A baby is handed over to people on a train.
Displaced Persons and Refugees, UNHCR

Whoever. Wherever. Whenever. Everyone has the right to seek safety

Each year on 20 June, the world celebrates World Refugee Day. This year, the focus is on the right to seek safety. Every person on this planet has a right to seek safety – whoever they are, wherever they come from and whenever they are forced to flee. Join supporters around the world, by uploading your picture with a blue solidarity ribbon to show that you stand #WithRefugees around the world. Visit UNHCR for more information on this year’s activities.

UNHCR has stepped up relief operations and capacity in Ukraine and neighbouring countries to support all affected populations in the region.
Photo:Reuters / UNHCR / Alexander Ernochenko
World Refugee Day

Guterres visits refugees resettled in New York, urges world to ‘stand together in solidarity’

19 June 2022 — Ahead of World Refugee Day, marked annually on 20 June, UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Saturday visited refugees from Iraq and Afghanistan now living, working and adding...

50 Amigas, a coffee-making collective in Caucas, Colombia, supported by the UN Peacebulding Fund.

Bringing jobs to Colombia’s conflict-affected communities

19 June 2022 — In Colombia, decades of violence and armed conflict created significant obstacles to human development and sustainable peace. To encourage the private sector to move back into hard-...

UNESCO says that hate speech is on the rise worldwide.

Hate speech ‘dehumanizes individuals and communities’: Guterres

17 June 2022 — Hate speech incites violence, undermines diversity and social cohesion and “threatens the common values and principles that bind us together,” the UN chief said in his message for...

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.

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.

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 goals 13, 14 and 15

Goals of the month

Goal 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts

Goal 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources

Goal 15: Sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation, halt biodiversity loss

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.

refugees wrapped in foil blankets Refugees, UNHCR

No end in sight

During the first quarter of 2022, more than 18,000 refugees and migrants crossed the Mediterranean to reach Europe. Altogether, 2.3 million have taken this same journey in the past eight years. Between 2014 and 2021, over 24,400 people have lost their lives or gone missing trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea. Many others have suffered unspeakable violations of their human rights - at a scale likely higher and more severe than the already alarming estimates. This is a widespread, longstanding and largely overlooked tragedy.

The FSO Safer Humanitarian Aid, Pollution and Waste

Act now to prevent a catastrophic oil spill in the Red Sea

Moored off Yemen’s Red Sea coast, the FSO Safer is an aging supertanker in advanced state of decay that will soon break apart or explode if the world does not act.  The United Nations is ready to implement an emergency operation to prevent this disaster. But the work to transfer the oil to a safe vessel is already delayed because of insufficient funding. To bridge the funding gap and start the emergency operation, the United Nations is asking for contributions from members of the public. Donate now

woman painting Art, UNESCO

UNESCO launches programme to support Ukrainian artists

The war in Ukraine has led to the sudden suspension of usual cultural life in Ukraine: Most artists lost their revenue stream, while art collections are threatened. This situation seriously impacts cultural diversity. UNESCO will provide financial support to Ukrainian artists to support the continuation of artistic creation and access to cultural life, under a pilot programme launched by the Organization in partnership with the Ukrainian NGO Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA).

Construction of the Walini Tunnel of the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway in Indonesia
Economic Development, UNCTAD

Uncertainty looms for global foreign investment

UNCTAD’s World Investment Report 2022 indicates FDI rebounded to nearly $1.6 trillion last year, but warns this course is unlikely to be sustained in 2022.

Ukrainian refugees receive psychosocial support in Moldova
Data and Statistics, UNFPA

Ukraine humanitarian response supported by data collaboration

Data is crucial to allocate humanitarian aid. By the first week of March, UNFPA had provided a so-called “common operational dataset” to humanitarian partners.

planting in sand dunes
Climate, UNDP

Why it pays to go green

Nature-based solutions like habitat restoration, reforestation, coastal protection and invasive species removal create jobs at over 10 times the rate of fossil fuels.

domestic worker
Employment, ILO

Domestic workers need social protection too

Champa is 46 and has worked as a migrant domestic worker in Thailand for the past 30 years. She represents a network of domestic workers from Myanmar and advocates for their rights.

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 | Our Common Agenda

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" builds 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.

Semi-arid but full of life in north-east Brazil

Brazil’s north-eastern semi-arid region, known as sertão, is a land rich in culture and enchanting landscapes, but the harsh climate and lack of water make it difficult to earn a living here. Over recent decades, modern ingenuity has combined with traditional mutual aid systems to help communities. Key to any project’s success is the focus on nature-based solutions and working with local people. IFAD is an international financial institution and a specialized agency of the United Nations dedicated to eradicating poverty and hunger in rural areas of developing countries.

10 things you can do to save the ocean

The ocean produces at least 50% of the planet's oxygen, it is home to most of Earth’s biodiversity, and is the main source of protein and nutrition for more than 3 billion people. Despite all of this, the ocean is at risk, facing a multidimensional crisis driven by overfishing, pollution, habitat loss, invasive species and climate change. UNDP cautions this is time for action.

Bringing education to the cotton fields of Pakistan

In cotton-growing communities of Pakistan, many children were working in the fields because they were deprived of accessible schools. Therefore, the CLEAR Cotton project partnered with the local government and civil society to set up education centres at their doorsteps. The CLEAR Cotton project is co-funded and implemented by the ILO and partners.

UN Podcasts

Osnat Lubrani giving an interview

The Heartbreaking Struggle to Help Ukraine

“What is keeping me awake at night is the horror of knowing that it hasn't ended yet and that there are more people alive today that are very likely to be dead tomorrow.”

Osnat Lubrani knows first-hand the horrors of war. As UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine, she has witnessed the dramatic changes since the Russian invasion and rapidly mounting needs as the war tears lives apart across the country. At least 15.7 million Ukrainians are now in urgent need of humanitarian aid, with the UN working to expand existing programs and establish new life-saving operations. Yet access to some of the most vulnerable is proving extremely problematic.

In this episode, Osnat Lubrani reflects on the frustrating battle to reach them, what it feels like to receive distressing cries for help, and what gives her hope when all seems lost.

Photo: ©Osnat Lubrani

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.

A black and white image of a girl getting a vaccine in her arm while sitting on her mom’s lap.
Photo:UNICEF/UNI124767/Isaac

A photographic time journey: How UNICEF supplies have helped children

Images are a testament to the decades-long work UNICEF has been carrying out to ensure that essential supplies reach children and their families. In 1987, a small girl, held by her mother, is vaccinated by a nurse in the village of Köskköy, Turkey. This was part of the final round of a UNICEF-supported child immunization campaign, delivered through UNICEF’s Child Survival and Development Revolution, a global initiative launched in the early 1980s.

Children sit on a dirt floor inside a classroom in front of the teacher standing next to the chalkboard
Photo:UNOCHA/Laura Fultang

We must support Niger

During his two-day visit to Niger in May, UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, saw first-hand the country’s complex and growing humanitarian crisis. Persistent insecurity in Niger has taken a toll on education; 800 schools have closed nationwide, affecting 69,443 students, including 33,546 girls. OCHA supports projects to ensure access to education for about 7,410 children by building 25 classrooms and training 132 teachers in the Tillabéri region.

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