Purposes and Principles Membership and Structure
wants to become members should get the recommendation from the Security Council to be admitted by the General Assembly. The
official languages are Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish and Arabic. The UN consists of six principal organs which are
explained below. 1
The General Assembly The General Assembly is the organ of the UN which consists of
representatives of all member states, each of which has one vote. Some of their jobs are to consider and to make recommendations
on the principles of cooperation in the maintenance of international peace and security, to elect the non-permanent
members of the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council and additional members of the Trusteeship Council
when necessary and to elect, together with the Security Council, the judges of the ICJ and lastly, on the recommendation
of the Security Council, to appoint the Secretary General. 2
The Security Council The United Nations Security Council UNSC is the peace
and security keeper of UN. It consists of 15 members 5 permanent and 10 non-permanent members. The P5 5
permanent members is UK, USA, France, Republic of China, and the Russian Federation. The P5 is granted with the veto right
which enables them to object to any resolutions made under the UNSC.
Meanwhile, the 10 non-permanent members are elected by General Assembly for a two-year term only and do not possess
the veto right. The main job of the UNSC is to create and maintain the peace and security. One of the ways is to create
approaches to the conflicted parties which may create the insecure circumstances.
3 The Economic and Social Council
The Economic and Social Council ECOSOC consists of 54 members. They are placed based on the geographical areas
which are 14 for African states, 11 to Asian states, 6 to Eastern European states, 10 to Latin American and Caribbean states, and
13 to Western European and other states. The members are only serving for three-year terms. Its main job is to discuss, make and
formulate any economic policy recommendation addressed for the UN member and the UN system itself.
4 The Trusteeship Council
The Trusteeship Council is an organ of the UN which provides international supervision for 11 Trust Territories to ensure that
they take proper steps for the self-government.
5 The International Court of Justice
It is the principal judicial organ of the UN which is located at The Hague The Netherlands. This court is charged with legal
disputes between states. It is not open for private people, entities and other international organization.
6 The Secretariat
The UN Secretariat consists of staff members representing all nationalities working under UN. Its function is to service the
other principal organs of the UN and administer the programmes and policies created by them. The Secretary-General, who is
appointed by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the UNSC, acts as the head of the Secretariat for a renewable
five-year term.