MEMBERSHIP OF PRINCIPAL UNITED NATIONS ORGANS IN 2008

 

General Assembly

The General Assembly is made up of 192 Member States.  The States and the dates on which they became Members are listed in Press Release ORG/1469 issued 3 July 2006.

Security Council

The Security Council has 15 members.  The United Nations Charter designates five States as permanent members and the General Assembly elects ten other members for two-year terms.  The term of office for each non-permanent member of the Council ends on 31 December of the year indicated in parentheses next to its name.

The five permanent members of the Security Council are China, France, Russian Federation, United Kingdom and the United States.

The ten non-permanent members of the Council in 2008 are Belgium (2008), Burkina Faso (2009), Costa Rica (2009), Croatia (2009), Indonesia (2008), Italy (2008), Libya (2009), Panama (2008), South Africa (2008) and Viet Nam (2009).

Economic and Social Council

The Economic and Social Council has 54 members, elected for three-year terms by the General Assembly.  The term of office for each member expires on 31 December of the year indicated in parentheses next to its name.  In 2008, the Council is composed of the following:

Algeria (2009), Angola (2008), Austria (2008), Barbados (2009), Belarus (2009), Benin (2008), Bolivia (2009), Brazil (2010), Cameroon (2010), Canada (2009), Cape Verde (2009), China (2010), Congo (2010), Cuba (2008), Czech Republic (2008), El Salvador (2009), France (2008), Greece (2008), Guinea-Bissau (2008), Guyana (2008), Haiti (2008), Iceland (2010), Indonesia (2009), Iraq (2009), Japan (2008), Kazakhstan (2009), Liechtenstein (2008), Luxembourg (2009), Madagascar (2008), Malawi (2009), Malaysia (2010), Mauritania (2008), Moldova (2010), Mozambique (2010), Netherlands (2009), New Zealand (2010), Niger (2010), Pakistan (2010), Paraguay (2008), Philippines (2009), Poland (2010), Portugal (2008), Republic of Korea (2010), Romania (2009), Russian Federation (2010), Saint Lucia (2010), Saudi Arabia (2008), Somalia (2009), Sri Lanka (2008), Sudan (2009), Sweden (2010), United Kingdom (2010), United States (2009), Uruguay (2010). 

Trusteeship Council

The Trusteeship Council is made up of the five permanent members of the Security Council -– China, France, Russian Federation, United Kingdom and the United States.  With the independence of Palau, the last remaining United Nations Trust Territory, the Council formally suspended operations on 1 November 1994.  The Council amended its rules of procedure to drop the obligation to meet annually and agreed to meet as the occasion required, by its decision or the decision of its President or at the request of a majority of its members or the General Assembly or the Security Council.

International Court of Justice

The International Court of Justice has 15 Judges, elected by both the General Assembly and the Security Council for nine-year terms.  The current composition of the Court, with terms expiring on 5 February of the year in parentheses, is as follows:

Ronny Abraham (France) (2009), Awn Shawkat Al-Khasawneh (Jordan) (2009), Mohamed Bennouna (Morocco) (2015), Thomas Buergenthal (United States) (2015), Rosalyn Higgins (United Kingdom) (2009), Shi Jiuyong (China) (2012), Kenneth Keith (New Zealand) (2015), Abdul G. Koroma (Sierra Leone) (2012), Hisashi Owada (Japan) (2012), Gonzalo Parra-Aranguren (Venezuela) (2009), Raymond Ranjeva (Madagascar) (2009), Bernardo Sepulveda Amor (Mexico) (2015), Bruno Simma (Germany) (2012), Leonid Skotnikov (Russian Federation) (2015), Peter Tomka (Slovakia) (2012).

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For information media • not an official record