Production editing
The Meetings Support Section provides a range of publishing services to the Secretariat. Its team of printers, desktop publishers and production editors work on a variety of content for print and online publication.
Role of production editors
Production editors review complex reports and other content for publication, in accordance with United Nations language and editorial policies and standards. Production editors combine their language skills with editing and layout to ensure that the final publication is of high quality. They work on a wide range of materials, among them publications of various departments and offices, including manuals from the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the United Nations Juridical Yearbook and the annual Disarmament Yearbook, as well as flagship titles such as the annual Report of the Secretary-General on the Work of the Organization and the Sustainable Development Goals Report.
Role of desktop publishers
Using advanced publishing tools, desktop publishers produce content of various types, from newsletters to verbatim records to websites, in accessible formats that can be published in print or online. Desktop publishers play an important role in the production of the verbatim records of the meetings of the Security Council and General Assembly, ensuring that these documents are issued simultaneously in the six official languages of the Organization. They also produce publications such as the Delegates Handbook and the Permanent Missions to the United Nations (also known as the “Blue Book”). With a keen eye for detail, they assemble and format text and incorporate corrections made by author departments, verbatim reporters or production editors.
Skills required
Production editors must be fluent in English and at least one other official language of the Organization and be able to use advanced publishing tools and software. They must have experience in editing and proofreading text, graphics, tables, publications/documents in all stages of the production process. In addition to broad publishing skills using advanced software tools such as Adobe Creative Suite, desktop publishers must have creative as well as language skills.