Basic Facts about the United Nations

297 Pages·2017·5.963 MB·English

by  United Nations

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Basic Facts about the United Nations
Front cover: Member of an Ethiopian battalion of UNMISS
helps a woman from the Protection of Civilians site in Bentiu,
South Sudan, to lift a stack of firewood in a patrolled area
where women have reported cases of harassment and abuse
(21 January 2015, UN Photo/JC McIlwaine).
Cover design: Graphic Design Unit, United Nations, New York
Basic Facts
about the
United Nations
42nd Edition
United Nations Department of Public Information
New York
Basic Facts about the United Nations
Published by the United Nations Department of Public Information
New York, New York 10017, United States of America
Forty-second edition
Copyright©2017 United Nations
All rights reserved. First edition 1947.
All queries on rights and licenses, including subsidiary rights,
should be addressed to: United Nations Publications,
300 East 42nd Street, New York, NY 10017, United States of America;
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ISBN: 978-92-1-101350-4
eISBN: 978-92-1-058490-6
United Nations publication
Sales No. E.17.I.2
Printed in the United States of America
FOREWORD
The United Nations remains an indispensable pillar of the international
system, working around the world, around the clock, for peace, sustainable
development and human rights. At a time when challenges are increasingly
global, and our fates are inexorably intertwined, understanding the United Nations
itself—its aims, workings and ideals—is more important than ever.
Published since 1947, Basic Facts about the United Nations provides a compre-
hensive and authoritative overview of the Organization. Th is latest edition de-
scribes the history and structure of the United Nations system, how it functions
and its continuing eff orts to serve the world’s people.
Signifi cant progress has been made over recent decades to improve human well-
being. Yet, many issues, including violent confl ict, mass migration, humanitarian
crises, terrorism, poverty, youth unemployment, intolerance and inequality, have
grown in complexity. Climate change is a growing threat, amplifying the impact of
natural disasters and putting global water and food security at risk.
All these issues demonstrate the urgent need for multilateral cooperation that
recognizes the links between peace and security, human rights and sustainable
development. Th e venue for that cooperation is the United Nations—the world’s
unique universal forum where States can come together to address shared problems
and seize common opportunities. Recent cooperation is chronicled in this volume,
including three transformative international agreements endorsed in 2015: the
Paris Agreement on climate change, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda on Financ-
ing for Development and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Th ese
landmark plans provide a blueprint for peace, prosperity and dignity for all on a
healthy planet.
At this time of challenge and opportunity for the human family, I am com-
mitted to reforming the United Nations to ensure that the Organization delivers
meaningful results for the world’s people. Th is volume provides a window into that
work, and I hope that anyone interested in the United Nations will fi nd it a use-
ful resource, as well as a call to action as we strive to realize the objectives of the
Organization’s founding Charter.
António Guterres
Secretary-General of the United Nations
New York, March 2017

CONTENTS
Foreword by the Secretary-General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v
Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
List of acronyms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii
About this edition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv
United Nations system chart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xviii
I. UN CHARTER, STRUCTURE AND SYSTEM
The Charter of the United Nations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Purposes and principles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Amendments to the Charter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Membership and official languages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
UN structure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
General Assembly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Functions and powers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Sessions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Security Council. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Functions and powers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Tribunals and courts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Functions and powers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Sessions and subsidiary bodies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Regional commissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Relations with non-governmental organizations . . . . . . . . . 15
International Court of Justice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Mission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Jurisdiction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Judges. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Budget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Trusteeship Council . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Secretariat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Secretary-General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Departments and offices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Budget. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Budget of the United Nations for the biennium 2016–2017 . . . 29
UN system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Funds and programmes, research and training institutes,
and other entities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
International Trade Centre (ITC). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). . . . . 32
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United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
(UNCTAD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) . . . . . . . . 33
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) . . . . . . . . . 34
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) 35
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research
Institute (UNICRI). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR). . 37
United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Risk
Reduction (UNISDR) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) . . 38
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) . . . . . . . 39
United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) . . . . . . . . 39
United Nations Research Institute for Social Development
(UNRISD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine
Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
United Nations University (UNU) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the
Empowerment of Women (UN-Women) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
World Food Programme (WFP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Specialized agencies and related organizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
(FAO). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) . . . . . . . . . . 42
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). . . . . 43
International Labour Organization (ILO) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
International Monetary Fund (IMF) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
International Maritime Organization (IMO) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
International Telecommunication Union (ITU) . . . . . . . . . . . 45
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) 46
World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Universal Postal Union (UPU) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
World Health Organization (WHO). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) . . . . . . . . . 48
World Meteorological Organization (WMO). . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
World Bank Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-
Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
International Organization for Migration (IOM). . . . . . . . . . . 52
Contents ix
Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
(OPCW) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
World Trade Organization (WTO). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
II. INTERNATIONAL PEACE AND SECURITY
Role of principal organs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Security Council. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
General Assembly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Conflict prevention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Peacekeeping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Enforcement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Sanctions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Authorizing military action. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Peacebuilding. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Peacebuilding architecture. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Electoral assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Building peace through development. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Action for peace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Africa. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Great Lakes region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
West Africa. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Central and East Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
North Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Americas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Colombia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Haiti . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Asia and the Pacific. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
The Middle East. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Afghanistan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Iraq. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
India–Pakistan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Central Asia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Cambodia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Myanmar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Europe. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Cyprus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
South Caucasus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Greece–FYROM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Kosovo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Disarmament . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Disarmament machinery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Multilateral agreements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Weapons of mass destruction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Nuclear weapons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Chemical and biological weapons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110