Category United Nations

In the 1980s, the focus of human rights shifted to gender. Inequalities that women have to face in day-to-day life began to be addressed by the United Nations and the rights of women began to be treated as equal to men.

Starting from the 1980s, the UN set up a whole range of women’s groups, the most prominent ones being the UN Division for the Advancement of Women, the UN Development Fund for Women, and the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women.

These programmes took up women’s issues and started finding constructive solutions for them. Attempts to spread awareness about gender discrimination became crucial in the UN programmes.

For this, a vast amount of information about various issues like domestic violence and harassments were made available for the public. Women’s rights became an integral part of human rights.

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Children are the future of the world. As an organisation that works to build a better future, the UN has never ignored students; it has various programmes targeting students. Let’s now look at some of the UN programmes for students.

The Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth addresses the rights and development needs of the youth. This programme aims to bring the youth closer to the UN. The Model UN Workshop is meant to give students the basic understanding of the rules and procedures of the General Assembly. These workshops discuss drafting resolutions and negotiating deals.

UNICEF has an online platform where students around the world can learn about the issues affecting the world. They can also share their thoughts and opinions about the same. This platform is known as the Voices of Youth.

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Have you heard of an organisation called the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)? This organisation is responsible for drug control and actions against drug abuse. It was established in 1997 by combining the United Nations International Drug Control Program and Crime Prevention, and the Criminal Justice Division.

UNODC is concerned with the problem of drugs, crime prevention, and criminal justice, apart from this, it deals with international terrorism, and political corruption. UNODC tries to deal with these threats to the society primarily through research and guidance.

After extensive research, UNODC adopts and implements various policies on terrorism, crime, corruption and drug abuse.

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The name of the organisation suggests that the United Nations Development Programme deals with the development of countries around the world. UNDP connects countries and provides them with resources for development. These resources can be anything from advice to training and grants.

Out of all the member states, UNDP considers the least developed countries the most. It was established in 1965 and now operates in 177 countries. It works in collaboration with the government to face the challenges to development.

The funding of the UNDP comes from voluntary contributions by the member states. Poverty reduction, energy and environment, HIV/AIDS, social development, democratic governance, and crisis prevention and recovery are the main foci of the UNDP.

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The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) was established in 1969. It is the UN’s reproductive health agency. Put in simple terms, the UNFPA works to ensure the health of pregnant women, especially the ones who face life-threatening complications.

The UNFPA also works to raise awareness about health, gender equality, and the eights of women and young people. Like many other UN programmes, UNFPA works in partnership with governments, communities, NGOs and other private foundations.

It works to stop child marriage, improve effective birth control, and ensure safe child-births around the world.

It also works to stop gender-based violence, especially against women. UNFPA offers its services to 150 countries around the world.

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Let’s now look at some of the WFP’s landmark achievements during times of crisis. A major part of the work of the WFP is connected with conflict affected areas.

Northern Iran was one of the first regions to receive aid from the World Food Programme. In September 1962, an earthquake struck the area of Boein Zahra. WFP sent 1,500 metric tons of wheat, 270 tons of sugar and 27 tons of tea to feed the survivors of the disaster.

Later, the WFP offered help to a typhoon-struck Thailand and war refugees of Algeria at the times of its independence. WFP is specially noted for its work during the long famine that affected several parts of Africa including Ethiopia, western Sahel and Sudan. The organisation used anything it could get hold of, from cars to camels to deliver food.

In 1989, WFP launched Operation Lifeline Sudan. Since then, WFP dropped 1.5 million tons of food from the skies above South Sudan to feed the hungry Sudanese.

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