First Avenue at 46th Street
New York, NY 10017
Employees: 63,450 worldwide
Secretary General: Ban Ki-moon
The United Nations was established after
World War II on October 24, 1945 by 51 countries committed to
preserving peace through international cooperation and collective
security. Today, nearly every nation in the world belongs to
the UN: membership totals 191 countries.
When countries become Members of the United
Nations, they agree to accept the obligations of the UN Charter,
an international treaty that sets out basic principles of international
relations. According to the Charter, the UN has four purposes:
to maintain international peace and security; to develop friendly
relations among nations; to cooperate in solving international
problems and in promoting respect for human rights; and to be
a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations.
The United Nations is not a world government
and it does not make laws. It does, however, provide the means
to help resolve international conflicts and formulate policies
on matters affecting everyone. At the UN, all the Member States
- large and small, rich and poor, with differing political views
and social systems - have a voice and a vote in this process.
The United Nations has six main organs.
Five of them - the General Assembly, the Security Council, the
Economic and Social Council, the Trusteeship Council and the
Secretariat - are based at UN Headquarters in New York. The sixth,
the International Court of Justice, is located at The Hague in
The presence of the UN in New York makes the city a focal point of the world. Each year, between September and December, diplomats from around the world come to New York to take part in the annual session of the General Assembly.
The UN employs a broad range of skilled
people, including economists, translators, statisticians, secretaries,
TV producers, computer experts, physicians, and carpenters. The
UN and its affiliates (including the International Monetary Fund
and World Bank) employ 61,000 people worldwide and many staff
members work in countries ravaged by poverty and war.
The UN Building is set to undergo a $1
billion renovation starting in 2008 and will take about seven
years to complete. About 4,000 people work at UN headquarters
in NY. Some will be relocated while renovation takes place.
The UN offers salaries and benefits like
pensions and health insurance that are comparable to what workers
would receive in government positions.
According to Bloomberg, the UN has 10,300 workers in NY with an average salary of $119,000.
There are 2,230 diplomats assigned to UN headquarters.