UN Funds Programmes & Specialised Agencies
The UN Funds and Programmes together with the Specialised Agencies are charged with leading the UN’s operational response to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Four Funds and Programmes have their headquarters in New York. These are the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) and the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM). Each of these funds or programmes has a network of country offices that work with national governments to address countries development needs.
UNDP, UNFPA, UNIFEM and UNICEF are governed by UN member states through two separate Executive Boards. For 2008, the UK is a member of the UNICEF Executive Board and an observer of the UNDP/UNFPA Board. The UK Mission to the UN works closely with all four organisations and other UN member states to promote effective, efficient, and coherent development assistance and humanitarian aid.
Six ways DFID's aid is working to fight global poverty
- More children are in primary school - 17 million more in Bangladesh, 6 million in Ethiopia and over 5 million in Afghanistan;
- By the end of 2006, 2 million people in developing countries were receiving Antiretroviral Treatment for HIV, almost double the number in 2005;
- Bringing clean water to over 2.5 million people in India, Pakistan and Iraq;
- Saving 5 million lives by immunising against common diseases through the International Finance Facility for Immunisation;
- Providing £4 million to strengthen and reform Sierra Leone's civil service as well as £8 million to support a joint DFID/WB/EC decentralisation programme to improve the capacity of local government; and
- In 28 countries that have benefited from debt relief, spending on poverty reduction programmes, like health and education, were almost three times greater in 2007 than in 1999 ($5.9 billion to $16.5 billion).
Sudanese IDPs collect food ration supplied by WFP and UNICEF