This article's external links may not follow Wikipedia's content policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links.

This article may require copy-editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone or spelling. You can assist by editing it. (October 2008)

The United Nations University (国際連合大学, Kokusai Rengō Daigaku^?) (UNU) which is a United Nations agency, is a think tank for the United Nations and the member states, and was established in Tokyo in 1969^[1] to "research into the pressing global problems of human survival, development and welfare that are the concern of the United Nations and its agencies".^[2] Its creation was set in motion by the Secretary-General U Thant in 1969.^[3]

The university motto is "Advancing knowledge for human security, peace, and development."

The United Nations University provides educational opportunities to researchers mainly at the graduate and post-graduate level through an extensive range of fellowship schemes. It operates through a number of research centres around the world, where research fellows or Ph.D. students from other universities can come to do research. It especially targets researchers and students from developing countries. UNU is headed by a Rector, and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It does not receive any funding from the regular UN budget; it relies instead upon voluntary contributions from member states and the return on its investments, which are currently valued at US$350 million. The budget of UNU is approximately US$37 million per annum. UNU relocated its Institute of Advanced Studies to the Minato Mirai 21 development in Yokohama, Japan in March 2004.

The UNU has its own press and publishes a number of books every year. Research at the Tokyo headquarters is carried out by UNU Institute for Sustainability and Peace formed with the merger of the 'Peace and Governance' and 'Environment and Sustainable Development' programmes in 2009.

As of January 2006 UNU-INTECH and the Maastricht Economic Research Institute of Innovation and Technology (MERIT) from the Maastricht University fused into UNU-MERIT with MERIT director Luc Soete as its new director.

UNU-WIDER, the World Institute for Development Economics Research is the first UNU research and training centre, located in Helsinki, Finland, established in 1984.

Contents 1 Structure and campuses 2 References 3 See also 4 External links 4.1 Video clips 4.2 Web magazine

[edit] Structure and campuses

• Headquarters in Tokyo, Japan and Bonn, Germany^[4] with offices at UN Headquarters New York and UNESCO Headquarters Paris
• UNU Office at the United Nations (UNU-ONY) in New York, at United Nations headquarters
• UNU - Institute of Advanced Studies (UNU-IAS) in Yokohama, Japan - strategic approaches to sustainable development
• UNU - World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER) in Helsinki, Finland - development economics
• UNU - Maastricht Economic and Social Research and Training Centre on Innovation and Technology (UNU-MERIT) in Maastricht, the Netherlands - socio-economic impacts of new technologies
• UNU - Institute for Natural Resources in Africa (UNU-INRA) in Accra, Ghana - natural resources management
• UNU - International Institute for Software Technology (UNU-IIST) in Macau S.A.R., China - software technologies for development
• UNU - Programme for Biotechnology in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNU-BIOLAC) in Planta Baja, Venezuela - biotechnology and society
• UNU - International Leadership Institute (UNU-ILI) in Amman, Jordan - leadership development
• UNU - International Network on Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH) in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada - water, environment and human health
• UNU - Programme for Comparative Regional Integration Studies (UNU-CRIS) in Bruges, Belgium - local/global governance, regional integration
• UNU - Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) in Bonn, Germany - environment and human security
• UNU - Food and Nutrition Programme for Human and Social Development (UNU-FNP) in Ithaca, New York
• UNU - Geothermal Training Programme (UNU-GTP) in Reykjavík, Iceland - geothermal research, exploration and development
• UNU - Fisheries Training Programme (UNU-FTP) in Reykjavík, Iceland - postgraduate fisheries research and development

As well as these main campuses, there are several "associated institutions" with which the UNU works closely.

[edit] References

1. ^ United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3081 session 28 United Nations University on 6 December 1969
2. ^ United Nations General Assembly Document 9149-Add.2 session 28 Revised Draft Charter of the United Nations University on 30 October 1969
3. ^ United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2573 session 24 International university on 13 December 1969
4. ^ http://www.ehs.unu.edu/file.php?id=269

[edit] See also

• List of universities in Japan
• University for Peace Important to note that the United Nations University and the University for Peace are two distinct entities, often confused as the same institution.
• UNU-IIST

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: United Nations University

• United Nations University headquarters website

[edit] Video clips

• UNU YouTube channel
• UNU Vimeo channel

[edit] Web magazine

• Our World 2.0 which was launched in July 2008. Our World 2.0 is the first web magazine developed by the UNU.

Coordinates: 35°39′45″N 139°42′30″E / 35.6623718°N 139.7083631°E / 35.6623718; 139.7083631