The United Nations Human Resources Network (HRN) has been in place since the Administrative Committee on Coordination (ACC) created it in 1948. It took on the current name in 2002 after reorganization of the Chief Executives Board (CEB) to ensure that all parts of the United Nations System are coordinated and work together in harmony. The HRN reports to the the High-level Committee on Management. Its main purpose is to create and support personnel standards throughout the UN system.

The HRN has two roles to fulfill. First they are to give the CEB advice on recent human resources developments to ensure that the system is following the best practices. Secondly, they do work, on behalf of the CEB, with the International Civil Service Commission (ICSC)

Since 1964 the CEB Secretariat has gathered data, on an annual basis, from the staff who work in the UN System organizations. This data includes more than 30 aspects profiling the staff including gender, nationality, age, category of service, grade, length of service and station of duty. Such information helps the HRN to get a clearer picure of those who make up the entirety of the UN System. Yearly comparisons are made with earlier data to look at trends such as the change of gender ratios, ageing of organizations and the proprotion of general staff to professionals. This information is used as the basis for nearly all of the analyses that the ICSC, the CEB and other bodies of the UN System use when making decisions about employment within the system as well as for authoring reports that are submitted to the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council. This data is only taken from staff who have contracts of a year or longer and do not include data on the National Professional Officers, as their data is collected and published separately.

Some of the other issues that the HRN are concerned with are the reform of the compensation and benefits system, the work-family agenda, inter-agency mobility and enhancing recruitment based on ability.

The Human Resources Network meets twice a year, often around the same time as the ICSC since they work closely together. The content on this page is for research and educational purposes only. The information about the UN is provided freely as a public service and should not be construed as being in any way sanctioned or endorsed by the United Nations. The United Nations' official website can be found at http://www.un.org/en/.