UN Press releases serve information purposes only and are not considered official documents. Because press releases are usually issued in advance of official documents, they are a valuable tool for research, especially on current topics. Press releases are available online from October 1995 to the present.
Press release symbols consist of a letter and number combination. The letters in the press release symbol indicate the topic or the UN body. The main press release series are:
| GA/ | General Assembly |
| GA/SM/ | President of the General Assembly: statements and messages |
| GA/DIS/ | 1st Committee of the General Assembly (Disarmament) |
| GA/EF/ | 2nd Committee of the General Assembly (Economic/Financial) |
| GA/SHC/ | 3rd Committee of the General Assembly (Social/Humanitarian/Cultural) |
| GA/SPD/ | 4th Committee of the General Assembly (Special Political/Decolonization) |
| GA/AB/ | 5th Committee of the General Assembly (Administrative/Budgetary) |
| GA/L/ | 6th Committee of the General Assembly (Legal) |
| SC/ | Security Council |
| ECOSOC/ | Economic and Social Council |
| SG/SM/ | Secretary-General: statements and messages |
| DSG/SM/ | Deputy Secretary-General: statements and messages |
| BIO/ | Biographies |
| HR/ | Human Rights |
| HR/CN/ | Commission on Human Rights |
| HR/CT/ | Human Rights Committee |
| L/ | Legal issues |
| ENV/DEV/ | Sustainable Development |
The main types of press releases are listed here.
Background press releases are issued prior to sessions of major UN bodies and list:
Meetings coverage press releases are issued shortly after a meeting of a UN body and provide:
Round-up press releases are published shortly after the conclusion of a session and provide:
Secretary-General statements (SG/SM/-)are issued for:
Biographies (BIO/-) are issued for: