The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), is a specialized agency in the United Nations system, headquartered in Vienna, Austria. The Organization’s primary objective is the promotion and acceleration of industrial development in developing countries and countries with economies in transition and the promotion of international industrial cooperation. It is also a member of the United Nations Development Group.
UNIDO believes that competitive and environmentally sustainable industry has a crucial role to play in accelerating economic growth, reducing poverty and achieving the Millennium Development Goals. The Organization therefore works towards improving the quality of life of the world’s poor by drawing on its combined global resources and expertise in the following three interrelated thematic areas:
- Poverty reduction through productive activities;
- Trade capacity-building; and
- Energy and environment.
Activities in these fields are strictly aligned with the priorities of the current United Nations Development Decade and related multilateral declarations, and reflected in the long-term vision statement, business plan and mid-term programme frameworks of UNIDO.
In order to fulfill these objectives, UNIDO
- assists developing countries in the formulation of development, institutional, scientific and technological policies and programmes in the field of industrial development;
- analyzes trends, disseminates information and coordinates activities in their industrial development;
- acts as a forum for consultations and negotiations directed towards the industrialization of developing countries; and
- provides technical cooperation to developing countries for implementing their development plans for sustainable industrialization in their public, cooperative and private sectors.
UNIDO thus works largely in developing countries, with governments, business associations and individual companies. The Organization’s “service modules” are Industrial Governance and Statistics, Investment and Technology Promotion, Industrial Competitiveness and Trade, Private sector Development, Agro-Industries, Sustainable energy and Climate Change, Montreal Protocol, and Environmental management.
As of January 2017, 168 States are Members of UNIDO. India is also a member country.