The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization aiming to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations. It is the world's largest and most familiar international organization. The UN is headquartered on international territory in New York City and has other main offices in Geneva, Nairobi, Vienna, and The Hague.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the rights and freedoms of all human beings. It was accepted by the General Assembly as Resolution 217 during its third session on 10 December 1948 at the Palais de Chaillot in Paris, France. Of the 58 members of the United Nations at the time, 48 voted in favour, none against, eight abstained, and two did not vote.
The United Nations General Assembly is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Its powers, composition, functions, and procedures are set out in Chapter IV of the United Nations Charter. The UNGA is responsible for the UN budget, appointing the non-permanent members to the Security Council, appointing the Secretary-General of the United Nations, receiving reports from other parts of the UN system, and making recommendations through resolutions. It also establishes numerous subsidiary organs to advance or assist in its broad mandate. The UNGA is the only UN organ wherein all member states have equal representation.
The United Nations member states are the 193 sovereign states that are members of the United Nations (UN) and have equal representation in the UN General Assembly. The UN is the world's largest intergovernmental organization.
The secretary-general of the United Nations is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations.
The Inter-Parliamentary Union is an international organization of national parliaments. Its primary purpose is to promote democratic governance, accountability, and cooperation among its members; other initiatives include advancing gender parity among legislatures, empowering youth participation in politics, and sustainable development.
The Japanese Peace Bell project was founded by Chiyoji Nakagawa, with a bell donated to the United Nations headquarters in New York via the United Nations Association of Japan in June 1954. It is a bonsho of 60 centimeters in diameter, 1 meter in height, and 116 kg in weight. Ceremonies are held at the opening of the United Nations General Assembly in September each year as well as on the International Day of Peace on September 21 where the bell is rung in honour of world peace by the Secretary General, UN executives, and other public figures.
China is one of the charter members of the United Nations and is one of five permanent members of its Security Council.
The president of the United Nations General Assembly is a position voted for by representatives in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on a yearly basis. The president is the chair and presiding officer of the General Assembly.
The Act of Free Choice was a referendum held between 14 July and 2 August 1969 in which 1,025 men and women selected by the Indonesian military in Western New Guinea voted unanimously in favor of Indonesian control.
The United Nations General Assembly has granted observer status to international organizations, entities, and non-member states, to enable them to participate in the work of the United Nations General Assembly, though with limitations. The General Assembly determines the privileges it will grant to each observer, beyond those laid down in a 1986 Conference on treaties between States and International Organizations. Exceptionally, the EU was in 2011 granted the right to speak in debates, to submit proposals and amendments, the right of reply, to raise points of order and to circulate documents, etc. As of May 2011, the EU was the only international organisation to hold these enhanced rights, which has been likened to the rights of full membership, short of the right to vote.
The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) is the United Nations programme for human settlements and sustainable urban development. It was established in 1978 as an outcome of the first United Nations Conference on Human Settlements and Sustainable Urban Development held in Vancouver, Canada, in 1976. UN-Habitat maintains its headquarters at the United Nations Office at Nairobi, Kenya. It is mandated by the United Nations General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities with the goal of providing adequate shelter for all. It is a member of the United Nations Development Group. The mandate of UN-Habitat derives from the Habitat Agenda, adopted by the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements in Istanbul, Turkey, in 1996. The twin goals of the Habitat Agenda are adequate shelter for all and the development of sustainable human settlements in an urbanizing world.
Miroslav Lajčák is a Slovak politician and diplomat, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic. In addition, Lajčak also served as President of the United Nations General Assembly for the 72nd session from 2017 until 2018.
United Nations General Assembly Resolution 68/262 was adopted on March 27, 2014 by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly in response to the Russian annexation of Crimea and entitled "Territorial integrity of Ukraine". The non-binding resolution, which was supported by 100 United Nations member states, affirmed the General Assembly's commitment to the territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders and underscored the invalidity of the 2014 Crimean referendum. Eleven nations voted against the resolution, while 58 abstained, and a further 24 states were absent when the vote took place.
The People's Socialist Republic of Albania joined the United Nations on 14 December 1955, and has participated in several UN peacekeeping operations. The current Representative of Albania in the UN is Ms. Besiana Kadare, who is also a Vice President of the United Nations General Assembly for its 75th session. Albania was voted to become a member of the 15-country UN Security Council for a two-year term, in 2022-23.
The United Nations Credentials Committee is a committee of the United Nations General Assembly whose main purpose is to report to the Assembly regarding the credentials of the body's representatives.
Tijjani Muhammad-Bande OFR is a Nigerian diplomat, academic and political scientist who was the President of the United Nations General Assembly of 74th session from 17 September 2019 to 15 September 2020. He previously served as Vice President from September 2016.
The Seventy-fifth session of the United Nations General Assembly was the session of the United Nations General Assembly which ran from 16 September 2020 to 15 September 2021. The President for the session was Volkan Bozkır, who stated that the session's theme was "The future we want, the United Nations we need; reaffirming our collective commitment to multilateralism".
The National Unity Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar is a Burmese government in exile formed by the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), a group of elected lawmakers and members of parliament ousted in the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état. It includes representatives of the National League for Democracy, ethnic minority insurgent groups, and various minor parties. The State Administration Council—the country's ruling military junta—has declared the NUG illegal and a terrorist organization.
