The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization to promote international co-operation. A replacement for the ineffective League of Nations, the organization was established on 24 October 1945 after World War II in order to prevent another such conflict.At its founding, the UN had 51 member states; there are now 193. The headquarters of the United Nations is in Manhattan, New York City. Its objectives include maintaining international peace and security, promoting human rights, fostering social and economic development, protecting the environment, and providing humanitarian aid in cases of famine, natural disaster, and armed conflict.The UN's mission to preserve world peace was complicated in its early decades by the Cold War between the US and Soviet Union and their respective allies. The organization participated in major actions in Korea and the Congo, as well as approving the creation of the state of Israel in 1947.
The UN has six principal organs:
the General Assembly (the main deliberative assembly);
the Security Council (for deciding certain resolutions for peace and security);
the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) (for promoting international economic and social co-operation and development)
the Secretariat (for providing studies, information, and facilities needed by the UN); the International Court of Justice (the primary judicial organ); the United Nations Trusteeship Council (inactive since 1994). UN System agencies include the World Bank Group, the World Health Organization, the World Food Programme, UNESCO, and UNICEF. The UN's most prominent officer is the Secretary-General, an office held by South Korean Ban Ki-moon since 2007. The organization won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001, and a number of its officers and agencies have also been awarded the prize.