List of United Nations organizations


The United Nations established six principal organs of the Organization: the General Assembly, the United Nations Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the United Nations Trusteeship Council, the International Court of Justice, and the Secretariat. The Charter allowed for the creation of any other entities that were seen as required. Since its creation, the United Nations is now considerably larger, encompassing numerous specialised organisations and agencies, programmes and funds, training and research bodies as well as other service providers. There are also numerous subsidiary bodies, including committees, commissions, boards, councils, panels, and working groups some of which this list includes.
This list is a work in progress and should be cross checked with other sources.

Specialised Organizations and agencies

The United Nations maintains and supports a number of specialized organizations and agencies. These differ from the programmes and funds in that they are headed by an executive board of member states, separate from the General Assembly. Sometimes they do not report to the General Assembly or Security Council but only to their own member states. Some of these bodies also predate the United Nations as is the case for the ITU formed in 1865 to administer an international treaty and the ILO created as part of the League of Nations.
No.AcronymsAgencyHeadquartersHeadEstablishedComment
1FAOFood and Agriculture Organization Rome, Italy Qu Dongyu1946
2IAEAInternational Atomic Energy Agency Vienna, Austria Rafael Grossi1957Associated agency
3ICAOInternational Civil Aviation Organization Montreal, Quebec, Canada Fang Liu1947
4IFADInternational Fund for Agricultural Development Rome, Italy Gilbert F. Houngbo1977
5ILOInternational Labour Organization Geneva, Switzerland Guy Ryder1919Originally part of League of Nations
6IMOInternational Maritime Organization London, United Kingdom Kitack Lim1948
7IMFInternational Monetary Fund Washington, D.C., United States Kristalina Georgieva1945
8ITUInternational Telecommunication Union Geneva, Switzerland Houlin Zhao1865
9UNESCOUnited Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Paris, France Audrey Azoulay1945
10UPUUniversal Postal Union Bern, Switzerland Bishar Abdirahman Hussein1947
11WBGWorld Bank Group Washington, D.C., United States David Malpass1945
12WIPOWorld Intellectual Property Organization Geneva, Switzerland Francis Gurry1974
13WMOWorld Meteorological Organization Geneva, Switzerland David Grimes1950
14UNWTOUnited Nations World Tourism Organization Madrid, Spain Zurab Pololikashvili1974
15UNODCUnited Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Vienna, Austria Yuri Fedotov1997
16WHOWorld Health Organization Geneva, Switzerland Tedros Adhanom1948to promote mental and physical health of humanity
17UNHCROffice of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Geneva, Switzerland Filippo Grandi1950
18WFPOffice of United Nations World Food Program Rome, Italy David Beasley1961
19UNIDO United Nations Industrial Development Organization Vienna, Austria Li Yong1966Industrial development for poverty reduction, inclusive globalization and environmental sustainability

Departments and offices of the United Nations Secretariat

The United Nations Secretariat carries out the day-to-day work of the Organisation. It services the other principal organs of the United Nations and administers the programmes and policies laid down by them. At its head is the Secretary-General, who is appointed by the General Assembly. The Secretariat administers a number of notable Offices and Departments.
No.AcronymsAgencyHeadquartersHeadEstablishedComment
1UNOCHAOffice for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs New York City, United States Stephen O'Brien1991
2UNOOSAUnited Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs Vienna, Austria Simonetta Di Pippo1958
3UNODAUnited Nations Office for Disarmament AffairsIzumi Nakamitsu1998

Treaty organisations

The United Nations maintains, administers or has a working relationship with a number of organisations dedicated to the administration of a variety of international treaties and conventions. At times these perform specific administrative functions while also providing a specific forum for discussing issues around a particular treaty. The organisations themselves generally report to the member states of the treaty rather than to the General Assembly.
No.AcronymsAgencyHeadquartersHeadEstablishedComment
1ISAInternational Seabed Authority Kingston, Jamaica Michael W Lodge1994
2CTBTOComprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization Vienna, Austria Lassina Zerbo1997 Provisional organisation
3OPCWOrganisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons The Hague, Netherlands Fernando Arias1997Related organisation

Research and training institutes

There are only five officially recognised training bodies of the United Nations System. Irrespective of what does or does not constitute a United Nations organization, many other institutions serve a research or training purpose, and some are part of other organisations and funds. These are also contained below.
No.AcronymsAgencyHeadquartersHeadEstablishedComment
1UNIDIRUnited Nations Institute for Disarmament Research Geneva, Switzerland Renata Dwan1980
2UNUUnited Nations University Tokyo, Japan David M. Malone1969
3UNITARUnited Nations Institute for Training and Research Geneva, Switzerland Nikhil Seth1965
4UNRISDUnited Nations Research Institute For Social Development Geneva, Switzerland Paul Ladd1963
5UNICRIUnited Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute Turin, Italy Bettina Tucci Bartsiotas1968
6UNSSCUnited Nations System Staff College Turin, Italy Jafar Javan2002
7UPEACEUniversity for Peace San José, Costa Rica Francisco Rojas Aravena1980UN mandated
8ICTPInternational Centre for Theoretical Physics Trieste, Italy Fernando Quevedo1964IAEA, UNESCO, Italian Govt
9IRCInnocenti Research Centre - International Child Development Centre Florence, Italy Marie-Claude Martin1988Part of UNICEF

Subsidiary bodies of the General Assembly

The following entities were established by the General Assembly.
AcronymAgencyHeadquartersHeadEstablishedComment
ICSCDomestic Civil Service Commission New York City, United States John P. Hamilton1975
ACPAQAdvisory Committee on Post Adjustment Questions New York City, United States Wolfgang StöcklPart of ICSC