Photo gallery: the UN blues

When Geneva-based photographer Mark Henley travelled to New York to cover a United Nations conference, he found the global organisation in turmoil — squeezed by massive budget cuts and a crisis of credibility. His photos capture the sombre mood hanging over the corridors of the 80-year-old multilateral institution. During the many years that I have been taking photographs at the UN in Geneva, I had wanted to observe the heart of this global institution in New York – the place to which governments direct their attention and from which all UN bodies take their cues. When I finally got the opportunity in March 2025 during a conference on a treaty to ban nuclear weapons, both the world and the UN had changed profoundly. I found an organisation in disarray, with its approaching 80th birthday overshadowed by massive budget cuts on top of long-standing funding shortages. The UN Security Council, whose primary responsibility is to promote peace and stability around the world, appeared not ...