Coordinates: 40°44′58″N 73°58′5″W / 40.74944°N 73.96806°W / 40.74944; -73.96806

United Nations HQ مقر الأمم المتحدة (Arabic) 联合国总部大楼 (Chinese) Siège des Nations unies (French) Центральные Учреждения Организации Объединенных Наций (Russian) Sede de las Naciones Unidas (Spanish)
United Nations Headquarters in New York City, as viewed from the East River.
General information
Location	New York City, USA (International Territory)
Address	760 United Nations Plaza New York, New York 10017 United States
Coordinates	40°44′58″N 73°58′5″W / 40.74944°N 73.96806°W / 40.74944; -73.96806
Construction started	1947 (1947)[1]
Completed	9 October 1952 (1952-10-09)[1][2]
Height	155 metres (509 ft)[1]
Technical details
Floor count	39[1]
Design and construction
Owner	United Nations
Architect	Oscar Niemeyer

The headquarters of the United Nations is a complex in New York City. The complex has served as the official headquarters of the United Nations since its completion in 1952. It is located in the Turtle Bay neighborhood of Manhattan, on spacious grounds overlooking the East River. Its borders are First Avenue on the west, East 42nd Street to the south, East 48th Street on the north and the East River to the east.^[3] Turtle Bay is occasionally used as a metonym for the U.N. headquarters or for the U.N. as a whole.^[4]

The United Nations has three additional, subsidiary, regional headquarters or headquarter districts. These are located in Geneva (Switzerland), Vienna (Austria), and Nairobi (Kenya).^[5] These adjunct offices help represent UN interests, facilitate diplomatic activities, and enjoy certain extraterritorial privileges, but only the main headquarters in New York contains the seats of the principal organs of the UN, including the General Assembly and Security Council. All 15 of the United Nations' specialized agencies are located outside New York at these other headquarters or in other cities.

Though it is in New York City, and part of the United States, the land used by the United Nations Headquarters is under the administration of the United Nations, while also being subject to most local, state, and federal laws.^[6] For award purposes, Amateur radio operators consider it a separate "entity", and for communications the UN has its own internationally recognized ITU prefix, 4U.

The United Nations Headquarters complex was constructed in New York City in 1949–1950 beside the East River, on 17 acres (69,000 m²) of land purchased from the foremost New York real estate developer of the time, William Zeckendorf. Nelson Rockefeller arranged this purchase, after an initial offer to locate it on the Rockefeller family estate of Kykuit was rejected as being too isolated from Manhattan. The US$8.5 million purchase was then funded by his father, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., who donated it to the city.^[7] The lead architect for the building was the real estate firm of Wallace Harrison, the personal architectural adviser for the Rockefeller family.

Planning and construction[link]

Map of the United Nations headquarters

Rather than announce a competition for the design of the facilities for the headquarters, the UN decided to commission a collaborative effort among a multinational team of leading architects. The American architect Wallace K. Harrison was named as chief architect and director of planning, and a board of design consultants was nominated by member governments. The board consisted of N. D. Bassov of the Soviet Union, Gaston Brunfaut (Belgium), Ernest Cormier (Canada), Le Corbusier (France), Liang Seu-cheng (China), Sven Markelius (Sweden), Oscar Niemeyer (Brazil), Howard Robertson (United Kingdom), G. A. Soilleux (Australia), and Julio Vilamajó (Uruguay).^[8]

Bound by such constraints as the East River Drive (later the Franklin D. Roosevelt East River Drive) and the East River, it became necessary to build a high-rise office building.^{[citation needed]} 50 designs were evaluated by the team^{[citation needed]}, and a design based on Niemeyer's project 32 and Le Corbusier's project 23 was finally chosen. Le Corbusier's project 23 consisted of one building containing both the Assembly Hall and the councils in the centre of the site. Neimeyer's plan proposed two buildings, one for the General Assembly, located alongside the river, and one for the Secretariat. This plan included a public plaza as well. Le Corbusier and Niemeyer together submitted the scheme 23–32, which was built and is what can be seen today.^[9] The 39-story^[1] Secretariat Building was controversial in its time but became a modernist landmark.

Per an agreement with the city, the buildings met some but not all local fire safety and building codes.^{[citation needed]} The Secretary-General's office is on the 38th floor.

Construction on the initial buildings began in 1947, with the cornerstone laid on 24 October 1949,^[8] and was completed in 1952. The Dag Hammarskjöld Building was added in 1961. The construction of the headquarters was financed by an interest-free loan of $65 million made by the United States government, and the cost of construction was also reported as $65 million.^[10]

Proposed alternatives[link]

San Francisco, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens,^[8] Chopmist Hill Area of Scituate, Rhode Island and even the Black Hills of South Dakota and Bald Head Island in North Carolina^[11] were all proposed as sites for the United Nations Headquarters before Manhattan was finally decided upon. It was later revealed that France, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands voted against situating the headquarters in the United States.^[12] The Manhattan site was selected after John D. Rockefeller, Jr. offered to donate $8.5 million to purchase the land.^[8]

UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld in front of the General Assembly building (1950s)

Prior to the choice of New York City, Navy Island near Niagara Falls in Ontario, Canada was proposed as an alternative headquarters for the United Nations. An international committee touted the site as the "World Peace Capital" during 1945 and 1946. The island was considered an ideal location as it lay on the boundary of two bordering countries with a long peaceful status. The proposal further stipulated that Navy Island would be ceded to the United Nations as long as the headquarters remained, and to revert to the Canadian Government should the UN move. The proposal was ultimately rejected in favor of the current site in New York City.^[13]

In 1945–6, London hosted the first meeting of the General Assembly in Methodist Central Hall, and the Security Council in Church House. The third and sixth General Assembly sessions, in 1948 and 1951, met in the Trocadéro in Paris. Prior to the construction of the current complex, the UN was headquartered at a temporary location at the Sperry Gyroscope Corporation's offices in Lake Success, New York, an eastern suburb of the city in Nassau County on Long Island, from 1946–1952.^[14] The Security Council also held sessions on what was then the Bronx campus of Hunter College (now the site of Lehman College) from March to August 1946.^[15][16] The UN also met at what is now the New York City Pavilion at the 1964 New York World's Fair site. The General Assembly met at what is now the ice skating rink,^[17] and the Long Island Rail Road reopened the former World's Fair station as United Nations station^[18]

Corbusier and Niemeyer[link]

Right after his arrival in New York, Niemeyer met Corbusier on his demands. He requested Niemeyer not to submit a scheme, but rather to collaborate with him on a project, on the basis that he could ‘create a commotion’. It was Wallace Harrison who tried to convince Niemeyer to move on his own.

50 designs were evaluated by the team, and Niemeyer's project 32 was finally chosen. As opposed to Corbusier’s project 23, which consisted of one building containing both the Assembly Hall and the councils in the centre of the site (as it was hierarchically the most important building), Niemeyer's plan split the councils from the Assembly Hall, locating the first alongside the river, and the second on the right side of the secretariat. This would not split the site, but on the contrary, would create a large civic square. George Dudley latter stated:

It literally took our breath away to see the simple plane of the site kept open from First Avenue to the River, only three structures on it, standing free, a fourth lying low behind them along the river’s edge. …He [Niemeyer] also said, ‘beauty will come from the buildings being in the right space!’. The comparison between Le Corbusier’s heavy block and Niemeyer’s startling, elegantly articulated composition seem to me to be in everyone’s mind…^[19]

Latter on the day, Corbusier came once again to Niemeyer, and asked him to reposition the Assembly Hall back to the centre of the site. Such modification would destroy Niemeyer’s plans for a large civic square. However, he finally decided to accept the modification:

I felt he [Corbusier] would like to do his project, and he was the master. I do not regret my decision.^[20]

Together, they submitted the scheme 23–32, which was built and is what can be seen today.

International character[link]

View from First Avenue towards the library, Secretariat and General Assembly buildings

Flags of the member states, arranged in alphabetical order

The site of the United Nations Headquarters has extraterritoriality status.^[21] This affects some law enforcement where UN rules override the laws of New York City, but it does not give immunity to those who commit crimes there. In addition, the United Nations Headquarters remains under the jurisdiction and laws of the United States, although a few members of the UN staff have diplomatic immunity and so cannot be prosecuted by local courts unless the diplomatic immunity is waived by the Secretary-General. In 2005, Secretary-General Kofi Annan waived the immunity of Benon Sevan, Aleksandr Yakovlev, and Vladimir Kuznetsov in relation to the Oil-for-Food Programme.^[22] All have been charged in the U.S. Federal Court of New York, except for Kofi Annan's own son, who was also implicated in the scandal. Benon Sevan later fled the U.S. to Cyprus, while Aleksandr Yakovlev and Vladimir Kuznetsov decided to stand trial.

The currency in use at the United Nations headquarters' businesses is the U.S. dollar. English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat; most of the daily communication within secretariat and most of the signs in the UN headquarters building are in French and English. English, French and Spanish are the working languages of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC); and Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish are working and official languages of the General Assembly.

The complex has a street address of United Nations Headquarters, New York, NY 10017, USA. For security reasons, all mail sent to this address is sterilized, so items that may be degraded should be sent by courier.^[23] The United Nations Postal Administration issues stamps, which must be used on stamped mail sent from the building. Journalists, when reporting from the complex, often use "United Nations" rather than "New York" as the identification of their location in recognition of the extraterritoriality status.^[24]

Structures[link]

The complex includes a number of major buildings. While the Secretariat building is most predominantly featured in depictions of the headquarters, it also includes the domed General Assembly building, the Dag Hammarskjöld Library, as well as the Conference and Visitors Center, which is situated between the General Assembly and Secretariat buildings, and can be seen only from FDR Drive or the East River. Just inside the perimeter fence of the complex stands a line of flagpoles where the flags of all 193 UN member states, plus the U.N. flag, are flown in English alphabetical order.^[25]

Hall filled nearly to full capacity.

United Nations General Assembly hall.

The General Assembly building holds the General Assembly Hall which has a seating capacity of 1,800. At 165 ft (50 m) long by 115 ft (35 m) wide, it is the largest room in the complex. The Hall has two murals by the French artist Fernand Léger. At the front of the chamber, is the rostrum containing the green marble desk for the President of the General Assembly, Secretary-General and Under-Secretary-General for General Assembly Affairs and Conference Services and matching lectern for speakers.^[8] Behind the rostrum is the UN emblem on a gold background.^[26] Flanking the rostrum is a paneled semi-circular wall that tapers as it nears the ceiling and surrounds the front portion of the chamber. In front of the paneled walls are seating areas for guests and within the wall are windows which allow translators to watch the proceedings as they work. The ceiling of the hall is 75 ft (23 m) high and surmounted by a shallow dome ringed by recessed light fixtures. The General Assembly Hall was last altered in 1980 when capacity was increased to accommodate the increased membership. Each of the 192 delegations has six seats in the hall with three at a desk and three alternate seats behind them.^[8]

The Conference Building faces the East River between the General Assembly Building and the Secretariat. The Conference Building holds the Security Council Chamber, which was a gift from Norway and was designed by the Norwegian architect Arnstein Arneberg. The oil canvas mural depicting a phoenix rising from its ashes by Norwegian artist Per Krogh hangs at the front of the room.^[23]

The 39-story Secretariat tower houses offices for the Secretary General, the Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and United Nations Legal Counsel,^[27] the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs and Office of Disarmament Affairs,^[28] and the Department for General Assembly and Conference Management (DGACM).^[29]

The Dag Hammarskjöld Library was dedicated on 16 November 1961. The building was a gift from the Ford Foundation and is located next to the Secretariat at the southwest corner of the headquarters campus. The library holds 400,000 books, 9,800 newspapers and periodical titles, 80,000 maps and the Woodrow Wilson Collection containing 8,600 volumes of League of Nations documents and 6,500 related books and pamphlets. The library's Economic and Social Affairs Collection is housed in the DC-2 building.^[30]

Art at the United Nations[link]

Knotted gun sculpture, a gift from the Luxembourg government

Japanese Peace Bell, made out of coins donated by children

The complex is also notable for its gardens and outdoor sculptures. Iconic sculptures include the "Knotted Gun," a statue of a Colt Python revolver with its barrel tied in a knot, which was a gift from the Luxembourg government^[31] and "Let Us Beat Swords Into Plowshares", a gift from the Soviet Union, Russia.^[32] The latter sculpture is the only appearance of the "swords into plowshares" quotation, from Isaiah 2:4, within the complex. Contrary to popular belief, the quotation is not carved on any UN building.^[33] Rather, it is carved on the "Isaiah Wall" of Ralph Bunche Park across First Avenue. A piece of the Berlin Wall also stands in the U.N. garden.^[34]

Other prominent artworks on the grounds include a Marc Chagall stained glass window memorializing the death of Dag Hammarskjöld,^[35] the Japanese Peace Bell which is rung on the vernal equinox and the opening of each General Assembly session,^[36] a Chinese ivory carving made in 1974 (before the ivory trade was largely banned in 1989),^[37] and a Venetian mosaic depicting Norman Rockwell's painting The Golden Rule.^[38] A tapestry copy of Pablo Picasso's Guernica on the wall of the United Nations building at the entrance to the Security Council room.^[39] In 1952, two Léger murals were installed in the General Assembly Hall. The works are meant to merely be decorative with no symbolism. One is said to resemble cartoon character Bugs Bunny and US President Harry S. Truman dubbed the other work Scrambled Eggs.^[40]

Two huge murals by Brazilian artist Cândido Portinari, entitled Guerra e Paz (War and Peace) are located at the delegates hall. The works are a gift from the United Nations Association of the United States of America and Portinari intended to execute them in the US. However, he was denied a visa due to his communist convictions and decided to paint them in Rio de Janeiro. They were later assembled in the headquarters. After their completion in 1957, Portinari, who was already ill when he started the masterpiece, succumbed to lead poisoning from the pigments his doctors advised him to abandon.^[41]

Other buildings[link]

1 United Nations Plaza, also known as DC-1 and DC-2

While outside of the complex, the headquarters also includes two large office buildings that serve as offices for the agencies and programmes of the organization. These buildings, known as DC-1 and DC-2 are located at 1 and 2 UN Plaza respectively. DC1 was built in 1976. There is also an identification office at the corner of 46th Street, inside a former bank branch, where pre-accredited diplomats, reporters, and others receive their grounds passes. UNICEF House (3 UN Plaza) and the UNITAR Building (807 UN Plaza) are also part of headquarters. In addition, the Church Center for the United Nations (777 UN Plaza) is a private building owned by the United Methodist Church as an interfaith space housing the offices of several non-governmental organizations. The Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) is located at 380 Madison Avenue.^[42]

Renovation plans[link]

In recent years, however, the headquarters buildings have come to need extensive renovation, including the need to install sprinklers, fix leaks, and remove asbestos. A renovation plan was announced in 2000 involving the building of a temporary headquarters in Robert Moses Playground, across First Avenue from the current facility. Once renovations were finished, the temporary building would be used to ease overcrowding at the DC-1 and DC-2 However, due to the refusal of the United States and New York state governments to fund the project, the plan was abandoned.^[43]

Alternative sites were considered as temporary holding locations. In 2005, officials investigated establishing a new temporary site be created at the old Lake Success location. Brooklyn was also suggested as a temporary site.^[44] Another alternative for a temporary headquarters or a new permanent facility was the World Trade Center site.^[45] Once again, these plans met resistance both within the UN and from the US and New York governments and were abandoned.^[46]

On 28 July 2007, UN officials announced the complex would undergo a $1 billion renovation starting in the fall. Swedish firm Skanska AB won a bid to overhaul the buildings which will include the Conference, General Assembly and Secretariat buildings. The renovations, which will be the first since the complex opened in 1950, are expected to take about 7 years to complete. When completed the complex is also expected to be more energy efficient and improve security.^[47] Work began 5 May 2008 and the project has been plagued by setbacks.^[48] By 2009, the cost of the work had risen from $1.2 billion to $1.6 billion with some estimates saying it will take $3 billion^[49] Officials hope the renovated buildings will achieve a LEED Silver rating, although they concede that the delay in construction will result in a projected 7.5% inflation rate in the cost of materials and labor over the course of the project.^[50]

In popular culture[link]

View of the headquarters in the 1959 MGM thriller North by Northwest by Alfred Hitchcock

Due to its role in international politics, the United Nations Headquarters is often featured in movies and other pop culture. Movies in which the headquarters buildings are major settings include North by Northwest, The Interpreter, Live and Let Die, The Art of War, U.S. Marshals, Batman: The Movie, The Glass Wall, The Second Renaissance, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Peacemaker, Thirteen Days, In the Loop and Disney's 1977 animated film The Rescuers. The eighth (final) season of 24 takes place partly in the building, where major peace talks are interrupted by an assassination attempt. The only film actually shot on location in the UN headquarters is The Interpreter (2005), filmed with the consent of the Secretary-General,^[51] although some scenes in the political documentary film U. N. Me were surreptitiously filmed inside the building without permission.

When he was unable to obtain permission to film in the UN Headquarters, director Alfred Hitchcock covertly filmed Cary Grant arriving for the 1959 feature North by Northwest. After the action within the building, another scene shows Grant leaving across the plaza looking down from the building's roof. This was created using a painting.^[52]

The headquarters was shown in exterior shots of the fictional Darling family office in the US television series Dirty Sexy Money.

The headquarters is also a location in a number of video games, including: Tycoon City: New York, Sim City 3000, Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, Operation Body Count, Spider-Man 2, Civilization, True Crime: New York City and Grand Theft Auto IV.

The cover of the Megadeth album Peace Sells... but Who's Buying? depicts the U.N. headquarters lying in ruins with the sign "for sale", while United Abominations features it in flames and being destroyed by meteors. In the book World War Z, the United Nations Headquarters is moved to the USS Saratoga. The Marc Chagall stained glass wall was the subject of a souvenir sheet of U.N. postage stamps in 1967.

Public gatherings[link]

Protests, demonstrations, and other gatherings directly on First Avenue are rare. Some gatherings have taken place in Ralph Bunche Park, but it is too small to accommodate large demonstrations. The closest location where the New York City Police Department usually allows demonstrators is Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza at 47th Street and First Avenue,^[53] one block away from the visitors' entrance, four blocks away from the entrance used by top-level diplomats, and five blocks away from the general staff entrance.

Excluding gatherings solely for diplomats and academics, there are a few organizations which regularly hold events at the UN. The United Nations Association of the United States of America (UNA-USA), a non-governmental organization, holds an annual "member's day" event in one of the conference rooms. Model United Nations conferences sponsored by UNA-USA, the National Collegiate Conference Association (NCCA/NMUN), and the International Model UN Association (IMUNA/NHSMUN) hold part of their sessions in the General Assembly chamber. Seton Hall University's Whitehead School of Diplomacy hosts its UN summer study program at the headquarters as well.^[54]

Relocation proposals[link]

Due to the significance of the organisation, proposals and offers to relocate the Headquarters buildings would surface now and then. Common complaints about its current location include diplomats who struggle to obtain U.S. visas and local residents complaining about inconveniences each time the roads are sealed due to visiting dignitaries. A telephone poll in 2001 found that 67% of callers were in favour of the UN moving out of the country.^[55] Countries critical of the United States, such as Iran, are especially vocal in questioning the current location of the buildings in U.S. territory.^[56]

In 2001, Dmitriy Rogozin proposed moving the headquarters to St. Petersburg due to America's failure to pay its dues to the UN, saying "If the position of the Americans does not change and if as a result the international civil servants working in New York feel ever more uncomfortable, I think we will raise the question of moving the central UN headquarters to the 'Venice of the North,' St. Petersburg,"^[57] During the period where the UN was facing delays in its efforts to refurbish its existing buildings, alternative sites considered as temporary sites also included the World Trade Center site being proposed as a new permanent facility.^[45]

Some governments have offered potential sites should the UN decide to move. In 2007, La Presse reported that the Canadian government, along with provincial and municipal authorities, proposed Montreal as a site to move the headquarters; a former docklands site has been earmarked and preliminary drawings made, but the UN turned down the request in 2007 and opted to renovate its existing facilities instead.^[58] News that the UN would move to Singapore appeared in 2008, suggesting the UN’s relocation committees have recommended the city-state as a new site to be completed by August 2015.^{[59][unreliable source?]} In 2010, The Dubai government offered Dubai as an ideal venue due to its proximity to international "trouble spots".^[60]

See also[link]

United Nations portal

• International Court of Justice, The Hague
• Lake Success, New York
• Oscar Niemeyer
• Palace of Nations
• Queens Museum of Art
• Sperry Corporation
• U Thant Island
• United Nations Office at Geneva
• United Nations Office at Nairobi
• United Nations Office at Vienna

Notes[link]

External links[link]

Media related to United Nations headquarters at Wikimedia Commons

• UN: Building an International Headquarters in New York – historical overview, on the UN 60th Anniversary webpage
• Agreement Establishing the UN headquarters – with information on legal status

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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]