after he entered a local restaurant.^[18] An employee, gripped by hysteria after learning of a murder in the town, called the police and falsely reported that he was carrying a gun, leading to a charge of disorderly conduct that was quickly quashed by a clerk and a judge.^[18] On the next business day, the Norfolk County court fully cleared Neuer and, in a rare move, ruled that the police acted without probable cause and refused to issue a complaint.^[18] Initial media reports of a "stand-off" were found to be false and police confirmed that Neuer himself had called 911 twice seeking to exit from the police action that he believed was in pursuit of criminals near the restaurant.^[19][20] "Mr. Neuer was an innocent victim who went to a restaurant in Needham and was traumatized and almost killed," said attorney David G. Eisenstadt. "There was no justification to charge Mr. Neuer with anything."^[21] The Boston Herald, under a photo of Neuer with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, reported that "Human rights activist Hillel C. Neuer is more used to chatting with former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, than being arrested at gunpoint."^[22] On March 31, 2008, the Town of Needham, on behalf of the police, sent Mr. Neuer a full apology, saying he was "an innocent victim caught up in the events of that day."^[23]

2009 Toronto Film Festival[link]

In 2009 Hillel Neuer became involved in the controversy over the involvement of the Brand Israel campaign in the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival. In particular Hillel was angered at the involvement of activist Naomi Klein in the protest.^[24][25] Hillel wrote: "Supporters of liberal democratic values may have a hard time understanding why anti-globalization activist Naomi Klein has recruited Jane Fonda and other stars to boycott the Toronto International Film Festival for the crime of showing films from Tel Aviv."^[26] Subsequently, UN Watch, the organization which Hillel heads, published a report on its website entitled "Naomi Klein Exposed: The Unauthorized Biography".^[27]

Hillel's article on Naomi Klein resulted in the National Post publishing a response from Judy Rebick. Rebick wrote: "Naomi Klein didn't start the protest, but she used her contacts and her celebrity to make it more effective. The focus is on her because she is today one of the most prominent Jewish intellectuals in the world, and she is starting to be vocal in her criticism of Israeli human rights violations. She is risking a lot to speak out so passionately on this subject."^[28]

Rebuttal of Naomi Klein's Durban II Article[link]

In 2009 Neuer criticized prominent anti-globalization activist and author Naomi Klein for allegedly distorting her biography regarding a 1990 article she wrote entitled "Victim to Victimizer." ^[26] He posted her article on the internet under the title "Naomi Klein Exposed: The Unauthorized Biography".^[27] This online publication of her original 1990 article and the challenge to her official biography angered Klein, who lashed out at Neuer's article, calling it "a wacky stalker article."

References[link]

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad محمود احمدی‌نژاد
6th President of Iran
Incumbent
Assumed office 3 August 2005
Vice President	Parviz Davoodi Mohammad-Reza Rahimi
Supreme Leader	Ali Khamenei
Preceded by	Mohammad Khatami
Mayor of Tehran
In office 20 June 2003 – 3 August 2005
Deputy	Ali Saeedlou
Preceded by	Mohammad-Hassan Malekmadani
Succeeded by	Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf
Governor of Ardabil
In office 1 May 1993 – 28 June 1997
Preceded by	Hossein Taheri (East Azerbaijan)
Succeeded by	Javad Negarandeh
Personal details
Born	(1956-10-28) 28 October 1956 (age 55) Aradan, Iran
Political party	Alliance of Builders (2003–present)
Other political affiliations	Islamic Society of Engineers (1990–2005)
Spouse(s)	Azam Farahi (1981–present)[1]
Children	Mehdi Alireza Fatemeh
Residence	Sa'dabad Palace (Official) Gisha (Private)
Alma mater	Iran University of Science and Technology
Profession	Civil engineer
Religion	Usuli Twelver Shia Islam
Signature
Website	Official website

This article contains Persian text, written from right to left with some letters joined. Without proper rendering support, you may see unjoined letters written left-to-right, instead of right-to-left or other symbols instead of Persian script.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (Persian: محمود احمدی‌نژاد‎, Mahmūd Ahmadinezhād [mæhˈmuːd(-e) æhmædiːneˈʒɒːd] ( listen),^[2][3][4] English: /ɑːkməˈdɪnɨʒɒd/; born 28 October 1956^[5][6]) is the sixth and current President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the main political leader of the Alliance of Builders of Islamic Iran, a coalition of conservative political groups in the country. An engineer and teacher from a poor background,^[7] Ahmadinejad joined the Office for Strengthening Unity^[8] after the Islamic Revolution. Appointed a provincial governor, he was removed after the election of President Mohammad Khatami and returned to teaching.^[9] Tehran's council elected him mayor in 2003.^[10] He took a religious hard line, reversing reforms of previous moderate mayors.^[11] His 2005 presidential campaign, supported by the Alliance of Builders of Islamic Iran, garnered 62% of the runoff election votes, and he became President on 3 August 2005.^[12][13] His second presidency term ends on August 3, 2013. He is not eligible to run for another term under the current Iranian constitution.

Ahmadinejad is a controversial figure both within Iran and internationally. He has been criticized domestically for his economic lapses and disregard for human rights. He launched a gas rationing plan in 2007 to reduce the country's fuel consumption, and cut the interest rates that private and public banking facilities could charge.^[14][15][16] He supports Iran's nuclear energy program. His election to a second term in 2009 was widely disputed^[17][18] and caused widespread protests domestically and drew significant international criticism.^[19]

Early life[link]

Ahmadinejad was born near Garmsar in the village of Aradan, in Semnan province. His father, Ahmad, was an ironworker, grocer, barber, blacksmith and religious Shi'a who taught the Qur'an.^[20] His mother, Khanom, was a Seyyede, an honorific title given to those believed to be direct bloodline descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.^[20] Ahmadinejad's father changed his name from "Saborjhian"^[21] or "Sabaghian"^[22] when Ahmadinejad was four years old to avoid discrimination when the family moved to Tehran, as the rural name indicated a lowly social standing. Sabor is Persian for thread painter,^[23] a once common occupation within the Semnan carpet industry. Ahmadinejad was chosen as it means from the race of Ahmad, one of the names given to Muhammad.

In 1976, Ahmadinejad took Iran's national university entrance contests. According to his autobiography, he was ranked 132nd out of 400,000 participants that year,^[24] and soon enrolled in the Iran University of Science and Technology (IUST) as an undergraduate student of civil engineering. He earned his PhD (1997) in transportation engineering and planning from Iran University of Science and Technology, located at Tehran, when he was the Mayor of Ardabil Province, located at the north-west of the country.

Supporters of Ahmadinejad consider him a "simple man" who leads a "modest" life.^[25] As president, he wanted to continue living in the same house in Tehran his family had been living in, until his security advisers insisted that he move. Ahmadinejad had the antique Persian carpets in the Presidential palace sent to a carpet museum, and opted instead to use inexpensive carpets. He is said to have refused the V.I.P. seat on the Presidential plane, and that he eventually replaced it with a cargo plane instead.^[9][26] Also upon gaining Iran's presidency, Ahmadinejad held his first cabinet meeting in the Imam Reza shrine at Mashhad, an act perceived as "pious".^[27]

Administrative and academic careers[link]

Some details of Ahmadinejad's life during the 1980s are not publicly known, but it is known that he held a number of administrative posts in the province of West Azerbaijan, Iran.^[9]

Many reports say that after Saddam Hussein invaded Iran, Ahmadinejad joined the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution^[10] and served in their intelligence and security apparatus,^[10] but his advisor Mojtaba Samareh Hashemi says "He has never been a member or an official member of the Revolutionary Guards", having been a Basiji-like volunteer instead.^[28]

Ahmadinejad was accepted to a Master of Science program at his alma mater in 1986. He joined the faculty there as a lecturer in 1989,^[7][29] and in 1997 received his doctorate in civil engineering and traffic transportation planning.^[7][10]

Embassy siege[link]

Shortly after being elected president, some western media outlets published claims that Ahmadinejad was among the students who stormed the US embassy in Tehran, sparking the Iran hostage crisis. This claim has been denied by the Iranian government, the Iranian opposition as well as a CIA investigation on the matter.

Early political career[link]

After the Islamic Revolution, Ahmadinejad became a member of the Office for Strengthening Unity,^[8] an organization developed to prevent students from sympathizing or allying with the budding Mojahedin-e Khalq.^[8]

He first took political office as unelected governor to both Maku and Khoy in West Azarbaijan Province during the 1980s.^[10] He eventually became an advisor to the governor general of Kurdistan Province for two years.^[7][29] During his doctoral studies at Tehran, he was appointed governor general of Ardabil Province from 1993 until Mohammad Khatami removed him in 1997 ^[29] when he returned to teaching.^[10]

Mayor of Tehran[link]

In 2003, a 12 percent turnout elected conservative candidates from the Alliance of Builders of Islamic Iran to the City Council of Tehran.^[7] The Council appointed Ahmadinejad mayor.^[10]

As mayor, he reversed changes made by previous moderate and reformist mayors. He put religious emphasis on the activities of cultural centres they had founded, publicised the separation of elevators for men and women in the municipality offices,^[11] and suggested that people killed in the Iran–Iraq War be buried in major city squares of Tehran. He also worked to improve the traffic system and put an emphasis on charity, such as distributing free soup to the poor.

After his election to the presidency, Ahmadinejad's resignation as the Mayor of Tehran was accepted on 28 June 2005. After two years as mayor, Ahmadinejad was one of 65 finalists for World Mayor in 2005, selected from 550 nominees, only nine of them from Asia.^[30] He was among three strong candidates for the top ten list, but his resignation made him ineligible.^[30]

Presidency[link]

2005 campaign[link]

Ahmadinejad was not widely known when he entered the presidential election campaign as he had never run for office before, (he had only been mayor of Tehran for two years and had been appointed not elected^[31]), although he had already made his mark in Tehran for rolling back earlier reforms. He was/is a member of the Central Council of the Islamic Society of Engineers, but his key political support is inside the Alliance of Builders of Islamic Iran (Abadgaran or Developers).^[32] He was also helped by support from supreme leader Ali Khamenei, who some described Ahmadinejad as a "protege" of.^[33]

Ahmadinejad generally sent mixed signals about his plans for his presidency, perhaps to attract both religious conservatives and the lower economic classes.^[34] His campaign slogan was: "It's possible and we can do it".^[35]

In the campaign, he took a populist approach. He emphasized his own modest life, and compared himself with Mohammad Ali Rajai, Iran's second president. Ahmadinejad said he planned to create an "exemplary government for the people of the world" in Iran. He was a "principlist", acting politically based on Islamic and revolutionary principles. One of his goals was "putting the petroleum income on people's tables", meaning Iran's oil profits would be distributed among the poor.^[36]

Ahmadinejad was the only presidential candidate who spoke out against future relations with the United States. He told Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting the United Nations was "one-sided, stacked against the world of Islam."^[37] He opposed the veto power of the UN Security Council's five permanent members: "It is not just for a few states to sit and veto global approvals. Should such a privilege continue to exist, the Muslim world with a population of nearly 1.5 billion should be extended the same privilege." He defended Iran's nuclear program and accused "a few arrogant powers" of trying to limit Iran's industrial and technological development in this and other fields.

In his second round campaign, he said, "We didn't participate in the revolution for turn-by-turn government....This revolution tries to reach a world-wide government." He spoke of an extended program using trade to improve foreign relations, and called for greater ties with Iran's neighbours and ending visa requirements between states in the region, saying that "people should visit anywhere they wish freely. People should have freedom in their pilgrimages and tours."^[35]

Ahmadinejad described Ayatollah Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi, a senior cleric from Qom as his ideological and spiritual mentor. Mesbah founded the Haghani School of thought in Iran. He and his team strongly supported Ahmadinejad's 2005 presidential campaign.^[38]

2005 election[link]

Ahmadinejad won 62 percent of the vote in the run-off poll against Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei authorized his presidency on 3 August 2005.^[12][13] Ahmedinejad kissed Khamenei's hand during the ceremony to show his loyalty.^[39][40]

2005 cabinet appointments[link]

Iran's President is constitutionally obliged to obtain confirmation from the parliament for his selection of ministers.^[42] Ahmadinejad presented a short-list at a private meeting on 5 August, and his final list on 14 August. The Majlis rejected all of his cabinet candidates for the oil portfolio and objected to the appointment of his allies in senior government office.^[36] The Majlis approved a cabinet on 24 August.^[43] The ministers promised to meet frequently outside Tehran and held their first meeting on 25 August in Mashhad, with four empty seats for the unapproved nominees.^[44]

2006 Councils and Assembly of Experts election[link]

Ahmadinejad’s team lost the 2006 city council elections,^[45] and his spiritual mentor, Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi, was ranked sixth on the country's Assembly of Experts.^{[citation needed]} In the first nationwide election since Ahmadinejad became President, his allies failed to dominate election returns for the Assembly of Experts and local councils. Results, with a turnout of about 60%, suggested a voter shift toward more moderate policies. According to an editorial in the Kargozaran independent daily newspaper, "The results show that voters have learned from the past and concluded that we need to support.. moderate figures." An Iranian political analyst said that "this is a blow for Ahmadinejad and Mesbah Yazdi's list."^[45]

2009 presidential election[link]

Ahmadinejad in Yekaterinburg, Russia, 16 June 2009

On 23 August 2008, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei announced that he "sees Ahmadinejad as president in the next five years," a comment interpreted as indicating support for Ahmadinejad's reelection.^[46] 39,165,191 ballots were cast in the election on 12 June 2009, according to Iran's election headquarters. Ahmadinejad won 24,527,516 votes, (62.63%). In second place, Mir-Hossein Mousavi, won 13,216,411 (33.75%) of the votes.^[47] The election drew unprecedented public interest in Iran.

2012 parliamentary elections[link]

Ahmadinejad suffered a defeat in March/May 2012 parliamentary elections with Ayatollah Khamenei’s "Principalist" allies winning about three quarters of the parliaments 290 seats, and Ahmadinejad supporters far fewer.^[48]

2009 Iranian election protests[link]

As of April 2011^[update], the election results remain in dispute with both Mousavi and Ahmadinejad and their respective supporters who believe that electoral fraud occurred during the election. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei formally endorsed Ahmadinejad as President on 3 August 2009, and Ahmadinejad was sworn in for a second term on 5 August 2009.^[49] Iran's Constitution stipulates term limits of two terms for the office of President.^[50] Several Iranian political figures appeared to avoid the ceremony. Former presidents Mohammad Khatami, and Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who is currently head of the Expediency Discernment Council, along with opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, did not attend the ceremony.^[51] Opposition groups asked protesters on reformist websites and blogs to launch new street demonstrations on the day of the inauguration ceremony.^[52] On inauguration day, hundreds of riot police met opposition protesters outside parliament. After taking the oath of office, which was broadcast live on Iranian state television, Ahmadinejad said that he will "protect the official faith, the system of the Islamic revolution and the constitution".^[49] France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States announced that they would not send the usual letters of congratulation.^[49]

2009 cabinet appointments[link]