United Nations Correspondence Manual - UNU

Some points
of style
40
22. When two numbers occur together, they should be expressed in different
styles, according to the nature of the elements and the context, for example, twenty
15-cent stamps, 120 fifteen-cent stamps, 12 ten-foot poles.
23. When two or more numbers to which different rules apply occur in a series, or
in proximity in the same sentence, referring to the same thing, the rule applying to
the higher or highest number should apply to all, for example, “14, previously 9,”
not “14, previously nine.”
F. Abbreviations and acronyms
24. Special care should be taken, in the use of abbreviations, to ensure that their
meaning will be clearly understood. If it is necessary to make frequent use of an abbreviation
that may not be familiar to the reader, the complete form should be given
in full, followed by the abbreviation in parenthesis the first time it occurs; thereafter,
the abbreviation may be used alone. Abbreviations should not be used for words
or titles that occur only once or twice in a text. The words “United Nations” should
never be abbreviated, nor should the following titles be abbreviated:
Economic and Social Council
General Assembly
Secretary-General
Security Council
United Nations Office at Geneva
United Nations Office at Nairobi
United Nations Office at Vienna.
25. If a title occurs frequently in a text, a short form may be used. The full title
should be given the first time it appears and repeated only where necessary for clarity.
Thereafter, a short title may be used unless there is a risk of ambiguity. This
method should be used, in particular, for titles for which there is no official abbreviation.
Examples of short titles are the Assembly, the Council, the Commission, the
Committee, the Special Committee. Short forms or abbreviations may be used in
some circumstances for the names of certain Member States. They should not be
used at the first reference. The latest issue of the terminology bulletin on the names
of Member States (currently ST/CS/SER.F/ 347/Rev.1) is the authority on the subject
and should always be followed.
26. Acronyms and other abbreviations are sometimes used informally for the
names of units of the Secretariat, committees and the like. They are acceptable and
even unavoidable in texts such as internal correspondence and informal notes. Acceptable
abbreviations for units of the Secretariat and Secretariat services, to be
used only in internal correspondence and informal notes, are listed in the United
Nations Telephone Directory. In case of doubt, consult the Editorial Service.
27. A database of the principal officially recognized abbreviations and acronyms
encountered in United Nations documents in all official languages is available on
the United Nations intranet in the Reference Materials section under Terminology/General
Nomenclature or Acronyms.
G. Division of words
28. The division of words at the end of a line should, as far as possible, be avoided
in United Nations correspondence. Where division is necessary, the following rules
should be applied wherever possible. To avoid uneven spacing, however, one-