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Documents

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The United Nations has been publishing documents since its founding. At one time, the printing presses of the Organization ran 24 hours a day to keep up with the UN's publishing needs. Most documents are now only published electronically. UN documents include resolutions from legislative bodies, such as the General Assembly, Security Council, and the Economic and Social Council, which often contain a work mandate to be carried out by the UN Secretariat, or the UN system. Additionally, reports of the UN Secretary-General assess the state of the Organization and announce new work initiatives. Access to cases and rulings by the International Court of Justice, the main judicial body of the UN, is also available.  On this website, you can search for meeting records, summaries of conferences, UN reports, treaties, maps, yearbooks and more.

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Official Document System

ODS has full-text documents of the Security Council, the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council and their subsidiaries, as well as administrative issuances and other documents. 

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Trusteeship Council

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  • UN documentation: Trusteeship Council
    The Council suspended its operations in 1994 after the independence of Palau, the last remaining United Nations trust territory. Read more about the Trusteeship Council.

Founding documents

United Nations Charter

The UN Charter is the constitutive instrument of the United Nations, signed on 26 June 1945. It sets out the rights and obligations of Member States and establishes the principal organs and procedures of the United Nations.

Declaration of Human Rights

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a milestone document in the history of human rights, setting out for the first time, fundamental human rights to be universally protected.

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