Established in 1948, the UN Information Centre in Moscow is the oldest UN office in the country. It is in a way a compact UN "information agency". It is also a repository of knowledge, global best practices and standards in a wide range of areas – from environmental protection to outer space – being at the same time a sort of a local UN public relations service.

Another important function of the Centre is to keep the UN Headquarters informed of the perception in Russia of UN’s activity, the local assessment of the efficiency of the organization’s programs etc. The UNIC’s strategic mission is to cultivate an informed understanding among the Russian public of the UN’s achievements and priorities, to promote an ever increasing contribution of the country to the Organization’s cause and to encourage the effective use of UN’s experience and potential for the benefit of the Russian people.

The official title of the UNIC – "UN Information Centre in Moscow" by no means implies that the geographic scope of the Centre’s activity is limited to the Russian capital. On the contrary, it is actively promoting the expansion of its outreach to the Russian regions, which become increasingly less "remote" with the progress of global telecommunications networks. The Centre seeks to provide information support on a local level, in particular, by involving regional partners.

The UN Information Centre is accredited with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, working in close cooperation and hosting joint events with the Ministry on a regular basis. It works in contact with both chambers of the Russian Parliament, federal and regional authorities.

The Russian media is our key partner. We assist the media in preparing news and analytical materials on a wide range of issues, encourage the creation of regular columns and programs. Often the Centre itself organizes television, radio, newspaper and magazine coverage of various stories and interviews.

UNIC Moscow holds press conferences and briefings with UN officials and experts, organizes competitions and media seminars, as well as special events to mark memorable dates.

UNIC hosts annual presentations of leading UN publications, such as the World Investment Report, Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific, Human Development Report, Trade and Development Report.

We organize speaking engagements, seminars and lectures on the work of the UN, designed for a range of audiences, including NGOs, university and school students.

By way of feedback, UNIC compiles, on a daily basis, a review of the Russian press publications on issues of global concern. These materials are disseminated among the Organization’s top officials.

Our principal collective partner is the Russian civil society. A diverse group of partners, especially NGOs, enable us to conduct a dialogue with a vast scope of interlocutors and partners in such areas as human rights and the prevention of discrimination, environmental protection, social development, advancement of women and children, corporate responsibility.

The Centre is reinforcing its contacts with the academia, with scholars participating more and more frequently in serious discussions on topics covering global challenges and problems such as the fight against terrorism, security in a changing world, sustainable development, climate change. Therefore, UNIC increasingly plays the role of a debate forum on major issues.

In addition, UNIC supplies UN Headquarters with information and recommendations for establishing association between Russian non-governmental organizations and the Department of Global Communications, enabling NGOs to obtain special status with the DGC.

A key asset of UNIC is its reference library. The Centre’s library is professionally organized repository of documents of the United Nations and its specialized agencies.

The library keeps official UN documents and other information materials, including maps, photographs, posters, statistical reports and audio- and video materials, totaling hundreds of thousands of storage units. If a requested document cannot be located in the library archives, use can be made of the UN "virtual library" on-line, where the document base is much greater.

Using electronic materials provided by the UN Secretariat, UNIC publishes its daily bulletin for the press – a Russian language summary of current UN and world developments. We also publish electronic press releases covering special events in the life of the UN and Russia.

The daily bulletin for the press, UN calendar of events for the upcoming week, special press releases, listings of new library entries, UN documents and publications, are accessible through UNIC’s web-site at www.unic.ru

Starting from December 2015 the UN Information Centre in Moscow is headed by Vladimir Kuznetsov (Russia).

The UN is an open organization. It does not merely seek to be well-known among the public. The global organization has, in fact, direct relevance to governments, professional circles (political leaders, lawyers, ecologists, businessmen etc.), the media, and more broadly, to the people of our planet. It is of paramount importance that as many people as possible have a comprehensive and proper vision of the UN, its mission, objectives, as well as problems – so that the people, relying on such an "enlightened" understanding of UN’ mission, use the Organization’s strengths for to improve their lives.