A health worker wearing a facemask holds out a used vile of COVID-19 vaccine.
WHO, Health

World Health Assembly working to end the pandemic

The 74th session of the World Health Assembly will be held from 24 May to 1 June 2021 under the theme of ‘Ending this pandemic, preventing the next: building together a healthier, safer and fairer world’. The World Health Assembly is the decision-making body of WHO and determines the policies of the Organization, appoints the Director-General, supervises financial policies, and reviews and approves the proposed programme budget. It is attended by delegations from all WHO Member States. The Health Assembly is held annually in Geneva, Switzerland. Watch live WHA74 sessions.  #WHA74

The first COVID-19 vaccination campaigns in the African Region using COVAX doses began in Ghana and Côte D'Ivoire – in an historic step towards ensuring equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines worldwide.
Photo:© WHO / Blink Media - Nana Kofi Acquah
A health worker prepares to administer the COVID-19 vaccine to her colleague at a hospital in Mogadishu, Somalia.

Step up global plan for COVID-19 vaccines, UN chief says in message to World Health Assembly

24 May 2021 — The COVID-19 pandemic “must be a turning point”, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Monday, urging countries to take bold decisions now to both end the crisis and build a...

Peacekeepers with the UN Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) on patrol in Konno.

One blue helmet lost is ‘one too many’: UN peacekeeping chief reports spike in 2021 fatalities

24 May 2021 —  UN blue helmets face an increasing number of attacks throughout the complex environments in which they work, the head of the Organization’s peacekeeping operations told the Security...

Lava from the Mount Nyiragongo volcano flows towards the city of Goma in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

DR Congo: More than 170 children feared missing following volcanic eruption in Goma

23 May 2021 — The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Sunday that hundreds of children and families in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) Goma district are at risk following the volcanic...

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.

Act Now

ActNow Campaign

The ActNow campaign aims to trigger individual action on the defining issue of our time. People around the world have joined to make a difference in all facets of their lives, from the food they eat to the clothes they wear.

Decade of Action

Decade of Action

With just 10 years to go, an ambitious global effort is underway to deliver the 2030 promise—by mobilizing more governments, civil society, businesses and calling on all people to make the Global Goals their own.

Thomas the Tank engine

Student Resources on the SDGs

Learn more about the Sustainable Development Goals! On our student resources page you will find plenty of materials for young people and adults alike. Share with your family and friends to help achieve a better world for all.

SDG 8: Decent work and economic growth

Goal of the Month

 

Goal 8: Promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all

 

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.

Close-up of a bee on a flower FAO, Agriculture and Food

The challenge of BEE-ing in a pandemic

On World Bee Day, we celebrate the contribution that bees and other pollinators make to food security. Pollinators, such as bees, birds, and bats, contribute to 35 percent of the world’s total crop production, pollinating 87 of 115 leading food crops worldwide. In this time of the pandemic, FAO is helping communities regain their livelihoods, while also supporting local biodiversity and restoring ecosystems. Learn more about World Bee Day, how we can build back better for bees and how you can BEE involved!

Three people at a desk exchanging a card and making paper records. World Bank, Finance

Remittance flows remain strong during COVID-19 crisis

Remittance flows remained resilient in 2020, registering a smaller decline than previously projected. Remittance flows to low- and middle-income countries reached $540 billion in 2020, just 1.6 percent below the 2019 total of $548 billion, according to the latest World Bank’s Migration and Development Brief. The decline in 2020 was smaller than the one during the 2009 global financial crisis, mostly due to the fiscal stimulus that resulted in better-than-expected economic conditions in host countries. 

Students hold out rainbow flags from a school bus. UNESCO, Human Rights

Over half of LGBTQI students in Europe bullied in school

UNESCO and partners released findings about LGBTQI students in Europe. 54% of LGBTQI people have experienced bullying in school at least once based on their sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression or variations of sex characteristics, according to a survey of more than 17,000 children and young people aged 13 to 24. The survey also showed that 83% of students had at least sometimes heard negative comments towards LGBTQI students, and 67% had been the target of negative comments at least once.

A group of kids sit on a matt eating and looking up at the camera.
WFP, Food Aid

3 myths about famine

As food prices rise, basic misconceptions of famine also persist, WFP considers dispelling these is an important step in better understanding the current plight of millions of people.

Illustration of people: two women holding hands, two people talking and holding a rainbow flag, one person walking alone.
IOM, OHCHR, Human Rights

Stand up for LGBTIQ + migrants!

Every human being deserves the freedom to simply be themselves, without facing violence and discrimination. Join IOM and OHCHR to create a future free from prejudice for migrants with Free and Equal.

Illustration of a stretched-out hand with the globe on it
UNEP, Natural Resources and the Environment

Protected Planet Report 2020

UNEP’s Protected Planet Report 2020 finds that the international community has made major progress towards protected and conserved area coverage but has fallen short on the quality of these areas.

Illustration of three people
UNFPA, Human Rights

International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia

As violence against transgender people surges UNFPA marks the day to brings attention to the discrimination the LGBTQI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, intersex) community faces.

A big ship loaded with shipping containers passing by a lighthouse. UNCTAD, Trade and Commerce

Global trade’s recovery from crisis hits record high

World trade’s recovery from the COVID-19 crisis hit a record high in the first quarter of 2021, increasing by 10% year-over-year and 4% quarter-over-quarter, according to UNCTAD’s Global Trade Update. According to the report, the impressive rebound in Q1 2021 continued to be driven by the strong export performance of East Asian economies, whose early success in pandemic mitigation allowed them to rebound faster and to capitalize on booming global demand for COVID-19 related products.

A girl sits on the ground among a large group of children in a class. UNDP, Poverty

Half of Myanmar’s population may live in poverty by 2022

After more than a decade of gains against poverty, the number of poor people in Myanmar could double as a result of the combined impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing political crisis, according to new research by the UNDP. The study, entitled “COVID-19, Coup d’état and Poverty: Compounding Negative Shocks and their Impact on Human Development in Myanmar” warns that, if unchecked, the combined effect of these two crises could push up to 12 million people into poverty.

A group of women by a food processing tool. IMF, Economic Development

The Policymaker’s Trilemma

Sub-Saharan Africa faces the task of trying to boost its economy while simultaneously dealing with repeated COVID-19 outbreaks. The IMF explains the three challenges finance ministers in sub-Saharan Africa are facing today: Firstly, to meet increased spending needs; secondly, to contain a pronounced increase in public debt, and finally, to mobilize more tax revenues. How policymakers navigate this trilemma will have a huge bearing on economic and social outcomes in the coming years.

A group of people walk through a frosty mountain landscape. IFAD, Natural Resources and the Environment

Restoring ecosystems in the Peruvian Andes

IFAD has invested US$1.6 million to work with community groups as they restore and conserve nearly 15,000 hectares of native forest, grasslands, and high Andean wetland habitats. Their actions will include reforestation with native species, fencing and sustainable use of grasslands, and installation of barriers throughout the wetlands. Through Compensation for Ecosystem Services systems, downstream users of ecosystem services remunerate the upstream rural populations who maintain them.

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

The Middelgrunden Off Shore Windturbines located in the Øresund Straight separating Denmark and Sweden. UN Photo

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.

young children smiling at camera

UN75: 2020 and Beyond

The UN’s 75th anniversary in 2020 arrived at a time of great upheaval and peril. To secure a world where everyone can thrive in peace, dignity and equality on a healthy planet we need a multilateral system that is inclusive, networked and effective. "Our Common Agenda" will build on the 12 commitments contained in the UN75 Declaration.

Watch and Listen

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

Phosphoros

“Phosphoros” is a beautiful tribute to the heroes and heroines dressed in white – the health workers saving lives during the COVID-19 pandemic. This short animation film obtained in 2021 a "GRAND PRIX" in the 2nd edition of the Health for All Film Festival by the World Health Organisation for its competition category on Universal Health Coverage (UHC). It's a film directed by Susana Beatriz Serrano (El Salvador).

Start acting by learning for our planet

Learning is key to finding solutions and creating a more sustainable world. We must change the way we live and care for our planet. Join UNESCO’s campaign calling on the world to invest in education for sustainable development and ensure that it is embedded in learning systems globally. For the survival of our planet, we need to #LearnForOurPlanet.

Benefits of the Argan tree

Argan trees grow naturally in the semi-desert forest regions of southwestern Morocco; safeguard against desertification and climate change; are a symbol of adaptation and harmonious co-evolution between rural communities and their ecosystem; empower rural women by creating jobs in the argan and agri-tourism industry; contribute to the food security and nutrition of rural communities.

UN Podcasts

destruction in Gaza

In Gaza, even the aid teams are in harm’s way, says UN food programme

An estimated 160,000 people in Gaza now face going hungry as the escalation of violence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and across the border into Israel, continues into its second week, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said on Tuesday.

In addition to seeing that they get enough to eat, another priority for the agency’s Country Director in Palestine, Samer AbdelJaber, is making sure that his aid team stays safe, as he explains to UN News’s Daniel Johnson.

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.

women with face masks at food market having discussion
Photo:UNICEF/UN0434350/Ojo

How to talk to your friends and family about COVID-19 vaccines

The development of safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines is a huge step forward in our global effort to end the pandemic. This is exciting news, but there are still some people who are skeptical or hesitant about COVID-19 vaccines. Chances are you know a person who falls into this category – maybe among your group of friends or in your family. If you are unsure of how to approach conversations about vaccines with vaccine skeptics you know, you’re not alone. Dr. Saad Omer, Director at the Yale Institute for Global Health, talks about the do’s and dont's of navigating these difficult discussions.

dragon's blood trees in Socotra
Photo:UNDP Yemen/Gabreez

Building resilience on the “island abode of bliss”

The Dragon’s Blood tree, seen here, endemic to Socotra, is a tourist attraction. Socotra, south of the Arabian Peninsula, means “island abode of bliss” in Sanskrit. It is a hub for international holiday makers enjoying the breathtaking landscape and fascinating fauna, and diving, snorkeling, and trekking. When Yemen’s war broke out in March 2015, the island’s economy was devastated. Mother Nature has also recently been unkind, with severe water scarcity particularly in rural areas, and devastating cyclones. In partnership with the World Bank, UNDP, the Social Fund for Development (SFD) and our partners in Socotra’s communities, continue to work toward a brighter future for this isolated paradise.

beekeeper holding up honecomb
Photo:WFP/Alessandro Abbonizio

The honey collective abuzz with plans in Kenya

A group of seven men and five women, Kinna's passionate bee farmers are supported by the World Food Programme (WFP) — they are among more than 400,000 people in Kenya’s arid and semi-arid regions the organization empowers through livelihood activities such as fish-farming, and livestock and crop production. Since 2019, WFP has distributed over 9,000 beehives to farmers in 12 arid and semi-arid regions of Kenya in addition to honey harvesting suits, hive tools, centrifuge machines for extracting honey and refractometers for measuring the water content of honey.

children inside their new emergency shelter
Photo:IOM 2021/Majed Mohammed

To stay or to go: one of the toughest decisions a Yemeni can make

Six years after the conflict broke out, deadly fighting, economic collapse, disease outbreaks and extremely limited public services remain a constant of daily life in Yemen. Aisha and Tawfiq were lucky for a while before they became two of the 4 million displaced people in Yemen, but then about four years into the conflict, their home became unsafe. They left their home by car and eventually made it to Heartha district, where they now live with their children in an emergency shelter, built with support from IOM.

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