NOT AN OFFICIAL DOCUMENT
FOR INFORMATION ONLY
July 2006
Membership of principal United Nations organs in 2006
| Principal Organs of the United Nations | |||||
| General Assembly | Security Council | Economic and Social Council | Trusteeship Council | International Court of Justice | Secretariat |
The General Assembly is composed of all 192 United Nations Member States. These States are:
Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Comoros Congo, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, Thailand, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United Republic of Tanzania, United States of America, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
The Security Council has 15 members. The United Nations Charter designates five States as permanent members and the General Assembly elects 10 other members for two-year terms. The term of office for each non-permanent member of the Council ends on 31 December of the year indicated in parentheses next to its name.
The five permanent members of the Security Council are China, France, Russian Federation, United Kingdom and the United States.
The 10 non-permanent members of the Council in 2006 are Argentina (2006), Congo (2007),
Denmark (2006), Ghana (2007), Greece (2006), Japan (2006), Peru (2007), Qatar (2007), Slovak
Republic (2007) and the United Republic of Tanzania (2006).
The Economic and Social Council has 54 members, elected for three-year terms by the General Assembly.
The term of office for each member expires on 31 December of the year indicated in parentheses next to its
name. In 2006, the Council is composed of the following:
Albania (2007), Angola (2008), Armenia (2006), Austria (2008), Australia (2007), Bangladesh (2006), Belgium (2006), Belize (2006), Benin (2008), Brazil (2007), Canada (2006), Chad (2007), China (2007), Colombia (2006), Costa Rica (2007), Cuba (2008), Czech Republic (2008), Democratic Republic of the Congo (2007), Denmark (2007), France (2008), Germany (2008), Guinea (2007), Guinea Bissau (2008), Guyana (2008), Haiti (2008), Iceland (2007), India (2007), Indonesia (2006), Italy (2006), Japan (2008), Lithuania (2007), Madagascar (2008), Mauritania (2008), Mauritius (2006), Mexico (2007), Namibia (2006), Nigeria (2006), Pakistan (2007), Panama (2006), Paraguay (2008), Poland (2006), Republic of Korea (2006), Russian Federation (2007), Saudi Arabia (2008), South Africa (2007), Spain (2008), Sri Lanka (2008), Thailand (2007), Tunisia (2006), Turkey (2008), United Arab Emirates (2006), United Kingdom (2007), United Republic of Tanzania (2006), United States (2006).
The Trusteeship Council is made up of the five permanent members of the Security Council: China, France,
Russian Federation, United Kingdom and the United States. With the independence of Palau, the last
remaining United Nations Trust Territory, the Council formally suspended operations on 1 November
1994. The Council amended its rules of procedure to drop the obligation to meet annually and agreed to
meet as the occasion required; by its decision or the decision of its President or at the request of a majority
of its members or the General Assembly or the Security Council.
INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE
The International Court of Justice has 15 members, elected by both the General Assembly and the Security Council. Judges hold nine-year terms, which end on 5 February of the year indicated in parentheses next to their name. The current composition of the Court is as follows:
Ronny Abraham (France) (2009); Awn Shawkat Al-Khasawneh (Jordan) (2009); Mohamed Bennouna (Morocco) (2015); Thomas Buergenthal (United States) (2015); Rosalyn Higgins (United Kingdom) (2009); Shi Jiuyong (China)(2012); Kenneth Keith (New Zealand)(2015); Abdul G. Koroma (Sierra Leone) (2012); Hisashi Owada (Japan) (2012); Gonzalo Parra-Aranguren (Venezuela) (2009); Raymond Ranjeva (Madagascar) (2009); Bernardo Sepulveda Amor (Mexico) (2015); Bruno Simma (Germany) (2012); Leonid Skotnikov (Russian Federation) (2015); and Peter Tomka (Slovakia) (2012).
The Secretariat services the other principal organs of the United Nations and administers the programmes and policies laid down by them. It has a staff of about 7,750 under regular budget and nearly equal number under special funding, drawn from some 170 countries. As international civil servants, staff members and the Secretary-General answer to the United Nations alone for their activities, and take an oath not to seek or receive instructions from any government or outside authority. Under the Charter, each Member State undertakes to respect the exclusively international character of the responsibilities of the Secretary-General and the staff, and to refrain from seeking to influence them improperly.
The United Nations, while headquartered in New York, maintains a significant presence in Addis Ababa, Bangkok, Beirut, Geneva, Nairobi, Santiago and Vienna, and has offices all over the world.
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This fact-sheet has been issued by the Public Inquiries Unit, Department of Public Information, United Nations. Tel: 212-963-4475; fax: 212-963-0071. Not an official document. For information only. July 2006. Information taken from Press Release ORG/1460. Email: inquiries@un.org ; Internet: www.un.org/geninfo/faq