Ante-natal care consultation
Health

Her health, her right: Shaping a future without fistula

Obstetric fistula, a severe condition characterized by an abnormal opening between the birth canal and the bladder or rectum, significantly impacts women and girls both physically and mentally. UNFPA spearheads the Campaign to End Fistula since 2003, aiming to improve the lives of vulnerable women and girls. Over the past 22 years, the campaign has made substantial strides in supporting patients and working towards eradicating this condition. The theme for this year’s International Day to End Obstetric Fistula (23 May) is “Her Health, Her Right: Shaping a Future without Fistula”.

A maternal and child health nurse conducts an ante-natal care consultation for an expectant mother.
Photo:UNFPA Mozambique / Mbuto Machili
A tiger cools off in a stream on a hot day in Chitwan National Park, Nepal. Thanks to efforts by local communities and the government, the park’s tiger population has rebounded but the species remains critically endangered.

Biodiversity loss demands urgent global action, says UN chief

21 May 2025 — UN Secretary-General António Guterres has called on countries to radically rethink their relationship with nature, warning that biodiversity loss is a global crisis no nation can...

An explosion rocks Beirut, Lebanon. In 2024, the country was among those reporting high civilian casualties from conflict.

SECURITY COUNCIL LIVE: Ambassadors debate safety of civilians with 36,000 lives lost during conflict last year

22 May 2025 — We're live as the Security Council convenes for its annual open debate on the protection of civilians in armed conflict, with the UN relief chief and the head of UN Women calling for...

A woman holds the new Syrian flag outside UN Headquarters in New York. (April 2025)

Historic shifts offer Syria a path forward

21 May 2025 — After years of stalemate and suffering, Syria is beginning to see renewed international engagement.

Read the entire article at...

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.

SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

Goal of the month

 

Goal 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

Promote just, peaceful and inclusive societies.

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 view of the Darien jungle, a challenging and dangerous route for migrants and asylum seekers due to its wild animals, oppressive heat, and labyrinthine rivers. Migrants, OHCHR

Monitoring migrants in motion in the Darien Gap

The Darien jungle, located on the border between Panama and Colombia, is a dangerous and humid passage for migrants and asylum seekers heading towards North America. While the natural environment poses challenges, the greatest threats come from traffickers and criminals exploiting vulnerable individuals. Thousands, including children and those with disabilities, undertake the perilous journey, with significant increases in migrant crossings reported in recent years – from 8,594 in 2020 to a record 520,085 in 2023. However, this number dramatically decreased to only 2,831 between January and March 2025. To address the human rights violations migrants face, the UN Human Rights, alongside Panama and Costa Rica's Ombudsman's Offices, developed a technical tool to gather data and respond effectively to these issues.

A medium shot of a 103 years-old Syrian returnee holding a cane, stares blankly into the distance. Refugees, UNHCR

Syrian centenarian leads his family home as returns reach half a million

Jassim, a 103-year-old Syrian, witnessed significant changes and suffered immense loss during the conflict in Syria, including the deaths of three of his children in 2013. He fled to Lebanon with his surviving family, living in harsh conditions as refugees. After nearly 14 years, the overthrow of the Assad regime in December 2024 allowed Jassim and his family to return to their village, Al-Nahryieh, in April. By May, over half a million Syrians had returned home, though they faced substantial challenges. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is providing support to assist returnees with housing, legal documents, and livelihood initiatives.

A computerized image of a camel resting on its legs in the desert. Wildlife, FAO

The heroes of deserts and highlands

Did you know that the United Nations declared 2024 the International Year of Camelids? The Year highlighted how camelids are key to the livelihoods of millions of households in hostile environments across over 90 countries, particularly Indigenous Peoples and local communities. The International Year of Camelids 2024 built awareness of the untapped potential of camelids and called for increased investment in the camelid sector, advocating for greater research, capacity development, and the use of innovative practices and technologies. But this is just the beginning. We must continue to champion the vital role of camelids in livelihoods and push for greater investment in the sector. Now you can see the camelids in 3D and learn how they help sustain communities living in challenging environments.

An illustration of three men shouting over a small boy looking at his phone.
Communication and Mass Media, UN Women

What is the manosphere?

Online misogyny is increasingly infiltrating schoolyards, workplaces, and intimate relationships, reflecting deeper societal issues that need urgent attention and action.

Health, WHO

Global pandemic agreement adopted

Member States have approved the World Health Organisation Pandemic Agreement in a World Health Assembly Committee, marking a historic step toward its formal adoption in the Assembly's plenary session.

Agriculture and Food, UNDP

The beehive sisterhood

In Yucatan, women are transforming beekeeping into a powerful tool for environmental conservation, financial independence, and community sisterhood through the ancient practice of meliponiculture.

A man in a bed of patchouli seedlings.
SDG 12: Sustainable Consumption and Production, ILO

Empowering patchouli farmers

With support from the ILO’s Promise II Impact project and partners, Teuku Razuan established a large-scale patchouli distillation facility in Aceh, benefiting from improved financial access and digital tools.

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

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.

A young girl holds a smiling infant at the Zaatari Refugee Camp

Our Common Agenda

Following up on a pledge made by UN Member States at the UN’s 75th anniversary, the report Our Common Agenda looks ahead to the next 25 years and represents the Secretary-General’s vision on the future of global cooperation. It calls for inclusive, networked, and effective multilateralism to better respond to humanity’s most pressing challenges.

Watch and Listen

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

Plastic pollution in oceans

Every year, plastic kills over 100,000 marine mammals and a million seabirds, but the Ocean Decade is developing innovative, low-cost technologies to tackle plastic pollution at its source, aiming to prevent further environmental damage.

Research has found plastic waste makes up 80% of all marine pollution, and microplastics were found in every marine turtle, over half of all whales, and a third of seals.

Why is genetic diversity important?

Genetic diversity in animals, plants, and microorganisms supports agrifood systems, vital for life on Earth and our future.

Yemen's struggle continues

Mute'e, a Yemeni farmer, dreams of better living conditions for his family, while Yemen’s rural population faces ongoing conflict, climate challenges, and limited resources.

UN Podcasts

Jobs: The Path to Prosperity

With 1.2 billion young people in emerging economies reaching working age over the next decade—and only about 420 million jobs expected to be generated—the urgency of finding scalable and sustainable solutions has never been greater.

In this episode of The Development Podcast, we hear from one young person about their journey into the world of work and what the World Bank Group is doing to address one of the most urgent issues facing development: how to meet the stable employment aspirations of the developing world's fast-growing youth population.

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 member of the Kulkane tribe in Papua New Guinea wearing a traditional outfit and looking at camera.
Photo:UNDP

Peace with nature, Peace with each other

On October 24, 2024, history was made in the serene hills of Kurumugl village, nestled in the Gembogl District of Simbu Province (Papua New Guinea). The Kulkane Tribe formalized their commitment to preserving the country's natural heritage by signing a Conservation Deed, pledging 9,000 hectares of pristine tropical and montane rainforest to conservation. This milestone event marked the culmination of the first phase of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) project pilot site at Mt. Wilhelm, a significant initiative aimed at reducing the funding gap for the country’s Protected Areas Network. The project is to protect biodiversity while ensuring sustainable livelihoods for local communities. The Kulkane Tribe’s commitment extends the boundaries of the Mt. Wilhelm Protected Area, safeguarding critical biodiversity hotspots.

A person cooking flatbread over an open flame using a metal griddle.
Photo:WFP/Ali Jadallah

Eyewitness: ‘We have plenty of food ready to go into Gaza – we just need the go-ahead’

People in Gaza are at risk of starvation, with all aid blocked from entering since 2 March. A report by 17 United Nations agencies and NGOs released last week says 470,000 people face catastrophic hunger– level 5 on the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, the global standard for measuring food insecurity. It also projects that 71,000 children and more than 17,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women will need urgent treatment for acute malnutrition. Three World Food Programme (WFP) staff members share their perspectives: two who visited Deir el-Balah, in the heart of Gaza, in May, and one from Gaza herself.

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