to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and

to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and

to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained, and

to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,

Single Form, a free-form abstraction in bronze, was created by Barbara Hepworth (UK) after a request from Dag Hammarskjöld. Mr. Hammarskjöld, who was the second UN Secretary-General (1953-1961), had expressed the wish that the circle in front of the Secretariat

building be adorned with an appropriate sculpture. The sculpture was unveiled in June 1964, three years after Mr. Hammarskjöld was killed in a plane accident in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) while attempting to negotiate peace in the Congo.

We the peoples of the United Nations determined...

2

...and for these endsto practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neigh-bours, and

to unite our strength to maintain interna-tional peace and security, and

to ensure, by the acceptance of principles and the institution of methods, that armed force shall not be used, save in the com-mon interest, and

to employ international machinery for the promotion of the economic and social advancement of all peoples,

Accordingly, our respective Governments, through representatives assembled in the city of San Francisco, who have exhibited their full powers found to be in good and due form, have agreed to the present Charter of the United Nations and do hereby establish an inter-national organization to be known as the United Nations.

Dove of Peace, presented by Pope John Paul II

to the UN in 1979, is a reproduction of a mosaic

executed in the Constantinian Basilica of St.

Peter in the Pontificate of Innocent III (1198-

1216). The enamels used were made in 1727;

the frame, made in 1796, is of gilt bronze. The

work is located in the General Assembly lobby.

The Preamble to the Charter of the United Nations (signed on 26 June 1945 by 51 countries)

...have resolved to combine our efforts to accomplish these aims.

The United Nations is an organization of sovereign States. These States volunta-rily join the UN to work for world peace, promote friendship among all nations and support economic and social progress. It formally came into being on 24 October 1945. At that time, it had 51 countries as

This Peace Bell, cast from

coins from over 60 coun-

tries, was a gift of the United

Nations Association of Japan.

Inscribed on one side of the

bell, in Japanese, are the

words, “Long live absolute

world peace”. It is now located

in the west court garden of the

Secretariat building.

Members. As of March 2007, 192 coun-tries were UN members.

The UN is a forum, a meeting-place, for virtually all nations of the world. It pro-vides them with the mechanism to help find solutions to disputes or problems,

and to act on virtually any matter of con-cern to humanity.

Though sometimes described as a “parlia-ment of nations”, the UN is neither a supra-State nor a government of governments. It does not have an army and it imposes no taxes. It depends on the political will of its Members to have its decisions imple-mented and relies on the contributions of its Members to carry out its activities.

The United Nations plays a central role in reducing international tensions, prevent-ing conflicts and putting an end to fighting already under way. It deals with our envi-ronment, outer space and the sea-bed. It has helped wipe out many diseases and expand food production. It cares for and

4

The UN is an international organization, not a world government

Let us beat swords into ploughshares.

This statue, created by Evgeniy Vuchetich

and presented to the UN as a gift by the

Russian Federation, is placed in the north

garden area at UN Headquarters.

Article 28 of theUniversal Declarationof Human Rights

protects refugees, expands literacy and responds quickly to natural disasters. It also protects and promotes rights of individuals by setting a global standard for human rights.

The UN is an international organization, not a world government

Non-violence, a sculpture of a large replica in bronze of a .45-calibre revolver with its barrel tied into a knot, was

created by Swedish artist Karl Fredrik Reutersward. A gift from Luxembourg, it is located on the apron of the

General Assembly Building facing First Avenue at 45th Street.

There are six main organs of the United Nations — the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Trusteeship Council, the International Court of Justice and the Secretariat. The Court has its seat at The Hague, Netherlands. All other organs are based at United Nations Headquarters in New York.

While Headquarters in New York serves as the principal nerve centre of the Organization, several important activities are directed from offices located in cen-tres around the world. Meetings of vari-ous UN bodies are often held away from Headquarters. The Economic and Social

“The United Nations is no stronger than the col-

lective will of the nations that support it. Of itself

it can do nothing. It is a machinery through which

nations can cooperate. It can be used and devel-

oped in the light of its activities and experience.

Or it can be destroyed”.

— Trygve Lie (Norway)

First UN Secretary-General, 1946-1952

Council, for example, holds one of its two regular annual sessions in Geneva, and special committees of the General Assembly have frequently held meetings in countries around the world. Conferences on topics such as population, food, the environment and human rights have been held in different parts of the world.

The six main UN organs

8

being considered by the Security Council). In the Assembly, each nation, large or small, has one vote and important deci-sions are taken by a two-thirds majority vote.

The Assembly meets every year from September to December. Special sessions may be summoned by the Assembly, at the request of the Security Council, or at the request of a majority of UN Members.

The work of the General Assembly is also carried out by its six main committees, the Human Rights Council, other subsidiary bodies and the UN Secretariat.

The green and gold General Assembly Hall

accommodates all 192 delegations. Each

delegation has six seats — three at the

table for senior delegates and three behind

them for others. All 1,898 seats of the Hall

are equipped with earphones, allowing the

listener to “tune in” either to the language

being spoken on the floor or to interpreta-

tions into any of the UN’s six official lan-

guages — Arabic, Chinese, English,

French, Russian and Spanish.

A view of the voting board in the General

Assembly Hall. The board, located above and

behind the speakers' rostrum, displays the results

of votes. Voting in the Assembly is done elec-

tronically. Delegates signal their country’s vote by

pressing a button located on their table — green

for “yes”, red for “no” and yellow for “abstain”.

This ivory sculpture, depicting the construction

of the Chengtu-Kunming Railway in China, was

carved from eight ivory tusks weighing more than

300 kilogrammes. A gift from China, it is now dis-

played in the third-floor passage connecting the

Conference and the General Assembly Buildings.

The General Assembly

The General Assembly is the main delib-erative organ of the United Nations and includes all its Members. It may discuss any matter arising under the UN Charter and make recommendations to UN Members (except on disputes or situations which are

The Security Council

Stained-glass window. This work by

Marc Chagall (France), depicting themes of

peace and human happiness, is installed on the

west side of the General Assembly Lobby.

The Security Council has primary respon-sibility under the Charter for maintaining peace and security. It can be convened at any time, whenever peace is threatened. Member States are obligated to carry out its decisions. When a threat to peace is brought before the Council, it usually first asks the parties to reach agreement by peaceful means. If fighting breaks out, the Council tries to secure a ceasefire. It may then send peacekeeping missions to troubled areas or call for economic sanc-tions and embargoes to restore peace.

The Council has 15 members, including five permanent members: China, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. The other 10 are elected by the General Assembly on the basis of

The Security Council Chamber was furnished

by Norway and designed by the Norwegian

Arnstein Arneberg. A large mural by Per

Krohg of Norway, symbolizing the promise of

future peace and individual freedom, covers

most of the east wall. There are 164 seats for

the public and 118 for the press.

geographical representation for two-year terms. Decisions require nine votes; except on procedural questions, a deci-sion cannot be taken if there is a negative vote by a permanent member (known as the “veto”). The Council also makes recommendations to the General Assembly on the appointment of a new Secretary- General and on the admission of new members to the UN. Many countries want to expand the membership of the Council to include new permanent and non-permanent members.

10

The Economic and Social Council Chamber

was designed by Sven Markelius of

Sweden and furnished by that country.

The Economic and Social Council (ECO-SOC) is the central body for coordinating the economic and social work of the Unit-ed Nations and the UN family of organiza-tions. It has 54 member nations elected from all regions. As much as 70 per cent

of the work of the UN system is devoted to promoting higher standards of living, full employment, and conditions of economic and social progress and development. The Council recommends and directs activities aimed at promoting economic growth of developing countries, supporting human rights and fostering world cooperation to fight poverty and under-development.

Peace. Two murals entitled "War" and "Peace"

were presented to the United Nations by Brazil in

1957. The murals, each measuring 34 by 46 feet,

were painted by the late Brazilian artist Candido

PORTINARI. They are located on the east and

west walls of the delegates' lobby on the ground

floor in the General Assembly building.

The Economic and Social Council

12

To meet specific needs, the General Assembly has set up a number of spe-cialized agencies, such as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Health Orga-nization (WHO) and the UN Education-al, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and programmes (such as the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)). The work of these agencies and programmes is coordinated by ECOSOC.

The Trusteeship Council was assigned under the UN Charter to supervise the administration of Trust Territories — for-mer colonies or dependent territories —which were placed under the International Trusteeship System. The system was cre-ated at the end of the Second World War

to promote the advancement of the inhab-itants of those dependent Territories and their progressive development towards self-government or independence.

Since the creation of the Trusteeship Coun-cil, more than 70 colonial Territories, includ-ing all of the original 11 Trust Territories, have attained independence with the help of the United Nations. As a result, in 1994, the Council decided formally to suspend its operation and to meet as and when occa-sion might require.

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. These are the words inscribed on this

mosaic representation of a painting by Norman Rockwell (USA) depicting people of different

nationalities. It is located on the third floor near the Economic and Social Council Chamber.

The Trusteeship Council Chamber was

furnished by Denmark and designed

by Finn Juhl, a Dane.

The Trusteeship Council

This statue of a woman with arms upraised was

carved from teak by Henrick Starcke (Denmark) and

is against one wall of the Trusteeship Chamber.

14

The Court is composed of 15 judges elected to

nine-year terms of office by the United Nations

General Assembly and Security Council sitting

independently of each other. It may not include

more than one judge of any nationality. Elections

are held every three years for one-third of the

seats, and retiring judges may be re-elected. The

Members of the Court do not represent their gov-

ernments but are independent magistrates.

After a much debated international competition

and with financial support from the Carnegie

Foundation, French architect Louis Cordonnier’s

design of the Peace Palace now stands in

The Hague, Netherlands. It has housed the

International Court of Justice and its predeces-

sors since 1913.

The International Court of Justice

tional law. If a country does not wish to take part in a proceeding it does not have to do so, unless required by special treaty provisions. Once a country accepts the Court's jurisdiction, it must comply with its decision.

The seat of the International Court of Jus-tice is at The Hague in the Netherlands. The offices of the Court occupy the “Peace Palace”, which was constructed by the Carnegie Foundation, a private non-profit organization, to serve as the headquarters of the Permanent Court of International Justice, the predecessor of the present Court. The UN makes an annual contribu-tion to the Foundation for the use of the building.

16

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the UN’s main judicial organ. Presid-ing over the ICJ, or “World Court”, are 15 judges, each from a different nation, elect-ed by the General Assembly and Security Council. The Court settles legal disputes between nations only and not between individuals, in accordance with interna-

may also act on his own initiative to deal with humanitarian or other problems of special importance.

There have been only eight Secretaries-General since the founding of the UN:

Trygve Lie (Norway), 1946-1952;

Dag Hammarskjöld (Sweden), 1953-1961;

U Thant (Burma, now Myanmar), 1961-1971;

Kurt Waldheim (Austria), 1972-1981;

Javier Pérez de Cuéllar (Peru), 1982-1991;

Boutros Boutros-Ghali (Egypt), 1992-1996;

Kofi Annan (Ghana), 1997-2006; and

Ban Ki-moon (Republic of Korea), 2007 -.

The Secretariat

United Nations Headquarters, New York. Over

4,700 people drawn from all parts of the world

work here.

The Secretariat is made up of an interna-tional staff working at UN Headquarters in New York, as well as UN offices in Geneva, Vienna, Nairobi and other locations. It con-sists of departments and offices with a total staff of around 16,000, drawn from some 175 countries. Staff members carry out the substantive and administrative work of the United Nations as directed by the General Assembly, the Security Council and the other organs.

The Secretariat is headed by the Secretary-General. He is appointed by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the Security Council for a five-year term. As the chief administrative officer of the Organization, the Secretary-General directs its work. He is also responsible for imple-menting decisions taken by the various organs of the United Nations.

The Secretary-General may bring to the attention of the Security Council any mat-ter which, in his opinion, may threaten international peace and security. He may use his “good offices” to prevent conflicts or promote peaceful settlement of disputes between countries. The Secretary-General

18

“The UN is needed more than ever before. The world’s peoples will not be fully served unless peace, development and human rights, the three pillars of the United Nations, are advanced together with equal vigour.”

Equal parts diplomat and

advocate, civil servant and

chief executive officer, the

Secretary-General is the repre-

sentative of the United Nations

ideals and the spokesman for

the interests of the world’s

peoples, in particular the poor

and vulnerable. The current

Secretary-General, and the

eighth occupant of the post,

is Mr. Ban Ki-moon of the

Republic of Korea, who took

office on 1 January 2007.

— Ban Ki-moon

UN Secretary-General

20

UN Headquarters building

The site on which UN Headquarters is now situated was once a rundown area of slaughterhouses, light industry and a rail-road garage building. Trucks rumbled up and down First Avenue on one side, and automobiles sped along the East River Drive. Today, with the 39-story UN build-ing rising high above the ground, the view of the site has changed completely.

Initially New York was not even consid-ered as the site for UN Headquarters. Offers were received from several cities in Europe and North America. There was even a suggestion made that it should be located on a ship which would sail the seas constantly, a sort of permanent cruise around the world.

The house where the world meets

Before settling in its permanent home, the Organization led a roving existence which began in January 1946 when the first session of the General Assembly opened in London. From there, the UN moved in March 1946 to Hunter College in the Bronx, New York, and in August 1946 to the Sper-ry Gyroscope plant at Lake Success, New York. A few of the meetings of the Security Council were held at the Henry Hudson Hotel on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan prior to the move to Lake Success.

On 10 December 1945, the US Congress invited the United Nations to establish its permanent home in the United States. The decision to accept the invitation was made in London on 14 February 1946 during the first session of the General Assembly. The Assembly also accepted an offer of $8.5 million by John D. Rockefeller, Jr., for the purchase of the present site. Concurrently with the Rockefeller gift, the City of New York offered certain land within and adja-cent to the site.

View of the site chosen for UN Headquarters,

taken from Tudor City at 41st Street looking north

to 48th street, October 1949.

The site, 18 acres in size, is owned by the United Nations and is international terri-tory. On the site, the UN has its own fire and security forces, and its own US Gov-ernment post office branch with a special provision for UN stamps.

A team of 11 world-famous architects, headed by Wallace K. Harrison (USA), designed the Headquarters build-ing. Originally, the designers wanted to build a 45-story building at a cost of $85 million. The cost was later cut by $20 million and the size was reduced to 39 stories. The cornerstone of the building was laid on 24 October 1949. Nineteen months later, on 21 August 1951, the Secretariat staff began moving into their new offices.

UN Headquarters has several inter- connected buildings: the Secretariat Build-ing, the Conference Building (consisting of the Council Chambers, conference rooms and dining facilities), the General Assem-

bly Building, the Library, an underground 3-story printing plant and a cafeteria. There is also an underground garage on three levels, accommodating more than 1,000 cars.

22

Peace is not just a dreamUN peacekeepers with their blue helmets are the most visible sym-bols of the UN’s peace efforts. The peacekeepers, soldiers drawn voluntarily from various national armies, fulfil the role of an impar-tial third party. They help create and maintain a ceasefire and form a buffer zone between parties in conflict. Their presence helps make the search for peaceful settlement of conflict through diplomatic chan-nels possible. As peacekeepers maintain peace on the ground, mediators from the United Nations meet with leaders from the disput-ing parties or countries and try to reach a peaceful solution.

Modern-day peacekeeping is more than maintaining peace and secu-

In 2005, the International Atomic Energy

Agency and its Director General Mohamed

ElBaradei were awarded the Nobel Peace

Prize. This was the ninth time the UN was

honoured by the Nobel Committee with the

peace award. Previous winners were: UN

and Kofi Annan (2001), UN Peacekeeping

Forces (1988), UN High Commissioner

for Refugees (1954 & 1981), International

Labour Organization (1969), UN Children’s

Fund (1965), Dag Hammarskjöld (1961)

and Ralph Bunche (1950).Seventh UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the President of

the 56th Session of the UN General Assembly, Han Seung-soo,

receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo on 10 December 2001.

rity. Peacekeepers are increasingly involved with assisting in political pro-cesses, reforming justice systems, training law-enforcement and police forces, disarming former combatants and clearing land mines.

UN peacekeepers assist a school in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti.

They deliver milk, rice, flour and tea to hundreds of students.

Weapons being burned during the official launch of the disarma-

ment, demobilization and rehabilitation process in Muramvya, Burundi.

Members of the Burundian military signed up voluntarily to be disarmed

under the auspices of UN peacekeepers and observers.

“I believe that life is precious and must be protected and respected, and that all human

beings have the right to live in dignity.” — Ban Ki-moon

UN Secretary-General

24

UN peace operations are less expensive than other forms of inter-national interventions. At the start of 2007, there were almost 92,200 personnel serving in 18 UN peace-keeping operations on four con-tinents in ten time zones, directly impacting the lives of hundreds of millions of people. The approved peacekeeping budget up to June 2007 was approximately $4.75 bil-lion, representing less than 0.5% of global military spending.

Between 1945 and 2006, UN peace-keepers undertook 61 field missions and participated in the implementa-tion of 172 peaceful settlements that ended regional conflicts, and enabled people in more than 45 countries to take part in free and fair elections. A total of 108 countries have contributed military and police personnel to UN peacekeeping.

Peacekeeping throughout the world

Afghan refugees in Chaman

Camp, a Pakistani border town.

Children make up a large per-

centage of the population at

several such camps.

On Information Campaign Day,

young Sudanese children wait

for the go-ahead to pick up

information leaflets printed in

both Arabic and English as

part of the Sudan Information

Campaign for Returnees, facili-

tated by UN agencies and non-

governmental organizations,

at the Hey Al Baraka camp for

internally displaced persons, in

Khartoum, Sudan.

Patrolling vehicles attached to the UN Interim

Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) get a friendly smile

from Lebanese youngsters near As Siddiqin.

A woman from Macamba province, Burundi, casts

a ballot in the national referendum on the draft of a

post-transition constitution, marking the first step in

the electoral process to form a new government.

A UN peacekeeping soldier is accompanied by a group of local children as

he conducts a security patrol in East Timor.

Human rights for everyone

When in 1948 the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, it set a common standard of human rights for all nations. By this Declaration, Gov-ernments are expected to accept their obligation to ensure that all human beings,

26

rich and poor, strong and weak, male and female, of all races and religions, are treated equally.

Since then, the UN has adopted numerous international treaties on human rights, cov-ering such issues as women’s rights, racial discrimination and children’s rights. When Governments become parties to these trea-ties, they accept an obligation to honour them. When violations occur, specially cre-ated treaty bodies review them and make recommendations to rectify the situation. The UN can also censure a country for not honouring its obligations under an interna-tional human rights treaty.

The 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child has

so far been ratified by 191 countries – more than any

other international treaty. This landmark human rights

treaty affirms that every child has the inherent right to

life. It requires countries to apply its provisions to each

child without discrimination of any kind.

The Human Rights Council established in June 2006 is the primary global forum for dialogue and cooperation on human rights. A subsidiary of the

General Assembly, it is directly accountable to the full membership of the Organization and is adminis-tered by the United Nations High Commissioner for

Human Rights. Promoting respect for human rights is increasingly central to UN development assistance.

In particular, the right to development is seen as part of a dynamic process which integrates civil,

economic, political and social rights, and by which the well-being of individuals in a society is improved.

Key to the enjoyment of the right to development is the eradication of poverty, a major UN goal.

One in every six persons in the world is illiterate. Nearly two thirds of them are women. More than 70 per

cent of the world’s poor are women. They also receive lower wages — sometimes as little as one fourth

those of men. In 1979, the United Nations adopted the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of

Discrimination against Women. More than 150 countries have recognized this treaty and over 100 coun-

tries have reported progress towards women’s equality.

Pho

tos:

UN

ICE

F

Development is another name for peace

28

About 1.3 billion people in the world now live in absolute poverty — earn-ing less than $1 a day. These people often don’t have access to the funda-mentals of a decent life — sufficient food, safe water, reliable health care, adequate shelter, and basic education,

training and opportunities to sustain livelihoods. Lasting world peace cannot be achieved until social and economic development for all is achieved. The United Nations devotes more than 80 per cent of its resources to achieve this goal.

At the Millennium Summit in September 2000, the largest gathering of world lead-ers in history adopted the UN Millennium Declaration, committing their nations to a new global partnership to reduce extreme poverty and setting out a series of time-bound targets known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The MDGs are the world's targets for addressing extreme poverty in its many dimensions – income poverty, hunger, dis-ease, lack of adequate shelter, and exclu-sion – while promoting gender equality, education, and environmental sustainabil-ity. They are also goals for basic human rights – the rights of each person to health, education, shelter and security.

Environmental degradation knows no

national boundaries. Sulphur emis-

sions in one country cause acid rain

in another downwind. Depletion of the

ozone layer from chlorofluorocarbons

(CFCs) used in one nation can lead to

skin cancer on the opposite side of the

world. The United Nations, by bringing

Governments together to prevent cli-

mate change, air and water pollution,

extinction of species and many other

problems, is helping to protect the

environment. At the Earth Summit,

the UN Conference on Environment

and Development, held in Rio de

Janeiro in 1992, government leaders

adopted Agenda 21, a global plan for

sustainable development.

Safe drinking water is a basic prerequisite for healthy life, yet over 1.1 billion

people in developing countries do not have access to it. In December 2003, the

General Assembly proclaimed the years 2005 to 2015 as the International Decade

for Action: 'Water for Life'. The primary goal of the 'Water for Life' decade is to pro-

mote efforts to fulfill international commitments as stated in the MDGs, to reduce

by half the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water and to stop

unsustainable exploitation of water resources.

Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger By 2015, reduce by half the proportion of people living on less than $1 a day.

By 2015, reduce by half the proportion of people who suffer from hunger.

Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education By 2015, ensure a full course of primary schooling for boys and girls alike.

Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women By 2005, eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education; and at

all levels of education no later than 2015.

Goal 4: Reduce child mortality By 2015, reduce by two-thirds the number of children dying under the age of

five.

Goal 5: Improve maternal health By 2015, reduce by three quarters the number of women dying from complica-

tions of pregnancy and childbirth.

Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases By 2015, halt and begin to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS.

By 2015, halt and begin to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases.

Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability Reverse the loss of environmental resources.

By 2015, halve the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking-water.

By 2020, achieve significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers.

Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development Address the special needs of the least developed countries, landlocked coun-

tries and small island developing States.

Deal comprehensively with the debt problems of developing countries through national and international measures in order to make debt sustainable in the long term.

In cooperation with the private sector, make available the benefits of new tech-nologies, especially information and communications technologies.

Millennium Development Goals

Come to the United Nations, it’s your world

30

United Nations Headquarters is one of the most popular tourist attractions in New York. Over a million people visit the building every year; about half of them take guided tours offered by the United Nations.

You can take a guided tour of the United Nations in as many as 20 languages. Led by an international staff, the tour will take you to the main conference rooms where nations meet and discuss mat-ters of global interest. On most tours, you will be able to see the General Assembly and, if no meeting is in prog-ress, the Security Council. You will also see objects of interest and works of art donated by Member States.

07-26301 — DPI/1938.Rev 4 — May 2007— 15,000Produced by the Department of Public Information, United Nations, New York, NY 10017

Hours: English tours leave daily about every 20 minutes, from 9:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. (closed weekends in January and February). Opening hours are subject to change. For information call (212) 963-TOUR (-8687) or visit: www.un.org/tours. Admissions: For current rates please contact the Guided Tours at (212) 963-8687. Children under five years of age are not admitted on tours.

Group tours: Groups of 12 or more should make reservations for their tours in advance. For reservations and information, please write to: Guided Tour Reservations, Room GA-63, United Nations, New York, NY 10017; or call: (212) 963-4440; or fax: (212) 963-0071; or email unitg@un.org.

Special briefings: Special briefings by UN Secretariat staff can be arranged for groups of 20 or more, free of charge. Arrangements should be made in advance by writing to: Group Programmes Unit, Room GA-61, United Nations, New York, NY 10017; or calling (212) 963-7710, Monday through Friday.

Gift centre: A gift centre located in the public concourse is open seven days a week. It carries a variety of souvenirs, including UN memorabilia and gifts from around the world. For information, call (212) 963-7700.

General information on guided tours

Parking: Nearest public parking is avail-able on 43rd and 44th Streets, between Second and Third Avenues.

Wheelchair access: The UN building is accessible to the handicapped. Wheelchairs are also available during guided tours.

Public information: For inquiries and information on any aspect of the UN’s work, please contact the Public Inquiries Unit, Room GA-57, United Nations, New York, NY 10017; or call (212) 963-4475; or fax (212) 963-0071. E-mail: inquiries@un.orgInternet: www.un.org/geninfo/faq