United Nations:

• Founded in 1945 after World War II.
• Predecessor organization –  League of Nations (created by the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, disbanded in 1946 )
• Mission – To maintain international peace and security, developing friendly relations among nations and promoting social progress and protecting human rights.
• Headquarter – New York
• Official Languages – There are six official languages of the UN. They are :
  • Arabic
  • Chinese
  • English
  • French
  • Spanish
  • Russian
• Members – 193  Members

Organs of the United Nations:

There are six main organs of the United nations. 

UN General Assembly:

• Deliberative organ of UN
• Composed of all member states of UN
• Voting – Each member has one vote
• Headquarters – New York, United States
• Important Functions:
  • Appoints Secretary General of UN
  • Elects Judges to International Court of Justice (ICJ)
• India is a member.

United Nations Security Council

• Mandate – To maintain international peace and security
• Headquarters – New York, United States
• Members(15):
  • Permanent members(5)
    • United States
    • UK
    • France
    • China
    • Russia
  • Non permanent members(10) – Elected by the General Assembly for 2-year terms
• Has power to give binding decisions on member states.
• Voting – Each member has one vote. Permanent Member States have ‘Veto Power’(If any one of the five permanent members give a negative vote, resolution in consideration can not be approved).
• India is not a permanent member.
• G4 Nations:
  • 4 countries who bid for permanent seats in UNSC.
    • Brazil
    • Germany
    • India
    • Japan
• Uniting for Consensus:
  • Also known as Coffee Club
  • Group of countries who are opposing the expansion of permanent members in the UNSC

UN Economic & Social Council

• Coordinates among the member nations and other organizations on working towards social and economic issues.
• Headquarters – New York, United States
• Members – It has 54 members
• India is a member

UN Secretariat

• Performs regular day to day work of the UN and also administers the programs and policies of the UN.
• Headed by the Secretary-General
• Location – New York, USA

International Court of Justice

• Judicial organ of the United Nations
• Location – Hague, Netherlands
• Mandate – To settle legal disputes between states and give advisory opinions to the UN and its specialized agencies
• Also hears cases related to war crimes, ethnic cleansing etc.
• Judges – 15 judges elected for a 9 year term
• The Court hears the disputes between nations only and not between individuals, organizations and private entities and its judgment is final and binding.

The Trusteeship Council

• It was created to provide for the supervision and administration of Trust territories that had been placed under the administration of the UN.
• By 1994, all Trust Territories attained independence and self-government hence currently there is no function to be performed by the Trusteeship Council.