ABOUT US
United Nations Watch is a non-governmental organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, whose mandate is to monitor the performance of the United Nations by the yardstick of its own Charter.
United Nations Watch was established in 1993 by legendary civil rights activist Morris B. Abram, the former U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva.
United Nations Watch participates actively at the UN as an accredited NGO in Special Consultative Status to the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and as an Associate NGO to the UN Department of Public Information (DPI). It reports regularly to both.
United Nations Watch believes in the United Nations’ mission on behalf of the international community to “save succeeding generations from the scourge of war” and provide for a more just world. We believe that even with its shortcomings, the UN remains an indispensable tool in bringing together diverse nations and cultures.
United Nations Watch is keenly aware that member states often ask the UN to fulfill mandates and tasks that are neither feasible nor within the means provided. While it would be unrealistic to ignore the UN’s weaknesses, we advocate finding ways to build on its strengths and use its limited resources effectively.
United Nations Watch is foremost concerned with the just application of UN Charter principles. Areas of interest include: UN management reform, the UN and civil society, equality within the UN, and the equal treatment of member states. United Nations Watch notes that the disproportionate attention and unfair treatment applied by the UN toward Israel over the years offers an object lesson (though not the only one) in how due process, equal treatment, and other fundamental principles of the UN Charter are often ignored or selectively upheld.
United Nations Watch, together with 20 other international NGOs organizes each year the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy. Started in 2009, this annual human rights conference brings together well-known human rights defenders, victims, activists and former political prisoners, reported by major media around the world.
United Nations Watch is a leader at the UN in the struggle against antisemitism, and campaigns at world bodies against all forms of racism and discrimination.
United Nations Watch is chaired by Ambassador Alfred H. Moses, former U.S. Ambassador to Romania and Special Presidential Emissary for the Cyprus Conflict.
From 1993 to 2000, United Nations Watch was affiliated with the World Jewish Congress, and then in 2001 with the American Jewish Committee. As of 2013, United Nations Watch was no longer affiliated with any organization, and is fully independent.