In 1994 the United Nations granted the Sovereign Order of Malta Observer Status (UN General Assembly – Resolution 48/265, August 24, 1994). Since then, the Order has maintained Permanent Missions to the United Nations in New York, Geneva, Vienna and Rome. In Paris it is accredited to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

The Permanent Observer Mission exists, like all the diplomatic initiatives of the Order of Malta, to support and extend the humanitarian goals of the Order of Malta and its members. The neutral, impartial, and non-political nature of the Order permits for humanitarian intervention in a timely and valuable nature as well as for a welcoming presence amongst fellow members of the United Nations. Diplomats assist in ensuring the cooperation of particular countries or multilateral agencies in the Order of Malta’s effective delivery of aid and personnel into what are often the least inviting of circumstances.

The Sovereign Order of Malta’s Permanent Observer Mission in Vienna is accredited to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and the Preparatory Commission of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO).