The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization that aims to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations and countries, achieve international cooperation, and serve as a centre for coordinating the actions of member states. It is widely recognized as the world's largest international organization. The UN is headquartered in New York City, in international territory with certain privileges extraterritorial to the United States, and the UN has other offices in Geneva, Nairobi, Vienna, and The Hague, where the International Court of Justice is headquartered at the Peace Palace.
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, and approving any changes to the UN Charter. Its powers as outlined in the United Nations Charter include establishing peacekeeping operations, enacting international sanctions, and authorizing military action. The UNSC is the only UN body with authority to issue resolutions that are binding on member states.
The member states of the United Nations comprise 193 sovereign states. The United Nations (UN) is the world's largest intergovernmental organization. All members have equal representation in the UN General Assembly.
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.
A United Nations General Assembly resolution is a decision or declaration voted on by all member states of the United Nations in the General Assembly.
China is one of the members of the United Nations and is one of five permanent members of its Security Council. One of the victorious Allies of World War II, the Republic of China (ROC) joined the UN as one of its founding member countries in 1945. The subsequent resumption of the Chinese Civil War between the government of Republic of China and the rebel forces of the Chinese Communist Party, led to the latter's victory on the mainland and the establishment of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949. Nearly all of mainland China was soon under its control and the ROC government retreated to the island of Taiwan.
United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution 377 A, the "Uniting for Peace" resolution, states that in any cases where the Security Council, because of a lack of unanimity among its five permanent members (P5), fails to act as required to maintain international security and peace, the General Assembly shall consider the matter immediately and may issue appropriate recommendations to UN members for collective measures, including the use of armed force when necessary, in order to maintain or restore international security and peace. It was adopted 3 November 1950, after fourteen days of Assembly discussions, by a vote of 52 to 5, with 2 abstentions. The resolution was designed to provide the UN with an alternative avenue for action when at least one P5 member uses its veto to obstruct the Security Council from carrying out its functions mandated by the UN Charter.
Ban Ki-moon is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was the South Korean minister of foreign affairs and trade between 2004 and 2006. Ban was initially considered to be a long shot for the office of Secretary-General of the United Nations; he began to campaign for the office in February 2006. As the foreign minister of South Korea, he was able to travel to all the countries on the United Nations Security Council, a manoeuvre that subsequently turned him into the campaign's front-runner.
United Nations Command is the multinational military force established to support the Republic of Korea during and after the Korean War. It was the first international unified command in history, and the first attempt at collective security pursuant to the Charter of the United Nations.
The United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI) was a UN-NATO peacekeeping mission in Ivory Coast whose objective was "to facilitate the implementation by the Ivorian parties of the peace agreement signed by them in January 2003". The two main Ivorian parties were the Ivorian Government forces who controlled the south of the country, and the New Forces, who controlled the north. The UNOCI mission aimed to control a "zone of confidence" across the centre of the country separating the two parties. The Head of Mission and Special Representative of the Secretary-General was Aïchatou Mindaoudou Souleymane from Niger. She succeeded Bert Koenders from the Netherlands in 2013, who himself succeeded Choi Young-jin from South Korea in 2011. The mission officially ended on 30 June 2017.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1718 was adopted unanimously by the United Nations Security Council on October 14, 2006. The resolution, passed under Chapter VII, Article 41, of the UN Charter, imposes a series of economic and commercial sanctions on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in the aftermath of that nation's claimed nuclear test of October 9, 2006.
A United Nations Secretary-General selection was held in 2006 to succeed Kofi Annan, whose second term as Secretary-General of the United Nations ran until 31 December 2006. Seven candidates were officially nominated for the position.
The official languages of the United Nations are the six languages used in United Nations (UN) meetings and in which the UN writes all its official documents.
The 2012 United Nations Security Council election was held on 18 October 2012 during the 67th session of the United Nations General Assembly, held at the Headquarters of the United Nations in New York City. The elections were for five non-permanent seats on the UN Security Council for two-year mandates commencing on 1 January 2013 to replace the five countries whose terms expired. The countries elected were Argentina, Australia, Luxembourg, the Republic of Korea, and Rwanda with Luxembourg being elected for the first time.
United Nations Security Council resolution 1567, adopted unanimously on 14 October 2004, after recalling resolutions 827 (1993), 1166 (1998), 1329 (2000), 1411 (2002), 1481 (2003), 1503 (2003) and 1534 (2004), the Council forwarded a list of nominees for permanent judges at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) to the General Assembly for consideration.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1987, adopted by acclamation at a closed meeting on June 17, 2011, having considered the question of the recommendation for the appointment of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the Council recommended to the General Assembly that Mr. Ban Ki-moon be appointed for a second term of office from January 1, 2012, to December 31, 2016.
The sixty-sixth session of the United Nations General Assembly opened on 13 September 2011 at 15:00 and was presided over by former Qatari permanent representative to the UN Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser. The session ended on 18 September as al-Nasser symbolically passed the gavel to the president of the next session, Vuk Jeremic.
The Republic of Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea were simultaneously admitted to the United Nations (UN) in 1991. On 8 August 1991, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 702, recommending both states to the General Assembly for membership. On 17 September 1991, the General Assembly admitted both countries under Resolution 46/1.
United Nations secretary-general selection is the process of selecting the next secretary-general of the United Nations. To be selected as secretary-general, a candidate must receive the votes of at least nine members of the United Nations Security Council, with no vetoes from permanent members. The secretary-general is then appointed by a majority vote of the United Nations General Assembly.
