The waxing moon in a clear sky while it is still daytime seen over mountains
Outer Space

The Moon - our only natural satellite

For thousands of years, human civilizations have looked up to the sky, pondering the origin and mysteries of the Moon – our only natural satellite. With the birth of space activities, the Moon became the ultimate destination of countless missions, including crewed flights that brought the first human footprints to another place in the universe. International Moon Day marks the anniversary of the first landing by humans on the Moon as part of the Apollo 11 lunar mission. This global celebration serves not only as a reminder of success in the past, but as an annual testimony to future endeavours.

The waxing Moon rises over a ridge in the Wasatch Mountains, Utah.
Photo:NASA/Bill Dunford
An artist in Colombia draws an image about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

UN envoy urges Colombia to ‘stay the course’ as peace faces new strains

18 July 2025 — Colombia has changed profoundly since the 2016 peace deal, but uneven state presence, lingering armed groups and mounting political tensions threaten to erode confidence unless...

Nelson Mandela addresses the UN General Assembly in September 2004.

Mandela’s legacy ‘is now our responsibility’, Guterres says on International Day

18 July 2025 — In honour of Nelson Mandela International Day on Friday, the United Nations is celebrating with a public service activity, a chamber music concert and a General Assembly meeting,...

Syria is recovering after years of conflict and dictatorial rule.

Syria crisis: Hundreds killed in ongoing violence, hospitals overwhelmed

18 July 2025 — Amid violent clashes in southern Syria’s Suweida governorate, a picture of grave human rights abuses and rising humanitarian needs is emerging by the hour, the UN said on Friday....

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

ActNow is the UN campaign to inspire people to act for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In the lead up to the Summit of the Future, join the 1 Million Actions for our Common Future challenge to contribute to a more sustainable and peaceful world. Find new inspiring actions on the app and at un.org/actnow.

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.

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.

Partnerships for the Goals

Goal of the month

 

Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals

Revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development

 

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.

illustration of a crowded beach town Economic Development, UNDP

Detect the threat

People everywhere wish to live in peace and dignity, free from fear and from want. Yet today we face multiple overlapping crises that impact billions of lives and undermine our collective well-being. Identifying threats to human security is our first step towards a future of peace and prosperity. Play the game and see if you can spot the development challenges hidden in the scene.

fishermen dragging anchor device Agriculture and Food, FAO

Simple technology boosts fish catches

The FAO and Mozambique's fisheries ministry piloted eight anchored fish‑aggregating devices (aFADs) in Cabo Delgado to help small-scale fishers access offshore tuna. Made from sustainable materials like coconut fronds, these buoyed devices attract microorganisms, small fish, and larger species, offering predictable fishing spots. Training and gear provision helped fishers like Mário Sadique boost catches from 1–5 kg to ~20 kg per trip, increasing earnings and reducing time at sea.

illustration of people holding placards and hugging Human Rights, Migration, OHCHR

Illustrating for hope and migration

The comic strip from UN Human Rights, ‘A pathway to compassion,’ tells the story of Elizabeth and her struggle due to her insecure migration status and the power of solidarity. Illustrated by Magda Castría – Argentinian artist, feminist and activist – the comic is a reminder of how everyone can be part of demanding fairer systems and rules around migration. Elizabeth's community wanted to help her and others like her and demanded a fair migration system where everyone has a chance to live safely and securely.

A group of students at school lunch hall having a meal.
Food, Health, WFP

School meals matter

At the 11th Regional School Feeding Forum in Honduras, leaders are spotlighting school meals as vital for improving nutrition, boosting local economies, and advancing education across Latin America and the Caribbean.

A couple of traditional huts.
Culture, UNESCO

Africa leads heritage preservation efforts

The 2025 UNESCO International Conference on Cultural Heritage in Africa called for African-led, community-driven heritage initiatives to ensure that World Heritage truly benefits the continent and its people.

Health Interventions, UNICEF

Millions of infants still miss vaccines

In 2024, modest progress in infant vaccination left nearly 20 million children unvaccinated due to conflict, misinformation, and funding shortages undercutting Immunization Agenda 2030 goals.

Peace and Security, UNFPA

Gaza safe spaces under strain

Amid Gaza’s escalating conflict, repeated displacement, blockades, and resource shortages severely limit safe spaces and support services for women survivors of violence and abuse.

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.

Midwives are saving lives in Somalia

See how midwives like Nadiifo step up to provide life-saving support where over 3 million people in Somalia are displaced and many pregnant women have limited or no access to healthcare.

Nelson Mandela International Day concert

On 18 July 2025, the UN Chamber Music Society will present a virtual concert featuring Grammy-winning South African flautist Wouter Kellerman in celebration of Nelson Mandela International Day.

The ocean is our lifeline

The ocean, vital for food, clean air, and livelihoods, is increasingly threatened by climate change, pollution, and overfishing.

UN Podcasts

Nelson Mandela at the UN General Assembly

From our archives: Nelson Mandela and the Struggle Against Apartheid (2010)

As we mark the 2025 Nelson Mandela International Day, we re-wind and re-play an archive UN Radio programme by Ben Malor looking back at the struggle against apartheid and the campaign for Mandela's release in which the United Nations played an important role — archive special programme for the first commemorative Mandela Day in 2010.

Photo:© UN Photo/Greg Kinch

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.

elderly woman wearing a veil and a young girl-child sit inside a tidy home next to a pile of blankets
Photo:©UN-Habitat

Less buckets, more blankets

For years, Khawar lived in constant fear of the roof collapsing on her sleeping grandchildren. Widowed in 2015, the 66-year-old grandmother now supports a family of 12 – including her daughter, who struggles with mental illness, and her unemployed son. In Kabul’s crowded Dasht-e Barchi settlement, their shelter, like thousands of others in the settlement, had never been built to withstand the elements. Khawar and her family struggled through many a winters' leaks, sickness, and the haunting possibility of collapse. But she clung to a single wish: a safe home. Today, thanks to UN-Habitat’s Shelter Initiative with support from the Afghanistan Humanitarian Fund, that wish has finally come true marking not just the rebuilding of a fragile shelter, but the restoration of dignity and hope for a family determined to survive.

Photo: Khawar (right) and Alina (left) sit inside their rehabilitated shelter in Dasht-e Barchi, Kabul, Afghanistan.

A lone Asian elephant walks along a dirt road with fencing next to it
Photo:©Danh Sơn

The path of giants

In the dense forests of the Dong Nai Biosphere Reserve (DNBR), the deep imprint of an elephant's foot is inscribed in the soft earth. These giant wanderers, part of Viet Nam's wild heritage, move with the memory of lands that once stretched unbroken. But their forests have changed, as fences and roads cut through the land like ribbons of steel. As these great animals wander their shrinking world, their struggle reflects a pressing question: can conservation evolve to match the vast, borderless world these giants evolved to inhabit?

Read how, thanks to UNDP and partners, the DNBR is becoming a model for “conservation without borders” where both people and wildlife can thrive.

Photo: A lone Asian elephant roaming the vast expanses of the Dong Nai Biosphere Reserve.

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