Abbreviations and Style Notations

Common abbreviations used across the Handbook, and the conventions used when citing resolutions, sessions, and UN documents.

Abbreviations

AbbreviationMeaning
ASEANAssociation of Southeast Asian Nations
COIsCommissions of inquiry
DPRKDemocratic People’s Republic of Korea
ECCCExtraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia
ECOWASThe Economic Community of West African States
FFMsFact-finding missions
GAGeneral Assembly
HRCHuman Rights Council
ICCInternational Criminal Court
ICJInternational Court of Justice
IHLInternational Humanitarian Law
IIFFMMIndependent International Fact-Finding Mission for Myanmar
IIIMInternational, Impartial and Independent Mechanism
ISILIslamic State in Iraq and the Levant
MCIVIHInternational Civilian Mission in Haiti / Mission Civile Internationale en Haïti
MICAHInternational Civilian Support Mission in Haiti
MINUGUAUnited Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala
NATONorth Atlantic Treaty Organization
NUGNational Unity Government
NWFZsNuclear-weapon-free zones
OASOrganization of American States
OAUOrganization of African Unity
OHCHRUnited Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
ONUCUnited Nations Operation in the Congo / Opération des Nations Unies au Congo
OPTOccupied Palestinian Territory
PLOPalestinian Liberation Organization
SCSecurity Council
SWAPOThe South West Africa People’s Organisation
UDIUniversal Declaration of Independence (of Southern Rhodesia)
UFPUniting for Peace
UKUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
UNUnited Nations
UNAMAUnited Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan
UNAMETUnited Nations Mission in East Timor
UNEFUnited Nations Emergency Force
UNMIHUnited Nations Mission in Haiti
UNOGILUnited Nations Observation Group in Lebanon
UNOVERUnited Nations Observer Mission to Verify the Referendum in Eritrea
UNSCIIPUnited Nations Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories
UNSCOBUnited Nations Special Committee on the Balkans
UNSFUnited Nations Security Force
UNSMAUnited Nations Special Mission to Afghanistan
UNTACUnited Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia
UNTEAUnited Nations Temporary Executive Authority
USUnited States
USSRUnion of Soviet Socialist Republics

Style notations

NotationMeaning
A/RES/77/1General Assembly resolution, 77th session, resolution 1
* / (new)Material added for the digital edition; not in the original 2024 Handbook
[Placeholder — to be completed from the Handbook’s style notations (WA Part II).]

User Guide

For brevity, the Assembly for Peace Handbook (2024) and this website use acronyms for United Nations (UN), General Assembly (GA) and Security Council (SC) wherever they occur. For a full list of all acronyms used and other style guidance visit the About page.