UN Structure

UN Structure

The UN Charter establishes the UN’s six principal organs: the General Assembly (GA), the Security Council (SC), the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the Trusteeship Council, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and the UN Secretariat.

To know more about the structure of the Organization, please consult the UN System Chart at the end of this Guide.

Five of the UN’s six principal organs—the GA, the SC, ECOSOC, the Trusteeship Council, and the UN Secretariat—are based at UN Headquarters in New York. The sixth, the International Court of Justice, is located at The Hague, the Netherlands.

The UN is neither a supra-State nor a government of governments. It does not have an army and it does not levy taxes. It depends on the political will and contributions of its Member States to carry out its activities.

The six organs of the UN are as follows.

General Assembly (GA)

The GA is the main organ of the UN. It is composed of representatives from all Member States. Each Member State has one vote. Read more about the GA here.: https://www.un.org/en/ga/

Security Council (SC)

The SC has primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. It has 15 Members, and each Member has one vote. All Member States have to comply with SC decisions. Read more about the SC here: www.un.org/securitycouncil/

Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)

ECOSOC is the place where the world’s economic, social, and environmental challenges are discussed and debated. ECOSOC also recommends policies. www.un.org/ecosoc/en/home

Trusteeship Council

The Trusteeship Council was established to provide international supervision for 11 Trust Territories. For example, the Trusteeship Council oversaw that adequate steps were taken to prepare the Territories for self-government or independence. www.un.org/en/sections/about-un/trusteeship-council/

International Court of Justice (ICJ)

The International Court of Justice is the principal judicial organ of the UN. The Court is charged with settling legal disputes between States and providing advisory opinions. www.icj-cij.org/

UN Secretariat

The UN Secretariat carries out the day-to-day work of the UN. The UN Secretariat services the other principal organs of the UN, and administers their programmes and policies. www.un.org/en/sections/about-un/secretariat/