Visit the United Nations in New York, the UN headquarters

She celebrated her 70th birthday in 2015 and intends to live for a long time to come. The United Nations (UN), headquartered in New York, is a major international organization in the global landscape whose mission is to promote world peace and ensure the protection of fundamental rights. The 4 impenetrable-looking buildings nevertheless welcome a million visitors each year. Visit a city within the city.

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The mission of the United Nations

After the end of World War II in 1945, 51 countries gathered in San Francisco to agree on measures to spread peace, cooperation and security and eradicate the growing violence in the world. On October 24, 1945, the United Nations are officially created when their charter was ratified by the 5 permanent members of the security Council (France, China, Soviet Union, United Kingdom and United States) and a majority of other 46 member states.

The UN, in a few facts and figures

• Since 1948, the UN has included 193 member states, the latest arrival being South Sudan, in 2011.
• The UN has been successful in providing food to 90 million people across 75 countries and participating in the vaccination nearly 58% of the world’s population.
• The organization has also assisted 35 million refugees and 140 countries in the fight against global warming.
• The United Nations employs 15,000 people worldwide, and 9,300 in New York alone. This is not much, when we know that the Pentagon alone employs 23,000 people in Washington.
• According to Noblemarie Principle (which wants the UN to pay every employee equally for equal work), the salary of a UN officer ranges from $ 32,000 to $ 113,000.
• The budget de l’ON concerning arms (disarmament, mine clearance) is $ 1.6 trillion per year, or $ 2 million per minute.
• The United Nations agents enjoy diplomatic immunity and are (among other things) exempt from paying fines. Evil tongues say that their number can reach 100 per year, for some diplomats!
• The longest speech in United Nations Security Council was held by Krishna Menon in 1957 and lasted 8 hours.
• I am going… and I am coming back: Indonesia is the only member state of the United Nations which has withdrawn from the organization, only to return, a year later.
• A world apart… The UN headquarters in New York is a international territory which does not have the same safety and fire codes as New York City. The UN has its own post office and stamps! Even though they are kept more as collector’s items, UN stamps are still used to send letters around the world and can be purchased at the 3 UN premises, namely in New York, Vienna and Geneva. .

Organize your visit

You can imagine, we do not enter the United Nations Headquarters like in a mill and your visit must be booked several weeks in advance (between 6 and 8, especially if you come in a herd or want to take the tour in French). The guided tour lasts 1 hour and can be done in 12 languages: general presentation of the UN, its organization, its roles, its members, its foundations, but also through the different rooms such as the Guardianship Council Room (where actress Emma Watson gave her speech on gender equality), the Security Council, and of course, the highlight of the visit, the United Nations General Assembly Hall, chaired by Korean Ban Ki-Moon.

United Nations
405 East 42nd Street
New York, NY 10017