The United Nations does many things to try to keep the world safe and prevent war, including sending UN peacekeeping troops to separate sides in conflict and imposing sanctions on countries that take actions that threaten international peace. The organization also does a number of less direct things, like promoting economic and social development to combat poverty and other root causes of conflict.
The UN resolution is a formal expression of the will of its principal organs, including the Security Council, General Assembly, and Economic and Social Council. They are issued individually as standalone documents, or in combined compilations (for example, the annual or sessional compilations of the Security Council).
If a resolution is a binding decision for all 193 member states, it becomes legally effective upon its adoption. Non-binding resolutions are usually referred to as recommendations, although some, such as budgetary decisions or instructions to lower-ranking organs, are binding on the addressees of the resolution.
For example, Resolution 1718 — which was adopted in October 2006 after North Korea’s first nuclear test — decided that North Korea must “abandon all activities related to WMD” and return to the Six-Party Talks.
RS readers have asked whether the language of these resolutions creates an obligation for states to comply with them. According to experts interviewed by RS, the answer is yes. The UN Charter, for instance, explicitly states that Security Council resolutions are binding on member states. Moreover, in practice, the use of words such as “decide” or “recommend” in a resolution implies that the drafter expects a state to act accordingly, as if it were a law passed by the legislature.