Level 8 of 10: The UN and global treaty bodies

United Nations (General Assembly and Security Council) (UN)

The United Nations is the world body of 193 member states, set up under the UN Charter in 1945. Under the Charter, the General Assembly, where every member has one vote, approves the UN budget and makes recommendations, while the 15-member Security Council has primary responsibility for international peace and security and can take decisions that members agree to carry out, including sanctions and the use of force. The UK is one of the Security Council's five permanent members.

Who leads it

• Secretary-General: António Guterres (un.org)
• President of the General Assembly (81st session): Dr Khalilur Rahman (Bangladesh) (Elected 2 June 2026) (un.org)

The UK and the UN

The UN lists the United Kingdom as a member admitted on 24 October 1945. Article 23 of the UN Charter names the UK as one of five permanent members of the Security Council, alongside China, France, Russia and the United States.

Key figures

What it decides

• General Assembly: may discuss and make recommendations on any matter within the scope of the Charter (Charter Article 10).
• General Assembly: considers and approves the UN budget; expenses are borne by members as apportioned by the Assembly (Article 17).
• General Assembly: one vote per member; 'important questions', including peace and security recommendations and electing non-permanent Security Council members, need a two-thirds majority (Article 18).
• Security Council: has primary responsibility for international peace and security and acts on members' behalf (Article 24); members agree to accept and carry out its decisions (Article 25).
• Security Council: substantive decisions need nine votes including the concurring votes of all permanent members; procedural decisions need any nine votes (Article 27).
• Security Council: may impose measures not involving armed force, such as cutting economic relations and communications (Article 41), and may take action by air, sea or land forces (Article 42).
• Admission of new members is decided by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the Security Council (Article 4).

Records you can check

• Security Council voting records since 1992
  How each Council member voted on resolutions
• Security Council vetoes since 1946
  Every veto cast by a permanent member
• Security Council resolutions
  Full text of Council resolutions by year
• UN Security Council Consolidated (sanctions) List
  People and entities under UN sanctions
• General Assembly resolutions, 81st session
  Resolutions adopted by the Assembly, with links to voting records
• Honour roll of regular budget payments
  Which countries have paid their UN dues in full, when, and how much

Common questions

How many countries are in the UN?

193. The UN's member states list shows 193 members (October 2026).

Who are the permanent members of the UN Security Council?

China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States. The UN Security Council says the other ten members are elected by the General Assembly for two-year terms.

How does the UN Security Council veto work?

Under Article 27 of the UN Charter, decisions on non-procedural matters need nine votes including the concurring votes of the five permanent members, so a negative vote by any permanent member stops a resolution.

How much does the UK pay to the UN?

The UN Committee on Contributions lists the UK's net assessment for the 2026 regular budget as $127,958,073, paid on 14 January 2026. UN Peacekeeping lists the UK's share of assessed peacekeeping contributions for 2024-25 as 5.36%.

What is the UN's budget?

UN News reports that the General Assembly approved a $3.45 billion regular budget for 2026. The separate peacekeeping budget was $5.6 billion for July 2024 to June 2025, according to UN Peacekeeping.

Are UN General Assembly resolutions binding?

The Charter gives the General Assembly power to make recommendations (Articles 10 and 11) and to approve the budget (Article 17). It is the Security Council's decisions that members agree to accept and carry out (Article 25).

Other bodies at level 8

• Commonwealth of Nations
• International Court of Justice
• International Criminal Court
• International Labour Organization
• Interpol
• NATO
• UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
• United Nations Children's Fund
• United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
• United Nations Human Rights Council
• United Nations Security Council
• World Food Programme
• World Health Organization
• World Trade Organization

Sources

• Member States | United Nations, read 16 October 2026
• Current Members | Security Council, read 16 October 2026
• UN Charter, Chapter II: Membership, read 16 October 2026
• UN Charter, Chapter IV: The General Assembly, read 16 October 2026
• UN Charter, Chapter V: The Security Council, read 16 October 2026
• UN Charter, Chapter VII, read 16 October 2026
• History of the United Nations, read 16 October 2026
• Contributions received for 2026 for the UN Regular Budget, read 16 October 2026
• President of the 81st session of the General Assembly, read 16 October 2026
• Secretary-General | United Nations, read 16 October 2026
• General Assembly approves $3.45 billion UN regular budget for 2026 | UN News, read 16 October 2026
• How we are funded | UN Peacekeeping, read 16 October 2026
• UN General Assembly, read 16 October 2026
• Voting System | Security Council, read 16 October 2026