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Research Guides

How to Find UN Documents

Reports and Studies

Reports are among the most common UN documents.  There are many types of reports on a wide variety of topics. 

The main types of reports are

  • Reports of Principal Organs to the General Assembly
  • Reports of the Secretary-General
  • Reports of UN bodies (including sessional reports)
  • Flagship reports.

Many reports are available in the Digital Library where they can be searched by title or subject. For examples, see the videos on the Find UN Documents page.

Secretary-General Reports

UN Secretary-General reports are some of the most commonly cited United Nations documents. The UN publishes reports of the UN Secretary-General on many topics, for consideration by the UN bodies that request the reports. Usually reports of the Secretary-General are prepared in response to a request in a resolution of one of the principal organs or subsidiary bodies.

How to find reports of the Secretary-General

To search for reports of the Secretary-General, enter keywords to the UN Digital Library search box, then use filters and sorting to refine results. Here are some sample searches:

 

Reports of Subsidiary Bodies

Most UN bodies, such as committees, commissions, boards, councils, and conferences, report on their work. These reports include summaries of the work of the body for a given time period or session. A sessional report is a report submitted by a subsidiary body to its parent organ. A series title is assigned to each sessional report.

More Information

Consult the following section of the UN Documentation Research Guide: