The United Nations was founded in 1945 and has 193 member states. The main UN structures are divided into treaty and chater based bodies:
The Treaty Bodies
The core international human rights treaties are monitored by 9 human rights treaty bodies:
- Human Rights Committee (CCPR)
- Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR)
- Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD)
- Committee on Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)
- Committee Agianst Torture (CAT) & Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OPCAT) - Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT)
- Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
- Committee on Migrant Workers (CMW)
- Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)
- Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED)
- The Human Rights Committee (HRC)
Charter-based Bodies
- The Special rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief
- The Special Rapporteur on Promotion and Protection of Freedom of Opinion and Expression
- The Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance
The most important UN Human Rights Treaties are:
- The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
- International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
- International Covenant on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights