This section provides updates on the Security Council's activities, news releases and statements. It also includes multimedia products and other resources to stay informed about the Security Council's activities.

2025

Under the United Nations Charter, the functions and powers of the Security Council are:
 

PERMANENT AND NON-PERMANENT MEMBERS

The Council is composed of 15 Members:

Five permanent members: China, France, Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and ten non-permanent members elected for two-year terms by the General Assembly (with end of term year):

Security Council Secretariat Branch (SCSB): directly supports the daily work of the Council, especially its rotating monthly presidency, facilitates the holding of its formal and informal meetings and other activities, manages the Council’s monthly and daily programme of work, provides procedural advice and supports Council missions to countries and regions of concern.

Table of contents

• Introduction
• Message from the Permanent Representative of Kuwait to the United Nations
• Note by the President of the Security Council [S/2017/507]

• Tentative and provisional programme
• Chairs and Vice-Chairs of Subsidiary Organs
• Secretariat Contacts

Article 29 of the United Nations Charter sets out that the Security Council may establish subsidiary bodies as needed for the performance of its functions.

The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization tasked to promote international cooperation and to create and maintain international order. A replacement for the ineffective League of Nations, the organization was established on 24 October 1945 after World War II with the aim of preventing another such conflict. At its founding, the UN had 51 member states; there are now 193. The headquarters of the UN is in Manhattan, New York City, and is subject to extraterritoriality. Further main offices are situated in Geneva, Nairobi, and Vienna.