United Nations

At the United Nations since its founding conference in San Francisco, B'nai B'rith International is the only Jewish non-governmental organization (NGO) with full-time representation at the United Nations in New York and its agencies in Europe and Latin America.  It is also one of the few Jewish NGOs accredited by several U.N. bodies − the Economic and Social Council; the Department of Public Information; and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. BBI has representatives at the U.N. in New York, Geneva, Paris, Vienna, and Santiago and participates in several NGO committees.

For more information on the history of our United Nations office, click here.

In 2006, then-U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said that B'nai B'rith has "a continuing role to play in promoting a just, lasting, and comprehensive solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The United Nations is, I hope and believe, what it always should be − a place where Jews and the State of Israel can feel at home."

B'nai B'rith realizes because it reflects the world, the U.N. is a broken home − one we must perpetually work to repair in constructive ways. That is why the Office of United Nations Affairs conducts three annual programs: an event that parallels to the United Nations international day of Holocaust remembrance in January; leadership delegations to the Human Rights Council in Geneva; and a leadership conference at the U.N. in New York.

During leadership delegations, B'nai B'rith leaders meet with U.N. officials and ambassadors to discuss key Jewish concerns, such as preventing and eliminating antisemitism and anti-Zionism; Israel's status at the U.N.; proceedings in the Human Rights Council; the nuclear threat of Iran; and genocide prevention in Darfur and elsewhere.

In February 2013, B'nai B'rith joined UNESCO in the denunciation of anti-Semitic representations at the Aalst Carnival.

B'nai B'rith Holocaust Restitution Event during the U.N Holocaust Remembrance Program

Contact Us

For more information, please call 212-557-0019 or email us at un@bnaibrith.org.