From the viewpoint of UN history, international archives are of the greatest importance in the modern world. Over the last 100 years, but especially over the last 55, we have been building structures of global governance—economic, social, even cultural, as well as political structures.

We need to learn from this experience, from failures as well as successes, from first feeble efforts, as well as from mature systems.  Archives are key to this.  Thus, we urge the leadership of every UN agency to make archival preservation a priority, and we encourage researchers worldwide to make greater use of available archival material.

UN Archives in New York
UN Archives in Geneva
UNESCO Guide to the Archives of Intergovernmental Organizations
United Nations Career Records Project
UNRWA Palestine Refugee Records Project

What's New
PRESS: Global Governance and the UN: An Unfinished Journey and Development Without Destruction: The UN and Global Resource Management

RECENTLY PUBLISHED: UN Ideas That Changed the World; The UN and Development: From Aid to Cooperation; The UN and Transnational Corporations: From Code of Conduct to Global Compact; Preventive Diplomacy at the UN; and The Oxford Handbook on the United Nations (now in paperback)

BRIEFING NOTES: Read our newest notes

SEMINARS AND CONFERENCES: Check the calendar