The preamble of the United Nations Charter sets forth the aims of the organization. The charter itself states the basic principles and purposes, defines the membership, and establishes the six principal departments, or "organs."
The purposes of the United Nations, as set
forth in the Charter, are:
* to maintain international peace and security:
* to develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for
the principle of equal right and self-determination of peoples:
* to co-operate internationally in solving international economic
social, cultural and humanitarian problems and in promoting respect for
human rights and fundamental freedoms;
* to be a center for harmonizing the actions of nations in attaining
these common ends.
The original members numbered 51. The charter provides that "all other peace-loving states" can become members on the recommendation of the Security Council if approved by a two-thirds vote of the General Assembly. The Assembly, on recommendation of the Security Council, can expel a member that has persistently violated the principles of the charter.
The United Nations acts in accordance with
the following principles:
* It is based on the sovereign equality of all its Members.
* All Members are to fulfill in good faith their Charter obligations.
* They are to settle their international disputes by peaceful means
and without endangering international peace and security, and justice.
* They are to refrain in their international relations from the threat
or use of force against any other State.
* They are to give the United Nations every assistance in any action
it takes in accordance with the Charter, and shall not assist States against
which the United Nations is taking preventive or enforcement action.
* The United Nations shall ensure that States which are not Members
act in accordance with these principles in so far as it is necessary for
the maintenance of international peace and security.
* Nothing in the Charter is to authorize the United Nations to intervene
in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any
State.
Membership in the United Nations is open to all peace-loving nations which accept the obligations of the United Nations Charter and, in the judgment of the Organization, are able and willing to carry out these obligations.
New Member States are admitted by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the Security Council. The Charter provides for the suspension or expulsion of a Member for violation of the principles of the Charter, but no such action has ever been taken since the establishment of the Organization.
Amendments to the charter require a vote of
two thirds of all the members of the General Assembly. Then the amendment
must be ratified by two thirds of the member states, including all five
permanent members of the Security Council.
So far, four
Charter Articles have been amended, one of them twice:
*
in 1965, the membership of the Security Council was increased from 11 to
15 (Article
23) and the number of affirmative votes needed on procedural matters
was increased from seven to nine; on all other matters it was also increased
to nine. including the concurring votes of the five permanent members (Article
27);
*
in 1965, the membership of the Economic
and Social Council was increased from 18 to 27 and, in P973, was further
increased to 54 (Article
61);
*
in 1968, the number of votes required in the Security Council to
convene a General Conference to review the Charter was increased from seven
to nine (Article
109).
Each member nation contributes to the main budget and to the budget of each agency to which it belongs. The scale of contributions, based partly on ability to pay, is set by the General Assembly. Some states pay less than half of one percent. The United States pays one fourth; the Soviet Union pays 10.2 percent; the United Kingdom pays 4.86 percent.
Under the Charter the official languages of
the United Nations are Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish. Arabic
has been added as an official language of the General Assembly, the Security
Council and the Economic and Social Council.
