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Lumbini, the Birthplace of the Lord Buddha.
Culture

Vesak: A time to embrace compassion, peace and shared humanity

¡°Vesak,¡± the Day of the Full Moon in May, is the most sacred day for millions of Buddhists around the world, marking the birth, enlightenment and passing of the Buddha. In his message for this year¡¯s Vesak (1 May), UN Secretary-General Ant¨®nio Guterres recalled his 2023 visit to the Buddha¡¯s birthplace in Lumbini and emphasized that the antidote to today¡¯s turmoil lies in the Buddha¡¯s enduring teachings of non-violence, compassion and service to others. He called on all people to come together in a spirit of shared humanity to build the peaceful and sustainable world we all need and deserve.

Lumbini, where Lord Buddha was born, is a sacred pilgrimage destination with rich archaeological heritage.
Photo:Arjun Jaisawal/Pixabay

30 April 2026 ¡ª Reports of online violence against women journalists have doubled since 2020, with serious impacts on their health and well-being, according to a study published ahead of World...

30 April 2026 ¡ª The escalating crisis in the Strait of Hormuz could push tens of millions into poverty, trigger a surge in global hunger and even tip the world towards recession, the UN Secretary-...

29 April 2026 ¡ª The 2015 nuclear accord with Iran cannot be the starting point for a new agreement with the country, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Wednesday in...

UN Sustainable Development Goals

17 Goals to transform our world

The Sustainable Development Goals are a call for action by all countries — poor, rich and middle-income — to promote prosperity while protecting the planet.

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ActNow Campaign

The Goals can improve life for all of us. Cleaner air. Safer cities. Equality. Better jobs. These issues matter to everyone. But progress is too slow. We have to act, urgently, to accelerate changes that add up to better lives on a healthier planet. Find new inspiring actions on and at .

Act Now for a Peaceful World

Today, half the world is under 30, and this generation is a powerful force for peace. The UN "Hear Us. Act Now for a Peaceful World" campaign, launched on the International Day of Peace, aims to include, invest in, and partner with young people to build lasting peace. 

ECOSOC Youth Forum (14-16 April)

As a global platform for dialogue, the ECOSOC Youth Forum brings together young people, Member States, the UN system, and other partners to exchange ideas, showcase innovative solutions, and strengthen youth engagement in accelerating progress on the SDGs. Find the ECOSOC Youth Forum programme here.

SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

Goal of the month 16

 

Goal 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

Promote just, peaceful and inclusive societies.

More about the UN Sustainable Development Goals

More from the
United Nations

Featured stories from across the United Nations and our world-wide family of agencies, funds, and programmes.

WHO, Health

Global efforts to curb viral hepatitis are reducing infections and deaths, but progress is too slow to meet 2030 targets, a new World Health Organization (WHO) warns. Hepatitis B and C, which cause 95% of hepatitis deaths, killed 1.34 million people in 2024, while 1.8 million new infections occurred. Since 2015, new hepatitis B infections fell 32% and hepatitis C deaths 12%, and child hepatitis B prevalence dropped to 0.6%. Yet 287 million people live with chronic infection, most untreated, and transmission persists due to low vaccination, unsafe injections and limited harm reduction. WHO urges faster scale-up of prevention, testing and treatment efforts worldwide.

WMO, Climate Change

Heat swept across Europe in 2025 like never before, reaching from sun?baked southern coasts to places near the Arctic Circle that rarely see such extremes, warns a new by the World Meteorological Organization. About 95% of Europe was warmer than normal. Long heatwaves hit even Arctic areas, with temperatures above 30¡ãC. Seas were the warmest ever, and many wildfires burned a record area. Glaciers across Europe kept shrinking, snow cover fell well below average, and major ice loss was seen in Iceland and Greenland. Many rivers had low water for most of the year. The report warns these changes are harming people and nature and shows Europe is warming faster than any other continent.

FAO, Agriculture and Food

On a small family farm in southern Grenada, lettuce is thriving without soil¡ªand increasingly without fear of the weather. Faced with erratic rainfall and growing climate uncertainty, Roger and Josanne Benjamin turned to hydroponics, a method of growing plants with their roots suspended in a flowing mix of water and nutrients instead of soil. With support from a project implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, their early experiment evolved into a solar-powered, climate-smart system. The results reach beyond higher yields: water use is far lower, production is more stable, and the work is less physically demanding. Their experience is now inspiring others nearby.

Food Aid, WFP

UN agencies warn that 2.2 million young children are suffering from acute malnutrition, and 7.8 million people are at risk of hunger.

Trade and Commerce, UNCTAD

New UNCTAD dashboard tracks risks across shipping, energy, food and finance as shocks from the Strait of Hormuz spread through the global economy.

Women and Gender Equality, UN Women

In Gaza, there is no safe place to work ¨C or to live. Women on the frontlines of the response are working under extreme hardship, insecurity and repeated attacks. 

Women and Gender Equality, UNFPA

Women and girls in the Democratic Republic of the Congo who have endured sexual violence share their stories of survival, recovery and empowerment.

What we do

Due to the powers vested in its Charter and its unique international character, the United Nations can take action on the issues confronting humanity in the 21st century, including:

A UNIFIL peacekeeper from Spain on a regular patrol in the vicinity of Al Wazzani, south-eastern Lebanon as the sun sets in the horizon. Since 1948, more than a million women and men have served as UN peacekeepers.

Maintain International Peace and Security

Â鶹´«Ã½ came into being in 1945, following the?devastation of the Second World War, with one central mission:?the maintenance of international peace and security. The UN?does this by working to prevent conflict; helping parties in?conflict make peace; peacekeeping; and creating the conditions?to allow peace to hold and flourish.?These activities often overlap and should reinforce one another, to be effective. The UN Security Council has the primary responsibility for international peace and security. The General Assembly and the Secretary-General play major, important, and complementary roles, along with other UN offices and bodies.

Students at Butkhak High School in Kabul, Afghanistan, cheer in unison on the last day of Global Action Week, an international campaign advocating free, quality education for all.

Protect Human Rights

The term ¡°human rights¡± was mentioned seven times in the UN's founding , making the promotion and protection of human rights a key purpose and guiding principle of the Organization. ?In 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights brought human rights into the realm of international law. ?Since then, the Organization has diligently protected human rights through legal instruments and on-the-ground activities.

A child has a meal at a food distribution centre in the Rwanda camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs), near Tawila, North Darfur. More than 8,000 women and children living in the camp benefit from nutrition programmes run by the World Food Programme

Deliver Humanitarian Aid

One of the purposes of the United Nations, as stated in its Charter, is "to achieve international co-operation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character." ?The UN first did this in the aftermath of the Second World War on the devastated continent of Europe, which it helped to rebuild.? The Organization is now relied upon by the international community to coordinate humanitarian relief operations due to natural and man-made disasters in areas beyond the relief capacity of national authorities alone.

Grace, a farmer from Kipilat village, and a leading member of the forest community in Ainabkoi, Kenya, planting a tree in 2012.

Promote Sustainable Development

From the start in 1945, one of the main priorities of the United Nations was to ¡°achieve international co-operation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion.¡±? Improving people¡¯s well-being continues to be one of the main focuses of the UN. The global understanding of development has changed over the years, and countries now have agreed that sustainable development offers the best path forward for improving the lives of people everywhere.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) delivers its order on the request for the indication of provisional measures filed by Nicaragua on 11 October 2013 in the case concerning Construction of a Road in Costa Rica along the San Juan River.

Uphold International Law

The UN Charter, in its?Preamble, set an objective: "to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained."??Ever since, the development of, and respect for international law has been a key part of the work of the Organization.? This work is carried out in many ways - by courts, tribunals, multilateral treaties - and by the Security Council, which can approve peacekeeping missions, impose sanctions, or authorize the use of force when there is a threat to international peace and security, if it deems this necessary.? These powers are given to it by the UN Charter, which is considered an international treaty.? As such, it is an instrument of international law, and UN Member States are bound by it.? The UN Charter codifies the major principles of international relations, from sovereign equality of States to the prohibition of the use of force in international relations.

Structure of the
United Nations

The main parts of the UN structure are the , the
Security Council, the , the Trusteeship Council, the , and the UN Secretariat. All were established in 1945 when the UN was founded.

General Assembly

The General Assembly is the main deliberative,?policymaking and representative organ of the UN. All?193 Member States of the UN are represented in the?General Assembly, making it the only UN body with?universal representation.

Security Council

The Security Council has primary responsibility, under?the UN Charter, for the maintenance of international?peace and security. It has 15 Members (5 permanent?and 10 non-permanent members). Each Member has?one vote. Under the Charter, all Member States are?obligated to comply with Council decisions.

The Economic and Social Council is the principal body?for coordination, policy review, policy dialogue and?recommendations on economic, social and?environmental issues, as well as implementation of?internationally agreed development goals.

Trusteeship Council

The Trusteeship Council was established in 1945 by the?UN Charter, under Chapter XIII, to provide international?supervision for 11 Trust Territories that had been placed?under the administration of seven Member States, and?ensure that adequate steps were taken to prepare the?Territories for self-government and independence.

The International Court of Justice is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. Its seat is at the Peace Palace in the Hague (Netherlands). It is the only one of the six principal organs of the United Nations not located in New York (United States of America).

Secretariat

The Secretariat comprises the Secretary-General and?tens of thousands of international UN staff members?who carry out the day-to-day work of the UN as?mandated by the General Assembly and the?Organization's other principal organs.

More about the structure of the United Nations

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Podium of the General Assembly Hall seen from below with the gold wall and the golden UN logo behind

Selecting the next Secretary-General

Â鶹´«Ã½ process to appoint the next Secretary?General continues on 21 and 22 April with interactive dialogues guided by the principles of transparency and inclusivity. Join the conversation and follow the live interactive dialogues with the candidates on UN WebTV:  (21 April, 10 a.m. EDT),  (21 April, 3 p.m. EDT),  (22 April, 10 a.m. EDT), and  (22 April, 3 p.m. EDT).

Climate Change

Climate change is the defining issue of our time and now is the defining moment to do something about it. There is still time to tackle climate change, but it will require an unprecedented effort from all sectors of society.

Women at UN CSW63 Side Event - ¡°Take the Hot Seat¡±. Photo: UN Women/Ryan Brown

Gender Equality

Women and girls represent half of the world¡¯s population and, therefore, also half of its potential. Gender equality, besides being a fundamental human right, is essential to achieve peaceful societies, with full human potential and sustainable development.

UN Secretary-General Ant¨®nio Guterres is greeted on his visit to the Central African Republic

Ending Poverty

While global poverty rates have been cut by more than half since 2000, one in ten people in developing regions still lives on less than US$1.90 a day ¡ª the internationally agreed poverty line, and millions of others live on slightly more than this daily amount.

Watch and Listen

Video and audio from across the United Nations and our world-wide family of agencies, funds, and programmes.

The Uniting Force of #Jazz: The Village Vanguard

The Village Vanguard is the oldest jazz club in New York City, founded by Max Gordon in 1935. The club worked as a platform to present all kinds of cultural and political events and became primarily a jazz music venue in 1957. Since then, the club has hosted many renowned jazz musicians from around the world, including Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, and Thelonious Monk. UN News and UN Video interviews the current owner of the club, Deborah Gordon and three-time Grammy Award-winning American jazz pianist Sullivan Joseph Fortner for the International Jazz Day on 30 April. The Day was in 2011 to celebrate the power of jazz as a force for peace, dialogue and mutual understanding.

How intellectual property powers Olympic athletes

NBA legend and triple Olympic medallist Pau Gasol ¨C now Chair of the IOC Athletes' Commission ¨C explains the role intellectual property rights play in making the Olympic Games and other sports events possible.

Protecting rhinos with nuclear science

In South Africa, scientists are addressing poaching with an innovative approach: using safe radioactive isotopes as invisible markers in rhino horns, enabling authorities to detect and trace them at borders.

UN Podcasts

medical personnel working on patient

Psychosocial risks at work: The invisible threat to workers¡¯ health

In this of the , Manal Azzi explains how psychosocial risks such as long working hours, job insecurity and workplace bullying affect workers¡¯ health, and what can be done to create healthier working environments worldwide.

Â鶹´«Ã½ in Pictures

Images from across the United Nations and our world-wide family of agencies, funds, and programmes.

Photo:UNDP Zimbabwe/ Pylaia Chembe

The concept of just transition refers to integrating social justice and equity principles, processes and practices in climate action. As countries move away from fossil fuels to fight climate change, some jobs and communities are at risk of being left behind. A just transition focuses on protecting workers, creating new green jobs, and helping communities adjust. It calls for training, social support, and clear plans so people can find new work and build better lives. This approach also gives communities a voice in decisions that affect them. By putting people at the center, a just transition makes climate action fairer, stronger, and more likely to succeed for the long term.

Photo:IOM/Ploy phutpheng

In Thailand, a simple bowl of Myanmar rice salad carries memories of home, family, and survival. For Flora Aye, a vegan chef from Myanmar, rice is more than food ¨C it is part of daily life and culture. Growing up, her family cooked rice in large batches and never wasted leftovers, turning them into rice salad using whatever ingredients were available. Now living in Bangkok, Flora shares this dish with Thai students, using cooking to pass on Myanmar traditions and values. The rice salad reflects resilience, care, and the importance of making the most of limited resources, while helping keep Myanmar¡¯s cultural identity alive far from home.

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