About UN Documents

The Journal of the United Nations provides current information about meetings of UN bodies, including:

• Location and time of formal meetings scheduled for the day
• Symbols of documents to be considered at the meeting
• Summaries of the previous day's meetings
• As of 2022, links to webcasts and e-statements

Consultations, informal meetings, side events, and other announcements may also be listed in the Journal.

Since 2018:

• In accordance with A/RES/71/323, material related to official meetings is accessible in the six official languages throughout the year

Prior to 2018: 

• From January through August, the Journal was issued in English and French
• From September through December, during the main part of the General Assembly session, the Journal was issued in all official languages

History of the Journal

• The first Journal of the United Nations was published on 10 January 1946 for the first session of the General Assembly held in London, United Kingdom.

The call number for the Journal in the Dag Hammarskjöld Library is: ST/CS/(05)/J5

From 1946-1950 each main body had its own journal. These are filed under:

• General Assembly (1946-1950): UNA(05) J6
• Security Council (1946 only on shelves): UNS(05) J6
• Economic and Social Council (1946-1995): UNE(05) J6

Other duty stations than New York may also publish journals. Information about this can be found in the UN Documentation Research Guides. 

The UN Journal is NOT included in the UN Digital Library, but can be searched in the ODS (Official Document System). One way to search is to enter JOURNAL in the symbol search field and select truncate left & right, then enter your fulltext terms to the search box, or use the date filters to limit your results. 

Duty stations other than New York also have daily journals or calendar websites to announce meetings.

UN Office at Geneva

• Bulletin of Meetings at the Palais des Nations and UN System Meetings at other locations in Geneva
• Latest edition
• Web calendar

UN Office at Nairobi

• Meetings website

Other UN bodies also may have journals for conferences or meetings.