The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending that the General Assembly accept new members to the United Nations, and approving any changes to its charter. Its powers include the establishment of peacekeeping operations and international sanctions as well as the authorization of military actions through resolutions – it is the only body of the United Nations with the authority to issue binding resolutions to member states. The council held its first session on 17 January 1946.
The United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) was created through the adoption of United Nations Security Council resolution 1284 of 17 December 1999 and its mission lasted until June 2007.
A United Nations Security Council resolution is a UN resolution adopted by the fifteen members of the Security Council; the UN body charged with "primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security".
A United Nations resolution is a formal text adopted by a United Nations (UN) body. Although any UN body can issue resolutions, in practice most resolutions are issued by the Security Council or the General Assembly.
Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter sets out the UN Security Council's powers to maintain peace. It allows the Council to "determine the existence of any threat to the peace, breach of the peace, or act of aggression" and to take military and nonmilitary action to "restore international peace and security".
United Nations Security Council Resolution 339 was adopted on 23 October 1973 in order to bring a ceasefire in the Yom Kippur War where Resolution 338 two days before had failed.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 48, adopted on April 23, 1948, called on all concerned parties to comply with United Nations Security Council Resolution 46 and to that end established a Truce Commission for Palestine to assist the Security Council in implementing the truce.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 282, adopted on July 23, 1970, concerned by violations of the arms embargo passed against South Africa in Resolution 191, the Council reiterated its total opposition to the policies of apartheid and reaffirmed its previous resolutions on the topic. The Council called upon states to strengthen the arms embargo by ceasing the provision of military training to members of the South African armed forces and by taking appropriate action to give effective to the resolution's measures.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1864, adopted unanimously January 23, 2009, after recalling resolution 1740 (2007), 1796 (2008) and 1825 (2008) on the situation in Nepal, the Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN), whose mandate expired that day, by another six months until July 23, 2009.
United Nations Security Council resolution 732, adopted without a vote on 23 January 1992, after examining the application of the Republic of Kazakhstan for membership in the United Nations, the Council recommended to the General Assembly that Kazakhstan be admitted.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1691, regarding the accession of Montenegro to the United Nations, was adopted without a vote on 22 June 2006. In the resolution, after examining the country's application for membership, the Council recommended to the General Assembly that it be admitted.
United Nations Security Council resolution 1414, adopted without a vote on 23 May 2002, after examining the application of the Democratic Republic of East Timor (Timor-Leste) for membership in the United Nations, the Council recommended to the General Assembly that East Timor be admitted.
United Nations Security Council resolution 1146, adopted unanimously on 23 December 1997, after recalling all resolutions on Cyprus, particularly resolutions 186 (1964), 939 (1994) and 1117 (1997), the Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) for a further six months until 30 June 1998.
United Nations Security Council resolution 1413, adopted unanimously on 23 May 2002, after reaffirming all resolutions on the situation in Afghanistan, particularly Resolution 1386 (2001) and resolutions 1368 (2001) and 1373 (2001) on terrorism, the Council extended the authorisation of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) for an additional six months beyond 20 June 2002.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1974, adopted unanimously on March 22, 2011, after recalling previous resolutions on Afghanistan, in particular 1917 (2010), the Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) for a period of one year until March 23, 2012.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1733, adopted by acclamation at a closed meeting on December 22, 2006, after recognising the role of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the Council paid tribute to Kofi Annan, whose term as Secretary-General would come to an end on December 31, 2006.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 2016 was unanimously adopted on 27 October 2011. Recognizing the "positive developments" in Libya after the Libyan Civil War and the death of Muammar Gaddafi, the resolution set a date of termination for the provisions of Security Council Resolution 1973 which allowed states to undertake "all necessary measures" to protect civilians and which formed the legal basis for military intervention by a number of foreign states. The termination date was set at 23:59, Libyan local time on 31 October 2011. The no-fly zone created with Resolution 1973 was also lifted on that date.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 2166, concerning the shootdown of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, was sponsored by Australia and adopted unanimously on 21 July 2014. The resolution expressed support for the "efforts to establish a full, thorough and independent international investigation into the incident in accordance with international civil aviation guidelines" and called on all United Nations member states "to provide any requested assistance to civil and criminal investigations".
