The United Nations is a complex network of organizations. Just as any government may be divided into branches, such as the judiciary, legislative, and executive, the UN also has various bodies with different functions. The overarching framework of the United Nations incorporates five principal organs, but a vast array of underlying specialized agencies, programs, funds, and related organizations maintain ties with the UN while operating under differing levels of independence. (An organizational chart, available on the UN’s website), provides a good overview of the structure of the UN system.) The five principal organs of the UN operate as the political base of the United Nation:

General Assembly: The General Assembly (GA), which is made up of the 192 member states, is the main deliberative body of the UN that meets annually in New York. In the plenary sessions of the GA, the member states address issues of international concern and debate resolutions, most of which have already passed through several lower committees. These resolutions hold no legally binding authority, but since each member-state gets one vote, GA resolutions represent the beliefs of the international community and are often considered “soft” law. The GA is composed of six committees:

• First Committee: Disarmament and International Security Committee
• Second Committee: Economic and Financial Committee
• Third Committee: Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee
• Fourth Committee: Special Political and Decolonization Committee
• Fifth Committee: Administrative and Budgetary Committee
• Sixth Committee: Legal Committee

Security Council: Article 24 of the UN Charter confers upon the Security Council the “primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.” As such, the Security Council is the only UN body that can pass resolution that the member states are legally committed to obey. The Security Council is also the only part of the UN that can authorize the use of force and thereby physically enforce its resolutions.

The Security Council has 15 members, including five permanent members, China, France, Russia, the U.K., and the U.S., and ten non-permanent members selected on a regional basis by the GA. The five permanent members have the authority to veto any substantive issue. The Security Council can meet at any time and has previously established peacekeeping operations, international tribunals, and sanctions.

Economic and Social Council: The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is composed of 54 member-states elected by the GA according to fair regional representation standards. As its name suggests, ECOSOC is charged with making reports and recommendations in the fields of “economic, social, cultural, educational, health and other related matters.”

As such, ECOSOC oversees the work of 14 UN Specialized Agencies and 14 specialized commissions, which deal with issues such as drugs, crime prevention, and the status of women. Through its relationship with these outside agencies, ECOSOC often reviews their work and suggests areas of development; for example, the 2003 session of ECOSOC passed resolutions adopting reports of the UN Development Program, the World Food Program, and the World Summit on Information Society.

Secretariat: The Secretariat, headed by the Secretary-General, offers administrative and substantive support to all of the programs of the UN, ranging from translation services to preparing studies on any topic the UN considers. Individuals working within the Secretariat are international civil servants, meaning that they pledge they will not follow the orders of their home state, but will instead work for the good of the international community.

The Secretary-General plays a leading role as the spokesperson of the UN, which allows him to help set the agenda of the UN, in terms of how the UN operates as an institution, as well as the prioritizing the importance of the different issues the UN takes up, including his “good offices” in helping to settle international disputes.

International Court of Justice: The International Court of Justice (ICJ), as the principal judicial organ of the UN, resolves disputes among States and gives advisory opinions to the UN. Judges of fifteen different nationalities make up the body of the ICJ, which meets in The Hague. In its over 50 years of existence, the ICJ has been presented with about 150 cases, including both contentious, i.e., between states, such as the legality of U.S. involvement in Nicaragua, in the Military and Paramilitary Activities in and against Nicaragua [Nicaragua v. United States of America], and advisory,i.e., on questions from the UN and its agencies, such as decision discussing the Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons.

* YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4-aJ5GHrJ8&feature=relmfu

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