Our Work | United Nations (2024)

Peace, dignity and equality
on a healthy planet

The United Nations coordinates its work with the funds, programmes, specialized agencies and other organizations of the UN System.

The United Nations itself is one part of the UN System. Cooperation between the UN and the other entities of the UN system is essential in order to achieve the purposes of the Organization laid out in the UN Charter.

Since its Charter was written, the United Nations has been mandated to do new work which was not envisioned at the time of its creation. The Organization has set goals to build a more sustainable world, and it has agreed to collective action to slow down climate change.

As the problems facing humanity have grown, the work of the United Nations has also grown.

United Nations Annual Report

Explainer: What is the UN?

UN's 'work plan'

At UN Headquarters in New York, the General Assembly, Security Council, and Economic and Social Council pass resolutions, which set what could informally be called the UN's 'work plan.'

The UN Secretariat carries out this work along with UN system entities.

UN Secretariat

The UN Secretariat, based in New York City, has offices in Geneva, Vienna, and Nairobi.

Also part of the UN Secretariat are the Regional Economic Commissions in Addis Ababa, Bangkok, Beirut, Geneva, and Santiago.

UN System

All of the funds, programmes, specialized agencies, and other entities of the UN system have their own budget, mandate, leadership, and headquarters. They have regional and local offices in all the main geographic areas of the world, as does the UN.

The United Nations and the UN system work together in five areas that can, and often do overlap.

What We Do

The work of the United Nations covers five main areas:

Left to right: ©UN Photo/Marco Dormino, ©UN Photo/Mark Garten, ©OCHA/Iason Athanasiadis, ©UNEP/Patrick Kihara, ©UN Photo/Sylvain Liechti

As an international organization with 193 Member States, the United Nations is uniquely positioned to address and solve global issues.

More about Global Issues

Global Issues

WHAT ARE THEY?
These are the issues that transcend national boundaries and cannot be solved by any one country acting alone.
WHY FOCUS ON THEM?
The United Nations focuses on these particular issues because if they are not addressed, they could negatively impact the lives of billions, slow progress towards achieving the sustainable development goals, affect the short-term and long-term environmental health of the planet on which we live, and halt human progress in the 21st century.
WHICH ONES ARE RELATIVELY NEW?
In the more than seven decades since its creation, the United Nations has focused on new challenges, such as youth, gender equality, climate change, big data for the SDGs, and AIDS, in order to find solutions and encourage action.

Africa

Documents

The UN has been publishing documents since its founding. UN documents include records of meetings and resolutions that have been passed by a legislative body, such as the General Assembly, Security Council, or the Economic and Social Council, which often contain a work mandate for the United Nations. Reports of the UN Secretary-General assess the state of the Organization and announce new work initiatives.

Explore UN documents

Official Languages

There are six official languages of the UN: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish. The correct interpretation and translation of the six languages, in both spoken and written form, is very important to the work of the Organization, as this enables clear and concise communication on issues of global importance.

More on the 6 official UN languages

Observances

The existence of international days predates the establishment of the United Nations, but the UN has embraced them as a powerful advocacy tool. The UN observes designated days, weeks, years, and decades, each with a theme, or topic.