ITUInternational Telecommunication Union
Your call reaches another continent because the networks agreed how to talk.
What everyone already knowsYou can call anyone
To travel and stay in touch · Separate organisation
UN SYSTEM100+ entities · 11 essential needs
Why the UN exists
Start from something in your day. Remove the body behind it, and trace the consequences through the system and back to everyday life.
Eleven things everyone needs
A plain-language explainer for the public, written by Global Roles as an illustration. Not UN text, not a forecast, not an official UN publication.
1
Pick something from your day
Each of these works because one body exists.
2
Take it away
Behind a phone call abroad there is one body. Read its line, then remove it.
Three steps, then where it reaches you. 6 other bodies lean on it.
3
See how far it spreads
Take it away first. Then this shows which other bodies are hit, and what breaks for each.
On the UN System chart: Specialized agencies.
Source: UN System chart. The steps, the reasons and the line closer to home are written by Global Roles as an illustration, to explain the UN system in broad strokes for outreach and learning. They are not a forecast and not UN text.
All 100+ bodies, by the need they answer
Eleven things everyone needs. Open one to see who works on it.
Groups and counts follow the UN System chart (un.org, March 2025).
Globy