A close-up of a woman signing in support of the '50 for Freedom' campaign, which calls for the global ratification of a Protocol on Forced Labour to help put an end to modern slavery.
Slavery and Human Trafficking

Modern slavery is on the rise

Modern slavery hides in plain sight, tightening its grip across the globe. The International Day for the Abolition of Slavery (2 December) reminds us that slavery is not a relic of the past. While more than 15 million people were once seized, shackled and sold during the transatlantic slave trade, today 50 million people are trapped in forced labour or forced marriage, 10 million more than in 2016. Women and children remain most at risk from this scourge. Modern slavery exists in nearly every country; over half of all forced labour and one in four forced marriages occur in high-income nations.

A young visitor signs a panel at Geneva’s Palais des Nations to support the “50 for Freedom” campaign, which urges global ratification of the ILO’s Protocol on Forced Labour to help end modern slavery affecting 21 million people worldwide.
Photo:UN/Jean Marc Ferré
Across the world, more incidents of extreme weather events are being recorded.

Asia: Lives upended by cyclones, ‘extreme’ rainfall on the rise, warn UN agencies

2 December 2025 — Across southeast Asia, record-breaking rains and flooding caused by back-to-back tropical storms have claimed hundreds of lives and brought devastation and displacement upon...

The United Nations Headquarters as seen from First Avenue in New York City.

UN chief warns unpaid dues near $1.6 billion, as budget cuts deepen

1 December 2025 — With nearly $1.6 billion in unpaid dues, the UN Secretary-General warned on Monday that chronic late payments are hampering the world body’s ability to function, even as sweeping...

The wider use of weight-loss medicines is being backed by the UN's World Health Organization.

WHO backs wider use of weight-loss medicines, calling obesity a chronic disease

1 December 2025 — The UN World Health Organization (WHO) has issued its first guideline on the use of a new class of weight-loss medicines, marking a significant shift in global health policy as...

UN Sustainable Development Goals

17 Goals to transform our world

The Sustainable Development Goals are a call for action by all countries — poor, rich and middle-income — to promote prosperity while protecting the planet.

hands holding megaphone and speech bubble

ActNow Campaign

The Goals can improve life for all of us. Cleaner air. Safer cities. Equality. Better jobs. These issues matter to everyone. But progress is too slow. We have to act, urgently, to accelerate changes that add up to better lives on a healthier planet. Find new inspiring actions on the app and at un.org/actnow.

Act Now for a Peaceful World

Today, half the world is under 30, and this generation is a powerful force for peace. The UN "Hear Us. Act Now for a Peaceful World" campaign, launched on the International Day of Peace, aims to include, invest in, and partner with young people to build lasting peace. 

children holding up books

SDG Book Club

Reading and learning are essential to children’s growth and development; stories can fuel their imagination and raise awareness of new possibilities. The SDG Book Club aims to encourage them to learn about the Goals in a fun, engaging way, empowering them to make a difference.

SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities

Goal of the month

 

Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities

Reduce inequality within and among countries

 

More about the UN Sustainable Development Goals

More from the
United Nations

Featured stories from across the United Nations and our world-wide family of agencies, funds, and programmes.

A woman’s face over a dark background with numerous floating emojis floating across the scene. UN Women

There is #NoExcuse for online abuse

Online and digital spaces should empower women and girls. Yet every day, for millions of women and girls, the digital world has become a minefield of harassment, abuse, and control. What can start small, on screens – a message, a comment, or a post – can quickly spiral into a torrent of threats and violence in real life. Private photos are stolen without consent. Lies spread in a matter of seconds. Locations are tracked. AI is weaponized to create deepfakes designed to shame and silence women. During the 16 Days of Activism (25 November – 10 December), join us as we rally for a world where technology is a force for equality — not harm.

A group of female football players sitting in a row, wearing matching bright blue T-shirts. IOM

In Guinea, a women’s football club rewrites the game

Late morning in Conakry, Guinea, AS Bolonta’s players warm up at the Nongo Technical Centre, illustrating the camaraderie among the team. Founded in 1995, the club has become a cornerstone of women’s football in Guinea, overcoming societal judgments. Team captain Nathalie Sossoadouno highlights the progress since she joined in 2019. Under the visionary leadership of Moussa Doumbouya, who passed away in 2024, the club flourished. Now led by Sega Diallo, AS Bolonta aims to foster both athletic talent and personal growth, empowering its players to build strong futures beyond football.

A view of a green landscape dominated by rolling hills covered in dense vegetation of the Ororubá Mountains in Pernambuco, Brazil. Agriculture and Food, Indigenous Peoples

A sacred duty

As dawn breaks over the Ororubá Mountains in Pernambuco, Brazil, Indigenous youth from the Xukuru do Ororubá people work in a nursery, reviving native plant species, especially those with medicinal value. Led by Ângela Neves Pereira (“Bella”), they aim to restore not just the land but their cosmogony, identity, culture and balance. Since 2023, the Xukuru people and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) have collaborated on Indigenous Peoples' biocentric restoration, a method that prioritizes the well-being of all living things within an ecosystem. Supported by Brazil’s government and FAO’s AIM4Forests programme, this initiative enhances Indigenous knowledge and aims to restore at least 30% of degraded ecosystems by 2030.

Gaza economic, infrastructure destruction.
Economic Development, UNCTAD

Palestinian economy faces historic collapse

An UNCTAD report shows prolonged military operations and restrictions have devastated the Palestinian economy, erasing two decades of progress, with Gaza’s GDP per capita at $161 and the entire population facing multidimensional poverty.

A teacher in a classroom
SDG 13: Climate Action, World Bank

Adaptation demands empowered people first

Building true climate resilience in developing countries requires empowering people and markets, to adapt proactively rather than merely react to disasters.

Three ladies standing on a farm.
Agriculture and Food, IFAD

Powering prosperity through farms

Family farms, when backed by smart public and blended financing, can become powerful drivers of food security, rural prosperity and climate resilience.

A portrait of a mother and her daughter.
Indigenous Peoples, Éducation, UNOPS

Schools that protect culture

UNOPS is completing 62 Indigenous and Quilombola schools across Brazil, blending traditional knowledge with modern education to empower youth, preserve cultural identity, and promote sustainable development.

What we do

Due to the powers vested in its Charter and its unique international character, the United Nations can take action on the issues confronting humanity in the 21st century, including:

A UNIFIL peacekeeper from Spain on a regular patrol in the vicinity of Al Wazzani, south-eastern Lebanon as the sun sets in the horizon. Since 1948, more than a million women and men have served as UN peacekeepers.

Maintain International Peace and Security

The United Nations came into being in 1945, following the devastation of the Second World War, with one central mission: the maintenance of international peace and security. The UN does this by working to prevent conflict; helping parties in conflict make peace; peacekeeping; and creating the conditions to allow peace to hold and flourish. These activities often overlap and should reinforce one another, to be effective. The UN Security Council has the primary responsibility for international peace and security. The General Assembly and the Secretary-General play major, important, and complementary roles, along with other UN offices and bodies.

Students at Butkhak High School in Kabul, Afghanistan, cheer in unison on the last day of Global Action Week, an international campaign advocating free, quality education for all.

Protect Human Rights

The term “human rights” was mentioned seven times in the UN's founding Charter, making the promotion and protection of human rights a key purpose and guiding principle of the Organization.  In 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights brought human rights into the realm of international law.  Since then, the Organization has diligently protected human rights through legal instruments and on-the-ground activities.

A child has a meal at a food distribution centre in the Rwanda camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs), near Tawila, North Darfur. More than 8,000 women and children living in the camp benefit from nutrition programmes run by the World Food Programme

Deliver Humanitarian Aid

One of the purposes of the United Nations, as stated in its Charter, is "to achieve international co-operation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character."  The UN first did this in the aftermath of the Second World War on the devastated continent of Europe, which it helped to rebuild.  The Organization is now relied upon by the international community to coordinate humanitarian relief operations due to natural and man-made disasters in areas beyond the relief capacity of national authorities alone.

Grace, a farmer from Kipilat village, and a leading member of the forest community in Ainabkoi, Kenya, planting a tree in 2012.

Promote Sustainable Development

From the start in 1945, one of the main priorities of the United Nations was to “achieve international co-operation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion.”  Improving people’s well-being continues to be one of the main focuses of the UN. The global understanding of development has changed over the years, and countries now have agreed that sustainable development offers the best path forward for improving the lives of people everywhere.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) delivers its order on the request for the indication of provisional measures filed by Nicaragua on 11 October 2013 in the case concerning Construction of a Road in Costa Rica along the San Juan River.

Uphold International Law

The UN Charter, in its Preamble, set an objective: "to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained."  Ever since, the development of, and respect for international law has been a key part of the work of the Organization.  This work is carried out in many ways - by courts, tribunals, multilateral treaties - and by the Security Council, which can approve peacekeeping missions, impose sanctions, or authorize the use of force when there is a threat to international peace and security, if it deems this necessary.  These powers are given to it by the UN Charter, which is considered an international treaty.  As such, it is an instrument of international law, and UN Member States are bound by it.  The UN Charter codifies the major principles of international relations, from sovereign equality of States to the prohibition of the use of force in international relations.

Structure of the
United Nations

The main parts of the UN structure are the General Assembly, the
Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Trusteeship Council, the International Court of Justice, and the UN Secretariat. All were established in 1945 when the UN was founded.

General Assembly

The General Assembly is the main deliberative, policymaking and representative organ of the UN. All 193 Member States of the UN are represented in the General Assembly, making it the only UN body with universal representation.

Security Council

The Security Council has primary responsibility, under the UN Charter, for the maintenance of international peace and security. It has 15 Members (5 permanent and 10 non-permanent members). Each Member has one vote. Under the Charter, all Member States are obligated to comply with Council decisions.

Economic and Social Council

The Economic and Social Council is the principal body for coordination, policy review, policy dialogue and recommendations on economic, social and environmental issues, as well as implementation of internationally agreed development goals.

Trusteeship Council

The Trusteeship Council was established in 1945 by the UN Charter, under Chapter XIII, to provide international supervision for 11 Trust Territories that had been placed under the administration of seven Member States, and ensure that adequate steps were taken to prepare the Territories for self-government and independence.

International Court of Justice

The International Court of Justice is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. Its seat is at the Peace Palace in the Hague (Netherlands). It is the only one of the six principal organs of the United Nations not located in New York (United States of America).

Secretariat

The Secretariat comprises the Secretary-General and tens of thousands of international UN staff members who carry out the day-to-day work of the UN as mandated by the General Assembly and the Organization's other principal organs.

More about the structure of the United Nations

Learn more

General Assembly hall with the Secretary-General at the podium

The Essential UN

The United Nations is the only place on Earth where all the world's nations come together to discuss common problems and find shared solutions that benefit all of humanity. Learn about the main areas of the UN’s activities; how it makes a difference to the world’s people; and how every citizen can get involved and make a contribution. 

Climate Change

Climate change is the defining issue of our time and now is the defining moment to do something about it. There is still time to tackle climate change, but it will require an unprecedented effort from all sectors of society.

Women at UN CSW63 Side Event - “Take the Hot Seat”. Photo: UN Women/Ryan Brown

Gender Equality

Women and girls represent half of the world’s population and, therefore, also half of its potential. Gender equality, besides being a fundamental human right, is essential to achieve peaceful societies, with full human potential and sustainable development.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres is greeted on his visit to the Central African Republic

Ending Poverty

While global poverty rates have been cut by more than half since 2000, one in ten people in developing regions still lives on less than US$1.90 a day — the internationally agreed poverty line, and millions of others live on slightly more than this daily amount.

Watch and Listen

Video and audio from across the United Nations and our world-wide family of agencies, funds, and programmes.

Technology should empower, not endanger.

The animated film highlights how technology can empower women and girls with disabilities while also being misused to perpetrate gender-based violence. It urges collective, intersectional action to ensure safe, inclusive digital spaces for all.

5 Facts - Malaria Vaccines

Gavi and UNICEF have reached a new pricing agreement that will cut the cost of the R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine to $2.99 per dose within a year. Malaria kills nearly one child under five every minute. 

Championing safe workplaces for women

Yaye Coumba Seck from Senegal, narrates how she empowers women economically and combats workplace violence by leading a women’s cooperative supported by an ILO project.

UN Podcasts

smiling woman in industrial kitchen

Life stories from Peru: Adapting with cacao

Adaptation can seem daunting for rural businesses, but it’s a win-win. By adopting sustainable farming techniques like agroforestry, small-scale farmers can drive economic growth while protecting their land. 

In the third episode in IFAD's “Life stories” mini-series, we head to the Peruvian Amazon to see adaptation in action. Join us as IFAD Recipes for Change chef Waldir Maqque meets with Ruth, whose farmers’ association has become a key player in the local cacao value chain with IFAD’s support.

Latest Audio from UN News

The United Nations in Pictures

Images from across the United Nations and our world-wide family of agencies, funds, and programmes.

woman planting in greenhouse
Photo:FAO

The farmers working to feed Gaza

A small-scale farming initiative, launched in May 2025 by FAO and funded through the OPT Humanitarian Fund, has provided urgently needed cash assistance to farmers in Gaza to restart vegetable production. One beneficiary, 60-year-old Susan Allaham, returned to cultivation on her land in Khan Younis after the war halted her farming for years. Respite extreme challenges — lack of inputs (fertilizer, seeds, pesticides), damaged land, high prices, and a broader food-security collapse after two years of conflict — about 200 farmers are now growing vegetables again, offering a small “seed of hope.” Vegetables are seen as vital sources of vitamins and nourishment, especially for children and pregnant women. However, as of mid-October 2025, only about 4 % of Gaza’s agricultural land remained accessible and intact, underscoring how limited this recovery is. For farmers like Susan, this cultivation is their only means of livelihood, and if conditions — including the ceasefire — hold, they plan to expand production farther, reclaiming their land and supporting their families.

river winding through forest
Photo:UNDP/Axel Sarte/PIO Cavite

Restoring the flow 

The Imus–Ylang Ylang–Rio Grande Rivers in Cavite, Philippines were once-vibrant waterways that supported fishing, recreation, and livelihoods across ten municipalities. Decades of pollution, industrial and domestic wastewater discharge, improper waste disposal (especially plastics), erosion and siltation have transformed them into degraded rivers with severe water contamination. To revive the rivers, local governments, communities and agencies have introduced a mix of solutions. These include installing trash traps and waste-management systems upstream, building sanitary landfills, composting organic waste, reinforcing buffer zones along riverbanks, and deploying “river rangers” to manually remove plastic and other debris. Flood-risk management infrastructure — such as the 35-hectare Imus Retarding Basin and the nearby Bacoor Retarding Basin — has been completed to store excess rainfall and prevent overflow, reducing downstream flooding risk. Downstream, community-led reforestation and mangrove-restoration efforts aim to rehabilitate coastal zones and wetlands.

Main Bodies

Departments / Offices

Resources / Services

Key Documents

News and Media

Issues / Campaigns