Introduction
The United Nations (UN) is an international organization
founded in 24th October 1945. It is currently made up of 193
Member States.
Its mission and work guided by the purposes and principles
contained in its founding Charter and implemented by its
various organs and specialised agencies.
Its activities include maintaining international peace and security,
protecting human rights, delivering humanitarian aid, promoting
sustainable development and upholding international law.
History of UN Foundation
In 1899, the International Peace Conference was held in The
Hague to elaborate instruments for settling crises peacefully,
preventing wars and codifying rules of warfare.
It adopted the Convention for the Pacific Settlement of International
Disputes and established the Permanent Court of Arbitration,
which began work in 1902. This court was the forerunner of UN
International Court of Justice.
The forerunner of the United Nations was the League of Nations,
an organization conceived in circumstances of the First World
War, and established in 1919 under the Treaty of Versailles "to
promote international cooperation and to achieve peace and
security."
The International Labour Organization (ILO) was also created in
1919 under the Treaty of Versailles as an affiliated agency of the
League.
The name "United Nations", coined by United States President
Franklin D. Roosevelt. A document called The Declaration by
United Nations was signed in 1942 by 26 nations, pledging their
Governments to continue fighting together against the Axis Powers
(Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis) and bound them against making a
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separate peace.
United Nations Conference on International Organization (1945)
Conference held in San Francisco (USA), was attended by
representatives of 50 countries and signed the United Nations
Charter on 26th June 1945.
The UN Charter of 1945 is the foundational treaty of the United
Nations, as an inter-governmental organization.
Components of UNO
The main organs of the UN are
1. General Assembly,
2. Security Council,
3. Economic and Social Council,
4. Trusteeship Council,
5. International Court of Justice,
6. UN Secretariat.
All the 6 were established in 1945 when the UN was founded.
1. General Assembly
The General Assembly is the main deliberative, policymaking and
representative organ of the UN.
All 193 Member States of the UN are represented in the General
Assembly, making it the only UN body with universal
representation.
Each year, in September, the full UN membership meets in the
General Assembly Hall in New York for the annual General
Assembly session, and general debate, which many heads of state
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attend and address.
Decisions on important questions, such as those on peace and
security, admission of new members and budgetary matters,
require a two-thirds majority of the General Assembly.
Decisions on other questions are by simple majority.
The President of the General Assembly is elected each year by
assembly to serve a one-year term of office.
His Excellency Germany’s Annalena Baerbock elected President of
the 80th General Assembly session (2025). The election took place
at United Nations Headquarters, in New York, on 3rd June 2025.
Ms. Baerbock received 167 votes following the secret ballot.
Fourteen delegations abstained.
6 Main Committees: Draft resolutions can be prepared for the
General Assembly by its six main committees:
(1) First Committee (Disarmament and International Security),
(2) Second Committee (Economic and Financial)
(3) Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural)
(4) Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization)
(5) Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary)
(6)Sixth Committee (Legal).
Each Member State may be represented by one person on
each Main Committee and on any other committee that may be
established upon which all Member States have the right to be
represented.
Member States may also assign advisers, technical advisers,
experts or persons of similar status to these committees.
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2. Security Council
It has primary responsibility, under the UN Charter, for the
maintenance of international peace and security.
The Security Council is made up of fifteen member states,
consisting of five permanent members—China, France, Russia, the
United Kingdom, and the United States—and ten non-permanent
members elected for two-year terms by the General Assembly on a
regional basis.
"Veto power" refers to the power of the permanent member to veto
(Reject) any resolution of Security Council.
The unconditional veto possessed by the five governments has been
seen as the most undemocratic character of the UN.
Critics also claim that veto power is the main cause for international
inaction on war crimes and crimes against humanity. However, the
United States refused to join the United Nations in 1945 unless it was
given a veto.
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3. International Court of Justice (ICJ)
It is one of the six organs of the United Nations, and is located in The
Hague, Netherlands.
The International Court of Justice is the principal judicial organ of the
United Nations.It was established in June 1945 by the Charter of
the United Nations and began work in April 1946.
The ICJ is the successor of the Permanent Court of nternational
Justice (PCIJ), which was established by the League of Nations in
1920.
The International Court of Justice is composed of 15 judges elected to
nine-year terms of office by the United Nations General Assembly and
the Security Council.
Dalveer Bhandari (born 1 October 1947) is an Indian jurist. He is
currently one of the judges of the International Court of Justice.
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4. Secretariat
The Secretariat comprises the Secretary-General and tens of
thousands of international UN staff members who carry out the
day-to-day work of the UN as mandated by the General Assembly
and the Organization's other principal organs. The Secretary-
General is chief administrative officer of the Organization, appointed
by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the Security
Council for a five- year, renewable term.
UN staff members are recruited internationally and locally, and work
in duty stations and on peacekeeping missions all around the world.
António Guterres is the current Secretary-General of the United
Nations. He is the ninth Secretary-General, his term began 1
January 2017.
The current term of the Secretary-General is five years, with a
possibility to be re-appointed for a second five year term.
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5. Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)
It is the principal body for coordination, policy review, policy dialogue
and recommendations on economic, social and environmental issues,
as well as implementation of internationally agreed development goals.
It has 54 Members, elected by the General Assembly for overlapping
three-year terms. It is the United Nations’ central platform for
reflection, debate, and innovative thinking on sustainable
development.
Each year, ECOSOC structures its work around an annual theme of
global importance to sustainable development. This ensures
focused attention, among ECOSOC’s array of partners, and
throughout the UN development system.
It coordinates the work of the 14 UN specialized agencies, ten
functional commissions and five regional commissions, receives
reports from nine UN funds and programmes and issues policy
recommendations to the UN system and to Member States.
UN bodies within the purview of the ECOSOC:
Specialized agencies
International labour Organization (ILO)
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO)
World Health Organization (WHO)
World Bank Group & International Monetary Fund (IMF)
International Maritime Organization (IMO)
International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
United nations development programme (UNDP)
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR)
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in
the Near East (UNRWA)
World Food Programme (WFP)
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6. Trusteeship Council
It was established in 1945 by the UN Charter, under Chapter XIII.
The Trusteeship Council, one of the main organs of the UN,
was established to supervise the administration of trust
territories as they transitioned from colonies to sovereign
nations.
Trust territory is a non-self-governing territory placed under
an administrative authority by the Trusteeship Council of the
United Nations.
The Council suspended its activities in 1994, when Palau, the
last of the original 11 trust territories, gained its independence.
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