THE UNITED NATIONS AND

CONTEMPORARY GLOBAL
GOVERNANCE
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION
(IO)
International intergovernmental organizations or
groups that are primarily made up of state-members.
The work of the United Nations covers five main areas:

● Maintain International Peace and Security.

● Protect Human Rights.
● Deliver Humanitarian Aid.
● Support Sustainable Development and Climate Action.
● Uphold International Law.
UNITED NATIONS (UN)
5 ACTIVE ORGANS

1. GENERAL ASSEMBLY (GA) - main deliberative policymaking and representative organ.

UN Charter: Decisions on important questions, such as those on peace and security,

admission of new members and budgetary matters, require a two-thirds majority of the
General Assembly.

Annually the General Assembly elects a GA President to serve one-year term of office.

All members (193) have seats in GA.

Carlos P. Romulo, Filipino diplomat was elected GA president from 1949-1950

2. SECURITY COUNCIL (SC) - most powerful.

15 member states (10 is elected by the GA for two-year term)

Permanent Five (P5) - China, France, Russia, UK and US.

Permanent members since the founding of UN and cannot be replaced through election.

FUNCTIONS:

Takes the lead in determining the existence of a threat to the peace or an act of aggression.

Call upon the parties to a dispute to settle the act by peaceful means and recommends methods
of adjustment or terms of settlement.

Can resort to imposing sanctions or even authorizing the use of force to maintain or restore
international peace and security.
3. ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL (ECOSOC) - principal body for coordination, policy review, policy
dialogue and recommendations on social and environmental issues as well as the implementation of
internationally agreed development goals.

54 members elected for three-year terms.

It is the UNS’s platform for discussions on sustainable development.

4.INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE (ICJ) - task is to settle in accordance with international law, legal
disputes submitted by states and to give advisory opinions referred to by authorized UN organs and
specialized agencies.

The ICJ is composed of 15 judges elected to nine-year terms of office

5. SECRETARIAT - consists of the Secretary General and ten of thousands of international UN staff
members.

UN secretariat serve as UN employees not as a state representative.

NOT ACTIVE ORGAN

1. Trusteeship Council - not active anymore and stopped operating

since Nov. 1994.
INSTRUCTIONS:
Create a SLOGAN in relation to UN’s primary functions which are international
cooperation, peace and security.
Place your signature and date in the slogan.

Note: The slogan should be done in class.