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United Nations Research Guide

Guide to information created by the UN and the UN Family of Organizations. Grateful acknowledgement to Jim Church, University of California Berkeley Libraries, whose work is the basis for this guide.

Introduction

The UN Security Council adopts resolutions for peacekeeping operations. The Security Council President may make statements to call upon the parties involved in a conflict to work towards peaceful settlements. The Secretary General issues Reports of the Secretary General to the Security Council on peacekeeping missions. The General Assembly finances peacekeeping and the authorization of budgets for individual missions.

United Nations Peace Operations

Security Council. UN agency with responsibility for maintenance of international peace and security. The Council has 15 members-- five permanent and 10 elected by the General Assembly for two-year terms.

UN Research Guide - Peacekeeping.Excellent research guide from the UN DagHammarskjöld Library on the UN Peacemaking Process.

Index to Proceedings of the Security Council -- index to speeches, resolutions, documents, voting records, and other work of the Council.

United Nations Department of Political Affairs. UN agency that monitors global political developments in order to detect and deflect potential crises before they escalate.  The Security Council Repertoire of Practice has a section on the history of conflict prevention and that lists a history of political missions and offices.

UN Special Advisors on the Prevention of Genocide and the Responsibility to Protect.

UN Peacekeeping Resources. Key resources produced by the Department of Peacekeeping Operations: reports, statistics, policies and other publications. See also the listing of current and historical Peacekeeping Operations;

United Nations Peacemaker. Online mediation support tool developed by the UN Department of Political Affairs. Includes a database of peace agreements on UN mediation.

UN Deparment of Peacekeeping Operations: Peacekeeping Resource Hub. Department of Peacekeeping Operations, policy, best practices, lessons learned and training material.

United Nations and Disarmament

First Committee of the General Assembly. Deals with disarmament, global challenges and threats to peace that affect the international community and seeks out solutions to the challenges in the international security regime.

Global Reported Arms Trade.  Register of declared trade in heavy arms, conventional weapons, small arms amd light weapons, national military holdings, and various national submitted to the UN by member states.

Statements by the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs. Statements by the High Representative of Disarmament Affairs and its predecessor offices

United Nations Conference on Disarmament. Multilateral disarmament forum of the international community established by the UN General Assembly.  The CD and its predecessors have negotiated the world's major multilateral arms limitation and disarmament agreements.

United Nations Disarmament TreatiesListing of disarmament treaties and country signatories.

UN Disarmament Yearbook.  Extensive review of United Nations disarmament activities during a given year. 

United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research. Institute that brings together states, international organizations, civil society, the private sector and academia to study disarmament.

United Nations Military Expenditures Database.  Database of country military spending reported to the UN in the previous year

UN Mine Action Gateway.  Gateway of information to the various UN agencies working on mine-action programs.  See especially UNMAS, which sets up and manages mine-action coordination centres in countries and territories as part of peacekeeping operations and humanitarian emergencies.

United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs. Office the UN Secretariat established to promote nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, and for disarmament for weapons of mass destruction and chemical and biological weapons.

UN Research Guide - Disarmament.  Research guide from the UN Dag Hammarskjöld Library on Disarmament.

UN Research Guide - Landmines. Research guide from the UN Dag Hammarskjöld Library on Landmines.

Civil Society & Peacekeeping

Global Peace Operations Review. Provides analysis and data on issues surrounding global peace and security, including civilian-led peacemaking and peace-building and peacekeeping by the United Nations, regional organizations, and ad-hoc coalitions.

Human Security Report.  Information and analyses on global and regional trends in armed conflict and other forms of organized violence.  From the Human Security Report Project.

International Peace InstituteIndependent think tank dedicated to managing risk and building resilience to promote peace, security, and sustainable development.

NYU Center for International Cooperation. Analysis and policies to transform international cooperation on leading global challenges, such as increasing peace and security, strengthening fragile states, securing strategic resources, and tackling climate change.

Security Council ReportPublishes monthly reports on the prospective program of work of the Security Council supplemented by longer published reports and ad hoc reports on key thematic issues on the agenda of the Council.

UN Books on Peace and Disarmament