General Assembly

• Main Role: UNGA is the main policy-making and representative organ of the UN.
• Membership: It includes all 193 UN member states.
• Key Decisions: Appoints the UN Secretary-General, elects non-permanent UNSC members and approves the UN budget.
• Functions: Discusses international issues, sets UN agenda, adopts resolutions and reviews work of other UN bodies.
• Voting: Important issues need a two-thirds majority, while ordinary issues need a simple majority.
• Elections: Conducts elections for UNGA President, UNSC, ECOSOC, Human Rights Council and ICJ judges.

Security Council

• Main Role: UNSC has the primary responsibility to maintain international peace and security.
• Established: It was established on 17 January 1946.
• Membership: It has 15 members — 5 permanent and 10 non-permanent.
• Permanent Members: China, France, Russia, UK and USA have veto power.  Non-Permanent Members: 10 members are elected by UNGA for 2-year terms on regional basis.
• Presidency: UNSC presidency rotates monthly among members in English alphabetical order.
• Binding Power: UNSC decisions are legally binding on all UN member states.
• Sanctions and Force: It can impose sanctions or authorise use of force to restore peace.
•  Military Interventions: It authorised actions in Korea, Congo, Cyprus, West New Guinea and Sinai.
• Veto Power: P5 can block substantive resolutions, including new membership and Secretary-General nominations.

Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)

ECOSOC coordinates work on economic, social, environmental and sustainable development issues. It has 54 members elected by the General Assembly. It coordinates 15 specialised agencies, 8 functional commissions and 5 regional commissions.

Trusteeship Council

The UN Trusteeship Council was created to supervise trust territories and help them move towards self-government or independence. Its work was completed when the last trust territory, Palau, became a UN member in 1994. Since then, the Council has suspended operations and meets only when necessary.

International Court of Justice (ICJ)

ICJ is the principal judicial organ of the UN. It settles legal disputes between states and gives advisory opinions on international legal issues.

Structure of ICJ

• Composition: ICJ consists of 15 judges.
• Election: Judges are elected by the UN General Assembly and Security Council.
• Tenure: Judges serve for 9 years.
• Majority: A candidate needs an absolute majority in both UNGA and UNSC.
• Continuity: One-third of judges are elected every 3 years.
• Re-election: Judges are eligible for re-election.
• Regional Distribution: Judges include 3 from Africa, 2 from Latin America & Caribbean, 3 from Asia, 5 from Western Europe & other states, and 2 from Eastern Europe.
• Independence: Judges are independent and do not represent their governments.
• Removal: A judge can be removed only if all other judges unanimously agree that required conditions are not fulfilled.

Indian judges at the ICJ include Sir Benegal Rau, Nagendra Singh, R.S. Pathak and Dalveer Bhandari.

Secretariat

• The UN Secretariat carries out the day-to-day work of the United Nations.
• It is the executive arm of the UN.
• It is headed by the UN Secretary-General, who is the chief administrative officer of the UN.
• The Secretary-General is appointed by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the Security Council.
• The Secretariat helps set the agenda for UN bodies and provides economic and political analysis.
• It is organised into different departments and offices with specific responsibilities.
• António Guterres is the 9th and current Secretary-General of the UN.

Need for UNSC Reform

UNSC still reflects the 1945 post-World War II power structure, while UN membership has expanded from 51 to 193 countries. Main reform issues include membership categories, veto power, regional representation, Council size, working methods, and Security Council–General Assembly relations.

1965 Reform

The only major UNSC reform took place in 1965, when non-permanent members were increased from 6 to 10. No major structural reform has happened since then.

Razali Plan, 1997

Proposed by Razali Ismail, then President of the UN General Assembly. It suggested expanding the Council from 15 to 24 members by adding 5 new permanent members without veto and 4 new non-permanent members. It failed due to opposition from the Coffee Club/Uniting for Consensus group

Kofi Annan Plan, 2005

 In 2005, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan proposed expanding the UNSC to 24 members.

• Plan A: Add 6 new permanent members and 3 new non-permanent members.
• Plan B: Add 8 semi-permanent seats for 4-year renewable terms and 1 new non-permanent seat.

Annan urged member states to take a quick decision before the 2005 Millennium+5 Summit.

G4 Proposal

The G4 countries — India, Brazil, Germany and Japan — support each other’s demand for permanent UNSC seats.

Their argument is based on economic strength, population, regional role and contribution to the UN.

The UK, France, Russia and the US have supported G4 membership in different forms.

African Group Demand

The African Group demands 2 permanent seats for Africa, as Africa has no permanent representation despite being central to many UNSC agenda issues. The seats may be selected or rotated through the African Union.

Uniting for Consensus / Coffee Club

Led by countries such as Italy, Pakistan, Mexico, Argentina, Canada and Colombia.

It opposes adding new permanent members.

It supports expanding only the non-permanent category.

In 2005, it proposed retaining 5 permanent members and increasing non-permanent members to 20.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for urgent UNSC reform, stating that the Council still reflects a bygone era despite major global changes. He stressed that reform must expand both permanent and non-permanent categories to make the UNSC more representative, effective and credible in protecting international peace, security and rule of law.