The 2014 Yearbook

The Yearbook of the United Nations—published by the Department of Global Communications—stands as the authoritative reference work on the activities and concerns of the Organization. Based on official UN documents, the Yearbook provides comprehensive coverage of political and security matters, human rights issues, economic and social questions, legal issues, and institutional, administrative and budgetary matters.

The 2014 Yearbook The sixty-eighth volume of the Yearbook of the United Nations presents the work of the United Nations in dealing with recurring conflicts with severe humanitarian consequences in the Middle East, including in the Syrian Arab Republic, where more than 12 million people were in need of basic food, clothing and shelter. The volume also highlights the Organization’s rapid response to an escalatory global health emergency—the Ebola virus disease outbreak across West Africa. It documents the Organization’s coordination of policy discussions to finalize a global sustainable development agenda, with the security of future generations as the core concern; and its efforts to rebuild societies emerging from conflict while keeping the fragile peace in other places. It further details the entry into force of the landmark Arms Trade Treaty, the missile downing of a passenger airliner in the midst of a geopolitical crisis in eastern Ukraine, and securing international human rights and humanitarian law and prosecuting its abusers.

The Yearbook cover

The Yearbook of the United Nations has served as the Organization’s flagship reference work since 1947, and looking back at the illustrated Yearbook covers provides a unique perspective on more than 60 years of developments in visual design. These covers have regularly reflected the culture of their time, while alluding to the wealth of information on UN activities and concerns contained within each volume...