The United Nations General Assembly has granted observer status to two non-member states (the Holy See and the State of Palestine) as well as many international organizations and other entities to enable them to participate in the work of the United Nations General Assembly, though with limitations. The General Assembly determines the privileges it will grant to each observer, beyond those laid down in a 1986 Conference on treaties between states and international organizations. Exceptionally, the European Union (EU) was in 2011 granted the right to speak in debates, to submit proposals and amendments, the right of reply, to raise points of order and to circulate documents, etc. , the EU is the only international organization to hold these enhanced rights, which has been likened to the rights of full membership, short of the right to vote.
Observer status may be granted by a United Nations General Assembly resolution. The status of a permanent observer is based purely on practice of the General Assembly, and there are no provisions for it in the United Nations Charter. The practice is to distinguish between state and non-state observers. Non-member states are members of one or more specialized agencies, and can apply for permanent observer state status. Non-state observers are the international organizations and other entities.
Non-member observer states The General Assembly may invite non-member entities to participate in the work of the United Nations without formal membership, and has done so on numerous occasions. Such participants are described as observers, some of which may be further classified as non-member state observers. Most former non-member observer states accepted observer status at a time when they had applied for membership but were unable to attain it, due to the actual or threatened veto by one or more of the permanent members of the Security Council. The grant of observer status is made by the General Assembly only; it is not subject to a Security Council veto.
In some circumstances a state may elect to become an observer rather than full member. For example, to preserve its neutrality while participating in its work, Switzerland chose to remain a permanent non-member state observer from 1948 until it became a member in 2002.
Current non-member observer states
, there are two permanent non-member observer states in the General Assembly of the United Nations: the Holy See and the State of Palestine. Both were described as "Non-Member States having received a standing invitation to participate as Observers in the sessions and the work of the General Assembly and maintaining Permanent Observer Missions at Headquarters".
The Holy See uncontroversially obtained its non-member observer state status in 1964, representing the Vatican City State. The Holy See did not wish to join the United Nations as a member because "Membership in the organization would not seem to be consonant with the provisions of Article 24 of the Lateran Treaty, particularly as regards spiritual status and participation in possible use of force."James Crawford, The Creation of States in International Law, (1979) p. 156. Since April 6, 1964, the Holy See has accepted permanent observer state status, which was regarded as a diplomatic courtesy, to enable the Holy See to participate in the UN's humanitarian activities and in the promotion of peace.
In 1974, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was admitted as an observer to represent the people of Palestine. In 2012, its observer status was changed from "non-member observer entity" to "non-member observer state" and its name was changed to "State of Palestine", which many called "symbolic".American Society of International Law, 7 December 2012: Legal Implications of the UN General Assembly Vote to Accord Palestine the Status of Observer State , by John Cerone The change followed an application by Palestine for full UN membership in 2011 as part of the Palestine 194 campaign, to provide additional leverage to the Palestinians in their dealings with Israel.CNN, 30 November 2012, U.N. approves Palestinian 'observer state' bid The application had not been put to a UN Security Council vote. With the change in status, the United Nations Secretariat held that Palestine was entitled to become a party to treaties for which the UN Secretary-General is the depositary. On 17 December 2012, UN Chief of Protocol, Yeocheol Yoon, declared that "the designation of 'State of Palestine' shall be used by the Secretariat in all official United Nations documents."
The seating in the General Assembly Hall is arranged with non-member observer states being seated immediately after UN member states, and before other observers. On 10 September 2015, the General Assembly resolved to approve the raising at the UN of the flags of non-member observer states alongside those of the 193 UN member states.
Non-member state Date granted observer status Additional timeline and details 6 April 1964: granted permanent observer state status 1 July 2004: gained all the rights of full membership except voting rights, submission of resolution proposals without co-sponsoring, and putting forward candidates (A/RES/58/314) The sovereign entity with statehood over the territory of the Vatican City State. 14 October 1974: UN General Assembly recognized the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as the representative of Palestinians, and granted it the right to participate in General Assembly deliberations on the question of Palestine in plenary meetings (A/RES/3210 (XXIX))UNGA, 14 October 1974; Resolution 3210 (XXIX). Invitation to the Palestine Liberation Organization (doc.nr.A/RES/3210 (XXIX)) 22 November 1974: non-state observer status granted to the PLO (A/RES/3237 (XXIX)) 9 December 1988: granted the right to circulate communications without an intermediary (A/RES/43/160) 15 December 1988: designation changed to "Palestine" (A/RES/43/177) 7 July 1998: granted additional rights, including the right to participate in general debate (A/RES/52/250)29 November 2012: status changed to non-member observer state (A/RES/67/19):Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations : "since ... Vote in the United Nations General Assembly which accorded to Palestine Observer State Status, the official title of the Palestine mission has been changed to The Permanent Observer Mission of the State of Palestine to the United Nations."16 October 2018: temporarily granted additional rights while Chair of the Group of 77 for 2019 (A/RES/73/5).10 May 2024: granted additional rights, including to be seated with member states, introduce proposals and agenda items, and participate in committees, but not the right to vote (A/ES-10/23).28 October 1974: PLO recognized as "sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people", by the 7th Arab League summit (and later by over 100 states with which it holds diplomatic relations and by Israel).Israel-PLO Recognition-Exchange of Letters between PM Rabin and Chairman Arafat-Sept 9- 1993 . Mfa.gov.il (9 September 1993). Retrieved on 25 August 2013.Madiha Rashid Al-Madfai, Jordan, the United States and the Middle East Peace Process, 1974–1991, Cambridge Middle East Library, Cambridge University Press (1993). . p. 21:"On 28 October 1974, the seventh Arab summit conference held in Rabat designated the PLO as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people and reaffirmed their right to establish an independent state of urgency."22 November 1974: PLO recognized as competent on all matters concerning the question of Palestine by the General Assembly in addition to the right of Palestinians in Palestine to national independence and sovereignty.15 November 1988: PLO unilaterally declared the State of Palestine.4 May 1994: PLO established the Palestinian National Authority territorial administration per the Oslo Accords signed by the PLO, Israel, US and Russia.7 July 1998: PLO assigned seating in the General Assembly Hall after non-member states and before other observers.UN observers: Non-member States and Entities Palestine is listed immediately after non-member States (on the same page) and before the other observers (that are on the next page).23 September 2011: applied for UN membership17 December 2012: UN Chief of Protocol Yeocheol Yoon decides "the designation of 'State of Palestine' shall be used by the Secretariat in all official United Nations documents."
Notes: The Cook Islands and Niue, both states in free association with New Zealand, are members of several UN specialized agencies, and have had their "full treaty-making capacity" recognized by the UN Secretariat in 1992 and 1994 respectively. The Cook Islands has expressed a desire to become a UN member state, but New Zealand has said that they would not support the application without a change in their constitutional relationship, in particular the right of Cook Islanders to New Zealand citizenship. The Republic of China (ROC), commonly known as Taiwan, was a founding member of the UN representing China, which has been divided between the ROC and the People's Republic of China (PRC) since the end of the Chinese Civil War. However, the 1971 General Assembly Resolution 2758 transferred China's seat in the UN from the ROC to the PRC. Since then, Taiwan has sought to resume its participation in UN activities. Various methods were considered, including seeking observer status, but ultimately the ROC chose to submit more vague requests which did not specify the form of participation it sought between 1993 and 2006.: "This time, Taiwan was not applying for membership, just to take part in unspecified U.N. 'activities'." These requests have been consistently denied due to the UN's recognition of the PRC as the "legitimate representative of China to the United Nations". The UN Secretary-General concluded from the resolution that the General Assembly considered Taiwan to be a province of China rather than an independent country, and thus ineligible to become party to treaties for which the UN Secretary-General is the depositary. The UN recognizes 17 non-self-governing territories "whose people have not yet attained a full measure of self-government"; they are represented at the UN by their respective administering power.UN THE WORLD TODAY (PDF) showing UN member states (blue), non-member states (green and yellow), non-self-governing territories (red) and the Occupied Palestinian Territory (gray). However, Western Sahara's administering power, Spain, unilaterally abandoned its responsibilities for the territory in 1976. The Polisario Front has since been recognized as the legitimate representative of Western Sahara and is occasionally invited to speak as the territory's representative before the Special Committee on Decolonization, but it has never been conferred General Assembly observer status.
Former non-member observer states Sixteen former non-member states were also granted observer status. Fourteen of those states eventually became members of the United Nations. The other three constitute a single special case.
Most of the former non-member observer states accepted this status at a time when they had applied for membership but were unable to attain it, due to the (actual or threatened) veto of one or more of the permanent members of the Security Council. The vetoes were later overcome either by changes in geopolitical circumstances, or by "package deals" under which the Security Council approved multiple new member states at the same time, as was done with a dozen countries in 1955 and with East and West Germany in 1973.