United Nations System

The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA/GA) consists of all United Nations Member States and meets in regular session once a year under a president elected from among the representatives. Its powers are to oversee the budget of the United Nations, appoint the non-permanent members to the Security Council, receive reports from other parts of the United Nations and make recommendations in the form of General Assembly Resolutions.[10] It has also established a wide number of subsidiary organs.[11]

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is charged with the maintenance of international peace and security. Its powers, outlined in the United Nations Charter, include the establishment of peacekeeping operations, the establishment of international sanctions, and the authorization of military action. Its powers are exercised through United Nations Security Council resolutions.

The Security Council held its first ever session on 17 January 1946 at Church House, Westminster, London. Since its first meeting, the council, which exists in continuous session, has travelled widely, holding meetings in many cities, such as Paris and Addis Ababa, as well as at its current permanent home at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City.

There are 15 members of the Security Council, consisting of five veto-wielding permanent members (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States) and 10 elected non-permanent members with two-year terms. This basic structure is set out in Chapter V of the UN Charter. Security Council members must always be present at UN headquarters in New York so that the Security Council can meet at any time.

The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is responsible for co-ordinating the economic, social, and related work of 15 UN specialized agencies, their functional commissions and five regional commissions. ECOSOC has 54 members; it holds a four-week session each year in July. Since 1998, it has also held a meeting each April with finance ministers heading key committees of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The ECOSOC serves as the central forum for discussing international economic and social issues, and for formulating policy recommendations addressed to member states and the United Nations System.[12]

The United Nations Secretariat is headed by the United Nations Secretary-General, assisted by a staff of international civil servants worldwide. It provides studies, information, and facilities needed by United Nations bodies for their meetings. It also carries out tasks as directed by the UN Security Council, the UN General Assembly, the UN Economic and Social Council, and other U.N. bodies. The United Nations Charter provides that the staff is to be chosen by application of the "highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity," with due regard for the importance of recruiting on a wide geographical basis.

The charter provides that the staff shall not seek or receive instructions from any authority other than the UN. Each UN member country is enjoined to respect the international character of the secretariat and not seek to influence its staff. The secretary-general alone is responsible for staff selection.

• Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
• United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
• United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services (UN-OIOS)
• United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR, formerly UNISDR)

The International Court of Justice is the primary judicial organ of the United Nations. It is based in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands. Its main functions are to settle legal disputes submitted to it by states and to provide advisory opinions on legal questions submitted to it by duly authorized international organs, agencies, and the UN General Assembly.

The United Nations Trusteeship Council, one of the principal organs of the United Nations, was established to ensure that trust territories were administered in the best interests of their inhabitants and of international peace and security. The trust territories—most of them are former mandates of the League of Nations or territories taken from nations defeated at the end of World War II—have all now attained self-government or independence, either as separate nations or by joining neighbouring independent countries. The last was Palau, formerly part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, which became a member state of the United Nations in December 1994.

Throughout its history the United Nations General Assembly has established a number of programmes and funds to address particular humanitarian and development concerns. These are financed through voluntary rather than assessed contributions. These bodies usually report to the General Assembly through an executive board. Only one UN programme has ever closed in the history of the organization, the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA), which ceased to exist in 1959 and was subsequently replaced by the UNHCR.

Each of the funds and programmes is headed by an executive director at the under-secretary-general level and is governed by an executive board. One former fund, the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), was merged with other elements of the United Nations System into a new organization, UN Women, in January 2011.

Programmes and funds of the United Nations

Acronyms	Agency	Headquarters	Head	Established	Comment
UNDP	United Nations Development Programme	New York City, United States	Achim Steiner	1965
UNICEF	United Nations Children's Fund	New York City, United States	Catherine M. Russell	1946
UNCDF	United Nations Capital Development Fund	New York City, United States	Marc Bichler	1966	Affiliated with the UNDP
WFP	World Food Programme	Rome, Italy	David Beasley	1963
UNEP	United Nations Environment Programme	Nairobi, Kenya	Inger Andersen	1972
UNFPA	United Nations Population Fund	New York City, United States	Natalia Kanem	1969
UN-HABITAT	United Nations Human Settlements Programme	Nairobi, Kenya	Maimunah Mohd Sharif	1978
UNV	United Nations Volunteers	Bonn, Germany	Richard Dictus	1978	Administered by UNDP

Various institutes were established by the General Assembly to perform independent research and training. One former institute, the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW), was merged with other elements of the United Nations System into a new organization, UN Women, in January 2011.

• 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 Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD)
• United Nations System Staff College (UNSSC)
• United Nations University (UNU)

• Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
• UNCCD – United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification
• UNFCCC – United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
• UNCLOS – United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea established bodies:
  • ISA – International Seabed Authority
  • ITLOS – International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea

• Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS)
• International Trade Centre (ITC)
• United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS)
• United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)

Other Entities and Bodies

Acronyms	Agency	Headquarters	Head	Established	Comment
UNHCR	United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees	Geneva, Switzerland	Filippo Grandi	1951
UNIFEM	United Nations Development Fund for Women	New York City, United States	Inés Alberdi	1976	Merged with UN Women in 2011
UN WOMEN	United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women	New York City, United States	Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka	2010	Created by the merger of the Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW), the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW), the Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women (OSAGI) and the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM)
UNRWA	United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East	Gaza, Palestine and Amman, Jordan	Pierre Krähenbühl	1949

The IOM, established in 1951, is the leading inter-governmental organization in the field of migration and works closely with governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental partners. IOM works to help ensure the orderly and humane management of migration, to promote international cooperation on migration issues, to assist in the search for practical solutions to migration problems and to provide humanitarian assistance to migrants in need, including refugees and internally displaced people. In September 2016, IOM joined the United Nations System as a related organization during the United Nations General Assembly high-level summit to address large movements of refugees and migrants.[17]

The CTBTO PrepCom reports to the UN General Assembly.[16]

The relationship between the IAEA and the UN was established by a resolution of the UN General Assembly. Unlike the specialized agencies which report to ECOSOC, the IAEA reports to the General Assembly as well as the Security Council.[8] Like the other specialized agency's heads, their executives are part of the United Nations System Chief Executives' Board for Coordination (CEB).[8]

The OPCW is not an agency of the United Nations, but cooperates both on policy and practical issues. On 7 September 2000 the OPCW and the UN signed a co-operation agreement outlining how they were to co-ordinate their activities.[18] Under this agreement, the OPCW reports to the UN General Assembly.[16]

The WTO does not have a formal agreement with the UN. Instead, their relationship is governed by exchanges of letters. Unlike the specialized agencies and the IAEA, the WTO has no reporting obligations towards any of the principal organs of the UN, but provides ad hoc contribution to the work of the General Assembly and ECOSOC.[16] The WTO has a seat on the CEB.[8]