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The United Nations Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP) was created on 15 May 1947^[1][2] in response to a United Kingdom government request that the General Assembly "make recommendations under article 10 of the Charter, concerning the future government of Palestine". The British government had also recommended the establishment of a special committee to prepare a report for the General Assembly. The General Assembly adopted the recommendation to set up the UNSCOP to investigate the cause of the conflict in Palestine, and, if possible, devise a solution. UNSCOP was made up of representatives of 11 nations. UNSCOP visited Palestine and gathered testimony from Zionist organisations in Palestine^[3] and in the US. The Arab Higher Committee boycotted the Commission, explaining that the Palestinian Arabs' natural rights were self-evident and could not continue to be subject to investigation, but rather deserved to be recognized on the basis of the principles of the United Nations Charter.^[4]

The Committee actively followed the unravelling of the SS Exodus, carrying 4554 Jewish Holocaust refugees seeking to illegally immigrate to Palestine. Some Committee members were present at the port of Haifa when the Jewish immigrants were forcefully removed from the ship and deported back to Europe. The eyewitness testimony of the Reverend John Stanley Grauel,^[5] who was on the Exodus, convinced UNSCOP to reverse an earlier decision. The Committee decided to hear the testimony of the Jewish refugees in British detention camps in Palestine and in European Displaced Persons camps trying to gain admittance to Palestine.^[6] Golda Meir, a later Prime Minister of Israel, observed that Reverend Grauel's testimony and advocacy for the creation of the Jewish state fundamentally and positively changed the United Nations to support the creation of Israel.^[7]

The Committee reported to the General Assembly on 3 September 1947.^[8] The Report contained a majority and a minority plan.. proposed for the settlement of the Palestine question.. . The majority proposed the recommndations in CHAPTER VI: RECOMMENDATIONS (II), The Plan of Partition with Economic Union. The minority proposed the recommndations in CHAPTER VII: RECOMMENDATIONS (III), The Independent State of Palestine. CHAPTER V: RECOMMENDATIONS (I) proposed a number of recommendations to which there was unanimous agreement. Throughout the Report there are sectiond that provide Justification for the proposed recommendations.

The plan proposed by the majority in Chapter VI of the report of 3 September 1947, with only slight modifiations, became the Plan of Partition with Economic Union attached to General Assembly Resolution 181(II) adopted on 29 November 1947.^[9]

Members of UNSCOP[link]

• Australia
  • J. D. L. Hood, representative
  • S. L. Atyeo, alternate
• Canada
  • Justice Ivan Rand, representative
  • Leon Mayrand, alternate
• Czechoslovakia
  • Karel Lisicky, representative
  • Richard Peach, alternate
• Guatemala
  • Dr. Jorge Garcia Granados, representative
  • E. Zea Gonzales, alternate
• India
  • Sir Abdur Rahman, representative
  • Venkata Viswanathan, alternate
  • H. Dayal, second alternate
• Iran
  • Nasrollah Entezam, representative
  • Dr. Ali Akdalan, alternate
• Netherlands
  • Dr. N. S. Blom, representative
  • A. I. Spits, alternate
• Peru
  • Dr. Alberto Ulloa, representative
  • Dr. Arturo Garcia Salazar, alternate
• Sweden
  • Justice Emil Sandström, representative
  • Dr. Paul Mohn,
• Uruguay
  • Professor Enrique Rodriguez Fabregat, representative
  • Professor Óscar Secco Ellauri, alternate
  • Edmundo Sisto, secretary
• Yugoslavia
  • Vladimir Simic, representative
  • Dr. Jože Brilej, alternate

Creation of the Special Committee[link]

On 15 May 1947, the General Assembly of the newly formed United Nations resolved that a committee, (United Nations Special Committee on Palestine), be created to prepare for consideration at the next regular session of the Assembly a report on the question of Palestine. The Committee was to consist of the representatives of Australia, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Guatemala, India, Iran, Netherlands, Peru, Sweden, Uruguay and Yugoslavia.^[10]

Report of the Special Committee[link]

The Intruduction to the Report of the Committee dated 3 Septembe 1947 to the UN General Assembly^[11] best summarises its contents.

Introduction to the Report[link]

INTRODUCTION

This volume contains the report and recommendations submitted by the Special Committee on Palestine to the second session of the General Assembly of the United Nations. It comprises a preface, eight chapters, an appendix and a series of annexes. The factual information presented in the first four chapters is intended to illustrate the various phases of the Committee’s work and to serve as a background to the problem with which it dealt:

Chapter I describes the origin and constitution of the Special Committee and summarizes its activities as Lake Success, Jerusalem, Beirut and Geneva.

Chapter II analyses the basic geographic, demographic and economic factors, and reviews the history of Palestine under the Mandate. The Jewish and Arab claims are also set forth and appraised.

Chapter III deals with the particular aspect of Palestine as the Holy Land sacred to three world religions.

Chapter IV Consists of an analysis and recapitulation of the most important solutions put forward prior to the creation of he Committee or presented to it in oral or written evidence.

Chapters V, VI, VII contain the recommendations and proposals which are the main result of the work of the Committee during its three months of activity.

Chapter V - eleven unanimous recommendations on general principles are put forward. A further recommendation of a similar nature, which was adopted with two dissenting votes, is also recorded.

Chapter VI and VII contain respectively a majority plan and a minority plan for the future government of Palestine, including provisions for boundaries.

Chapter VIII provides a list of the reservations and observations by certain representatives on a number of specific points. The text of these reservations and observations will be found in the appendix to the report.

CHAPTER V: PROPOSED RECOMMENDATIONS (I)[link]

Section A. Recommendations approved unanimously

RECOMMENDATION I. TERMINATION OF THE MANDATE

It is recommended that The Mandate for Palestine shall be terminated at the earliest practicable date.

RECOMMENDATION II. INDEPENDENCE

Independence shall be granted in Palestine at the earliest practicable date.

RECOMMENDATIONS III. TRANSITIONAL PERIOD

There shall be a transitional period preceding the grant of independence in Palestine which shall be as short as possible, consistent with the achievement of the preparations and conditions essential to independence..

RECOMMENDATION IV. UNITED NATIONS RESPONSIBILITY DURING THE TRANSITIONAL PERIOD)

There shall be a transitional period preceding the grant of independence in Palestine which shall be as short as possible, consistent with the achievement of the preparations and conditions essential to independence.

RECOMMENDATION V. HOLY PLACES AND RELIGIOUS INTERESTS

A. The sacred character of the Holy Places shall be preserved and access to the Holy Places for purposes of worship and pilgrimage shall be ensured in accordance with existing rights, in recognition of the proper interest of millions of Christians, Jews and Moslems abroad as well as the residents of Palestine in the care of sites and buildings associated with the origin and history of their faiths.

B. Existing rights in Palestine of the several religious communities shall be neither impaired nor denied, in view of the fact that their maintenance is essential for religious peace in Palestine under conditions of independence.

C. An adequate system shall be devised to settle impartially disputes involving religious rights as an essential factor in maintaining religious peace, taking into account the fact that during the Mandate such disputes have been settled by the Government itself, which acted as an arbiter and enjoyed the necessary authority and power to enforce its decisions.

D. Specific stipulations concerning Holy Places, religious buildings or sites and the rights of religious communities shall be inserted in the constitution or constitutions of any independent Palestinian State or States which may be created.

RECOMMENDATION VI. JEWISH DISPLACED PERSONS

The General Assembly undertake immediately the initiation and execution of an international arrangement whereby the problem of the distressed European Jews, of whom approximately 250,000 are in assembly centers, will be dealt with as a matter of extreme urgency for the alleviation of their plight and of the Palestine problem.

RECOMMENDATIONS VII. DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES AND PROTECTION OF MINORITIES

In view of the fact that independence is to be granted in Palestine on the recommendation and under the auspices of the United Nations, it is a proper and an important concern of the United Nations that the constitution or other fundamental law as well as the political structure of the new State or States shall be basically democratic, i.e., representative, in character, and that this shall be a prior condition to the grant of independence. In this regard, the constitution or other fundamental law of the new State or States shall include specific guarantees respecting -

A. Human rights and fundamental freedoms, including freedom of worship and conscience, speech, press and assemblage, the rights of organized labor, freedom of movement,' freedom from arbitrary searches and seizures, and rights of personal property; and

B. Full protection for the rights and interests of minorities, including the protection of the linguistic, religious and ethnic rights of the peoples and respect for their cultures, and full equality of all citizens with regard to political, civil and religious matters.

RECOMMENDATIONS VIII. PEACEFUL RELATIONS

It shall be required, as a prior condition to independence, to incorporate in the future constitutional provisions applying to Palestine those basic principles of the Charter of the United Nations whereby a State shall -

A. Undertake to settle all international disputes in which it may be involved by peaceful means in such a manner that international peace and security, and justice, are not endangered; and

B. Accept the obligation to refrain in its international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State, or in any manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations.

RECOMMENDATION 1X. ECONOMIC UNITY

In appraising the various proposals for the solution of the Palestine question, it shall be accepted as a cardinal principle that the preservation of the economic unity of Palestine as a whole is indispensable to the life and development of the country and its peoples.

RECOMMENDATION X. CAPITULATIONS

States whose nationals have in the past enjoyed in Palestine the privileges and immunities of foreigners, including the benefits of consular jurisdiction and protection as formerly enjoyed by capitulation or usage in the Ottoman Empire, be invited by the United Nations to renounce any right pertaining to them to the reestablishment of such privileges and immunities in an independent Palestine.

RECOMMENDATION XI. APPEAL AGAINST ACTS OF VIOLENCE

The General Assembly shall call on the peoples of Palestine to extend their. fullest cooperation to the United Nations in its effort to devise and put into effect an equitable and workable means of settling the difficult situation prevailing there, and to this end, in the interest of peace, good order, and lawfulness, to exert every effort to bring to an early end the acts of violence which have for too long beset that country.

Section B. Recommendation approved by substantial majority

RECOMMENDATION XII. THE JEWISH PROBLEM IN GENERAL

(Two members of the Committee dissented from this recommendation and one recorded no opinion.)

In the appraisal of the Palestine question, it be accepted as incontrovertible that any solution for Palestine cannot be considered as a solution of the Jewish problem in general.

CHAPTER VI: PROPOSED RECOMMENDATIONS (II)[link]

1. The Committee, sitting informally as a means of facilitating its deliberations on specific proposals, informally set up two small working groups to explore specific proposals with regard to a plan of partition involving economic union. One of these groups was known as the Working Group on Constitutional Matters; the other was the Working Group on Boundaries.

2. The Working Group on Constitutional Matters (Mr. Sandstorm, Mr. Blom, Mr. Granados, and Mr. Rand), in a series of informal meetings formulated a plan of partition with provisions for economic unity and constitutional guarantees. This plan was subsequently discussed and completed in joint discussions of these two working groups.

3. In the course of the forty-seventh meeting of the Committee on 27 August 1947, seven members of the Committee (Canada, Czechoslovakia, Guatemala, the Netherlands, Peru, Sweden and Uruguay), expressed themselves, by recorded vote, in favour of the Plan of Partition with Economic Union, presented by the Working Group on Constitutional Matters.

4. The Plan of Partition with Economic Union is herewith reproduced.

Part I. Partition with economic union

A. Partition and independence

B. Transitional period and constitution

C. Declaration

CHAPTER 1: Holy Places, religious building and sites

CHAPTER 2: Religion and minority rights

CHAPTER 3: 1. Citizenship. 2. International Conventions. 3. Financial Obligations.

CHAPTER 4

D. Economic union

1. The Economic Union of Palestine

(a) A customs union.

(b) A common currency.

(c) Operation in the common interest of railways, interstate highways, postal, telephone and telegraphic services; and the ports of Haifa and Jaffa.

(d) Joint economic development,..

2. Freedom of transit and visit

3. Termination, modification and interpretation of the Treaty

E. Assets

F. Admission to membership in the United Nations

A COMMENTARY ON PARTITION

Part II. Boundaries

The Arab State

The Jewish State

The City of Jerusalem

Part III. City of Jerusalem

CHAPTER VII: RECOMMENDATIONS (III)[link]

1. In the course of the informal meetings of the Committee to explore solutions, a working group was set up to deal with the federal-State proposal.

2. The Working Group in the Federal State Solution (Sir Abdur Rahman, Mr. Emezam, Mr. Simic, and Mr. Atyeo) formulated a comprehensive proposal along these lines and it was voted upon and supported by three members (India, Iran, and Yugoslavia) at the forty-seventh meeting of the Committee on 27 August 1947.

3. The federal-State plan was therewith reproduced.

PLAN FOR A FEDERAL-STATE

The undersigned representatives of India, Iran and Yugoslavia, not being in agreement with the recommendation for partition formulated by the other members of the Committee, and for the reasons, among others, stated above, present to the General Assembly the following recommendations which, in their view, constitute the most suitable solution to the problem of Palestine.

I. The Independent State of Palestine

1. The peoples of Palestine are entitled to recognition of their right to independence, and an independent federal State of Palestine shall be created following a transitional period not exceeding three years.

2. With regard to the transitional period, responsibility for administering Palestine and preparing it for independence under the conditions herein prescribed shall be entrusted to such authority as may be decided upon by the General Assembly.

3. The independent Federal State of Palestine shall comprise an Arab state and a Jewish state.

4. In delimiting the boundaries of the Arab and Jewish states, respectively, consideration shall be given to anticipated population growth.

5. During the transitional period, a constituent assembly shall be elected by the population of Palestine and shall formulate the constitution of the independent Federal State of Palestine. The authority entrusted by the General Assembly with responsibility for administering Palestine during the transitional period shall convene the constituent assembly on the basis of electoral provisions which shall ensure the fullest possible representation of the population, providing that all adult persons who have acquired Palestinian citizenship as well as all Arabs and Jews who, though noncitizens, may be resident in Palestine and who shall have applied for citizenship in Palestine not less than three months before the date of the election, shall be entitled to vote therein.

6. The attainment of independence by the independent federal State of Palestine shall be declared by the General Assembly of the United Nations as soon as the authority administering the territory shall have certified to the General Assembly that the constituent assembly referred to in the preceding paragraph has adopted a constitution incorporating the provisions set forth in II immediately following.

II. Outline of the structure and required provisions in the constitution of Palestine

III. Boundaries of the Arab and Jewish states in the independent Federal State of Palestine

IV. Capitalization

V. The Holy Places, religious interests and Jerusalem

VI. International responsibility for Jewish displaced persons

VII. Jewish immigration into Palestine

CHAPTER VIII: RESERVATIONS AND OBSERVATIONS[link]

1. Some representatives have reserved their position on a number of specific points or have wished to express particular points of view. These reservations and observations will be found in the appendix to this report. 2. The representatives making such reservations and observations, and the subjects on which they are recorded, are as follows:

Australia:

(i) Statement on attitude towards proposals in Chapters VI and VII.

Guatemala:

(i) Reservation on recommendation XII of Chapter V.

India:

(i) Declaration on independence.

(ii) Observations on the Mandate in its historical setting.

(iii) Declaration on form of government.

(iv) Declaration of reasons why partition cannot be accepted.

Uruguay:

(i) Reservation on recommendation XII of Chapter V.

(ii) Declaration on boundaries. (iii) Declaration on immigration. (iv) Declaration on religious interests.

Yugoslavia:

(i) Observations on historical background.

(ii) Appraisal of the Mandate.

(iii) Observation on the present situation.

3. The reservations and observations referred to above were not communicated to all the other members of the Special Committee before the signing of the report.

Ad Hoc Committee Deliberations[link]

The unanimous decision of the UNSCOP was for the termination of the mandate and two plans were drawn up for the Governance of Palestine on the termination of the Mandate. Seven members of the UNSCOP endorsed a partition plan (the Majority report) favoured by the Zionist leadership on 2 October 1947. Dr Able Hillel Silver, Chairman of the American Section of the Jewish Agency, made the case for a Jewish State to the Ad Hoc committee on Palestine and announced on behalf of the Jewish Agency acceptance of 10 of the eleven unanimous recommendations of the UN partition plan and rejection of the minority report. Of the Majority report (the Partition Plan areas) Dr Able Hillel Silver vacillates saying that he was prepared to “recommend to the Jewish people acceptance subject to further discussion of the constitutional and territorial provisions”.^[12] While three members endorsed a federal state (the minority report) similar to the Grady Morrison plan that had been rejected by both Jews and Arabs and the UNSCOP found that a canton system “might easily entail an excessive fragmentation of the governmental processes, and in its ultimate result, would be quite unworkable.” No members of the UNSCOP endorsed a One-state solution as recommended by the Arab Higher Committee and on 29 September Mr Jamal al-Husayni Vice president of the Arab Higher Committee for Palestine (AHCP) acting for the AHPC announced opposition to the UN partition plan

Sub-Committee No. 1 to the Ad Hoc Committee[link]

On 22 October the Ad Hoc Committee on Palestine formed a sub-Committee to:-

1). To draw up a detailed plan for the future government of Palestine in accordance with the basic principles of the unanimous recommendations of the majority plan of the Special Committee on Palestine;

2). To incorporate this plan in the form of recommendations;

3). To consider the exercise of administrative responsibility in Palestine during the transitional period, including the possibility of application of Chapter III of the UN Charter and^[13]

4. To consider methods by which recommendations of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Palestine question under paragraph 1 above would be put into effect.

On 23 October 1947 the sub-committee held its first meeting and held 32 meeting and on 19 November recommended to the Ad Hoc committee that^[14]:- There shall be a Commission appointed by the General Assembly with five members representing Guatemala, Iceland, Norway, Poland and Uruguay

Britain was unwilling to implement a policy that was not acceptable to both sides and so refused to share with the UN Palestine Commission the administration of Palestine during the transitional period and on 20 November 1947 British Government informed the UN of a timetable for evacuating Palestine. On the Termination of the Mandate, Partition And Independence. Britain as the Mandatory Power was to use its best endeavours to ensure that an area situated in the territory of the Jewish State, including a seaport and hinterland adequate to provide facilities for a substantial immigration, was to be evacuated at the earliest possible date and in any event not later than 1 February 1948.^[15][16][17]

On 29 November 1947 the UN General Assembly recommended the adoption and implementation of a plan substantially in the form of The Plan of Partition with Economic Union in CHAPTER VI: PROPOSED RECOMMENDATIONS (II), as Resolution 181(II).

Foot Notes[link]

External links[link]

Wikisource has original text related to this article: United Nations Special Committee on Palestine Federal State Plan

• Report of UNSCOP - 1947 and the ANNEXES, APPENDIX, M A P S of the Report
• Ivan Rand and the UNSCOP papers
• Exodus 1947 - the ship that launched a nation (documentary film).

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]

Find more about United Nations on Wikipedia's sister projects:
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Official websites

• United Nations official homepage
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• High-level Panel on United Nations Systemwide Coherence
• 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
• UN Organisation Chart
• UN Works
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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
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Abba Eban
Date of birth	(1915-02-02)2 February 1915
Place of birth	Cape Town, South Africa
Year of aliyah	1940
Date of death	17 November 2002(2002-11-17) (aged 87)
Place of death	Tel Aviv, Israel
Knessets	4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th
Party	Alignment
Ministerial posts	Deputy Prime Minister Minister of Education & Culture Minister of Foreign Affairs Minister without Portfolio

Israel delegation to the UN: (l-r) A. Lourie, consul general; Dr. J. Robinson, counsellor; A. Eban, envoy extraordinary; Dr. Avraham Katznelson, Minister of Health; G. Rafael, Foreign Affairs (1950)

Abba Eban (center) with Israeli PM David Ben-Gurion and U.S. President Harry Truman (1951)

Israeli PM David Ben-Gurion (center) giving a Hanukkah Menorah as a gift to U.S. President Truman in the Oval Office. At right is Abba Eban, the Ambassador of Israel to the U.S. (1951)

Abba Eban (Hebrew: אבא אבן‎, born Abba Solomon Meir; later adopted Aubrey Solomon Eban; 2 February 1915 – 17 November 2002) was an Israeli diplomat and politician.

In his career he was Israeli Foreign Affairs Minister, Education Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, and ambassador to the United States and to the United Nations. He was also Vice President of the United Nations General Assembly and President of the Weizmann Institute of Science.

Early life[link]

Born in Cape Town, South Africa, Eban moved to the United Kingdom at an early age. As a child, he recalled being sent to his grandfather's house every weekend to study the Hebrew language and Biblical literature.^[1] He lived for a period of time in Belfast.

He was educated at St Olave's Grammar School, then in Southwark, before studying Classics and Oriental languages at Queens' College, Cambridge, where he achieved a triple first. During his time at University and afterwards, Eban was highly involved in the Federation of Zionist Youth and was editor of its ideological journal, The Young Zionist.

After graduating with high honours, he researched Arabic and Hebrew as a Fellow of Pembroke College from 1938–39. At the outbreak of World War II, he went to work for Chaim Weizmann at the World Zionist Organization in London from December 1939. He served in the British Army in Egypt and Mandate Palestine, becoming an intelligence officer in Jerusalem, where he coordinated and trained volunteers for resistance in the event of a German invasion, serving as a liaison officer for the Allies to the Jewish Yishuv. In 1947, he translated from the original Arabic, Maze of Justice: Diary of a Country Prosecutor, a 1937 novel by Tawfiq al-Hakim.^{[citation needed]}

Diplomacy[link]

Eban moved back to London briefly to work in the Jewish Agency's Information Department, from which he was posted to New York, where the United Nations General Assembly was considering the "Palestine Question". In 1947, he was appointed as a liaison officer to the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine, where he was successful in attaining approval for the partition of Palestine into Jewish and Arab segments—Resolution 181.

At this stage, he changed his name to the Hebrew word Abba (however it was seldom used informally), meaning "Father", as he could foresee himself as the father of the nation of Israel. Eban spent a decade at the United Nations, and also served as his country's ambassador to the United States at the same time. He was renowned for his oratorical skills. In the words of Henry Kissinger:

I have never encountered anyone who matched his command of the English language. Sentences poured forth in mellifluous constructions complicated enough to test the listener’s intelligence and simultaneously leave him transfixed by the speaker's virtuosity.

His grasp of history and fluency in ten languages enhanced his speech making in the United Nations, even to skeptical or hostile audiences.^[2] In 1952, Eban was elected Vice President of the UN General Assembly.^[3]

Politics[link]

Eban left the United States in 1959 and returned to Israel, where he was elected to the Knesset (the Israeli parliament) as a member of Mapai. He served under David Ben-Gurion as Minister of Education and Culture from 1960 to 1963, then as deputy to Prime Minister Levi Eshkol until 1966. Through this period (1959–66), he also served as president of the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot.

From 1966 to 1974, Eban served as Israel's foreign minister, defending the country's reputation after the Six-Day War and claiming Israel was attacked first "So on the fateful morning of 5 June, when Egyptian forces moved by air and land against Israel's western coast".^[4] Nonetheless, he was a strong supporter of trading parts of the territories occupied in the war in exchange for peace. He played an important part in the shaping of UN Security Council Resolution 242 in 1967, as well as Resolution 338 in 1973. Among his other high level contacts, Eban was received by Pope Paul VI in 1969.^[5]

Eban was at times criticized for not voicing his opinions in Israel's internal debate. However, he was generally known to be on the "dovish" side of Israeli politics and was increasingly outspoken after leaving the cabinet. In 1977 and 1981 it was widely understood that Shimon Peres intended to name Eban Foreign Minister, had the Labor Party won those elections. Eban was offered the chance to serve as minister without portfolio in the 1984 national unity government, but chose to serve instead as Chair of the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee from 1984 to 1988.

His comment that Palestinians "never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity" (i.e., for peace), made after the Geneva peace talks in December 1973, is often quoted.^[6]

Later life[link]

Abba Eban (left) escorting the King of Nepal in a 1958 visit to the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot. Shortly after the visit, Eban became President of the Institute.

In 1988, after three decades in the Knesset, he lost his seat over internal splits in the Labour Party. He devoted the rest of his life to writing and teaching, including serving as a visiting academic at Princeton University, Columbia University and George Washington University. He also narrated television documentaries including Heritage: Civilization and the Jews (PBS, 1984), for which he was host, Israel, A Nation Is Born (1992), and On the Brink of Peace (PBS, 1997).

Eban died in 2002 and was buried in Kfar Shmaryahu, north of Tel Aviv. He was survived, immediately, by his wife and their two children.

Family[link]

Eban's brother-in-law was the late Chaim Herzog, the sixth president of Israel. Herzog's son Isaac Herzog is a member in Israel's Knesset.

Eban's cousin, Oliver Sacks, is a neurologist and author and his son, Eli Eban, is a renowned clarinetist who teaches at Indiana University. Eli has two children, Yael and Omri Eban. His nephew, Jonathan Lynn, is a filmmaker and script writer known for satirical BBC shows Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister. Lynn recounts that the plot of an episode of Yes, Prime Minister ("A Victory for Democracy"), which involved the British Prime Minister bypassing his own Arab-centric bureaucracy by taking the Israeli ambassador's advice, was based on an actual incident narrated to him by Eban.

Awards[link]

In 2001, Eban was awarded the Israel Prize for lifetime achievement and special contribution to society and the State.^[7][8][9]

In 2005, he was voted the 52nd-greatest Israeli of all time, in a poll by the Israeli news website Ynet to determine whom the general public considered the 200 Greatest Israelis.^[10]

Published works[link]

• Voice of Israel. 1957. OCLC 332941. 
• The tide of nationalism. 1959. OCLC 371099.  (Herbert Samuel lecture)
• My people: the story of the Jews. 1968. ISBN 0-394-72759-2. 
• My country; the story of modern Israel. 1972. ISBN 0-394-46314-5. 
• Abba Eban: an autobiography. 1977. ISBN 0-394-49302-8. 
• The new diplomacy : international affairs in the modern age. 1983. ISBN 0-394-50283-3. 
• Heritage : civilization and the Jews. 1984. ISBN 0-671-44103-5. 
• Personal witness : Israel through my eyes. 1992. ISBN 0-399-13589-8. 
• Diplomacy for a new century. 1998. ISBN 0-300-07287-2. 

References[link]

Sources[link]

• The Commentator; "In Memoriam"; Volume 67, Issue 5; 25 November 2002
• Biography at The Department for Jewish Zionist Education

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Abba Eban

• Abba Eban profile
• Abba Eban Centre for Israeli Diplomacy (Part of the Harry S. Truman Institute for the Advancement of Peace)
• Abba Eban Knesset website
• A Collection of Abba Eban's speeches (and others)
• Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Biography and Selected Speeches)
• A film clip "Longines Chronoscope with Abba Eban" is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]
• A film clip "Longines Chronoscope with Abba Eban" is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]

See also[link]

• List of Israel Prize recipients

v t e Education Ministers of Israel Shazar (1949–50) Remez (1950–51) Ben-Gurion (1951) Dinur (1951–55) Aran (1955–60) Eban (1960–63) Aran (1963–69) Allon (1969–74) Yadlin (1974–77) Hammer (1977–84) Navon (1984–90) Hammer (1990–92) Aloni (1992–93) Rabin (1993) Rubinstein (1993–96) Hammer (1996–98) Levy (1998–99) Sarid (1999–2000) Barak (2000–01) Livnat (2001–06) Sheetrit (2006) Tamir (2006–09) Sa'ar (2009–)

v t e Foreign Affairs Ministers of Israel Sharett (1948–56) Meir (1956–66) Eban (1966–74) Allon (1974–77) Dayan (1977–79) Shamir (1980–86) Peres (1986–88) Arens (1988–90) Levy (1990–92) Peres (1992–95) Barak (1995–96) Levy (1996–98) Sharon (1998–99) Levy (1999–2000) Ben-Ami (2000–01) Peres (2001–02) Netanyahu (2002–03) Shalom (2003–06) Livni (2006–09) Lieberman (2009–)

v t e Presidents of Weizmann Institute of Science Chaim Weizmann · Abba Eban · Meyer Weisgal · Albert Sabin · Israel Dostrovsky · Michael Sela · Aryeh Dvoretzky · Haim Harari  · Ilan Chet · Daniel Zajfman

v t e Israeli ambassadors to the United States Eilat (1948–50) · Eban (1950–59) · Harman (1959–1968) · Rabin (1968–1973) · Dinitz (1973–1979) · Evron (1979–1982) · Arens (1982–1983) · Rosenne (1983–1987) · Arad (1987–1990) · Shoval (1990–1993) · Itamar Rabinovich (1993–1996) · Ben-Elissar (1996–1998) · Shoval (1998–2000) · Ivry (2000–2002) · Ayalon (2002–2006) · Meridor (2006–2009) · Oren (2009–)

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Tuliameni Kalomoh (born 18 February 1948) is a Namibian diplomat who serves as Special Advisor on Foreign Affairs to the President, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Namibia.

Early years[link]

Kalomoh was born at Onamutai, Oshana Region in 1948. He started lower primary school at St. Cutherbert’s Parish, Onamutai and continued at Christ the King, Onekwaya West from 1962 to 1966: both schools were run by the Anglican Church in Namibia. He joined the SWAPO party in 1964. He attended St Mary’s High School in 1970. Together with other students, he was expelled following involvement in a dispute within the church leadership.

Political Activism During Youth[link]

Following his expulsion from school, Kalomoh went to work as a time clerk for Metal Box Company in Walvis Bay from 1970 to 1971. He was arrested in 1971 and severely tortured then deported to what was then called Owamboland, due to involvement in SWAPO Youth League political activities. .

In July 1971, Kalomoh joined many SWAPO leaders and thousands of students throughout the Northern region in a demonstration at the Ondangwa Native Commission offices welcoming the judgment of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague, declaring South African occupation of Namibia illegal and ordering it to withdraw its administration from the territory. In 1972, he was among SWAPO organizers of a mass demonstration at Ondangwa to welcome Kurt Waldheim, Secretary-General of the United Nations who visited Namibia to consult the South African Government and internal SWAPO leaders on the implementation of the ICJ ruling.^[1] From 1972 to 1973, Kalomoh worked as a teller for the Bantu Investment Cooperation Bank (BBK) at Oshakati, and branch manager at Onesi, Ohangwena and Ondangwa, respectively.^[2] His participation with thousands of SWAPO members at a demonstration in August 1973, led by John Ya Otto in solidarity with SWAPO leaders who were being detained for allegedly having violated the emergency proclamation R17 (which prohibited the holding of public meetings or a gathering of more than five people) led to his detention at Ondangwa overcrowded police cells for 4 months. While in detention, Kalomoh was allowed to pursue his studies for Form III through correspondence with a South African distant education school and wrote examinations at Ongwediva in November 1973. Ambassador Kalomoh was appointed by Anglican Bishop Richard Wood as Secretary and Treasurer for St Mary’s Hospital, Odibo in January 1974 until August 1974, when the Hospital was closed down by then South West Africa White Administration, after some teaching and nursing staff and students at Odibo left for Zambia to join the liberation struggle. In August 1974, Kalomoh left for[Zambia]as part of the "Group of 74".

Exile[link]

In 1975, Kalomoh was assigned to the Office of the Administrative Secretary of SWAPO in Lusaka, the late Moses Garoeb as an Administrative Assistant. From 1976 to 1981, Kalomoh was appointed SWAPO Chief Representative to West Africa based in Dakar, Senegal. From 1981 to 1986, Kalomoh was appointed the first SWAPO Chief Representative to France following the victory of the Socialist Party President Francois Mitterrand who invited SWAPO and African National Congress,ANC to open offices in France. From 1986 to 1990, he was appointed first SWAPO Ambassador to India with full diplomatic privileges and immunities when that country became the first to accord SWAPO full diplomatic status.

Return to Namibia[link]

Pre-Independence[link]

During Namibia’s independence election campaign in 1989, Kalomoh was appointed senior advisor to the Election Director in the northern region, Mzee Simon Kaukungua based at Oshakati. He was also appointed Chief Counting Agent for SWAPO during counting and tabulation of election results at Ongwediva. Since the Northern Region constituted an important SWAPO political power base the results from the Ongwediva Counting Center proved critical for the SWAPO victory in the 1989 elections.

Post-Independence[link]

After independence and, under the leadership of the first Minister of Foreign Affairs, Theo-Ben Gurirab, Kalomoh was assigned, with others, to establish the new Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was appointed Under-Secretary for Political and Economic Affairs. In that capacity, Kalomoh accompanied Prime Minister Hage Geingob to the United Nations to attend a Special Session of the UN General Assembly for Namibia’s admission to the World Body in April 1990. He also accompanied President Sam Nujoma to SADC Summit in Lusaka, Zambia for Namibia’s admission to SADC and to the Organization for African Unity (OAU) summit in Addis Abba, Ethiopia for Namibia’s admission.

In 1991, he was appointed Namibia’ s first Ambassador of the United States of America with concurrent accreditation as High Commissioner to Canada, until 1996. He was appointed Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1996, Special Representative of United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan to Liberia in 1997. He organized the elections in Liberia, which ended the seven-year bloody civil conflict in that country. On completion of the Liberian mission, Kalomoh returned to his position of Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 1998, was appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. Between 1999 and 2000, he was appointed Acting Minister when Minister Gurirab was elected President of the United Nations General Assembly. He attended many summit meetings of SADC, OAU, later AU, the Non-Aligned Movement, the Commonwealth and the UN General Assembly, either accompanying the President or leading the Namibian delegation.

From 1998 to 1999, Kalomoh led Namibia’s delegation to peace talks on DRC in Lusaka involving the DRC government, and the Rebel Movements on the one hand, the government of Rwanda and Uganda supporting the rebels and those of Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe supporting the government of DRC on the other hand. The talks culminated in the signing of the Lusaka Protocol of August 1999 which ushered in the peace process in DRC and the deployment of the UN peace-keeping force in 2000. In 2002, Kalomoh was appointed by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan as Assistant Secretary-General in the Department of Political Affairs responsible for Africa and the Security Council. He sat in all key meetings of the Security Council including the one that had failed to endorse an American/British draft resolution that sought Security Council approval for the invasion of Iraq. He led numerous mediation missions to conflict areas in Africa including Burundi, Chad, Central African Republic, Somalia, Sudan, Cote-d' Ivoire. He helped the Secretary-General to successfully mediate a territorial dispute between Cameroon and Nigeria and helped the two countries implement the ruling by the International Court of Justice which favored Cameroon. He also helped the Secretary-General mediate a territorial dispute between Gabon and Equatorial-Guinea but without success.

In 2005, Kalomoh led a UN inter-departmental delegation to Burundi for consultation with political leaders, civil society representatives and ordinary citizens on the feasibility of establishing a special tribunal to investigate and prosecute those accused of committing war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, and to promote reconciliation. His last mediation mission was to Somalia to help the Federal Transition Government reconcile with moderate elements of the Union of Islamic Courts. The mission was unsuccessful because the parties were not ready to compromise. Kalomoh retired from the United Nations in May 2007 at the end of Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s mandate.

In March 2008, Kalomoh was appointed Special Advisor on Foreign Affairs to the President, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs. Ambassador Kalomoh graduated, with a Diploma from the Indian Academy of International Law and Diplomacy in New Delhi which he attended from 1986 to 1989. He received military training at PLAN’s Tobias Hainyeko Training Center in Lubango, Angola in 1980.

See also[link]

• Bantu Investment Corporation Act
• CODESA

References[link]

External links[link]

• [International Court of Justice (ICJ) Ruling 1970:Legal Consequences for States of the Continued Presence of South Africa in Namibia (South West Africa) notwithstanding Security Council Resolution 276 (1970). International Court of Justice, http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/index.php?p1=3&p2=4&code=nam&case=53&k=a7&PHPSESSID=471da7b31033fb05e276d4d37ffeec88]
• UN.org
• Allafrica.com
• United States Equant Inc
• Namibian.com.na
• Namibian.com.na