The organizations of the United Nations present in Lebanon cover a wide range of mandates, including peacekeeping, development and humanitarian assistance including assistance to vulnerable refugees and Lebanese. The United Nations Organization (UN) was established by 51 countries (including Lebanon as a founding member) on 24 October 1945, committed to preserving peace through international cooperation and collective security. When states become members of the United Nations, they agree to accept the obligations of the UN Charter, an international treaty that sets out basic principles of international relations. Under the UN Charter, Member States agree to settle disputes by peaceful means, and refrain from threatening or using force against other States. The United Nations provides the means to help resolve international conflicts, and formulates a normative framework on all matters of international cooperation. At the UN General Assembly, all the Member States - large and small, rich and poor, with differing political and social systems - have a voice and a vote. The United Nations has six main organs of which five are based at UN Headquarters in New York: the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Trusteeship Council, and the Secretariat. The sixth, the International Court of Justice, is located at The Hague in the Netherlands. One of the UN’s central mandates is the promotion of higher standards of living, full employment and conditions for economic and social progress and development. Almost 70 per cent of the work of the UN system is devoted to accomplishing this mandate. Guiding the work is the belief that eradicating poverty and improving the wellbeing of people everywhere are necessary steps in creating conditions for lasting world peace. The UN has unique strengths in promoting development. Its presence is global and its development mandate comprehensive. Through UN efforts, governments have concluded many multilateral agreements that make the world a safer, healthier place with greater opportunity and justice for all of us. This comprehensive body of international law, including the human rights law, is one of UN‘s great achievements. The United Nations' presence in Lebanon dates from soon after its independence, and is involved in development assistance and cooperation, security support, and humanitarian and recovery assistance. All agencies present in Lebanon are members of the UN Country Team (UNCT) which is supported by the Resident Coordinator’s Office(UN RCO) and consists of the following agencies, funds, programmes and offices: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Population Fund(UNFPA), Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), International Labour Organization (ILO), United Nations Economic and Social Commission For Western Asia (ESCWA), World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees(UNHCR), United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), United Nations Information Centre (UNIC), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), International Organization for Migration (IOM), United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), United Nations Human Settlements Programme(UN-HABITAT), World Food Programme (WFP),Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs(OCHA). As well, UNSCOL (Department of Political Affairs), UNIFIL and UNTSO (Department of Peacekeeping Operations), the Bretton Woods Institutes of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, and a number of non-resident UN agencies are also part of the UNCT including UNIFEM and UNWOMEN. As well, the UNV office also provides and supports approximately 40 international and national offices to many agencies to support their work in Lebanon. The UNCT meets regularly to ensure the provision of a well-coordinated, focused and coherent UN response to Lebanon’s main development challenges.
