UN Reiterates its 18-Year-Old Ban on Smoking

A smoke- free UN corridor. Credit: IPSby Thalif Deen (united nations)Wednesday, August 19, 2026Inter Press Service UNITED NATIONS, August 19 (IPS) - When smoking was common in the corridors of the UN, in the delegate’s lounge and in committee rooms during the 1970s and 90s, the office of the Secretary-General sent a memo that read: “Smoking was Discouraged” in the UN building—sounding far short of a ban. The Russian Ambassador Sergey Lavrov (1994-2004), currently the country’s Foreign Minister, left a Security Council meeting and pulled out a cigarette in the presence of half a dozen reporters waiting for him outside the chamber.As he approached the reporters, one of them told him that the Secretary-General had banned smoking in the building. And Lavrov shot back: “This building does not belong to the Secretary-General. It belongs to member states: he said, as he lit his cigarette.And Lavrov was dead on target.The ban on smoking became effective only after the 193-member General Assembly adopted a resolution back in 2008—18 years ago.Under Resolution 63/8 and Secretariat Information Circular ST/IC/2016/10, the United Nations enforced a complete ban on indoor smoking and the sale of...