1. The United Nations: Birth and Principal Organs
The United Nations (UN) was created in 1945, after the Second World War, to maintain international peace and security and to promote cooperation. India was one of its 51 founding members. Today the UN has 193 member states.
Birth of the UN
- The UN Charter was signed on 26 June 1945 at the San Francisco Conference.
- It came into force on 24 October 1945, celebrated every year as UN Day.
- The UN headquarters is in New York. Other major UN offices are in Geneva, Vienna and Nairobi.
- It has six official languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.
- India signed the Charter in 1945 even before independence, so it is a founding (original) member.
The six principal organs
- General Assembly: all 193 members, one country one vote. Important decisions need a two-thirds majority.
- Security Council: responsible for international peace and security; its decisions can be binding on members.
- Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC): 54 members, coordinates economic, social and development work.
- Trusteeship Council: supervised trust territories; it suspended operations in 1994 after the last one, Palau, became independent.
- International Court of Justice (ICJ): the main judicial organ, at The Hague, Netherlands. 15 judges elected for 9-year terms.
- Secretariat: the UN's staff, headed by the Secretary-General.
Security Council and Secretary-General
- The Security Council has 15 members: 5 permanent (P5) and 10 non-permanent members elected for two-year terms.
- P5: China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States. Each has a veto: a 'no' vote from any one of them blocks a substantive decision.
- India has been a non-permanent member eight times, most recently in 2021–22. India, Brazil, Germany and Japan (the G4) seek permanent seats as part of Council reform.
- The Secretary-General is appointed by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the Security Council, for a five-year term.
- António Guterres of Portugal is the ninth Secretary-General (since January 2017). His second term ends on 31 December 2026. In 2026 the Security Council held a series of informal 'straw polls' to choose a successor, who is due to take office on 1 January 2027.
- U Thant of Burma (Myanmar) was the first Asian Secretary-General (1961–1971).
Quick facts
- UN Charter signed
- 26 June 1945, San Francisco
- UN Day
- 24 October (Charter came into force, 1945)
- UN members
- 193; India a founding member (51 original)
- UN headquarters
- New York
- Official languages
- 6: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish
- Security Council
- 15 members: 5 permanent with veto + 10 elected for 2 years
- ICJ
- The Hague; 15 judges, 9-year terms
- Ninth Secretary-General
- António Guterres (Portugal), since 2017
💡 The only principal organ NOT in New York is the International Court of Justice, which sits in The Hague.
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