In 1969, United Nations Secretary-General U Thant sowed the seeds for a “United Nations University, truly international in character and devoted to the [United Nations] Charter objectives of peace and progress.”

This year, the United Nations University (UNU) is celebrating 50 years since beginning operations in Tokyo, and a continuing commitment to U Thant’s original vision. But even with its significant global history, the university still faces similar challenges to other subsidiary branches of the United Nations. There is still a fragmented understanding of the agency’s role and operations within the UN system.

After five decades of research, education and partnerships for sustainable development, both UN insiders and outsiders ask the same questions about UNU: Is UNU really a university? Is UNU a United Nations agency? Is UNU a think tank? Can we partner with UNU?

The answer to all of these questions is a confident ‘Yes.’ Here are five ways the details behind that answer make UNU uniquely effective and why that matters.

Autonomously supporting the UN system

Firstly, UNU is indeed a think tank for the UN System and its Member States. The Charter of the United Nations University prominently states that UNU “shall devote its work to research into the pressing global problems of human survival, development and welfare that are the concern of the United Nations and its agencies.” Through the work of 13 institutes in 12 countries, and a growing network of UNU Hubs, UNU foregrounds that mandate in everything it does.

As an autonomous organ of the United Nations, however, a key distinguishing element of UNU is that it does not receive funds from the regular budget of the UN. The operation and work of UNU is financed almost entirely through investment income derived from the UNU endowment fund and voluntary institutional funding made up of recurring host country contributions. This is combined with funding from agencies, foundations and organizations collaborating with UNU on research projects and joint initiatives.

While this funding model presents distinct budget challenges for sustaining the university’s expansive portfolio of research and educational offerings, it also ensures UNU is fulfilling its goal of providing policy-oriented solutions that meet real development needs of UN Member States. Importantly, this funding structure also positions UNU as an agile UN partner that is operationally shielded from wider UN budget constraints.

Comprehensive research expertise

Secondly, UNU conducts research that addresses every Sustainable Development Goal. This highlights the diverse expertise UNU can offer to nearly every UN system partner.

From urban development and agriculture to health and peacebuilding, the global network of specialized UNU research institutes cooperates with local, national and regional partners throughout the world to address interconnected challenges across the 17 SDGs.

A university advancing UN values

Thirdly, UNU is a university like no other. Because UNU is a subsidiary organ of the United Nations, the university operates individually within the framework of the UN. As a university, this position affords UNU the academic freedom and independence required to conduct unbiased research that objectively informs evidence-based policy.

UNU designs its educational programs to promote the values enshrined in the UN Charter, while allowing academic staff and students to creatively advance those values as they seek solutions to overcome the world’s persistent development hurdles. Nowhere else can students study side-by-side with UN experts and policymakers, and engage with real-world policy processes, while also working directly in the communities where development solutions matter most.

As a UNU PhD Fellow aptly put it: “Through this [UNU PhD] journey, I’ve come to understand that development is not just about policies or frameworks — it’s about the people behind them, driven by vision, dedication and a shared commitment to meaningful change.”

This spirit of driving change goes beyond UNU postgraduate degree programs to be embraced by all of the University’s learning opportunities.

From focused PhD programs in sustainability science and workshops to improve technological capacity of government agencies, to public policy courses for mid-career professionals and e-learning programs on decent work and economic growth, UNU educational programs are focused on “generating knowledge to transform the world.”

An open door to partnerships

There are opportunities to partner with UNU in nearly every region of the world. Because of the university’s global operational footprint and wide-ranging expertise, UNU has a long history of collaborative research outside of the UN with government departments, municipal authorities, universities, international organizations, local communities and the private sector. In all its partnerships, UNU serves as a strategic convener, creating effective links between its partners and the UN system and between the Global South and the Global North. Whether marshaling recommendations for global summits at the UN Secretariat or coordinating cross-sector efforts to govern artificial intelligence, “UNU is multilateralism in action.”

The new UNU Hubs initiative is one such example. A UNU Hub is a dynamic way for academic institutions to collaborate with UNU, designed to make the UN system more accessible to university researchers and students as they engage in research addressing the world’s sustainability challenges. UNU Hubs offer partner universities a platform to connect with UN priorities and co-create policy-relevant solutions through research, capacity-building and outreach. They are also geared to equip students with skills for working in UN agencies and international development organizations — in essence, building the multilateralism of tomorrow.

An adaptive future

Finally, as much as anniversaries are a time to look back, UNU is marking its 50th anniversary with the launch of a new strategy focused on three pillars: knowledge, partnerships, and impact. These themes are not new territory for UNU, but today’s escalating crises across climate, environment, peace and poverty demand focused, flexible and retooled approaches.

Through this new strategy, UNU is devoted to education that reinvigorates critical thinking and counters and outsmarts the aggressive mis- and disinformation that impedes our progress towards sustainability. UNU is dedicated to fostering a world where partnerships are the norm, so ideas can be connected to amplify our shared strengths instead of duplicate efforts — or worse yet, duplicate mistakes.

Given that a significant portion of UNU research focuses on issues that disproportionately affect the Global South, the university is strengthening its efforts to ensure that Global South ideas and voices are prioritized in forums of learning and research worldwide. Durable global solutions depend on Global South knowledge.

Since 1975, UNU has contributed its research expertise to support the efforts of the UN and to generate evidence-based solutions to the world’s most pressing problems. As the United Nations marks its 80th anniversary, UNU is poised to adapt how it serves the UN System and UN Member States. After five decades of providing objective insights and advancing learning and policies to improve the lives of people everywhere, UNU is focused on the next 50 years of generating knowledge, partnerships, and impact to change the world.