Signed on 26 June 1945, the Charter of the United Nations is the organisation's constitutive instrument, setting out the rights and obligations of member states, and establishing its principal organs and procedures. An international treaty, the Charter codifies basic tenets of international relations - from the sovereign equality of states to prohibition of the use of force in any manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations. The UN officially came into existence on 24 Octo ber 1945, with the ratification of the Charter by its first signatories. Since then, the UN has continued to grow in remaining true-this pledge - one all the more relevant in the face of the tremendous global transformations that, in the 21st century, are confronting humankind.