The United Nations (UN) is a New York City and Geneva, Switzerland-based international organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achieving world peace. The UN was founded in 1945 after World War II to replace the League of Nations, to stop wars between countries, and to provide a platform for dialogue. It contains multiple subsidiary organizations to carry out its missions.

There are currently 192 member states, including nearly every recognized independent state in the world. From its headquarters on international territory in New York City, the UN and its specialized agencies decide on substantive and administrative issues in regular meetings held throughout the year. The organization is divided into administrative bodies, primarily:

• The General Assembly (the main deliberative assembly);
• The Security Council (decides certain resolutions for peace and security);
• The Economic and Social Council (assists in promoting international economic and social cooperation and development);
• The Secretariat (provides studies, information, and facilities needed by the UN);
• The International Court of Justice (the primary judicial organ).

Additional bodies deal with the governance of all other UN System agencies, such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). The UN's most visible public figure is the Secretary-General, currently Ban Ki-moon of South Korea, who attained the post in 2007. The organization is financed from assessed and voluntary contributions from its member states, and has six official languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish.

History

Main: History of the United Nations Expand: date=July 2009

On 25 April 1945, the UN Conference on International Organization began in San Francisco, attended by 50 governments and a number of non-governmental organizations involved in drafting the Charter of the United Nations. The UN officially came into existence on 24 October 1945 upon ratification of the Charter by the five permanent members of the Security Council — France, the Republic of China, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States — and by a majority of the other 46 signatories. The first meetings of the General Assembly, with 51 nations represented, and the Security Council, took place in Westminster Central Hall in London in January 1946.

The UN's reputation was tarnished in 2003 after the Oil-for-Food scandal. The programme was established in 1996 to allow Iraq to sell oil on the world market in exchange for food, medicine, and other humanitarian supplies for Iraqi citizens who were affected by international economic sanctions in the wake of the first Gulf War. Allegations of abuse and corruption surfaced in 2003, and Benon Sevan, the former director, was suspended and then resigned from the UN after he was found to have accepted bribes from the Iraqi regime. It was recommended that his UN immunity be lifted to allow for a criminal investigation. Beyond Sevan, Kojo Annan, Kofi Annan's son, was alleged to have illegally procured Oil-for-Food contracts on behalf of the Swiss company Cotecna. India's foreign minister, K. Natwar Singh, was removed from office because of a role in the scandal, and the Cole Inquiry investigated whether the Australian Wheat Board breached any laws with its contracts with Iraq.