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United Nations
The UK at the UN
The UK continues to be an active and supportive member state of the UN.
The UK has an Ambassador at the UN who heads our Mission to the United Nations. The Mission supports other UK Government departments and represents the UK in negotiations, ensuring our interests and views are heard by other member states and UN bodies.
Our Mission to the United Nations website has much more info about the work we do in New York.
The UN Security Council
The UK is 1 of 5 Permanent Members of the UN Security Council (UNSC). The Security Council has the primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security.
We play a key role in all aspects of the Council's work, by providing info from our diplomatic network and negotiating and lobbying for appropriate actions and resolutions.
As President of the UNSC in April 2007, we promoted the first ever Council debate on climate change. The debate focused on the security implications of climate change, such as border disputes, migration, access to energy and food and water shortages. The UK will again chair the Security Council in May 2008.
Recently, we have successfully worked for Security Council responses on:
- further sanctions on Iran to encourage suspension of nuclear activities
- deploying a UN and African Union peacekeeping mission to Darfur
- terrorist attacks in Lebanon
- unrest in Burma
- providing support to refugees and looking at the causes
- a resolution to the situation in Kenya.
Why do we need a strong and effective UN?
- providing emergency relief in disasters and conflicts
- maintaining international peace and security
- tackling disease, poverty and providing basic health services
- developing friendly relations among nations and settling international disputes
- promoting human rights
- providing support to refugees whilst seeking to address the causes of the problem
- promoting sustainable development.
UN Human Rights Council
The UK is an active and committed member of the UN Human Rights Council - find out what work we're doing to promote human rights through the UN.
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How does the UN support our goals?
An effective UN is vital to many of our goals:
- Countering terrorism
- Weapons proliferation
- Promoting human rights
- Preventing and resolving conflict
- Promoting a low carbon global economy
See Also
Useful Links
- International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
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United Nations
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UN Security Council
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World Health Organisation (WHO)