United Nations

The General Assembly is composed of all 189 United Nations Member States. The States, and the dates on which they became Members, are listed in Note No. 119/Rev.1*  issued 15 January 2001.

Security Council

The Security Council has 15 members. The United Nations Charter designates five States as permanent members and the General Assembly elects 10 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 10 non-permanent members of the Council in 2001 are Bangladesh (2001), Colombia (2002), Ireland (2002), Jamaica (2001), Mali (2001), Mauritius (2002), Norway (2002), Singapore (2002), Tunisia (2001), Ukraine (2001).

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 2001, the Council is composed of the following 54 States:

Andorra (2003), Angola (2002), Argentina (2003), Austria (2002), Bahrain (2002), Benin (2002), Bolivia (2001), Brazil (2003), Bulgaria (2001), Burkina Faso (2002), Cameroon (2002), Canada (2001), China (2001), Costa Rica (2002), Croatia (2002), Cuba (2002), Czech Republic (2001), Democratic Republic of the Congo (2001), Denmark (2001), Egypt (2003), Ethiopia (2003), Fiji (2002), France (2002), Georgia (2003), Germany (2002), Greece (2002), Guinea-Bissau (2001), Honduras (2001), Indonesia (2001), Iran (2003), Italy (2003), Japan (2002), Mexico (2002), Morocco (2001), Nepal (2003), Netherlands (2003), Nigeria (2003), Norway (2001), Pakistan (2003), Peru (2003), Portugal (2002), Republic of Korea (2003), Romania (2003), Russian Federation (2001), Rwanda (2001), Saudi Arabia (2001), South Africa (2003), Sudan (2002), Suriname (2002), Syria (2001), Uganda (2003), United Kingdom (2001), United States (2003), and Venezuela (2001).

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 members, elected by both the General Assembly and the Security Council. Judges hold nine-year terms, which end 5 February of the year indicated in parentheses next to their name.

The current composition of the Court is as follows: Awn Shawakat Al-Khasawneh (Jordan)(2009); Mohammed Bedjaoui (Algeria) (2006); Thomas Bergenthal (United States) (2006); Carl-August Fleischhauer (Germany) (2003); Gilbert Guillaume (France) (2009); Geza Herczegh (Hungary) (2003); Rosalyn Higgins (United Kingdom) (2009); Shi Jiuyong (China) (2003); Pieter H. Kooijmans (Netherlands) (2006); Abdul G. Koroma (Sierra Leone) (2003); Shigeru Oda (Japan) (2003); Gonzalo Parra-Aranguren (Venezuela)(2009); Raymond Ranjeva (Madagascar)(2009); Jose Franciso Rezek (Brazil) (2006); Vladlen S. Vereshchetin (Russian Federation) (2006).