Rules for writing common UNU system names and acronyms.
Use the definite article “the” with UNU organisational names.
Do not use “the” with UNU organisational acronyms.
For brevity of headlines, “the” may be omitted before “United Nations University”.
This rule applies to the names and acronyms of other UN entities as well.
When the acronym functions as a modifier, use or non-use of “the” is dictated by the term being modified (for example: “the UNU Charter”, “the UNU-INWEH seminar”).
The United Nations University (system) comprises numerous institutes, programmes, and offices (units).
Use a hyphen (not an “en” dash or “em” dash) to separate the system-level element (UNU) from the unit-level element in an acronym.
Do not use a hyphen (or other punctuation) in the full name of a United Nations University unit, or when the full unit name follows the UNU acronym.
In documents published prior to 1998, a slash mark rather than a hyphen was used as the separator (for example, UNU/WIDER or UNU/BIOLAC). This form is no longer used.
The preferred form of an institute/programme name is, for example, “the United Nations University International Institute for Global Health”. The use of variations, such as “the International Institute for Global Health of the United Nations University” or “the United Nations University’s International Institute for Global Health”, is discouraged.
Never use the name or acronym of a UNU institute or programme without the UNU element.
Use an an initial capital letter for “University” when referring to the United Nations University.
Capitalise the initial letter of “Institute” and “Programme” only when referring to a specific UNU system unit. Do not use an initial capital when the reference is general rather than to a specific unit (such as the plural form).
When referring to a subdivision of a UNU institute or programme, or to a non-UNU organisation, use the lowercase form.