How the United Nations is organised: six organs, 193 members

The United Nations officially began on 24 October 1945, after representatives of 50 countries gathered in San Francisco for the conference that produced its Charter. Egypt was one of its original Members, and the organisation counts 193 Member States.

Six principal organs

Article 7 of the Charter establishes six principal organs: the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Trusteeship Council, the International Court of Justice and the Secretariat. Five are based in New York, while the International Court of Justice sits at the Peace Palace in The Hague. The Trusteeship Council suspended operation on 1 November 1994.

The General Assembly and the Security Council

The General Assembly consists of all Member States, and each has one vote (Articles 9 and 18). Decisions on important questions require a two-thirds majority of the members present and voting.

The Security Council has 15 members. Five are permanent: China, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States. The other ten are elected by the General Assembly for two-year terms, five of them each year, and each member of the Council has one vote. The Economic and Social Council has 54 members.

The Secretariat is headed by the Secretary-General, who is appointed for a five-year, renewable term. The sixth holder of the post, from January 1992 to December 1996, was Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt, who was born in Cairo and was the first African to serve as Secretary-General.