effective - 24 October 1945
aim - to maintain international peace and security and to promote cooperation involving economic, social, cultural, and humanitarian problems
constituent organizations - the UN is composed of six principal organs
and numerous subordinate agencies and bodies as follows: 1) Secretariat
2) General Assembly: International Research and Training Institute
for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW), United Nations Center for
Human Settlements (Habitat), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF),
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), United
Nations Development Program (UNDP), United Nations Drug Control Program
(UNDCP), United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR), United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees (UNHCR), United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research
(UNIDIR), United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR),
United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute
(UNICRI), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), United Nations Office
of Project Services (UNOPS), United Nations Relief and Works Agency for
Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), United Nations Research
Institute for Social Development (UNRISD), United Nations System Staff
College (UNSSC), and United Nations University (UNU), World Food Program
(WFP) 3) Security Council: International Criminal Tribunal for the Former
Yugoslavia (ICTY), International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR),
United Nations Compensation Commission, United Nations Disengagement
Observer Force (UNDOF), United Nations Interim Administration Mission
in Kosovo (UNMIK), United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL),
United Nations Iraq/Kuwait Boundary Demarcation Commission, United Nations
Iraq-Kuwait Observation Mission (UNIKOM), United Nations Military Observer
Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP), United Nations Mission for the
Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), United Nations Mission in Bosnia
and Herzegovina (UNMIBH), United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea
(UNMEE), United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL), United Nations
Mission of Observers in Prevlaka (UNMOP), United Nations Monitoring and
Verification Commission (UNMOVIC), United Nations Observer Mission in
Georgia (UNOMIG), United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo (MONUC), United Nations Peace-Keeping Force in
Cyprus (UNFICYP), United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor
(UNTAET), and United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) 4)
Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC): Commission for Social Development,
Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, Commission on
Human Rights, Commission on Narcotics Drugs, Commission on Population
and Development, Commission on Science and Technology for Development,
Commission on Sustainable Development, Commission on the Status of Women,
Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), Economic
and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), Economic Commission for
Africa (ECA), Economic Commission for Europe (ECE), Economic Commission
for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations (FAO), International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA), International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
(IBRD), International Center for Secretariat of Investment Disputes
(ICSID), International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), International
Development Association (IDA), International Finance Corporation (IFC),
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), International
Labor Organization (ILO), International Maritime Organization (IMO),
International Monetary Fund (IMF), International Telecommunication Union
(ITU), Multilateral Investment Geographic Agency (MGIA), Statistical
Commission, United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO), United Nations Industrial Development Organization
(UNIDO), Universal Postal Union (UPU), World Health Organization (WHO),
World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), World Meteorological
Organization (WMO), World Tourism Organization (WToO), and World Trade
Organization (WTrO) 5) Trusteeship Council (inactive; no trusteeships at
this time) 6) International Court of Justice (ICJ) UN members - (189)
Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda,
Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, The Bahamas, Bahrain,
Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia,
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso,
Burma, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Central African
Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Comoros, Democratic Republic of
the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Costa Rica, Cote d'Ivoire, Croatia,
Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican
Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea,
Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, The Gambia, Georgia,
Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana,
Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland,
Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, North
Korea, South Korea, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho,
Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, The Former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali,
Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Federated States
of Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia,
Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, NZ, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman,
Pakistan, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines,
Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis,
Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Sao
Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone,
Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa,
Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Syria, Tajikistan,
Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey,
Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, UAE, UK, US, Uruguay, Uzbekistan,
Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Yugoslavia, Zambia, Zimbabwe; note -
all UN members are represented in the General Assembly; East Timor and
Switzerland are scheduled to become UN members in September 2002
observers - (2 plus the Palestine Liberation Organization) Holy See, Switzerland, Palestine Liberation Organization
** United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) **
note - acronym retained from the predecessor organization, UN International Children's Emergency Fund
established - 11 December 1946
aim - to help establish child health and welfare services
members - (36) selected on a rotating basis from all regions
** United Nations Civilian Police Mission in Haiti (MIPONUH) **