1. The aims of the UN are embodied in a set of purposes and principles contained in Articles 1 and
2 of the Charter, summarized as follows:
1. to maintain international peace and security and, to that end, to take effective collective
measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace and for the suppression
of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace, and to bring about by peaceful
means, and in conformity with the principles of justice and international law, adjustment
or settlement of international disputes or situations that might lead to a breach of the
peace;
2. to develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal
rights and self-determination of peoples, and to take other appropriate measures to
strengthen universal peace;
3. to achieve international cooperation in solving international economic, social, cultural, or
humanitarian problems and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and
for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion;
and
4. to be a center for harmonizing the actions of nations in attaining these common ends.
In pursuit of these purposes, the Charter stipulates that the UN and its members are to act in
accordance with the following principles:
1. that the organization is based on the sovereign equality of all its members;
2. that all members are to fulfill in good faith their Charter obligations;
3. that they are to settle their international disputes by peaceful means and without
endangering peace, security, and justice;
4. that they are to refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force
against other states;
5. that they are to give the UN every assistance in any action that it takes in accordance with
the Charter and shall not assist states against which the UN is taking preventive or
enforcement action;
6. that the UN shall also ensure that states that are not members act in accordance with these
principles insofar as is necessary to maintain international peace and security; and
7. that nothing in the Charter is to authorize the UN to intervene in matters that are
essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state, though this principle is not to
prejudice the application of enforcement measures made necessary in the event of a threat
to or breach of the peace.