United Nations Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Economic development and humanitarian assistance=== {| style="background:#f3f9ff; padding-left:7px; padding-bottom:7px; float:right; border:1px dashed #aaa; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em;" |- | colspan=2| '''Millennium Development Goals<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/bkgd.shtml |title=We Can End Poverty |publisher=United Nations |access-date=18 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131113055744/http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/bkgd.shtml |archive-date=13 November 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref>''' |- | style="vertical-align:top; font-size:100%;"| # Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger # Achieve universal primary education # Promote gender equality and empower women # Reduce child mortality # Improve maternal health # Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases # Ensure environmental sustainability # Develop a global partnership for development |} Another primary purpose of the UN is "to achieve international co-operation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural and humanitarian character".<ref name=Charter1/> Numerous bodies have been created to work towards this goal, primarily under the authority of the General Assembly and the ECOSOC.{{sfn|Kennedy|2007|pp=143β144}} In 2000, the 192 UN member states agreed to achieve eight [[Millennium Development Goals]] by 2015.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/ |title=The UN Millennium Development Goals |publisher=United Nations |access-date=4 May 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070504153515/http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/ |archive-date=4 May 2007 |url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Sustainable Development Goals]] were launched in 2015 to succeed the Millennium Development Goals.<ref name="Sustainable Development Goals"/> The SDGs have an associated financing framework called the [[Addis Ababa Action Agenda]]. The [[United Nations Development Programme|UN Development Programme]] (or the UNDP), an organization for grant-based technical assistance, is one of the leading bodies in the field of [[international development]]. The organization also publishes the UN [[Human Development Index]], a comparative measure [[List of countries by Human Development Index|ranking countries]] by poverty, literacy, education, life expectancy, and other factors.{{sfn|Fasulo|2004|pp=169β170, 172}}{{sfn|Fomerand|2009|pp=341β342}} The [[Food and Agriculture Organization]] (or the FAO) promotes agricultural development and food security.{{sfn|Fomerand|2009|p=126}} The [[UNICEF|United Nations Children's Fund]] (or UNICEF) was created in 1946 to aid European children after the Second World War and expanded its mission to provide aid around the world and to uphold the convention on the Rights of the Child.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.unicef.org/about/who/index_history.html |title=About UNICEF: Who we are: Our History |publisher=UNICEF |access-date=21 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131021094832/http://www.unicef.org/about/who/index_history.html |archive-date=21 October 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.unicef.org/about/who/index_introduction.html |title=About UNICEF: Who We Are |publisher=UNICEF |access-date=21 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203005809/http://www.unicef.org/about/who/index_introduction.html |archive-date=3 December 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> [[File:Directors of Global Smallpox Eradication Program.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|left|Three former directors of the [[Smallpox#Eradication|Global Smallpox Eradication Programme]] reading the news that smallpox has been globally eradicated in 1980]] The [[World Bank Group]] and the [[International Monetary Fund]] (or the IMF) are independent, specialized agencies and observers within the UN framework.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2004-06-03 |title=Factsheet β The IMF and the World Bank |url=https://www.imf.org/external/np/exr/facts/imfwb.htm |access-date=2022-08-08 |archive-date=3 June 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040603104319/https://www.imf.org/external/np/exr/facts/imfwb.htm |url-status=dead}}</ref> They were initially formed separately from the UN through the [[Bretton Woods system|Bretton Woods Agreement]].<ref>{{cite web| url=http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTABOUTUS/0,,contentMDK:20040610~menuPK:41691~pagePK:43912~piPK:44037,00.html| title=About UsβUnited Nations| access-date=2 August 2007| date=30 June 2003| publisher=The World Bank| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070324034837/http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTABOUTUS/0,,contentMDK:20040610~menuPK:41691~pagePK:43912~piPK:44037,00.html| archive-date=24 March 2007| url-status=dead| df=dmy-all}}</ref> The World Bank provides loans for international development, while the IMF promotes international economic co-operation and gives emergency loans to indebted countries.{{sfn|Fomerand|2009|pp=175, 191β192}} [[File:Iman Mutlaq visits Zaatari Refugee Camp.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|In [[Jordan]], UNHCR remains responsible for the [[Syrian refugees]] and the [[Zaatari refugee camp]].]] The [[World Health Organization]] (or WHO), which focuses on international health issues and disease eradication, is another of the UN's largest agencies. In 1980, the agency announced that the eradication of [[smallpox]] had been completed. In subsequent decades, [[WHO]] eradicated [[polio]], [[river blindness]], and [[leprosy]].{{sfn|Fasulo|2004|pp=176β177}} The [[Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS]] (or UNAIDS) co-ordinated the organization's response to the AIDS epidemic.{{sfn|Fomerand|2009|pp=199β200}} The [[UN Population Fund]], which also dedicates part of its resources to combating HIV, is the world's largest source of funding for [[reproductive health]] and [[family planning]] services.{{sfn|Fomerand|2009|p=368}} Along with the [[International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement]], the UN takes a leading role in co-ordinating emergency relief.{{sfn|Fasulo|2004|p=183}} The [[World Food Programme]] (or the WFP) provides food aid in response to famine, natural disasters, and armed conflict. The organization feeds an average of 90 million people in 80 nations per year.{{sfn|Fasulo|2004|p=183}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wfp.org/our-work |title=Our Work |publisher=World Food Programme |access-date=22 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131113001620/http://www.wfp.org/our-work |archive-date=13 November 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The [[Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees]] (or the UNHCR) works to protect the rights of refugees, asylum seekers and stateless people.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49c3646c2.html |title=About Us |newspaper=Unhcr |publisher=Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees |access-date=22 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131204025051/http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49c3646c2.html |archive-date=4 December 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> The UNHCR and the WFP programmes are funded by voluntary contributions from governments, corporations, and individuals, though the UNHCR's administrative costs are paid for by the UN's primary budget.{{sfn|Fomerand|2009|pp=348, 398}} Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page