全屏显示专题章节

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in international law，international security，economic development，social progress，human rights and achieving world peace．The UNwas founded in 1945 after World War II to replace the League of Nations，to stop warsbetween countries and to provide a platformfor dialogue．

There are currently 192 member states，including nearly every recognized independent state in the world．From its headquarters on international territory in New York City，the UN and its specialized agencies decide on substantive and administrative issues in regularmeetings held throughout the year．The organization is divided into administrative bodies，primarily:

●　The General Assembly(the main deliberative assembly);

●　The Security Council(decides certain resolutions for peace and security);

●　The Economic and Social Council(assists in promoting international economic and social cooperation and development);

●　The Secretariat(provides studies，information and facilities needed by the UN);

●　The International Court of Justice(the primary judicial organ)．

Additional bodies deal with the governance of all other UN Systemagencies，such as theWorld Health Organization(WHO)and United Nations Children's Fund(UNICEF)．The UN'smost visible public figure is the Secretary-General，currently Ban Ki-moon of South Korea，who attained the post in 2007．The organization is financed fromassessed and voluntary contributions fromits member states，and has six official languages:Arabic，Chinese，English，French，Russian and Spanish．

The UNwas founded as a successor to the League of Nations，which was widely considered to have been ineffective in its role as an international governing body，as it had been unable to preventWorld War II．The term“United Nations”was first used by Winston Churchill and Franklin D．Roosevelt，in the 1942 Declaration by United Nations，which united the Allied countries of WWII under the Atlantic Charter，and soon became a termwidely used to refer to them．Declarations signed at wartime Allied conferences in 1943 espoused the idea of the UN，and in 1944，representatives of the major Allied powers met to elaborate on the plans at the Dumbarton Oaks Conference．Those and later talks outlined the organization's proposed purposes，membership，organs，and ideals in regards to peace，security，and cooperation．

On 25 April，1945，the UNConference on International Organization began in San Francisco，attended by 50 governments and a number of non-governmentalorganizations involved in drafting the Charter of the United Nations．The UNofficially came into existence on 24 October，1945 upon ratification of the Charter by the five permanentmembers of the Security Council—France，the Republic of China，the Soviet Union，the United Kingdomand the United States—and by a majority of the other 46 signatories．The first meetings of the General Assembly，with 51 nations represented，and the Security Council，took place in Westminster Central Hall in London in January 1946．

The United Nations systemis based on five principal organs(formerly six—the Trusteeship Council suspended operations in 1994);the General Assembly，the Security Council，the Economic and SocialCouncil(ECOSOC)，the Secretariat，and the International Court of Justice．

Four of the five principal organs are located at the main United Nations headquarters located on international territory in New York City．The International Court of Justice is located in The Hague，while othermajor agencies are based in the UN offices at Geneva，Vienna and Nairobi．Other UN institutions are located throughout the world．

The six official languages of the United Nations，used in intergovernmental meetings and documents，are Arabic，Chinese，English，French，Russian and Spanish，while the Secretariat uses two working languages，English and French．Five of the official languages were chosen when the UNwas founded;Arabic was added later in 1973．The United Nations Editorial Manual states that the standard for English language documents is British usage and Oxford spelling(en-gb-oed)，and the Chinese writing standard isSimplified Chinese．This replaced Traditional Chinese in 1971 when the UN representation of China was changed from the Republic of China to People's Republic of China．The Republic of China is now commonly known as“Taiwan”．

The General Assembly

The General Assembly is the main deliberative assembly of the United Nations．Composed of all United Nationsmember states，the assembly meets in regular yearly sessions under a president elected fromamong the member states．Over a two-week period at the start of each session，all members have the opportunity to address the assembly．Traditionally，the Secretary-Generalmakes the first statement，followed bythe president of the assembly．The first session was convened on 10 January，1946 in theWestminster Central Hall in London and included representatives of 51 nations．

When the General Assembly votes on important questions，a two-thirdsmajority of those present and voting is required．Examples of important questions include: recommendations on peace and security;election of members to organs;admission，suspension，and expulsion ofmembers;and，budgetary matters．All other questions are decided by majority vote．Each member country has one vote．Apart from approval of budgetary matters，resolutions are not binding on the members．The Assembly may make recommendations on any matters within the scope of the UN，exceptmatters of peace and security that are under Security Council consideration．

Interior of the Security Council chambers

The Security Council is charged with maintaining peace and security among countries．While other organs of the United Nations can only make“recommendations”to member governments，the Security Council has the power to make binding decisions thatmember governments have agreed to carry out，under the terms of Charter Article 25．The decisions of the Council are known as United Nations Security Council resolutions．

The Security Council ismade up of15 member states，consisting of5 permanent members—China，France，Russia，the United Kingdomand the United States—and 10 non-permanent members．The five permanent members hold veto power over substantive but not procedural resolutions allowing a permanent member to block adoption but not to block the debate of a resolution unacceptable to it．The ten temporary seats are held for two-year terms with member states voted in by the General Assembly on a regional basis．The presidency of the Security Council is rotated alphabetically each month，and is held by Mexico for the month of April 2009．

The United NationsSecretariat is headed by the Secretary-General，assisted by a staff of international civil servants worldwide．It provides studies，information，and facilities needed by United Nations bodies for theirmeetings．It also carries out tasks as directed by the UN Security Council，the UN General Assembly，the UNEconomic and Social Council，and other UN bodies．The United Nations Charter provides that the staff 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 fromany authority other than the UN．Each UNmember 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．

The Secretary-General's duties include helping resolve international disputes，administering peacekeeping operations，organizing international conferences，gathering information on the implementation of Security Council decisions，and consulting with member governments regarding various initiatives．Key Secretariat offices in this area include the Office of the Coordinator of Humanitarian Affairs and the Department of Peacekeeping Operations．The Secretary-Generalmay bring to the attention of the Security Council any matter that，in his or her opinion，may threaten international peace and security．

The current Secretary-General，Ban Ki-moon of South Korea

The Secretariat is headed by the Secretary-General，who acts as the de facto spokesman and leader of the UN．The current Secretary-General is Ban Ki-moon，who took over fromKofi Annan in 2007 and will be eligible for reappointment when his first termexpires in 2011．

Envisioned by Franklin D．Roosevelt as a“world moderator”，the position is defined in the UNCharter as the organization's“chief administrative officer”，but the Charter also states that the Secretary-General can bring to the Security Council's attention“any matter which in his opinion may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security”，giving the position greater scope for action on the world stage．The position has evolved into a dual role of an administrator of the UN organization，and a diplomatand mediator addressing disputes betweenmember states and finding consensus to global issues．