United Nations

United Nations Members
(source : United Nations website)


I. General Asembly
Established in 1945 under the Charter of the United Nations, the General Assembly occupies a central position as the chief deliberative, policy-making and representative organ of the United Nations. Comprising all 192 Members of the United Nations, it provides a forum for multilateral discussion of the full spectrum of international issues covered by the Charter. It also plays a significant role in the process of standard-setting and the codification of international law. The Assembly meets in regular session intensively from September to December each year, and thereafter as required.
According to the Charter of the United Nations, the General Assembly may:
. Consider and make recommendations on the general principles of cooperation
for maintaining international peace and security, including disarmament;
. Discuss any question relating to international peace and security and,
except where a dispute or situation is currently being discussed by the
Security Council, make recommendations on it;
. Discuss, with the same exception, and make recommendations on any
questions within the scope of the Charter or affecting the powers and
functions of any organ of the United Nations;
. Initiate studies and make recommendations to promote international
political cooperation, the development and codification of
international law, the realization of human rights and fundamental
freedoms and international collaboration in the economic, social,
humanitarian, cultural, educational and health fields;
. Make recommendations for the peaceful settlement of any situation that
might impair friendly relations among nations;
. Receive and consider reports from the Security Council and other United
Nations organs;
. Consider and approve the United Nations budget and establish the
financial assessments of Member States;
. Elect the non-permanent members of the Security Council and the members
of other United Nations councils and organs and, on the recommendation
of the Security Council, appoint the Secretary-General.

President of the General Assembly

A seasoned diplomat, economist, scholar and businessman, Dr. Kerim brings with him a wealth of experience in international political and economic affairs and extensive knowledge of the United Nations system. From 2000 to 2001, Dr. Kerim was Foreign Minister of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, in which capacity he also served as Chairman of the South-East European Cooperation Process. He then became his country's Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations, from 2001 to 2003, during which time he served as vice-chairman both of the International Conference on Financing for Development (Monterrey, 2002) and of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (Johannesburg, 2002). In addition, he was a member of the group of facilitators of the President of the fifty-sixth UN General Assembly, focusing on UN reform, and was a co-organizer of the Regional Forum on Dialogue of Civilizations (Ohrid, 2003).


II. Security Council
Under the Charter, the functions and powers of the Security Council are:
• to maintain international peace and security in accordance with the
principles and purposes of the United Nations;
• to investigate any dispute or situation which mightlead to international
friction;
• to recommend methods of adjusting such disputes or the terms of
settlement;
• to formulate plans for the establishment of a system to regulate
armaments;
• to determine the existence of a threat to the peace or act of aggression
and to recommend what action should be taken;
• to call on Members to apply economic sanctions and other measures not
involving the use of force to prevent or stop aggression;
• to take military action against an aggressor;
• to recommend the admission of new Members;
• to exercise the trusteeship functions of the United Nations
in "strategic areas";
• to recommend to the GeneralAssembly the appointment of the Secretary-
General and, together with the Assembly, to elect the Judges of the
International Court of Justice.

The Council is composed of five permanent members — China, France, Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States — and ten non-permament members (with year of term's end):
1. Belgium (2008)
2. Indonesia (2008)
3. South Africa (2008)
4. Burkina Faso (2009)
5. Italy (2008)
6. Viet Nam (2009)
7. Costa Rica (2009)
8. Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (2009)
9. Croatia (2009)
10.Panama (2008)


The Presidency of the Security Council is held in turn by the members of the Security Council in the English alphabetical order of their names. Each President holds office for one calendar month. Ten non-permament members, elected by the General Assembly for two-year terms and not eligible for immediate re-election. The number of non-permanent members was increased from six to ten by an amendment of the Charter which came into force in 1965. Each Council member has one vote. Decisions on procedural matters are made by an affirmative vote of at least nine of the 15 members. Decisions on substantive matters require nine votes, including the concurring votes of all five permanent members. This is the rule of "great Power unanimity", often referred to as the "veto" power. Under the Charter, all Members of the United Nations agree to accept and carry out the decisions of the Security Council. While other organs of the United Nations make recommendations to Governments, the Council alone has the power to take decisions which Member States are obligated under the Charter to carry out.


The Secretary - General
Ban Ki-moon of the Republic of Korea, the eighth Secretary-General of the United Nations, brings to his post 37 years of service both in government and on the global stage. At the time of his election as Secretary-General, Mr. Ban was his country’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade. His long tenure with the ministry included postings in New Delhi, Washington D.C. and Vienna, and responsibility for a variety of portfolios, including Foreign Policy Advisor to the President, Chief National Security Advisor to the President, Deputy Minister for Policy Planning and Director-General of American Affairs. Throughout this service, his guiding vision was that of a peaceful Korean peninsula, playing an expanding role for peace and prosperity in the region and the wider world.

The Deputy Secretary - General
Dr. Asha-Rose Migiro of Tanzania took office as Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations on 1 February 2007. She is the third Deputy Secretary-General to be appointed since the post was established in 1997.
Dr. Migiro served as Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation from 2006-2007 -- the first woman in the United Republic of Tanzania to hold that position since its independence in 1961. Before that, she was Minister for Community Development, Gender and Children for five years.
As Foreign Minister, Dr. Migiro spearheaded Tanzania 's engagement in the pursuit of peace, security and development in the Great Lakes Region. She served as Chair of the Council of Ministers' meetings of the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region, a process that culminated into a Pact on Security, Stability and Development in the Great Lakes Region.