Created by the UNITAR New York Office in 2023, the Election Officer Handbook aims to to help delegates understand the election process in the Intergovernmental Organs of the United Nations, principally in the General Assembly and Economic and Social Council. The elections are carried out in accordance with the relevant rules of procedure.

For elections to treaty bodies, including human right treaty bodies, the elections are conducted in the Conference or Meeting of States Parties to the treaty concerned and States that are parties to the Treaty participate in the elections in accordance with relevant provision in the Treaty as supplemented by the relevant rules of procedure. The exception is the Committee on the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), whose members are elected by the Council, as the Committee was created by a resolution of the ECOSOC.

More information on elections serviced by the United Nations Secretariat is available to delegates in Candiweb in the e-delegates portal. Information contained therein includes an overview of the candidates, the terms of offices, relevant rules of procedure and other relevant information.

The Election Officer Handbook is divided into several chapters which cover the process and procedures of elections which take place at United Nations Headquarters. The handbook provides an outline on the important role played by the regional groups in the nomination process. Finally, the handbook clarifies the Election Officer’s roles, responsibilities and information management while considering the technological development in adapting it to the strategies of building and managing campaigns and resource mobilization.

The Handbook does not provide information on each election conducted at United Nations Headquarters and does not include information on elections serviced by the Specialized Agencies and Related Organizations of the United Nations, for example with regard to the elections carried out in the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute.

The Election Officer Handbook is available, free of charge, in the following languages in both print and online e-book format: 

• English
• Spanish
• French
• Arabic

Created by the UNITAR New York Office in 2020, the Guidelines for United Nations Resolutions aims to assist delegations in the process of preparing draft resolutions and decisions, principally in the General Assembly and the Main Committees, as prescribed in the Charter of the United Nations and the rules of procedure of the General Assembly. 

The rules of procedure of the General Assembly specify the process through which the resolutions and decisions of the Assembly and the Main Committees are to be adopted. 

The present guidelines cover the application of those rules, at every step from drafting, submitting and negotiating to adopting resolutions in the Main Committees, the General Assembly, and other decision-making organs of the United Nations.

The Guidelines for United Nations Resolutions handbook is available for purchase in the following languages in both print and online e-book format: 

• English
• Spanish
• French 
• Arabic 

The following bilingual versions are available in print format at the UNITAR New York Office:

• English-Spanish
• English-French
• English-Arabic

Single language editions: $10 USD 

Bilingual print editions: $30 USD

For more information, UNITAR recommends you watch this short animated film depicting the process of drafting and passing a UN resolution.