Connecting People to Peace

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General Assembly

General Information: The General Assembly is the main policy-making body of the United Nations (U.N.), comprised of representatives from each member state. Every member state receives one vote, minor decisions or issues are passed by a simple majority, while major decisions requires a 2/3 majority vote.

Jobs: The General Assembly is the driving force of the U.N., and thus it has numerous jobs.  First, it suggests and passes resolutions dealing with international peace and security. Next, it tries to unify its member states by working on economic, social, cultural, education and health issues. Third, it initiates investigations and studies concerning human rights, healing and many other important issues in various regions of the world. In addition, it reviews reports from the Security Council and other U.N. organs. Fifth, it handles the U.N. budget. Lastly, it elects sundry members to various U.N. bodies. Thus the General Assembly acts as the head force of the U.N., to which the other organs submit their ideas for approval.

Subdivisions: The General Assembly is led by the Secretary-General, whose position is frequently changed in order to prevent the dominance of a single nation or region.  The General Assembly, a subdivision of the U.N., is itself subdivided into six Committees. Issues are typically discussed briefly by the entire General Assembly, and then they are referred to one of the following committees for discussion, as is appropriate:                      

                        First Committee: Disarmament and International Security

                        Second Committee: Economic and Financial

                        Third Committee: Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural

                        Fourth Committee: Special Political and Decolonization

                        Fifth Committee: Administrative and Budgetary

                        Sixth Committee: Legal

BELOW: A General Assembly meeting

Security Council:

General Information: The Security Council is responsible for the maintenance of international peace and security.  It is led by the President of the Council; this position rotates monthly by the English alpha l listing of member states.  The Security Council functions all year round, thus a representative from each member state must always be present.  Meetings are not necessarily held at U.N. headquarters, they can be held elsewhere according to the situation.

Economic and Social Council:

General Information: The Economic and Social Council, one of the original organs called for by the U.N. charter, coordinates the economic and social work of the various U.N. organs. Aside from its regular meetings, the Council holds a four-week session every July which addresses a specific major global issue.  Previous meetings have addressed such topics as poverty, digital technology, international cooperation in helping countries to develop, and rural development.  Since it performs such a wide variety of tasks, the Economic and Social Council contains over 70% of the U.N.’s entire financial and human resources.

Jobs: The Economic and Social Council performs a number of tasks in its attempt to regulate international economy and society.  First, it tries to unify the U.N. member states in its cultural and educational efforts. Its major priorities are to ensure, higher standards of living and full employment for every nation of the globe.  They also address international economic, social, and health problems.  The major focus is a strong stance on “human rights and fundamental freedoms.”  This council creates studies concerning, such issues as human rights, health, and society in the different regions of the globe.  Thus the Economic and Social Council focuses on the rights of humans and on their societies.

Trusteeship Council:

General Information: The Trusteeship Council was set up by the U.N. Charter to supervise the development of Trust Territories, territories which are not yet self-governing or independent. The Trusteeship Council indefinitely ceased operation on November 1, 1994, when the last Trust Territory, Palau, gained its independence. It will resume operation when any more Trust Territories join the U.N.

Jobs: The Trusteeship Council's job is to help the Trust Territories gain self-government and independence. The Trust Territories may each become individual states or neighboring territories or combine to form several states. Thus the Trusteeship Council has the power to research and discuss the political, economic, social, and education advancement of Trust Territories, and to help the Trust Territories in their development.

International Court of Justice:

General Information: In 1946, when the International Court of Justice was created by the U.N. Charter, it replaced the Permanent Court of International Justice (1922-1946) as the main international judicial power. It functions similarly to the former Permanent Court of International Justice, and it meets at the same location: the Peace Palace in Hague (Netherlands).

 Jobs: The International Court of Justice serves two main purposes. First it follows the standards set by international treaties and conventions, international customs, and traditional principals of law in settling legal disputes between nations. It does not accept cases involving individual people, but only whole nations. The nations must agree to abide by the ruling of the Court, and if one nation or the other does not abide by the ruling of the Court, the Court turns the authority over to the Security Council. Second, the international Court of Justice advises the organs of the U.N. on legal matters. The only organizations it advises are the five other organs of the UN and sixteen specific agencies in the U.N. family.

Organization: Fifteen judges, elected by the U.N. General Assembly and Security Council, comprise the International Court of Justice.  To prevent any particular person or country from gaining too much power, judges are elected for nine-year terms, two judges from the same nation cannot serve at the same time, and elections are held every three years which vote on 1/3 of the seats.  Judges represent themselves and not the countries they are from, thus further preventing any country from gaining undue power.

Secretariat:

General Information: The Secretariat, headed by the Secretary-General and headquartered in New York, is comprised of an international staff with approximately 8,900 people working all over the globe.  While the other five main organs direct what ought to be done, the Secretariat actually implements those directives.

Last Updated: March 19, 2006