<P> A number of states were also granted observer status before being admitted to the UN as full members . The most recent case of an observer state becoming a member state was Switzerland, which was admitted in 2002 . </P> <P> A European Union institution, the European Commission, was granted observer status at the UNGA through Resolution 3208 in 1974 . The Treaty of Lisbon in 2009 resulted in the delegates being accredited directly to the EU . It was accorded full rights in the General Assembly, bar the right to vote and put forward candidates, via UNGA Resolution A / RES / 65 / 276 on 10 May 2011 . It is the only non-state party to over 50 multilateral conventions, and has participated as a full member in every way except for having a vote in a number of UN conferences . </P> <P> The sovereignty status of Western Sahara is in dispute between Morocco and the Polisario Front . Most of the territory is controlled by Morocco, the remainder (the Free Zone) by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, proclaimed by the Polisario Front . Western Sahara is listed by the UN as a "non-self - governing territory". </P> <P> The Cook Islands and Niue, which are both associated states of New Zealand, are not members of the UN, but are members of specialized agencies of the UN such as WHO and UNESCO, and have had their "full treaty - making capacity" recognized by United Nations Secretariat in 1992 and 1994 respectively . They have since become parties to a number of international treaties which the UN Secretariat acts as a depositary for, such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and are treated as non-member states . Both the Cook Islands and Niue have expressed a desire to become a UN member state, but New Zealand has said that they would not support the application without a change in their constitutional relationship, in particular their right to New Zealand citizenship . </P>

Countries who are not part of the un