Many independent organizations monitor the work of the UN and advocate for reform. Some include:
- United Nations Watch: This organization aims to "monitor the performance of the United Nations by the yardstick of its own Charter." It often focuses on calling attention to instances where UN bodies apply the UN Charter principles in a selective or inconsistent way, especially what UN describes as the disproportionate attention and unfair treatment applied by the UN toward Israel.
- Center for UN Reform: This organization publishes research on proposals for the reform of the United Nations system, addressing issues such as weighted voting, E-democracy, and restructuring of the UN's principal organs including the Security Council and the General Assembly.
- Security Council Report: This organization works to advance the transparency and effectiveness of the UN Security Council by reporting on the activities of the Council and its subsidiary bodies. It advocates transparency but does not take positions on the issues before the Council.
- Free United Nations Coalition for Access: This organization advocates for increased access to the UN for the press.
- Inner City Press: Investigative blog produced by reporter Michael Lee, focusing on corruption at the UN. Lee is described by the Columbia Journalism Review as a "gadfly," and his blog is described as "read widely by journalists on the diplomacy beat—if sometimes skeptically."
