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The United Nations (UN) is an international organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, and human rights issues. It was founded in 1945 with the signing of the United Nations Charter by 51 countries.

The UN was founded after the end of World War II (October 24,1945) by the victorious Allied Powers in the hope that it would act to intervene in conflicts between nations and thereby avoid war. The organization's structure still reflects in some ways the political power-structure of when it was founded. The five permanent members of the UN Security Council, each of which has veto power on any UN resolution, are the main victors of World War II or their successor states: the People's Republic of China (formerly the Republic of China), France, Russia (formerly the Soviet Union), the United Kingdom, and the United States.

There are currently 193 United Nations member states, including the majority of internationally recognized independent state. From its headquarters in New York City, the UN and its specialized agencies decide on substantive and administrative issues in regular meetings held throughout each year. The United Nations is divided into five major administrative organs - the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Secretariat, the International Court of Justice, and the Economic and Social Council. Additional bodies deal with the governance of all other United Nations system organizations, 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 on 1 January 2007. The newest Member State is South Sudan, added on July 2011.

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The United Nations Headquarters is a distinctive complex in New York City that has served as the headquarters of the United Nations since its completion in 1950. It is located in the Turtle Bay neighborhood, on the east side of Midtown Manhattan, on spacious grounds overlooking the East River. Though it is in New York City, the land occupied by the United Nations Headquarters is considered international territory, and its borders are First Avenue west, East 42nd Street south, East 48th Street north and the East River east.

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Susan Rice (born 17 November 1964) is an American foreign policy advisor and the permanent United States Ambassador to the United Nations. Rice was as a foreign policy aide to Michael Dukakis during the 1988 presidential election. She served at various posts in the Clinton administration before being appointed Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs in 1997, a post she held until the end of Clinton's presidency in 2001. Rice joined the Brookings Institution in 2002, and focused on U.S. foreign policy, weak and failing states, the implications of global poverty, and transnational threats to security. During the 2008 presidential campaign, she served as a foreign policy advisor to Barack Obama, and was nominated by him to be the United States Ambassador to the United Nations after his election win.

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The UN flag in New York

The flag of the United Nations flying outside the United Nations Headquarters in New York.

Photo credit: Sam Moorhouse

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To jaw-jaw is always better than to war-war.

— Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945, and from 1951 to 1955

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...that the first session of the UN General Assembly in 1946 was held in Westminster Central Hall (pictured) in London?
...that the Millennium Development Goals are eight international development goals that all UN member states and 23 international organizations have agreed to work towards by the year 2015?
...that one of the principal UN organs, the Trusteeship Council, has not met since the last trust territory, Palau, became a UN member in 1994?

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Related portals:
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Related WikiProjects:
	United Nations
	International Relations
	Power in international relations
	International law
International development	International development
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