The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the United Nations:
United Nations – international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace. The UN was founded in 1945 after World War II to replace the League of Nations, to stop wars between countries, and to provide a platform for dialogue. It contains multiple subsidiary organizations to carry out its missions.
Legal foundation: The United Nations Charter
United Nations Charter – foundational treaty of the United Nations which states that obligations to the United Nations prevail over all other treaty obligations and is binding for all United Nations members.
Specialized agencies of the United Nations – autonomous organizations working with the United Nations and each other through the coordinating machinery of the Economic and Social Council.
The United Nations observances are days, weeks, months, years and decades where issues that are important for humanity are brought to the attention and given a forum. In several of the resolutions where the decision has been taken for a particular observance, it is mentioned that the observance has to be taken up in the educational curriculum, and often as well that the member organisations to the UN are supposed to make a budget available and feedback an agenda of planned activities and a report of those. Some of the observances are a very hot item to some members and much maneuvering is done to limit the impact and resources that go to the observance. The UN Decade for people of African descent reporting for the EU-28 has e.g. fallen under the responsibility of the Belgian delegation to the UN; Belgium being one of Africa's eight former colonial powers.
