1945

25/4-26/6 Foundation of United Nations at the conference in San Francisco

24/10 UN Charter comes into force (this day has been hailed the "Day of the United Nations" since then)

1946

First session of the General Assembly in London; the Economic and Social Council is formed

Trygve Lie of Norway is made first Secretary-General

1948

10/12 The General Assembly accepts the "Universal Declaration of Human Rights" (this day has been hailed the "Day of Human Rights" since then)

1953

Dag Hammarskjöld of Sweden is made Secretary-General

1954

The UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) receives the Nobel Prize for Peace

1955

Admission of 16 new member states (the UNO now has 76 member states)

1956

General Assembly resolves to dispatch peace troops to the Suez Crisis (see section on "The United Nations During the Cold War: "Peace Troops Come into Being")

1960

Start of the peace mission in the Congo

1961

Sithu U Thant of Burma is made Secretary-General following the death of Hammarskjöld

Start of the first UN development decade

1962

The UNO has 100 members following the admission of further states; the developing countries have a majority in the General Assembly

1964

Start of the peace mission to Cyprus

First Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD I)

"Group 77" is formed as a coalition of developing nations

1965

Change to the UN Charter; increase in the number of members in the Security Council from 11 to 15 and from 18 to 27 in the Economic and Social Council

Foundation of the UN Development Programme (UNDP)

The United Nations Children's Fund UNICEF receives the Nobel Peace Prize

1966

The General Assembly agrees on two decisive pacts concerning the continued development of human rights' protection:
"International Convenant on Civil and Political Rights"
"International Convenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights"

1969

The International labour Organisation (ILO) receives the Nobel Peace Prize

1971

Start of the second UN development decade

Kurt Waldheim of Austria is made UN Secretary-General

China's seat in the United Nations is awarded to the Peoples Republic of China by the General Assembly

1972

World Environment Conference in Stockholm; foundation of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP)

1973

Change to the UN Charter; increase in the number of members in the Economic and Social Council from 27 to 54

1974

Special session of the General Assembly; discussion on the concept of the "New International Economic Order"

General Assembly passes the "Charter of Economic Rights and Duties of States"

South Africa excluded because of the apartheid regime

1976

The human rights pacts signed in 1966 come into force

1981

Javier Pérez de Cuéllar is made Secretary-General

Start of the third development decade

The UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) receives the Nobel Peace Prize (for the second time since 1954)

1986

Existential crisis because the USA under Ronald Reagan fails to pay its compulsory subscriptions; increasing criticism concerning the inefficiency of the UNO amongst other things

1988

Gorbatschow makes speech in front of the General Assembly supporting the strengthening of the UNO

Nobel Peace Prize awarded to the UN for the Blue Helmet peace-keeping operations

1991

Start of the fourth development decade

Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt is made UN Secretary-General

Second Gulf War with the express authority of the Security Council following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait

1992

Boutros-Ghali presents the "Agenda for Peace".

Start of the peace mission in former Yugoslavia and Somalia

World Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro (Summary of the World Conferences in the 90s)

1993

World Human Rights Conference in Vienna

1994

World Population Conference in Cairo

Foundation of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) as successor organisation to the GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade)

Boutros-Ghali presents the "Agenda for Development"

Palau becomes the 185th UN member state; the Trusteeship Council's work is finalised and it suspends itself as a result due to a shortage of regions to administer

1995

World Conference on Social Development in Copenhagen

World Women's Conference in Peking

The Commission on Global Governance presents its report on “Our Global Neighborhood”; intense reform debate on the 50th Anniversary of the UNO

1996

World Conference on Human Settlements in Istanbul

World Food Summit in Rome

1997

Kofi Annan from Ghana is made UN Secretary-General

1998

Passing of the statute to form the permanent International Criminal Court

2000

UN Millennium Summit: the heads of state and government pass the "UN Millennium Declaration"

2001

World Conference against Racism in Durban

Nobel Prize for Peace for Kofi Annan and the United Nations

2002

World Conference on Sustainable Development (RIO + 10) in Johannesburg