United Nations Security Council election, 1996 over Australia in the second round. This gave the following result: Costa Rica, Japan, Kenya, Portugal, and Sweden were elected to serve two-year terms at the United Nations Security Council commencing 1 January 1997. United Nations Security Council election, 1996 The 1996 United Nations Security Council election was held on 21 October 1996 at United Nations Headquarters in New York City during the 51st session of the United Nations General Assembly. The General Assembly elected five non-permanent members of the UN Security Council for two-year terms commencing on 1 January 1997. The five candidates elected were Costa Rica, Japan, Kenya,
Headquarters of the United Nations 1961. The UN identifies Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish as its six official languages. Delegates speaking in any of these languages will have their words simultaneously interpreted into all of the others, and attendees are provided with headphones through which they can hear the interpretations. A delegate is allowed to make a statement in a non-official language, but must provide either an interpreter or a written copy of his/her remarks translated into an official language. English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat, as most of the daily communication within the Secretariat and most