UN Special

The use of the United Nations name, logo and emblems are retained by UN Today exclusively, however the pool of writers of NewSpecial includes UN Staff members, diplomats, and others.

Earlier, the content of the magazine tended to focus on UN staff issues, however, with its development and increase in outreach, the magazine covered a broad range of topics related to the work of international organizations and governance, such as peace-keeping, poverty reduction, human rights, climate change mitigation, environmental protection, natural disaster management, and the status of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The recent global discussions on greening the economy and enhancing sustainable development were reflected in the magazine due to the engagement within these topics of those contributing to the UN Special.

The exhibition traced the development of UN Special from the first magazine in 1949, and highlighted key moments in the history of the United Nations as experienced and told by staff.

On the eve of the 70th anniversary of the United Nations, UN Special was shortlisted in the category: Staff Volunteerism, for the collective work of the colleagues who promoted Organizational values through the commitment of personal time and/or expertise to a deserving cause outside their job description.

On 5 June 2010, the United Nations family invited the wider Geneva population to join in a big celebration of World Environment Day.

Based on an idea from UN Special magazine, and from its Editor-in-Chief,[3] the event (also called UN Green Day[4][5]) was made possible through the dedicated efforts over less than six months of an organizing committee, drawn from all UNOG Divisions and Services and working in collaboration with UNEP and WIPO colleagues.

The event was also made possible through the contributions and assistance from the Swiss Confederation, the Canton and City of Geneva, the Permanent Missions of Brazil, Denmark, Italy, Japan and Rwanda and a large number of other partners.