A person wearing protective gear during a COVID-19 vaccination campaign in Mali.
Peace and Security

How to manage the rising risk of biological threats?

COVID-19 showed how devastating pathogens can be, even in peacetime. Yet their impact is far greater when weaponized. With rapid technological advances increasing the risk of accidental or deliberate misuse, there is no margin for error and no time to waste. The Global Conference on Biological Threat Reduction (Geneva, 28-30 October) brings together top minds in health-security, emerging technologies, and biothreat policy, to explore new strategies, challenges and innovations in combating biological threats to our interconnected ecosystems.

COVID-19 made us rethink the intrinsic links between human, animal, and planetary health.
Photo:UN/Harandane Dicko
WFP staff support logistics efforts for the emergency response in Jamaica.

Hurricane Melissa: UN launches sea-lift operation to deliver aid

28 October 2025 — As Hurricane Melissa makes landfall in Jamaica as a category 5 storm, agencies continue mobilising supplies to support affected communities, with one senior official on the...

Families displaced from El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, seek refuge in Tawila.

‘Horrific’ violence as thousands flee Sudan's El Fasher

28 October 2025 — After 500 days of siege, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia have reportedly taken control of the key Sudanese city of El-Fasher in Darfur, triggering widespread fear among...

World Food Programme workers discuss the distribution of aid in a warehouse in Jamaica.

‘Catastrophic’ Hurricane Melissa makes landfall in Jamaica

28 October 2025 — Millions in Jamaica and across the Caribbean are bracing for massive impact from Hurricane Melissa on Tuesday as the UN and partners warn of a “severe” and “immediate” threat....

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.

Goal 2: Zero Hunger

Goal of the Month 2

 
Zero Hunger

End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture.

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 child walking across a group of individuals in a rural outdoor setting. Poverty, UNDP

Beyond money: Unmasking the many faces of global poverty

In a world where the shadows of inequality loom large, the Multidimensional Poverty Index illuminates the complex tapestry of acute poverty affecting over 100 developing nations. The latest report examines climate hazards impacting 1.1 billion multidimensionally poor people, with 43.6% living in severe poverty, meaning they are deprived of 50 percent or more of the necessities of a dignified life. Children are disproportionately affected, with 27.8% facing multidimensional poverty, representing over half of the total. Most of the poor reside in countries with low or medium human development, with significant numbers in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Notably, poverty also persists in middle-income countries, affecting millions.

Italian chef Massimo Bottura looking toward a person holding a smartphone, partially out of frame. Food, UNEP

Massimo Bottura: Fighting food waste by “creating beauty through respect”

Food waste isn’t just what’s scraped off plates, it’s a quiet crisis echoing through our climate, economies, and the lives of millions who go hungry. The 2024 Food Waste Index reveals that 19% of consumer-available food is wasted, causing emissions five times higher than aviation, while a third of humanity faces food insecurity. Yet, individuals and communities can act creatively. Chef Massimo Bottura, UNEP Goodwill Ambassador, leads the Food for Soul initiative, turning surplus food into meals at “Refettorios” in nine countries—showing that fighting waste is both responsible and beautiful.

A woman walks through a field of young cabbage plants. Agriculture and Food, FAO

A garden of light

Juliana walks through her thriving garden, now nourished by a solar-powered irrigation system that combats drought. Once struggling after her husband’s death, she faced challenges like failed rains and poor harvests in Baixa da Missão, Angola. To improve her situation, she joined the Chitaka Farmer Field School (FFS), part of the European Union-funded FRESAN programme. This community learning initiative, in partnership with the Agrarian Development Institute and the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), has trained over 7,425 smallholder farmers in the region, empowering them to grow food consistently despite climate uncertainties.

A man cleaning clothes.
Employment, UN Women

The care revolution

Investing in care isn’t just compassion, it’s powerful economics that creates jobs, empowers women, and builds healthier, fairer societies for generations.

Tamara demonstrating rock climbing.
Displaced Persons and Refugees, IOM

From fear to strength

After fleeing panic during an earthquake, Nicaraguan migrant Tamara Baltodano found new purpose in Peru, training to save lives and proving that courage knows no borders.

Riman standing in front of a ruined building.
Health Interventions, UNFPA

Mothers on the edge in Gaza

Amid hunger, fear, and ruin, Gaza’s pregnant women fight for life, safety, and the fragile hope of a peaceful birth.

An image of a shipping yard.
Trade and Commerce, UNCTAD

2026 UN Global Supply Chain Forum

Set for November 2026, the UN Global Supply Chain Forum will unite world leaders in Saudi Arabia to boost trade resilience and build sustainable, inclusive logistics systems. Stay tuned for updates.. 

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.

The UN at 80: What Has It Achieved?

As the UN marks its 80th anniversary, this video reflects on how the Organization has shaped international peace, security, development, and human rights - and what it means for the future.

UNESCO and Super Sema join forces

UNESCO and Super Sema have launched “Digital Hero,” a fun, music-driven campaign for Global Media and Information Literacy Week that empowers children to stay safe, think critically, and make smart choices.

Wenyen Gabriel: From refugee to basketball star

A journey from fleeing conflict to playing at the highest levels of basketball shows what’s possible when refugees are given the opportunity to thrive.

UN Podcasts

A group of workers engaged in manual labor along a canal.

How advancing social justice can shape the future of work

In this episode of the Future of Work podcast, ILO Research and Publications Director Caroline Fredrickson explains what the ILO’s new report on social justice reveals about global progress, the challenges that remain, and how leaders can build fairer and more resilient societies.

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.

WFP worker distributing bags of flatbread
Photo:WFP/Maxime Le Lijour

As ceasefire takes hold, Gaza’s bakeries fire up to fight hunger

Deliveries of fresh flatbread in Gaza reach the population, offering a sense of normality as the ceasefire takes hold. The bakeries offer a tangible sign that a precarious normality is returning. The loaves rolling out of their fiery ovens are part of a massive and rapid scale-up of WFP food assistance for people facing severe and even catastrophic hunger - with the aim of feeding up to 1.6 million in the first three months. Trucks of WFP food assistance now entering the Strip are supporting bakeries, nutrition programmes and general food distributions. Those distributions will expand as conditions allow more food to enter the Strip and bakeries to reopen. Tens of thousands of metric tonnes of our food are ready for dispatch or heading to the Strip. “The smell of bread gives people hope that things are going to get back to normal,” says Samer Abdeljaber, WFP Regional Director for the Middle East, North Africa & Eastern Europe. As more food reaches hungry people, he adds, “anxiety levels go down, so they can trust that more food is going to come in the next days.”

young woman holding laptop
Photo:UNHCR/Charity Nzomo

Shared Lives, Shared Future

Mulki is a student in Kenya, who benefited from digital literacy classes thanks to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Whether you live in a mountain village in Afghanistan or in New York, on a small Pacific island or in Africa, in Estonia or in Brazil, the United Nations is part of your life in ways you might not expect. No matter who we are, we share one world. Our lives are connected, our challenges are mutual, and our future is intertwined. Only by valuing our common humanity and working for our shared destiny as one species on one planet, can we build a healthier, safer and more prosperous world — for ourselves and for generations to come. This exhibition, marking the United Nations’ 80th Anniversary, showcases more than 200 stories from 193 countries, highlighting the many ways in which the world’s most crucial international organization impacts all our daily lives: supporting peace and security, overseeing regulatory frameworks, providing humanitarian assistance and fostering development, facilitating international conventions on trade, or advancing human rights.

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