The Academic Council of the United Nations System (ACUNS) was founded in June 1987 at a conference held at the American Dartmouth College

Dartmouth College

Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...

, located in Hanover

Hanover, New Hampshire

Hanover is a town along the Connecticut River in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 11,260 at the 2010 census. CNN and Money magazine rated Hanover the sixth best place to live in America in 2011, and the second best in 2007....

, New Hampshire

New Hampshire

New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...

, with the purpose to create a new organization to stimulate and support research and teaching on the role of the United Nations

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

.

UN status

The council has a Consultative Status

Consultative Status

Consultative Status is a phrase whose use can be traced to the founding of the United Nations and is used within the UN community to refer to "Non-governmental organizations in Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council." Also some international organizations could...

 with the UN Economic and Social Council

United Nations Economic and Social Council

The Economic and Social Council of the United Nations constitutes one of the six principal organs of the United Nations and it is responsible for the coordination of the economic, social and related work of 14 UN specialized agencies, its functional commissions and five regional commissions...

, and non-governmental-organization

Non-governmental organization

A non-governmental organization is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any government. The term originated from the United Nations , and is normally used to refer to organizations that do not form part of the government and are...

-affiliate status with the UN Department of Public Information

United Nations Department of Public Information

The United Nations Department of Public Information helps non-governmental organizations gain access to and disseminate information about United Nations issues so the public can better understand the aims and objectives of the organizations...

. It is possible for council members to be registered to attend meetings organized by UN specialized agencies, the UN Secretariat

United Nations Secretariat

The United Nations Secretariat is one of the five principal organs of the United Nations and it is headed by the United Nations Secretary-General, assisted by a staff of international civil servants worldwide. It provides studies, information, and facilities needed by United Nations bodies for...

 and other UN bodies.

Membership

Since its creation, the council has grown significantly into an organization of nine hundred individual and institutional members based in over fifty countries from a wide variety of professional backgrounds, all with differents interests but sharing a common commitment to the values expressed in the United Nations Charter

United Nations Charter

The Charter of the United Nations is the foundational treaty of the international organization called the United Nations. It was signed at the San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center in San Francisco, United States, on 26 June 1945, by 50 of the 51 original member countries...

.

Operations

The council holds annual meetings, summer workshops as well as special conference, workshops and seminars, and helps bring together researchers, teachers, practitioners, and all other interested individuals interested in issues of international relations, international organizations and global governance

Global governance

Global governance or world governance is the political interaction of transnational actors aimed at solving problems that affect more than one state or region when there is no power of enforcing compliance. The modern question of world governance exists in the context of globalization...

.

Headquarters

Its secretariat is based at the Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 Wilfrid Laurier University

Wilfrid Laurier University

Wilfrid Laurier University is a university located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. It also has campuses in Brantford, Ontario, Kitchener, Ontario and Toronto, Ontario and a future proposed campus in Milton, Ontario. It is named in honour of Sir Wilfrid Laurier, the seventh Prime Minister of Canada....

, located in Waterloo

Waterloo, Ontario

Waterloo is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada. It is the smallest of the three cities in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, and is adjacent to the city of Kitchener....

, Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

.

Website

The council's website is hosted by the IGLOO research portal of the Centre for International Governance Innovation

Centre for International Governance Innovation

The Centre for International Governance Innovation is an independent, non-partisan think tank on global governance. Led by experienced practitioners and academics, CIGI supports research, forms networks, advances policy debate and generates ideas for multilateral governance improvements...

, also located in Waterloo.

External links

• acuns.org, the Academic Council of the United Nations System's official website