United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an international organization whose stated aims are to facilitate co-operation in international law, international security, economic development, and social equity. It was founded in 1945 at the signing of the United Nations Charter by 50 countries, replacing the League of Nations founded in 1919.
As of 2006, there are 192 United Nations member states, including virtually every internationally recognized independent country. From its headquarters in New York City, the UN's member countries and specialized agencies give guidance and decide on substantive and administrative issues in regular meetings held throughout each year. The organization is divided into administrative bodies, including the General Assembly, Security Council, Economic and Social Council, Secretariat, Trusteeship Council, and the International Court of Justice (ICJ), as well as counterpart bodies dealing with the governance of all other UN System agencies, such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). On 13 October 2006, South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon was approved by the United Nations General Assembly as the world body's eighth secretary-general and the first Asian to hold the post since 1971.
Useful Links
- United Nations Web Site
- UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders
- UN Secretary General's Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights Defenders
- UN Human Rights Defenders Fact Sheet (pdf)
- Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
- UN Human Rights Council
- Universal Declaration of Human Rights
- For the Record: The UN Human Rights System
- United Nations Handbook on National Human Rights Plans of Action
- Millennium Development Goals Internet Portal
- United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)