United Nations Research: Background

The United Nations is an intergovernmental organization (IGO), membership of which is open to all sovereign states upon recommendation by the Security Council and approval by the General Assembly. The purposes of the UN, as set forth in the Charter, are to maintain international peace and security; to develop friendly relations among nations; to cooperate in solving international economic, social, cultural and humanitarian problems and in promoting respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms; and to be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations in attaining these ends. The UN is thus what is termed a universal membership, universal purpose organization. Information generated by the UN is valuable for a variety of reasons:

1. As a universal purpose organization, the UN tackles a wide variety of problems, usually generating information in the process.
2. As a universal membership organization, a variety of voices are heard which would otherwise escape the attention of the mainstream media. UN documentation is thus a valuable source of information on foreign policy, especially that of developing nations.

by Mike McCaffrey & Amanda Wakaruk

The six principal organs of the United Nations are the:

• General Assembly
  • Main deliberative, policymaking & representative organ of the United Nations
  • Each member country has one representative

• Security Council
  • Primary responsibility: "The maintenance of international peace & security"
  • Comprised of 15 member states with 5 permanent members holding veto power (China, France, Russia,  UK & US)
  • Dispatches peacekeeping as well as military missions
  • Establishes sanctions

• Economic and Social Council
  • Forum for discussing economic, social & environmental issues
  • Coordinates the work of a number of specialized U.N. agencies & commissions

• Trusteeship Council
  • Administered U.N. Trust Territories
  • Suspended in 1994

• International Court of Justice 
  • Principal judicial organ of the United Nations
  • Role is to settle, in accordance with international law, legal disputes submitted to it by States & to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by authorized United Nations organs & specialized agencies

• Secretariat
  • Led by Secretary General
  • Carries out the diverse day-to-day work of the Organization. It services the other principal organs of the United Nations & administers the programmes & policies laid down by them.

The United Nations family also encompasses 15 agencies, such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF) & World Health Organization (WHO) & several programmes and bodies, such as the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) & the UN Development Programme (UNDP) .