United Nations agencies
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The United Nations UN) was established in 1945 to achieve international cooperation in solving international problems, and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms for all.
New Zealand was instrumental in the UN's establishment and has been an active participant in the establishment of international human rights norms and principled engagement in humanitarian affairs.
NZAID supports the following UN agencies:
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
UNDP is the UN's global development network. It is an organisation that advocates for change and connects countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build better lives. UNDP has 166 country offices where it works with governments and citizens to identify and implement solutions to global and national development challenges.
UNDP's network links and coordinates global and national efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It does so by focusing attention on promoting democratic governance, effective poverty reduction, crisis prevention and recovery, sustainable use of energy and environmental resources, and addressing HIV/AIDs.
The UNDP has released its Human Development report for 2009. The summary report Overcoming barriers: Human mobility and development (PDF 740kb) explores how better policies towards mobility can enhance human development. It first traces the contours of human movement-who moves where, when and why-before analysing the wide-ranging impacts of movement on migrants and their families and on places of origin and destination.
Related links: 
United Nations Development Programme
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)
UNICEF aims to defend children's rights, and helps meet their basic needs, ensure their survival and increase their opportunities to flourish. The agency responds to emergencies by working to strengthen the ability of children and their families to handle crises, including situations of armed-conflict, natural disasters and HIV/AIDS.
NZAID is contributing $2 million over three years to UNICEF Pacific programmes with a strong focus on preventing child mortality. An immunisation programme is aimed at getting essential life-saving vaccines to every child and woman of reproductive age. This will help the region eliminate measles and improve Hepatitis B control. The project will also support communicable disease surveillance in the Pacific.
A Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV Programme aims to lessen the impact of HIV/AIDS among women, their partners and children in seven countries: Kiribati, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Samoa, Tonga, Fiji and Tuvalu. The latter two have particularly high numbers of reported HIV/AIDS cases.
UNICEF is also running a Pacific Life Skills programme aimed at teenagers.
United Nations Children's Fund
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
UNFPA promotes the right of every woman, man and child to enjoy a life of health and equal opportunity. The agency supports countries in using population data for policies and programmes to reduce poverty and to ensure that every pregnancy is wanted, every birth is safe, every young person is free of HIV/AIDs, and every girl and woman is treated with dignity and respect.
In 2006/07, UNFPA-supported programmes will help expand access to and improve the quality of reproductive health services, including family planning, especially in the poorest countries. NZAID contributes $4 million a year to UNFPA.
United Nations Population Fund
World Food Programme (WFP)
The WFP is the largest humanitarian agency of the United Nations and takes the lead role in the food security sector. It responds to refugee and other emergency food needs, assists vulnerable groups in protracted relief and rehabilitation situations, and runs food-based development programmes, feeding on average 90 million people in over 80 countries.
World Food Programme
United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR)
UNHCR is mandated to lead and coordinate international action for the worldwide protection of refugees and the resolution of refugee problems. Its primary purpose is to safeguard the rights and well being of refugees. To achieve this, the agency strives to ensure that everyone can exercise the right to seek asylum and find safe refuge in another state, and to return home voluntarily. By assisting refugees to return home or to settle permanently in another country, UNHCR seeks lasting solutions to their plight.
Related links: United Nations Refugee Agency
UNAIDS
Since it was established in 1996, UNAIDS has been the coordinating body for joint programme action against HIV/AIDS by UN agencies. There are ten UN agency cosponsors of UNAIDS including the WFP, the World Bank, UNDP and UNHCR, which reflects the realisation that HIV/AIDS has become a security and development challenge as well as a health crisis.
As the main advocate for global action on HIV/AIDS, UNAIDS leads, strengthens and supports an expanded response aimed at preventing transmission of HIV/AIDS, providing care and support, reducing the vulnerability of individuals and communities to HIV/AIDS, and alleviating the impact of the epidemic.
UNAIDS does not provide substantial direct funding and is not an implementing agency. The UNAIDS Secretariat core functions are:
- Leadership and advocacy
- Strategic information
- Tracking, monitoring and evaluation
- Civil society engagement and partnership development
- Mobilisation of resources.
During 2006/07 the focus of NZAID's partnership with UNAIDS was supporting their work in the Pacific. NZAID contributed $2 million of core funding to UNAIDS in 2006/07.
UNAIDS
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
OHCHR's mandate is the promotion and protection of human rights for all. The Office is guided in its work by the United Nations Charter and the International Bill of Rights, subsequent human rights instruments and the 1993 Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action.
The promotion of universal ratification and implementation of international human rights treaties is at the forefront of OHCHR activities. It also works to ensure the practical implementation of universally recognised human rights norms.
In addition, the Office is responsible for integrating human rights standards throughout the United Nations. The Office's technical assistance programme assists countries to incorporate international human rights standards in national laws, policies, and practices and to build sustainable national human rights institutions. OHCHR field presences are established to provide additional support. OHCHR provides support to treaty monitoring bodies and special mechanisms developed by the Commission on Human Rights, and it manages Trust Funds established by the General Assembly to support work in areas of concern such as torture and indigenous rights.
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
OCHA's mission is to mobilise and coordinate effective and principled humanitarian action in partnership with national and international actors in order to: alleviate human suffering in disasters and emergencies; advocate for the rights of people in need of humanitarian assistance; promote preparedness and prevention; and facilitate sustainable solutions. OCHA is the secretariat for the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) and the Executive Committee on Humanitarian Affairs (ECHA) - two committees responsible for ensuring coordination of humanitarian assistance in country.
Related links: Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO)
UNIDO was established in 1966, became a specialised agency of the United Nations in 1985, and is based in Vienna.
UNIDO's mandate states "UNIDO is the specialist agency of the United Nations dedicated to promoting sustainable industrial development in countries with developing and transition economies. UNIDO harnesses the joint forces of government and the private sector to foster competitive industrial production, develop international industrial partnerships and promote socially equitable and environmentally friendly industrial development. UNIDO is the only worldwide organisation dealing with industry from a development perspective...It helps developing countries and countries with economies in transition in their fight against marginalisation in today's globalised world. UNIDO mobilises knowledge, skills, information and technology to promote productive employment, a competitive economy and sound environment." New Zealand is a member of UNIDO and NZAID funds the assessed contribution of membership.
United Nations Industrial Development Organisation
United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM)
UNIFEM was established following the UN First World Conference on Women in Mexico City in 1975. It provides financial and technical assistance to innovative programmes and strategies that promote women's rights, political participation and economic security. Within the UN system, UNIFEM promotes gender equality and links women's issues and concerns to national, regional and global agendas by fostering collaboration and providing technical expertise on gender mainstreaming and women's empowerment strategies.
UNIFEM
UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS)
UNMAS is the focal point for mine action with in the UN system and is responsible for coordinating all aspects of mine action. At the field level, the agency is responsible for providing mine-action assistance in the context of humanitarian emergencies and peacekeeping operations. It is responsible for: policy development and coordination; assessment and monitoring of land mines (an unexploded ordnance threat); programme initiation and support; information management, quality management and mine-action technology development; advocacy and treaty implementation; and resource mobilisation.
Related links: UN Mine Action Service
United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)
Since its establishment in 1949 by General Assembly resolution, UNRWA's mandate has been repeatedly renewed. The Agency's goal is to promote the development of the Palestine refugees and strengthen the refugee community's self-reliance. Where feasible, UNRWA incorporates cost sharing and self-support measures into its programmes to ensure efficient use of resources and to encourage participation by the beneficiary population in the provision of services.
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