United Nations Explained: What Does the United Nations Do?

The United Nations is an international organization that represents member states from all corners of the world. Of the 195 nations recognized by the United States government, 193 are members of the United Nations. The two that are not members are Vatican City (the Holy See), which chooses not to be a member, and Palestine, which has not been admitted for membership.

The United Nations is headquartered in a patch of international territory located in the Manhattan borough of New York City. It also operates major offices in Nairobi, Vienna, Geneva, and The Hague. The organization is a successor to the less powerful League of Nations, which was chartered around the time of World War I.

The founding Charter of the United Nations establishes core values and objectives for the organization. According to the UN Charter, the body divides its work into five core objectives:

1. 1. Maintaining international peace and security: This involves conflict-preventive diplomacy, mediation, peacekeeping operations, assistance for countries emerging from conflict, counterterrorism campaigns, and disarmament efforts. The UN’s Security Council and General Assembly lead these efforts.
2. 2. Protecting human rights: The UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights leads peacekeeping missions, reports on active human rights issues, and investigates situations affecting human rights around the globe. Other committees within this branch monitor the implementation of treaties related to human rights.
3. 3. Delivering humanitarian aid: The UN first delivered humanitarian aid to Europe in the aftermath of World War II. Several agencies including the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme (WFP), and the World Health Organization (WHO) coordinate to respond and provide relief when there are humanitarian health emergencies.
4. 4. Establishing sustainable development goals and a climate action policy: The UN launched a sustainable development agenda in 2015 that outlined 17 goals for a sustainable global economy. Among these goals were improving access to clean water, reducing poverty and inequality, and advancing clean energy solutions. The UN has encouraged member states to meet these goals via agreements like the Paris Climate Agreement of 2015.
5. 5. Enforcing international law: The UN’s International Court of Justice settles disputes between member states, while international courts and tribunals work to address war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.

The UN has expanded rapidly since its inception in 1945.

• First meeting: As World War II was progressing toward an allied victory in the spring of 1945, world leaders from 50 countries met in San Francisco, California, to create an international body that could foster greater cooperation and peace. Since 1919, the world ostensibly had such a body—the League of Nations—but it lacked substantive power and had failed to prevent the Holocaust, the Japanese invasion of East Asia, and World War II.
• Adoption of the UN Charter: On October 24, 1945, following the adoption of the UN Charter, the organization began its existence. By December of 1948, the organization had drafted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a 30-article statement of principles that the UN vowed to uphold.
• Successes and missteps: Throughout its existence, the UN has brokered numerous peace agreements in regions like the Middle East, the former Yugoslavia, the Korean peninsula, South Africa, Namibia, and Cambodia. For these efforts, the UN's leadership has won numerous Nobel Peace Prizes. The United Nations has also been accused of neglect and mismanagement of other international crises, including those in Rwanda, Vietnam, Syria, and Sri Lanka. One of its earliest plans—for the 1947 partitioning of Palestine and the creation of the State of Israel—caused controversy that has yet to be resolved.
• Present day: Permanent UN Security Council members have the power to veto consequential actions and resolutions, which can make international law enforcement difficult to achieve. At the same time, other specialized agencies like the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) distribute money and aid to many populations.

There are six UN bodies that serve specific roles within the broader organization.

1. 1. UN General Assembly: Every UN member state is part of the UN General Assembly. Although the most inclusive of the United Nations bodies, the General Assembly is also the most ceremonial. It largely acts to adopt resolutions proposed by the far more powerful UN Security Council.
2. 2. UN Security Council: The UN Security Council is tasked with enforcing international law and maintaining international peace and security. It can impose sanctions on nations or individuals that violate the rights of member states. It can deploy troops supplied by member states for peacekeeping purposes. It can propose compulsory resolutions that the General Assembly must approve in a ceremonial vote. The Security Council has five permanent member states—the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, China, and France—and ten non-permanent members that are periodically elected.
3. 3. International Court of Justice: Located in The Hague, in the Netherlands, the International Court of Justice has 15 judges—each from a different nation. The General Assembly appoints the judges to nine-year terms. The court prosecutes war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and other international infractions that harm civil society.
4. 4. Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC): The ECOSOC works in conjunction with the General Assembly to promote initiatives of international importance, such as preventing climate change and promoting gender equality. Within the ECOSOC, the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues helps navigate matters related to indigenous peoples on all continents.
5. 5. United Nations Secretariat: The UN Secretariat is the chief administrative body of the United Nations. It is led by a UN secretary-general, who is elected to five-year terms by the General Assembly.
6. 6. UN Trusteeship Council: An inactive branch of the United Nations, the Trusteeship Council existed to manage colonial possessions of member states.

In addition to the principal organs of the United Nations, the UN system provides for specialized agencies that work toward social development, global security, and ecological preservation. Such agencies include the World Health Organization (WHO); the International Monetary Fund (IMF); the World Bank; United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF); and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

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