UN agency directory
The most expensive assumption you can make in a UN job search is that the UN is one employer with one careers page. It is not. The common system is a federation of organisations that recruit separately, on different contracts, through different portals, and if you are watching only Inspira you never see most of the vacancies you are qualified for. I built this directory because that one assumption costs more candidates more opportunities than any other.
This directory lists 47 organisations across 7 groupings: what each one hires, the contract types it uses, where it is based, and the portal it actually posts on.
The UN Secretariat and its entities
- United Nations Secretariat (UN Secretariat) — secretariat entity
- Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) — secretariat entity
- United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) — secretariat entity
- United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) — secretariat entity
- United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) — secretariat entity
- United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) — secretariat entity
- United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) — secretariat entity
- The Five Regional Economic Commissions (ECA, ECE, ECLAC, ESCAP, ESCWA) — secretariat entity
Funds and programmes
- United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) — fund or programme
- United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) — fund or programme
- Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) — fund or programme
- World Food Programme (WFP) — fund or programme
- United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) — fund or programme
- UN Women (UN Women) — fund or programme
- United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) — fund or programme
- Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) — fund or programme
- United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) — fund or programme
- United Nations Volunteers (UNV) — fund or programme
- International Trade Centre (ITC) — fund or programme
Specialised agencies
- World Health Organization (WHO) — specialised agency
- International Labour Organization (ILO) — specialised agency
- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) — specialised agency
- United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) — specialised agency
- United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) — specialised agency
- International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) — specialised agency
- World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) — specialised agency
- International Telecommunication Union (ITU) — specialised agency
- World Meteorological Organization (WMO) — specialised agency
- International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) — specialised agency
- Universal Postal Union (UPU) — specialised agency
- International Maritime Organization (IMO) — specialised agency
- UN Tourism (UN Tourism) — specialised agency
Operational and project-delivery bodies
- United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) — fund or programme
Related and affiliated organisations
- International Organization for Migration (IOM) — related organisation
- International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) — related organisation
- World Trade Organization (WTO) — related organisation
- Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) — related organisation
- Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) — related organisation
- World Bank Group (WBG) — related organisation
- International Monetary Fund (IMF) — related organisation
Courts and tribunals
- International Court of Justice (ICJ) — court or tribunal
- International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) — court or tribunal
- International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT) — court or tribunal
Research and training entities
- United Nations University (UNU) — research or training
- United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) — research or training
- United Nations System Staff College (UNSSC) — research or training
- United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) — research or training
What the full directory adds
Each entry here carries what is publicly checkable. Enrolled students get the rest: how each portal actually behaves and where applications die in it, what the organisation is like to work in, the mistakes that recur in applications to it, and the realistic route in at each level. See what is included, or start with the free lessons.
Portals and contract names change, so I keep this current rather than leaving it to age. Every entry carries the organisation’s own pages so you can check it against the source yourself, and the month I last checked it.