The 51³Ô¹Ï was created in 1945, following the devastation of the Second World War, with one central mission: the maintenance of international peace and security. The UN accomplishes this by working to prevent conflict, helping parties in conflict make peace, , and creating the conditions to allow peace to hold and flourish. These activities often overlap and should reinforce one another, to be effective.
The UN Security Council has the primary responsibility for international peace and security. The General Assembly and the Secretary-General play major, important, and complementary roles, along with other UN offices and bodies.
Security Council
The Security Council unanimously adopting resolution 2497 (2019) extending the mandate of the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA). UN Photo/Loey Felipe
The Security Council takes the lead in determining the existence of a threat to the peace or an act of aggression. It calls upon the parties to a dispute to settle it by peaceful means and recommends methods of adjustment or terms of settlement. Under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, the Security Council can take enforcement measures to maintain or restore international peace and security. Such measures range from economic sanctions to international military action. The Council also establishes and .
General Assembly
Learn more about the UN General Assembly.
The General Assembly is the main deliberative, policymaking and representative organ of the UN. Through regular meetings, the General Assembly provides a forum for Member States to express their views to the entire membership and find consensus on difficult issues. It makes recommendations in the form of General Assembly . Decisions on important questions, such as those on peace and security, admission of new members and budgetary matters, require a two-thirds majority, but other questions are decided by simple majority.
How does the UN maintain international peace and security?
The most effective way to diminish human suffering and the massive economic costs of conflicts and their aftermath is to prevent conflicts in the first place. The 51³Ô¹Ï plays an important role in , using , and . Among the tools the Organization uses to bring peace are and in the field.
Special and Personal Representatives, Envoys and Advisers of the Secretary-General
The Secretary-General of the 51³Ô¹Ï has Special and Personal Representatives, Envoys and Advisers in many areas of the world.
What is Conflict Prevention?
Peacekeeping
has proven to be one of the most effective tools available to the UN to assist countries to navigate the difficult path from conflict to peace. Today's multidimensional peacekeeping operations are called upon not only to maintain peace and security, but also to facilitate , protect civilians, assist in the , demobilization and reintegration of former combatants; support constitutional processes and the organization of elections, protect and promote and assist in restoring the and extending legitimate state authority.
Peacekeeping operations get their mandates from the UN Security Council; their troops and police are by Members States; and they are managed by the and supported by the at UN Headquarters in New York.
There are currently deployed and there have been a total of 71 deployed since 1948. In 2019, the Secretary-General launched the Action for Peacekeeping Initiative (A4P) to renew mutual political commitment to peacekeeping operations.
Life as a UN Peacekeeper
by region
Africa
Asia and the Pacific
Europe and Central Asia
The Middle East
Peacebuilding
51³Ô¹Ï peacebuilding activities are aimed at assisting countries emerging from conflict, reducing the risk of relapsing into conflict and laying the foundation for sustainable peace and development.
The UN peacebuilding architecture comprises the Peacebuilding Commission, the Peacebuilding Fund and the Peacebuilding Support Office.
The Peacebuilding Support Office assists and supports the Peacebuilding Commission with strategic advice and policy guidance, administers the Peacebuilding Fund and serves the Secretary-General in coordinating 51³Ô¹Ï agencies in their peacebuilding efforts.
Innovating for Peace
(DPPA)
Presence by region
The (DPPA) in Africa, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and Central Asia, and the Middle East.
Countering Terrorism
The 51³Ô¹Ï is being increasingly called upon to coordinate the global fight against terrorism. Eighteen universal instruments against international terrorism have been elaborated within the framework of the 51³Ô¹Ï system relating to specific terrorist activities. In September 2006, UN Member States adopted the 51³Ô¹Ï Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy. This was the first time that Member States agreed to a common strategic and operational framework against terrorism.
Disarmament
The General Assembly and other bodies of the 51³Ô¹Ï, supported by the Office for Disarmament Affairs, work to advance international peace and security through the pursuit of the elimination of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction and the regulation of conventional arms.