United Nations Office for Partnerships

UN Office for Partnerships
Abbreviation	UNOP, UNFIP, UNDEF
Formation	March 1998
Type	Partnerships
Legal status	Active
Parent organization	UN Secretariat
Website	https://www.un.org/partnerships

The United Nations Office for Partnerships (UNOP) is a body of the United Nations that oversees public-private partnerships. It was established in 2006 by Secretary General Kofi Annan.^[1] Previous attempts to create the body had failed, as there were concerns that public-private partnerships were inconsistent with the intergovernmental nature of the UN.^[1]

The Office oversees the United Nations Fund for International Partnerships (UNFIP) and the United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF).

UN Fund for International Partnerships (UNFIP)[]

The United Nations Fund for International Partnerships (UNFIP) was established by then-Secretary-General Kofi Annan in March 1998 to serve as the interface between the United Nations system and the United Nations Foundation—the public charity responsible for administering Ted Turner's $1 billion contribution in support of UN causes.

The work of UNFIP is overseen by the UNFIP Advisory Board, which is chaired by the Deputy Secretary-General.

UN Democracy Fund (UNDEF)[]

The United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF) was established by the Secretary-General in July 2005 to support democratization around the world. It focuses on strengthening the voice of civil society, promoting human rights and ensuring the participation of all groups in democratic processes. Through the Fund, the Office supported almost 600 projects in more than 130 countries around the world, ranging from strengthening civil society leadership skills and promoting the participation of women and youth to media programmes that allow civil society to project its voice.^{[citation needed]}

UNDEF Priorities[]

The United Nations Democracy Fund was established during the 2005 World Summit as a United Nations General Trust Fund and launched in April 2006, with the United Nations Office for Partnerships/UNFIP providing administrative support and resource-sharing. Since then, the grant-making body has become clearly defined as a fund for civil society organizations. It is the only United Nations entity that has the word “democracy” in its name, the only United Nations body with the primary purpose of supporting democracy through empowering civil society and one of the youngest entities in the United Nations system. The large majority of project funds go to local civil society organizations in countries in both the transition and consolidation phases of democratization. By supporting the “demand” rather than the “supply” side of democratization, the Fund plays a new, distinct and unique role in complementing and enhancing the more traditional work of the United Nations — the work with governments — to strengthen democratic governance around the world.^{[citation needed]}

A key part of the Fund’s mission is to ensure that all levels of government are accountable to those they serve by increasing the knowledge, capacity, voice and reach of citizens’ organizations. With the adoption in September 2015 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Fund undertook to prioritize projects that, inter alia, hold governments accountable with regard to working to meet the Sustainable Development Goals.^{[citation needed]}

References and notes[]

^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Andonova, Liliana B. (2017). Governance Entrepreneurs: International Organizations and the Rise of Global Public-Private Partnerships. Cambridge University Press. p. 87. ISBN 978-1-316-73867-2.

External links[]

[:0-1] Jump up to: ^a ^b Andonova, Liliana B. (2017). Governance Entrepreneurs: International Organizations and the Rise of Global Public-Private Partnerships. Cambridge University Press. p. 87. ISBN 978-1-316-73867-2.

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