Our Mission
The Institutional Memory Section of the UN Library & Archives Geneva manages all documents produced or held by UN Geneva that have enduring historical and administrative values. They are divided into records and archives.
Records are information created, received, and maintained by the Organization that provide evidence of an activity, decision, or transaction. Archives are records that have been assessed as having enduring value and are no longer used for official business, which at the United Nations is usually after 20 years of the closure of the file.
Archival Fonds and Collections include those from UN Geneva Archives, League of Nations, International Peace Movements, and private papers. The Archival Fonds and Collections’ description and the digitized archives can be consulted through the UN Archives Geneva online platform .
The entire collection comprises fifteen linear kilometers of archives and records.
Digitization Projects
The UN Library & Archives Geneva undertakes in-house and cooperative digitization projects to make the historical collections accessible online. It also digitizes smaller portions of its collections and individual documents subject to researchers’ request and availability of resources.