UN Charter in the context of Sex

The use of force by states and inter-governmental organizations in international law is controlled by both customary international law and by treaty law. As a legal matter, the use of force may be justified only in self-defense or when authorized by the United Nations Security Council. The UN Charter reads in article 2(4):

This principle is now considered to be a part of customary international law, and has the effect of banning the use of armed force except for two situations authorized by the UN Charter. Firstly, the Security Council, under powers granted in articles 24 and 25, and Chapter VII of the Charter, may authorize collective action to maintain or enforce international peace and security. Secondly, Article 51 also states that: "Nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defence if an armed attack occurs against a member of the United Nations." There are also more controversial claims by some states of a right of humanitarian intervention, reprisals and the protection of nationals abroad. Concomitant with Article 51’s right to self-defense it Article 2(4)’s prohibition against “the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state."

There are six official languages used in United Nations (UN) meetings and in which the UN writes and publishes all its official documents. In 1946, five languages were chosen as official languages of the UN: English, French, Russian, Spanish, and Chinese. In 1973, Arabic was voted to be an additional official language. As of 2025, the official languages of the United Nations are:

• English (British English with Oxford spelling), in Latin alphabet;
• French (Metropolitan French – français métropolitain / langues d'oïl) in Latin alphabet;
• Spanish (Peninsular Spanish – español peninsular / castellano) in Spanish alphabet;
• Russian (Moscow Russian – московское произношение moskovskoye proiznosheniye) in the Russian Cyrillic alphabet;
• Chinese (Standard Mandarin – 中文 zhōngwén / 普通话 pǔtōnghuà) in Simplified Chinese characters;
• Arabic (Modern Standard Arabic – العربية al-ʿarabiyyah / الفصحى al-fuṣḥá) in Naskh / Arabic abjad.

According to the UN Charter each of these six languages is equally authoritative although English and French have traditionally received preferential status and are the only two official and working languages of the UN Secretariat. It is an unspoken rule that the UN Secretary General and other high ranking United Nations officials must be fluent (at least C1 – Advanced fluency level according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages / CEFRL) in at least English and French. The UN has struggled to provide parity of all 6 languages as the English language has become the dominant world language in the digital age.

The United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758, titled Restoration of the lawful rights of the People's Republic of China in the United Nations, was passed in response to the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 1668 that required any change in China's representation in the UN be determined by a two-thirds vote referring to Article 18 of the UN Charter. The resolution, passed on 25 October 1971, recognized the People's Republic of China (PRC) as "the only legitimate representative of China to the United Nations" and removed "the representatives of Chiang Kai-shek" (referring to the then Kuomintang regime as the dominant party in the Republic of China, whose central government had retreated to Taiwan from the mainland) from the United Nations.

In the 2020s, disputes over the interpretation of the resolution have arisen, with Taiwan, the United States, Canada, the European Union, United Kingdom and Australia disagreeing with the PRC's interpretation about conflating the resolution with its one China principle and using it against Taiwan's right of participation in international organizations.

Chapter II of the United Nations Charter deals with membership to the United Nations (UN) organization. Membership is open to the original signatories and "all other peace-loving states" that accept the terms and obligations set forth in the UN Charter and, "in the judgment of the Organization, are able and willing to carry out these obligations". According to Chapter II of the UN Charter, in order to be admitted to the UN, a country must first be recommended by the UN Security Council and then approved by a vote of the UN General Assembly. In addition, the admission must not be opposed by any of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States), sometimes referred to as the Permanent Five or P5.

Admission to membership in the UN is regarded as an important indicator of sovereignty and legitimate statehood, especially for microstates. Some states have governments that are unofficially recognized as independent, such as the Republic of China on Taiwan, but have not been admitted to the UN due to a veto by a P5 member. During the Cold War, the United States and Soviet Union did not allow rival blocs to be admitted to the UN. When they began letting those countries join, it led to a period of great expansion of UN membership, especially as the number of colonies gaining independence increased.

Territorial integrity is the principle under international law where sovereign states have a right to defend their borders and all territory in them from another state. It is enshrined in Article 2(4) of the UN Charter and has been recognized as customary international law. Under this principle, forcible imposition of a border change is an act of aggression.

In the post-World War years, there has been tension between this principle and the concept of humanitarian intervention under Article 73.b of the United Nations Charter "to develop self-government, to take due account of the political aspirations of the peoples, and to assist them in the progressive development of their free political institutions, according to the particular circumstances of each territory and its peoples and their varying stages of advancement."

United Nations General Assembly Resolution 1668 (XVI) was an act of the UN General Assembly that deemed the issue of Chinese representation at the UN an "important question" under the UN Charter; therefore any proposal to change of recognition either to the People's Republic of China from the Republic of China and designated as such as the representation of all of China at the UN would hence require a two-thirds majority of all voting members. The impetus for UN Resolution 1668 (1961) was raised by Australia, Colombia, Italy, Japan, and the United States and passed with 61 UN Member States voting in its favor, 34 UN Member States voted against it, 7 UN Member States abstaining, and 2 UN Member States non-voting. The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations was signed by the Republic of China on 18 April 1961 and ratified on 19 December 1969. The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations is the cornerstone of modern-day diplomacy since the Vienna Congress and followed by the UN.

Minority Rights Group (MRG) is an international human rights organisation, headquartered in London, with offices in Budapest and Kampala. The organisation's mission statement is to secure rights for ethnic, national, religious, linguistic minorities, and indigenous peoples around the world. MRG has an international Governing Council that meets twice a year. MRG has consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and observer status with the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights.

The organisation was set up in 1969 by a group of activists and academics in order "to protect the rights of minorities to co-exist with majorities, by objective study and consistent international public exposure of violations of fundamental rights as defined by the UN Charter".

United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (also called MINUSCA, which is an initialism of its French name Mission multidimensionnelle intégrée des Nations unies pour la stabilisation en Centrafrique) is a UN peacekeeping mission, which started on April 10, 2014, to protect Central African Republic civilians under Chapter VII of the UN Charter. It transformed the 6,000-strong African Union-led peacekeeping force known as MISCA into a UN peacekeeping mission and became operational on September 15, 2014. The UN deployed a transition team to set up MINUSCA and prepare for a seamless transition of authority from MISCA to MINUSCA. As of 30 September 2021, it has more than 15,000 troops, police and civilian personnel on the ground. Its role is to:

• support the transition process;
• facilitate humanitarian assistance;
• promotion and protection of human rights;
• support for justice and the rule of law;
• disarmament;
• demobilization;
• reintegration;
• repatriation processes.

The current Special Representative of the Secretary-General and head of MINUSCA is Valentine Rugwabiza of Rwanda.