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World War II highlighted a pressing need for better global cooperation. While The League of Nations was created for this purpose after World War I, it had proved ineffective in stopping a second World War. At a conference in San Francisco in October 1945, 50 nations hammered out a new charter for global relations. New Zealand played an active role in these negotiations including opposing the veto for the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (China, France, the Russian Federation, the UK and the US), advocating for collective security, and pushing for economic and social issues to be at the heart of the agenda. After fierce debate, the United Nations was born.
Today there are 193 members and the UN's work reaches into every corner of the globe. The UN Charter allows the organisation to take action on a wide range of issues that now extend well beyond international security to include: the environment, disaster relief, disarmament, human rights, gender equality, food supply, health, refugee protection and other areas.
New Zealand and the UN Security Council
The Security Council has primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. It has 15 members, including 5 permanent members (the P5) and 10 non-permanent members representing all the regions of the world, who sit on the Council for 2-year terms. Each member has one vote although only the P5 can veto a decision. Under the UN Charter, all Member States are obligated to comply with Council decisions.
New Zealand has served on the Security Council four times: in 1954–55, 1966, 1993–94 and 2015–2016.
Our terms on the Security Council place New Zealand at the heart of international decisions on international peace and security.
In 2015-2016, we used our seat to ensure the voice and interests of small countries continued to be heard in discussions on international security. New Zealand urged greater emphasis on conflict prevention and resolution and for more effort to be put into understanding and addressing the root causes of conflict. We also made efforts to improve the workings of the Council and continued to oppose the use of the veto by the P5.
New Zealand has announced that it will be pursuing one of 10 non-permanent seats on the Security Council for the 2039–40 term.
How we work with the UN
MFAT has a UN office in New York – the Permanent Mission to the United Nations. We also have a Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Geneva that focuses on human rights, disarmament and other UN specialised agencies (such as those that deal with health, labour, refugees and humanitarian issues) and another in Vienna that works mainly on non-proliferation of weapons and arms control.
Permanent Mission staff act as liaison between UN officials and delegates, and MFAT back home. They promote New Zealand’s position on UN issues and put forward our views in negotiations, reports and activities.
Our contribution to UN activities
Peacekeeping
New Zealand has contributed troops and personnel to UN peacekeeping operations since they began in 1948. We’ve been involved in more than 40 peace operations in more than 25 countries, either under UN auspices or as part of coalitions. In peacekeeping missions we're known as collaborative, practical and respectful team players with a good understanding of multiculturalism and an easy rapport with local communities.
New Zealand has played a role in some of the UN's most challenging missions including in Africa and the Middle East:
- UNMISS (South Sudan) since its establishment (ongoing).
- UN Truce Supervision Organisation (UNTSO), working on peacekeeping in the Middle East, since 1954 (ongoing).
- UN operations in Timor-Leste, and Iraq in the 2000s.
- Former Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Somalia, Mozambique, Angola and Sierra Leone in the 1990s.
We have provided sustained contributions to other UN and multinational peace support operations, such as in Afghanistan (2001–2014), Bougainville (1990–2003), Korea (1950–ongoing), Solomon Islands (2003–2013) and the Sinai Peninsula (1982–ongoing).
Read more about our peace support operations
Helping refugees
Conflicts and natural disasters have left more than 50 million refugees and internally displaced people in the world today. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is the lead agency for protecting refugees and the internally displaced (people forced from their homes but still living in their own country).
New Zealand contributes to this work in a number of ways:
- every year, as a signatory to the 1951 UN Convention on the Status of Refugees and under the New Zealand Refugee Quota Programme, we accept 1,500 refugees for resettlement in our country.
- we support key principles of international humanitarian law and international human rights law which promote the rights of people affected by armed conflicts (such as the Geneva Conventions).
New Zealand is one of approximately 27 countries with a regular refugee resettlement programme. Immigration New Zealand is the lead domestic agency for the development and implementation of this programme.
Read the New Zealand Refugee Resettlement Strategy(external link)
Read about the UN 1951 Refugee Convention(external link)
Humanitarian – removing explosive remnants of war
Explosive remnants of war continue to kill and injure civilians years after conflicts have ended. New Zealand is a strong supporter of programmes to reduce the risks and harm caused by explosive remnants of war, including those led by UN organisations. New Zealand Defence Force personnel have also been involved in operations in the occupied Palestinian territories, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Iraq, Mozambique, Kosovo, Cambodia, Lao PDR, and the Pacific. New Zealand has joined multilateral treaties that seek to end the suffering and harm caused by these weapons, such as the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention and the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
Read about New Zealand's disarmament engagement.
UN Handbook
New Zealand produces an annual UN handbook. The handbook is released at the start of each UN General Assembly, and is designed for UN delegates from all nations, media and the public. The handbook is available in pdf and hard copy.
Sustainable Development Goals
In September 2015, United Nations Member States signed up to a universal set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 targets (Agenda 2030).
The SDGs establish a universal agenda for action to achieve sustainable development globally. The new Goals integrate the three dimensions of sustainable development (economic, social and environmental) and are applicable to all countries.
The Goals build on the lessons learned from the Millennium Development Goals, which focused specifically on developing countries.
Read more about New Zealand’s approach to the SDGs.
International Court of Justice
This court was set up by the UN, and acts as a world court that allows countries to challenge the legality of another country's actions.
New Zealand is one of only 74 countries that has made a declaration accepting the ICJ's jurisdiction over all our disputes. We have taken two cases to the court (concerning nuclear testing in the South Pacific). We have also intervened in a case related to whaling in Antarctica, and in Ukraine's case against Russia under the Genocide Convention.
Find out more about the International Court of Justice(external link)
International Law Commission
We are a long-standing champion of the International Law Commission (ILC). Like the New Zealand Law Commission, which reviews our domestic law and makes recommendations to the government, the ILC reviews international law and makes recommendations to states. The ILC is made up of 34 independent international law experts, who are elected every five years, with seats allocated by regional grouping.
In November 2021, New Zealand candidate Dr Penelope J. Ridings was elected to the ILC for the 2023-27 term. Dr Ridings is a distinguished international lawyer and former Ambassador. Read about her approach: Introducing Dr Penelope J. Ridings.
Over the past 70 years, the ILC has been at the forefront of the development of international law, with many of the treaties that form the foundation of the contemporary international legal order having their origins in the work of the Commission. Our priority is ensuring a strong, representative and inclusive ILC with a contemporary and relevant work programme that responds to the issues critical to States.
Find out more about the International Law Commission(external link)