Index to the Proceedings of the General Assembly (U.N. publication)

Index to the Proceedings of the Economic and Social Council(U.N. publication)

Index to the Proceedings of the Security Council (U.N. publication)

New York Times Index (N.Y. Times)
A guide to the articles in the Times. This newspaper covers the U.N. very thoroughly.

Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature
An index to articles published in popular journals and magazines.

United Nations Document Index ("UNDOC" - U.N. publication, 1973-present)
 

The listings are arranged by series:
Series A: Subject Index
Series B: Country Index

This is especially useful if you are researching your country's stand on a particular issue. It lists all the statements made by your country by topic areas in a given year. It also includes the general policy statements.

Series C: List of Documents Issued 
 

United Nations

Annotated Agenda of the General Assembly (a U.N. document published every June for each session of the General Assembly)
This document describes each agenda item with a brief historical background and citation of relevant documents.

Basic Facts About the United Nations (U.N. publication)
A paperback outlining the basic work of the United Nations and its family of organizations.

Charter of the United Nations (U.N. document) 

The cornerstone of the United Nations.

Development Forum (U.N. Department of Public Information)

 

Single copies are available to school libraries free of charge if requests are made on school letterhead. Write to: Development Forum, DESI/DPA, Room DC1-559, United Nations, New York, NY 10017

Encyclopedia of the United Nations & International Agreements

Everyone's United Nations (U.N. Office of Public Information)

 

This volume constitutes a basic history of the U.N. and contains the text of the charter

International Court of Justice (U.N. publication)

Issues Before the -- General Assembly of the United Nations
(United Nations publication)

Permanent Missions to the United Nations (U.N. document)

 

This book is published every six months with the names of the ambassadors and specific representatives to the various U.N. committees from each member state. These names are invaluable in attempting to contact a mission for information on a specific topic area.

Report of the Secretary-General on the Work of the Organization(U.N. document)

Resolutions and Decisions of the General Assembly
(U.N. Press Release issued every January)

 

This document provides the text of every resolution and decision handed down by the G. A. and the votes of every country for the session.

The Role and Function of the International Monetary Fund 

 

(U.N. External Relations Department)

The United Nations and Decolonization (U.N. publication)

The United Nations and Disarmament 1945-84: A Fortieth Anniversary Review 

 

(U.N. publication)

An excellent general source on the topic. For more specific information see theDisarmament Yearbook. Additionally, the Department of Disarmament publishes a series of fact sheets that may be obtained free of charge.

The United Nations and Human Rights (U.N. publication)

U.N. Chronicle (U.N. magazine)

 

Covers the current events of the U.N. including excerpts from the speeches of the member states. Published quarterly.

United Nations Handbook (Ministry of External Relations & Trade, New Zealand)

United Nations Security Council (U.N. publication)

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (U.N. publication)

Within Our Reach (U.N. Public Inquiries Unit)


World Economic Survey (U.N. publication - annual)


Yearbook of the United Nations (U.N. publication)

 

This publication focuses on yearly developments within particular international issues. It is the best detailed, chronological narrative of the United Nations activities. The only problem with this resource is that it is behind by a couple of years. It is not known if and when the United Nations will correct this problem.

 

Other Printed Sources

"Background Notes" U.S. Department of State


Europa World Yearbook

Facts on File

Kessing's Record of World Events

LA Times Newspaper

London Times Newspaper

The New York Times Newspaper

Newsweek Magazine

Stateman's Yearbook

Time Magazine

U.N. Chronicle

U.S. News and World Report

Wall Street Journal Newspaper

Washington Post Magazine

World Fact Book 19** (authored by CIA, published by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office)

Yearbook of International Organizations

Nuclear Testing, Proliferation and Arms Control

"Stepping Down the Nuclear Ladder: U.S. and British Perspectives on a Comprehensive Test Ban Non-Proliferation and the Future of Nuclear Weapons" Report of the Washington Council on Non-Proliferation, Lawyers Alliance for World Security and the British American Security Information Council, January 27, 1993

The U.N. Role in Peace Making

"An Agenda for Peace: Preventive Diplomacy, Peacemaking and Peace-keeping" by Boutros Boutros-Ghali, United Nations, New York, 1992

Restructuring the United Nations

"Empowering the United Nations" by Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Foreign Affairs, Winter, 1992/93

DESI Electronic Information Network

DESI, or Division for Economic and Social Information, is one of the newest programs of the United Nations. This electronic database information program (DESI Electronic Information network-DEIN) allows you access to, through a personal computer and modem, current U.N. news and background information. Through DEIN you can get full text access to all U.N. daily news releases. It can also serve as a reference library. Other services include: Interpress, the Third World news agency, UNICEF information, U.N. calendar, and electronic mail. The cost of joining the system is $15.00 a month (you can join on a month by month basis), telecommunication fees, and "on-line time" which currently is $9.00 per hour during peak times and $5.00 per hour during off times. For an application to DEIN, a manual, and instruction on how to connect yourself to the network, write to:

DESI Electronic Information network
Room S-1061L
DPA-DESI
United Nations
New York, NY 10017
212 963-6875
 

United Nations Agencies
and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)

Public Inquiries Unit United Nations Publications
Department of Public Information
Room DC2-0835
United Nations United Nations
New York, NY 10017 New York, NY 10017
212 963-4475 212 963-8302

Center for Human Rights
New York Liaison Office
Ms Elissavet Stamatopoulou-Robbins
Room S-2914 United Nations
New York, NY 10017
212 963-5930
212-963-4097
E-mail: corbet@un.org 

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
North American Office UNEP
Terence Collins
Room DC-0812
2 United Nations Plaza
New York, NY 10017
212-963-8093/8143
212-963-7341 FAX
Email: collins@un.org 

United Nations Environmental Programme
P.O. Box 30552
Nairobi Kenya
Office of Ocean Affairs, & the Law of the Sea
United Nations
Room DC2-0450
New York, NY 10017
212 963-3975

Coalition for an International Criminal Court (CICC)
777 UN Plaza, 12th Floor
New York, NY 10017
212-599-1332 FAX
E-mail: wfm@igc.apc.org 
Internet: http://www.igc.apc.org/icc 

United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)
Ms Janet Nelson, Senior Public Affairs Officer
UNICEF House, Room H-0610
United Nations
New York, NY 10017
212-326-7305
212 326-7260 FAX
E-mail: jnelson@unicef.org 

UNICEF's Communication Section -- working on a Women's Communication Initiative to facilitate women's knowledge and skills
Silvia Luciani
TA 26-18, Communication Section
UNICEF Headquarters
3 UN Plaza
New York, NY 10017
212-326-7000
212-824-6484 FAX

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
Ms Sonam Yangchen
NGO Section
Room DC1-2058
United Nations
New York, NY 10017
212-906-5316
212-905-5313 FAX
E-mail: sonam.yangchen@undp.org 

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
Andrew Radolf, UNESCO Liaison Office
Room DC2-0900
Two United Nations Plaza
New York, NY 10017
212-963-5974
212-963-8014 FAX

United Nations Youth Unit
William Angel
Room DC2-1314
United Nations
New York, NY 10017
212-963-1380
212-963-3062 FAX
E-mail: angelw@un.org 

Centre of Disarmament Affairs
Department of Political Affairs
Ms Cheryle Stoute
Room S-3151B, United Nations
New York, NY 10017
212-963-6033
E-mail: disarmtimes@igc.apc.org 

Centre for Human Settlements
Mrs Aliye Celik
New York Liaison Office
Room DC2-0944
2 United Nations Plaza
New York, NY 10017
212-963-4201
212-963-8721 FAX
E-mail: lamour@un.org

Division for Sustainable Development
Ms Zehra Aydin
Major Groups Focal Point
Dept. for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development
New York, NY 10017
Room DC1-1044, United Nations
212-963-8811
212-963-1267 FAX

United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM)
Ms Achola Pala Okeyo, Chief
Communications and External Relations Section
Room FF-0632 United Nations
One United Nations Plaza
New York, NY 10017
212-906-6434
212-906-6705 FAX
E-mail: achola.pala.okeyo@undp.org

 

Other Sources

United States Department of State
Bureau of Public Affairs
Office of Public Communication
2201 C Street N.W.
Washington, DC 20520
202 647-6317

United Nations Association (UNA/USA)
485 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10017
212 697-3232

Global Policy Forum
E-mail: globalpolicy@globalpolicy.org
Internet: http://www.globalpolicy.org

 

for information about U.N. reform, Security Council, U.N. Financial Crisis, Social Economic Policy, NGOs, other sources

 

Additional Sources

TV news programs such as CNN's "World News" at 6 p.m. and ABC's "World News Tonight" at 6:30 p.m. are good sources of recent news. Other news programs are also helpful. 

Daily newspapers often focus on major international news. While there are a good number of them we suggest The New York Times and the Christian Science Monitor offer reasonably unbiased news coverage of current events on global issues. 

If access to online computer services is available then you search for news and articles on Lexis/Nexis, American Online, Compuserve, Prodigy and similar access services.