The founding documents of the United Nations include the UN Charter (1945), The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), and the Statute of the International Court of Justice. Beyond that, the United Nations has participated in and facilitated numerous treaties and conventions. Treaty research is not covered in this guide. Go to the library's Guide to Treaty Research.
Understanding the UN Charter is particularly important for research because some research databases are divided into two categories: Charter-based and Treaty-based. For example, one would use a Charter-based database to search for documents from a subsidiary organization that was founded in the UN Charter, such as the UN Commission on Human Rights. However, one would use a Treaty-based database to search for documents from a subsidiary organization that was founded by a treaty. For example, the Human Rights Committee was created by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.