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The United Nations in Bonn
In the Federal City of Bonn, there are currently 24 United Nations institutions based on the UN Campus.
In the Federal City of Bonn, there are currently 25 United Nations institutions based on the UN campus. The development of Bonn as a UN location (initially with UNHCR in 1951 and with UNEP/CMS (Bonn Convention) and many more since 1984) has been gaining momentum; there is major interest in setting up in the city. The Federation provides the United Nations with some 50,000 square metres of office and conference space in the former parliamentary quarter on the banks of the Rhine. The Langer Eugen, the Altes Abgeordnetenhochhaus, the Climate Tower, as well as the historical Haus Carstanjen, make up the Bonn UN Campus with a staff of almost a thousand. Various federal ministries help attract and accommodate institutions as well as run operations, conferences and projects of the United Nations in Bonn. The German Bundestag and the Federal Government also support the further development and strengthening of Bonn as a UN location. The City of Bonn and Land North Rhine-Westphalia are committed champions of Bonn’s UN Campus and the city’s international profile.
Thematic focal points of the United Nations at the Bonn UN Campus are sustainability, the environment and climate, as well as education, knowledge transfer and innovation. A further focus is currently emerging in the field of administration and personnel management.
Also thanks to many other international leading active governmental and non-governmental organisations, Bonn has evolved into an international hub for implementing the 2030 Agenda. The motto of all UN institutions based in Bonn is “Shaping a sustainable future”. They each follow this motto in line with their own objectives and priorities. Thus the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Action Campaign (SDG Action Campaign) has its headquarters in the UN City of Bonn from where it works to disseminate information on and implement the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To this end, it hosts the annual Global Festival of Action which in 2019 attracted more than 1700 participants from 44 countries. The interactive Festival helps raise the profile and promote implementation of the 2030 Agenda.
The United Nations University (UNU) plays a central role in research, education and innovation in the field of the UN Sustainability Goals. It cooperates here with the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, for example in the form of joint Masters courses. The United Nations System Staff College based in Turin runs a UNSSC Knowledge Centre for Sustainable Development in Bonn and its training spectrum is also open to interested parties from government, business and civil society. The United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) focuses on transformative change in its work to implement the 2030 Agenda.
The UNFCCC organises around 100 workshops and conferences in Bonn every year and with the Climate Change Conference in Bonn (COP23, 2017) staged the largest intergovernmental conference ever held in Germany.
By hosting this Conference, Bonn put itself on the map once and for all as an international conference location. The World Conference Center Bonn (WorldCCBonn) beside the UN Campus can alone host conferences with up to 7000 participants. The Federal City of Bonn itself has long had a strong international profile and is home to people from more than 180 nations.
Further Information
Bonn: center for international cooperation and sustainable development