This Library Note provides an overview of the structure and work of the United Nations, focusing on its key organs and on a selection of the subsidiary bodies and organisations which together make up the wider ‘UN Family’.
The United Nations (479 KB , PDF)
2015 marks the 70th anniversary of the creation of the United Nations in 1945. Since its inception at the end of the Second World War, the United Nations has become a wide-ranging transnational organisation with a number of key decision making forums and subsidiary bodies. There are six main organs of the UN: the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Trusteeship Council, the International Court of Justice, and the UN Secretariat. This Note provides a general overview of the work of these bodies, as well as a more in depth look at the General Assembly, the Security Council and the International Court of Justice.
This Note also examines a selection of the funds, programmes, specialised agencies and other subsidiary bodies, known collectively as the ‘UN family’. In particular, the paper focuses on the International Monetary Fund; the World Bank Group; the World Health Organisation; and the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The United Nations (479 KB , PDF)
While international attention has largely been focused on the Middle East and Ukraine, the civil war in Sudan continues. The UN has characterised the conflict as the “world’s largest hunger crisis”. As peace negotiations stall, concerns are rising not only for the people of Sudan but also about the conflict spreading to neighbouring states.
This briefing provides a summary of a recent report by the international children’s rights charity Save the Children entitled ‘Stop the war on children: Let them live in peace’, as well as UK government policy in this area. It has been prepared ahead of Baroness Anelay of St Johns’ (Conservative) upcoming debate on 12 September 2024 on the government’s assessment of the impact of international conflict on children and the recommendations proposed in Save the Children’s report.
The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and International Committee of the Red Cross (Status) Bill seeks to allow the UK government to treat the CPA and the ICRC in a manner comparable to international organisations of which the UK is a member. This status change would allow the government to confer certain privileges and immunities on the two organisations. A previous version of the bill was introduced in the 2023-24 parliamentary session.
![Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and International Committee of the Red Cross (Status) Bill [HL]: HL Bill 3 of 2024-25](https://lordslibrary.parliament.uk/content/uploads/sites/2/2021/09/Foreign-Policy-VIGs-568x426.jpg)