Four purposes and the sovereign equality of members: Chapter I of the Charter of the United Nations

Background

Chapter I of the Charter of the United Nations sets out the Organization's purposes in Article 1 and its principles in Article 2. The first purpose is to maintain international peace and security. The second is to develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples. The third is to achieve international cooperation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural or humanitarian character, and in promoting respect for human rights without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion. The fourth is to be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations in attaining these common ends. Article 2 states that the Organization is based on the principle of the sovereign equality of all its Members, and that nothing in the Charter authorises the United Nations to intervene in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state, though this does not prejudice enforcement measures under Chapter VII.