The purpose of the United Nations Office for Sustainable Development (UNOSD) is to support UN Member States in planning and implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, through knowledge sharing, research, training and partnerships.

UNOSD was established in 2011 by the United Nations and the Government of the Republic of Korea. UNOSD is supported by the Republic of Korea Ministry of Environment, Incheon Metropolitan City, and Yonsei University.

The Office is part of the Division for Sustainable Development Goals (DSDG) of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA).

UNOSD promotes sustainable development through the following activities.

• Knowledge Exchange: Serving as a broker of knowledge, UNOSD continues to facilitate the sharing of information, tools and resources available for sustainable development practitioners. We facilitate connections between researchers and practitioners, particularly for national and local policy making and programming.
• Capacity Building: The Office’s role as a broker of knowledge is complemented by the direct support which UNOSD provides through capacity development activities in the field of sustainable development. This includes institutional building, whereby UNOSD supports the strengthening of public agencies through administrative reforms, strategy and policy review, etc.
• Research and Advisory Services: The Office provides direct assistance to UN Member States in their efforts to implement the SDGs, notably through the transfer of acquired knowledge and cross-cutting tools and methodologies that were created or refined through its knowledge exchange and capacity building in addition to disseminating available knowledge and information on sustainable development issues.
• Partnerships: To implement the activities above, UNOSD nurtures cooperation and promote efficient and effective sharing of resources, including expertise, capital and knowledge from and between all stakeholders.

UNOSD is uniquely positioned, institutionally as well as geographically, to play an increasingly important role in the dissemination and adoption of sustainable development ideas and practices.

We draw on numerous world-leading institutions and experts through our connections within UN DESA, a central player in sustainable development global governance.

We fill a gap in sustainable development knowledge management and networking aimed at supporting policy making for SDGs implementation in developing countries in the South.

We bring together and promote synergies between researchers, capacity-building institutions, UN programs and other centres of expertise.

Our location in Songdo, Incheon, Republic of Korea puts UNOSD at the heart of an emerging international hub of sustainable development related research, implementation expertise and policy making.