The United Nations Charter established six principal organs in order to function effectively, to help find solutions to disputes and to deal with many other issues of concern to humanity. All of the organs listed below are based at the UN headquarters in New York, except for the International Court of Justice, which is located at The Hague in the Netherlands.

-- The General Assembly, being the main deliberative organ, is composed of representatives of all Member States.

-- The Security Council is responsible for maintanining international peace and security.

-- The Economic and Social Council works for economic and social progress, and also promotes universal respect for human rights.

-- The International Court of Justice settles disputes between parties of its Statute which includes all of the UN member nations and, in certain special cases, non-member nations.

-- The Trusteeship Council was established to ensure that governments responsible for administering Trust Territories take adequate steps to prepare them for self-government or independence.

-- The Secretariat is headed by the Secretary-General and is as important as the other five organs. It carries out the day-to-day work of the United Nations and administers its programs and policies.

Source: Basic Facts About the United Nations. Published by United Nations Department of Public Information. Copyright 1995 United Nations.