UNIDO Full Form- United Nations Industrial Development Organization

What is UNIDO? The full form of UNIDO is the United Nations Industrial Development Organization. With the specific responsibility of fostering, accelerating, and dynamizing industrial growth, UNIDO is a specialized organization of the United Nations. Goal 9 of the Sustainable Development Agenda (SDG) states that UNIDO must "build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization, and foster innovation." However, UNIDO's work advances all nine SDGs. UNIDO envisions a world free of hunger and poverty, where business promotes low-emission economies, raises living standards, and protects the environment so that future generations can live in a habitable world without abandoning anyone. 

How UNIDO Works

Through its four specified functions—technical cooperation, action-oriented research and policy-advisory services, activities relating to normative standards, and building partnerships for knowledge and technology transfer—UNIDO supports its 172 Member States.

Their work is focused on three main areas: preventing climate change by utilizing energy efficiency and renewable energy to reduce industrial greenhouse gas emissions; assisting businesses from farm to fork in ending hunger; and promoting sustainable supply chains to ensure that producers in developing countries receive fair compensation and that limited resources are protected. 

The Priorities of UNIDO

The main issues we are currently facing are environmental degradation, hunger and poverty, and climate change.

Approximately 208 million people are unemployed worldwide, while an additional two billion people labor in the unofficial sector in positions that lack fundamental protections.

The situation for women and young people is noticeably worse. The hardest hit are the poorest.

The global organization spearheading the discussion on addressing these issues via sustainable industrial development is UNIDO.

The industrial strategies, technical cooperation, and investment promotion initiatives spearheaded by UNIDO result in economic change, new and decent jobs, and industrial development. 

UNIDO encourages the creation and implementation of novel technologies as well as the use of novel paradigms. It serves as a platform for innovation, the sharing of knowledge and technology, industry collaboration, and the encouragement of investment.

Three primary action priorities have been established by Director General Gerd Müller:

• Encouraging sustainable supply networks to protect limited resources and give producers in underdeveloped nations a fair playing field.
• Limiting the rate of climate change by cutting industrial greenhouse gas emissions through the use of energy efficiency and renewable energy.
• Reducing post-harvest losses and creating agribusiness value chains to end hunger.

All three entail actions that support the growth of the labor force.

The following topics cut across these priorities: digitalization, training and skills, investment promotion, technology and knowledge transfer, the circular economy, and women's economic empowerment.

Sustainable Supply Chain

Trade and the creation of jobs depend on supply chains, but supply chains themselves need to be sustainable. 

An approximate of 450 million individuals are employed in worldwide supply chains. There are over 190 million women among them.

The promise of financial independence is provided by these jobs, which are found in the factories, farms, and packing houses that provide the world's clothing, products, and food. However, the reality for millions of workers is that they typically work long hours in hazardous and uncomfortable environments, and their pay is insufficient to cover their basic expenses.

The global economy cannot be built on the exploitation of workers and consumers as well as the environment. In order to ensure fair global business operations, corporations must verify that they are adhering to environmental and human rights norms.  

Businesses must recognize, stop, prevent, and lessen any adverse effects on human rights and the environment from occurring in their own activities, as well as those of their subsidiaries and supply networks. This involves making certain that their business plan aligns with the Paris Agreement's goal of keeping global warming to 1.5 °C.