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A wind farm in Germany with the sun rising.
Climate Change

United States re-joins the Paris Agreement this week

The Paris Agreement enters into force for the United States on 19 February, after a new instrument of acceptance by the US, expressing its consent to be bound by the Agreement, was deposited with the UN Secretary-General on 20 January. This historic agreement aims to substantially reduce global greenhouse gas emissions and to limit the global temperature increase in this century to 2 degrees Celsius. It includes commitments from all countries to reduce their emissions and work together to adapt to the impacts of climate change and calls on countries to strengthen their commitments over time. 

Building a global coalition for carbon neutrality by mid-century is the UN’s central objective.
Photo:Unsplash/Karsten Würth
Everyone deserves love

Living and loving with HIV: a UN Resident Coordinator blog

14 February 2021 — To mark Valentine’s Day, the annual 14 February celebration of love and affection, Gita Sabharwal, UN Resident Coordinator in Thailand, and Patchara Benjarattanaporn, Thailand...

A young boy in Ethiopia attends class at home, taking lessons via the radio, which are being broadcast across the country.

World Radio Day marks evolution, innovation and connection of ‘vector of freedom’  

13 February 2021 — World Radio Day, celebrated annually on 13 February, provides an opportunity to hail the evolution, innovation and connection of this ever-evolving, 110-year-old medium that the...

A scene of Yangon, the commercial hub of Myanmar.

Myanmar crisis: ‘All options should be on the table’, UN Human Rights Council hears

12 February 2021 — The UN deputy human rights chief and the independent expert on Myanmar have called for targeted sanctions against the leaders of what they both described as the coup that took...

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.

Decade of Action

Decade of Action

With just 10 years to go, an ambitious global effort is underway to deliver the 2030 promise—by mobilizing more governments, civil society, businesses and calling on all people to make the Global Goals their own.

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 10: Reduced Inequalities

Goal of the month

 

Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities

Reduce inequality within and among countries

 

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.

collage of four women scientists Women and Gender Equality, Science and Technology, UN Women

Women in science who are making a difference during the pandemic

It will soon be a year since WHO declared COVID-19 to be a pandemic. By now, every corner of the world has felt the devastating impact of the pandemic, and women and girls in science are on the front lines of response. They are healthcare workers and innovators. They are researching vaccines and pioneering treatments. They are leading us toward a safer world, and inspiring the next generation of girls to be forces of good in science and tech. This 11 February, we’re celebrating International Day of Women and Girls in Science by highlighting just some of the women and girls around the world who have made tremendous contributions during the ongoing crisis.

Firefighters in Australia. Climate, UNEP

Alarming rise in global temperatures

The past six years have been the warmest on record since 1880, with 2016, 2019 and 2020 being the top three, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The year 2020 was 1.2°C above pre-industrial era (1880) temperatures. WMO predicts a 20 per cent probability that temperatures will temporarily exceed 1.5°C as early as 2024. According to the Paris Agreement, Member States committed to limit global warming to well below 2°C, preferably to 1.5°C, compared to pre-industrial levels. In January this year, António Guterres, the United Nations Secretary-General, said 2021 was a critical year for climate, calling for multilateral action. 

preparing vaccine injection Health, UNIDO

COVID-19: Long-term support for biotech yields vaccine promise in Cuba

The Cuban government recently announced that its Soberana II vaccine against COVID-19 will soon enter Phase III trials, bringing the country one important step closer to producing Latin America’s first vaccine against the virus. Far from being an overnight success, Cuba’s ability to develop a vaccine is the result of decades-long investment in its biopharmaceutical industry, which in its early stages of development was supported by UNIDO. Cuba hopes to inoculate its entire population against COVID-19 with a home-grown vaccine this year. The country has four potential vaccines in development. If it clears the final clinical hurdle, the Cuban vaccine will be the first to be developed in Latin America.

boys at computer screen
Youth, Palestine, UN-Habitat

Youth in Gaza design public spaces

Young people in Khan Younis city in the Gaza Strip used the popular computer game Minecraft to design inclusive public spaces that are safe for women.

women preparing food
Migrants, Food, IOM

Baharat: Turkish and Syrian cuisine

Find delicious recipes inspired by IOM Turkey's programme to integrate migrants through cultural activities.

hands holding circle symbolizing protection
Refugees, UNHCR

Information for Refugees, Asylum-seekers and Stateless People

Find helpful services, information on asylum procedures, or read more about your rights and duties.

illustration of person being attacked online
Communication and Mass Media, UNICEF

Cyberbullying: What is it and how to stop it

10 things teens want to know about cyberbullying.

sea waves Oceans and Marine Life, Climate, FAO

Oceans and climate change: it’s time to talk

Oceans are an essential part of our planet. They provide us with food to eat and keep our atmosphere healthy. Without the oceans, we simply wouldn’t exist. But climate change means that ocean temperatures are increasing, icebergs are melting, and sea levels are rising. We need action to reverse these trends, and raising awareness is the first step. To do so, FAO hosted an online discussion titled Talking Oceans and Climate Change. 

pie chart for La Niña update Climate, WMO

La Niña has peaked, but impacts continue

The 2020-2021 La Niña event has passed its peak, but impacts on temperatures, precipitation and storm patterns continue, according to a new update from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Despite the general cooling influence of La Niña events, land temperatures are expected to be above-normal for most parts of the globe in February-April 2021.

man working with drill Economic Development, SDGs, UNCTAD

New tool helps countries build economic resilience

The Productive Capacities Index (PCI) is an UNCTAD online portal with publications, manuals, resources and tools that allow policymakers to measure their countries’ performance in achieving their national development goals, as well as their ability to meet the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).  

passenger with mask at airport Tourism, Health, UNWTO

Exploring safe travel in the age of vaccines

2020 was the worst year in tourism history with 1 billion fewer international arrivals than in the previous year, due to an unprecedented fall in demand and widespread travel restrictions. A meeting of the Global Tourism Crisis Committee focused on the integration of vaccines into a harmonized approach to safe travel and launching a coordinated effort to boost confidence in the sector.

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: 2020 and Beyond

In 2020, the United Nations turned 75. UN75 aims to build a global vision for the year 2045, the UN's centenary; to increase understanding of the threats to that future; and to drive collective action to realize that vision.  #Join the Conversation #Be the Change

Watch and Listen

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

#LovePulses

We see them at the grocery store, the farmer’s market and as side orders served with our favourite dish. In many countries, they are part of the cultural heritage and are consumed on a regular or even daily basis. In other parts of the world, they hardly garner a mention except when served in a soup on a cold winter’s day. This FAO video for World Pulses Day is an opportunity to raise awareness of the nutritional benefits of pulses and their contribution to sustainable food systems and a world without hunger.

Music Against Child Labour - Take part in the competition

The Music Against Child Labour Initiative launches a global competition for the UN International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour 2021. The competition aims to rally the world of music to raise awareness against this injustice and to achieve Target 8.7 set by the UN's SDGs to end child labour by 2025. Under the umbrella of the Music Initiative, the competition is being run by the global youth music organization Jeunesses Musicales International in collaboration with ILO.

Nobel Prize Laureate’s work helping victims of violence against women

How to support survivors of gender-based violence (GBV) in fragile and conflict-affected regions where health facilities are scarce and often out of capacity? In this video, 2018 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dr. Denis Mukwege shares his experience treating grievous physical and mental injuries in a region where rape was used, massively and for years, as a weapon of war. The World Bank reaffirms its commitment to helping countries end violence against women and girls.

UN Podcasts

A woman covers her face with flowers.

Tackling people traffickers in Africa’s Sahel

The work of the UN and its partners never stops against human traffickers in West and Central Africa, who force people to risk their lives on dangerous journeys across the Sahara Desert and Mediterranean Sea. 

Even the COVID crisis hasn’t stopped the smugglers – they’ve just resorted to taking bigger risks to cross borders that have been closed to others.  

So says Vincent Cochetel – he’s the UN refugee agency’s (UNHCR) Special Envoy for the Western and Central Mediterranean. 

He’s been talking to UN News’s Daniel Johnson about the many ways the agency helps vulnerable people in the Sahel. 

BERJAYA
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.

Portrait of three women in traditional dress.
Photo:UNFPA/Luis Tato

Reformed cutters protect the next generation from female genital mutilation in Kenya

More than 10,000 girls over 30 years. That’s how many girls three women cut in female genital mutilation rituals – almost one girl a day, every day, spanning three decades. Now in their 70s, the female genital mutilation survivors and former cutters have turned their backs on the blade, fighting against the harmful practice and encouraging a younger generation to do the same. The three women credit their reformation to a newfound faith in God and the training and information they received from UNFPA partner World Vision Kenya.

A smiling man holds up chilli peppers amid the plants.
Photo:WFP/Nick Roeder

El Salvador: Growing ‘green gold’ in Central America’s Dry Corridor

There’s little remarkable about a greenhouse growing chillis, cucumbers and tomatoes until you learn that it’s situated in the ‘Dry Corridor’—a vast stretch of Central America where drought linked to the El Niño climate phenomenon is pushing more and more people into food insecurity. In one of a number of projects supported by WFP, three Salvadoran farmers have turned one of the driest strips of land in their community of Cacaopera, in the picturesque, mountain-rimmed department of Morazán in El Salvador, into a green haven. 

A girl looks out a window with bars from inside the classroom.
Photo:© UNESCO/Yayoi Segi-Vltchek

Education for children and youth affected by conflicts

Children gaze out the window of a school in the Ancient City of Aleppo, a UNESCO World Heritage site, where UNESCO supported school rehabilitation in 2017. Over 13 million children and youth in the Arab Region are unable to attend school as a result of ongoing conflict. UNESCO is assisting children and youth in the affected countries by supporting local education initiatives, improving the quality of education, and offering support for reconstruction of schools.

People gathered on the beach with bags in front of a boat.
Photo:OCHA/UN Photo/Helvisney Cardoso

Ten crises to watch in 2021

Conflict in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado Province, home to over 2.2 million people, has escalated significantly since last year. This is in addition to over 300,000 people affected by Tropical Cyclone Eloise in January 2021, which passed through areas previously affected by Tropical Storm Chalane and devastated by Cyclones Idai and Kenneth. Humanitarian partners launched a Rapid Response Plan and continue to assist more than 1.1 million people this year.

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