Belgium and the United Nations

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Belgium
Flag of the United Nations.svg Flag of Belgium.svg
United Nations membership
MembershipFull member
Since 27 December 1945
UNSC seat Non-permanent
Permanent representative Sophie Jang de Smedt

Belgium is one of the 51 founding members of the United Nations having signed the United Nations Conference on International Organization in 1945. [1]

Contents

Belgium has been a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for six terms (a total of 12 years), with the most recent being the 2019–20 term.

Belgium is a charter member of the United Nations and participates in all of its specialised agencies, except for the United Nations Industrial Development Organization and UN Tourism. Belgium has contributed 2 troops to United Nations peacekeeping efforts as of 2024. [2]

Classification

.mw-parser-output .legend{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .legend-color{display:inline-block;min-width:1.25em;height:1.25em;line-height:1.25;margin:1px 0;text-align:center;border:1px solid black;background-color:transparent;color:black}.mw-parser-output .legend-text{} African Group Asia and the Pacific Group Eastern European Group Latin American and Caribbean Group Western European and Others Group UN regional groups.svg
  African Group
  Asia and the Pacific Group
  Eastern European Group
  Latin American and Caribbean Group
  Western European and Others Group

Belgium participates in the Western European and Others Group regional grouping. It is also part of the Western Europe geographical subregion. [3]

Activities

Funding

The regular budget of the United Nations is financed through compulsory contributions from its member states. From 2022 to 2024, Belgium contributed 0.828% of the UN regular budget. This placed Belgium as the 22nd nation by contribution amount. [4]

Security Council

Belgium has held a non-permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council six times since its entry in 1945. [5]

Security Council terms
ElectionVotes (Pl.-Rd.)Term
November 1946 43/54 (3rd-R1)1947–48
1954 52/58 (3rd-R1)1955–56
1970 104/113 (3rd-R1)1971–72
1990 142/154 (4th-R1)1991–92
2006 180/192 (2nd-GR1)2007–08
2018 181/188 (2nd-GR1)2019–20

Peacekeeping

As of September 2025, Belgium participates in one peacekeeping mission led by the UN. [6]

Peacekeeping missions
RegionMissionPersonnel
Flag of the Arab League.svg  Middle East and North Africa United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO)1

Positions held

Belgium has had one President of the United Nations General Assembly in Paul-Henri Spaak, who served in 1946 as the inaugural title-holder. Seven Belgian representatives have served as President of the United Nations Security Council and one Belgian representative has headed the Economic and Social Council. The nation has served on the United Nations Credentials Committee ten times. [7] [8] [9]

There has been one Belgian permanent judge of the International Court of Justice. [10] Additionally, eight Belgian judges have served on the court on an ad hoc basis. [11]

Belgium has never held the Secretary-General of the United Nations or Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations positions. [12]

United Nations positions held
PositionPersonTerm
President of the United Nations General Assembly Paul-Henri Spaak 1946
Presidency of the United Nations Security Council Fernand van Langenhove February 1947, January 1948, December 1948, July 1955
Josef Nisot July 1956
Edouard Longerstaey April 1971, August 1972
Paul Noterdaeme April 1991, June 1992
Johan Verbeke June 2007
Jan Grauls August 2008
Marc Pecsteen de Buytswerve February 2020
President of the United Nations Economic and Social Council Raymond Scheyven 1953, 1969
Permanent judges of the International Court of Justice Charles de Visscher 1946-1952
Judges sitting ad hoc on the International Court of Justice Philippe Couvreur 2018-present
Patrick Ferdinand Duinslaeger 1999-2004
W. J. Ganshof v.d. Meersch 1958-1970
Philippe Kirsch 2009-2012
François Rigaux 1989-2003
Jean Salmon 1999-2001
Joe Verhoeven 1999-2022
Christine van den Wyngaert 2000-2002
United Nations Credentials Committee —1950, 1952, 1963, 1972, 1974, 1975, 1979, 1991, 2002, 2013

Permanent representative

Belgium has a mission to the UN led by a permanent representative, also known as a UN Ambassador. The position is currently held by Sophie Jang de Smedt, who presented credentials in January 2025. [13]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Kurtas, Susan. "Research Guides: UN Membership: Founding Members". research.un.org. Retrieved 2020-05-24.
  2. ↑ "Troop and police contributors". United Nations Peacekeeping. Retrieved 2024-04-27.
  3. ↑ "Countries or areas / geographical regions". un.org .
  4. ↑ United Nations General Assembly Session 73 RES271. Scale of assessments for the apportionment of the expenses of the United NationsA/RES/73/271 page 3. 24 December 2021. Retrieved 24 November 2025.
  5. ↑ United Nations General Assembly Session 59 Note verbale dated 20 July 2005 from the Permanent Mission of Costa Rica to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-GeneralA/59/881 page 5. 26 July 2005. Retrieved 21 November 2025.
  6. ↑ "Contribution of Uniformed Personnel to UN by Country, Mission, and Personnel Type" (PDF). un.org . 30 September 2025.
  7. ↑ "Past PRESIDENCIES of the United Nations SECURITY COUNCIL". thegreenpapers.com .
  8. ↑ "Past Presidents of the General Assembly". un.org .
  9. ↑ "Presidents of the ECOSOC". un.org .
  10. ↑ "All Members". icj-cij.org .
  11. ↑ "All Judges ad hoc". icj-cij.org .
  12. ↑ "Deputy Secretary-General". un.org .
  13. ↑ "LIST OF PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVES AND OBSERVERS TO THE UNITED NATIONS IN NEW YORK" (PDF). un.org .
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