UN Membership

There are currently two non-member observer states:

• Holy See
• State of Palestine

Although the UN Charter and the General Assembly Rules of Procedure have no provisions related to granting observer status, the General Assembly may grant non-member states, international organizations and other entities observer status.

• In accordance with General Assembly decision 49/426 of 19 December 1994, observer status is confined to States and intergovernmental organizations whose activities cover matters of interest to the Assembly (see page 341 of A/49/49 (Vol.I))
• A legal opinion of 15 August 2008 describes the process by which entities become observers (see 2008 United Nations Juridical Yearbook, p. 438).
• A list of non-Member States, entities and organizations having received a standing invitation to participate as observers in the sessions and the work of the General Assembly is issued in the A/INF/session/-- series.

The Holy See is currently a non-member observer state of the UN General Assembly. The Holy See "became a Permanent Observer State at the United Nations on 6 April 1964" according to A/RES/58/314.

The State of Palestine is currently a non-member observer state of the UN General Assembly.

General Assembly resolution A/RES/ES-10/23 of 10 May 2024 concerns the participation of the State of Palestine "in the sessions and work of the General Assembly and the international conferences convened under the auspices of the Assembly or other organs of the United Nations, as well as in United Nations conferences".

In its preamble, the resolution cites earlier resolutions on the status of Palestine in the General Assembly: 

• A/RES/73/5 of 16 October 2018
• A/RES/67/19 of 29 November 2012
• A/RES/52/250 of 7 July 1998
• A/RES/43/177 of 15 December 1988
• A/RES/3237 (XXIX) of 22 November 1974 
• A/RES/3210 (XXIX) of 14 October 1974

Related decisions of other UN System bodies include:

• UNESCO decision on admission of Palestine, 31 Oct 2011: Records of the General Conference, 36th session, Paris, 25 October - 10 November 2011, v. 1: Resolutions
• International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion: 1988 ICJ Advisory Opinion on "Applicability of the Obligation to Arbitrate under Section 21 of the United Nations Headquarters Agreement of 26 June 1947" : 

The December 1952 volume of Permanent Missions and Delegations to the United Nations (page 125) lists the following “Non-Member Nations Maintaining Permanent Observers Offices at Headquarters”; all have become UN Member States since that time:

• Austria
• Finland
• Germany 
• Italy
• Japan
• Korea
• Switzerland

Other states may have maintained permanent observers offices at other times. Consult the Permanent Mission Blue Book to see the observers at any given time.