Colombia and the United Nations

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Colombia
Flag of the United Nations.svg Flag of Colombia.svg
United Nations membership
MembershipFull member
Since 5 November 1945
UNSC seat Non-permanent
Permanent representative Leonor Zalabata

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

Contents

Colombia has been a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for seven terms (a total of 14 years), with the most recent being the 2011–12 term.

Colombia is a charter member of the United Nations and participates in all of its specialised agencies. Colombia has contributed 10 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

Colombia participates in the Latin American and Caribbean Group regional grouping. It is also part of the South America 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, Colombia contributed 0.288% of the UN regular budget. This placed Colombia as the 42nd nation by contribution amount. [4]

Security Council

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

Security Council terms
ElectionVotes (Pl.-Rd.)Term
November 1946 51/54 (1st-R1)1947–48
1952 58/60 (1st-R1)1953–54
1956 73/77 (1st-R1)1957–58
1968 118/126 (3rd-R1)1969–70
1988 154/157 (1st-R1)1989–90
2000 168/173 (1st-R1)2001–02
2010 186/186 (1st-GR1)2011–12

Peacekeeping

As of September 2025, Colombia participates in three peacekeeping missions led by the UN. [6]

Peacekeeping missions
RegionMissionPersonnel
Flag of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.svg  Western Sahara United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO)1
Flag of the Central African Republic.svg  Central African Republic United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA)2
Flag of Lebanon.svg  Lebanon United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL)1

Positions held

Colombia has had one President of the United Nations General Assembly in Indalecio Liévano, who served in 1978. Eleven Colombian representatives have served as President of the United Nations Security Council and two Colombian representatives have headed the Economic and Social Council. The nation has served on the United Nations Credentials Committee five times. [7] [8] [9]

There have been no Colombian permanent judges of the International Court of Justice. [10] However, two Colombian judges have served on the court on an ad hoc basis. [11]

Colombia 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 Indalecio Liévano 1978
Presidency of the United Nations Security Council Alfonso López Pumarejo May 1947, April 1948
Francisco José Urrutia Holguín September 1953, September 1954, August-September 1957
Alfonso Araújo Gaviria July 1958
Joaquín Vallejo Arbeláez March 1970
Enrique Peñalosa Camargo  ( es )December 1989
Guillermo Fernández de Soto August 2001
Alfonso Valdivieso Sarmiento August 2001, December 2002
Carolina Barco December 2002
Juan Manuel Santos April 2011
Néstor Osorio Londoño April 2011, July 2012
Leonor Zalabata June 2026
President of the United Nations Economic and Social Council Alfonso Patiño Rosselli 1963
Néstor Osorio Londoño 2013
Judges sitting ad hoc on the International Court of Justice José Joaquin Caicedo Castilla 1949-1951
Francisco Urrutia Holguin 1958-1960
United Nations Credentials Committee —1955, 1971, 1983, 1989, 2013

Permanent representative

Colombia has a mission to the UN led by a permanent representative, also known as a UN Ambassador. The position is currently held by Leonor Zalabata Torres, who presented credentials in October 2022. [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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