La Organización de las Naciones Unidas (ONU), o simplemente las Naciones Unidas (NN. UU.), es la mayor organización internacional existente. Se define como una asociación de gobierno global que facilita la cooperación en asuntos como el Derecho internacional, la paz y seguridad internacional, el desarrollo económico y social, los asuntos humanitarios y los derechos humanos. La ONU fue fundada el 24 de octubre de 1945 en la ciudad estadounidense de San Francisco, por 51 países, al finalizar la Segunda Guerra Mundial, con la firma de la Carta de las Naciones Unidas. Desde su sede en Nueva York, los Estados miembros de las Naciones Unidas y otros organismos vinculados deliberan y deciden acerca de temas significativos y administrativos en reuniones periódicas celebradas durante el año. La ONU está estructurada en diversos órganos, de los cuales los principales son: Asamblea General, Consejo de Seguridad, Consejo Económico y Social, Secretaría General, Consejo de Administración Fiduciaria y la Corte Internacional de Justicia. La sede europea (y segunda sede mundial) de la Organización de las Naciones Unidas se sitúa en Ginebra, Suiza. La figura pública principal de la ONU es el Secretario General. El actual es Ban Ki-moon de Corea del Sur, que asumió el puesto el 1 de enero de 2007, reemplazando a Kofi Annan. A fecha de 2013, la ONU posee 193 Estados miembros: todos los países soberanos reconocidos internacionalmente, más tres miembros en calidad de observadores —el Estado de la Ciudad del Vaticano, la Soberana Orden Militar de Malta y el Estado de Palestina. Otros Estados independientes de facto como la República de China o Kosovo no son miembros pues son considerados territorios en disputa. Los idiomas oficiales de la ONU son seis: árabe, chino mandarín, español, francés, inglés y ruso.

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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, and experiences extraterritoriality. Further main offices are situated in Geneva, Nairobi, and Vienna. The organization is financed by assessed and voluntary contributions from its member states. 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 United Nations Charter was drafted at a conference in April–June 1945; this charter took effect 24 October 1945, and the UN began operation. 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 organization's membership grew significantly following widespread decolonization in the 1960s, and by the 1970s its budget for economic and social development programmes far outstripped its spending on peacekeeping. After the end of the Cold War, the UN took on major military and peacekeeping missions across the world with varying degrees of success. 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); and 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. Non-governmental organizations may be granted consultative status with ECOSOC and other agencies to participate in the UN's work. The organization won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001, and a number of its officers and agencies have also been awarded the prize. Other evaluations of the UN's effectiveness have been mixed. Some commentators believe the organization to be an important force for peace and human development, while others have called the organization ineffective, corrupt, or biased.

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