Policymaking Organs

UNIDO has two policymaking organs: the General Conference and the Industrial Development Board. The Programme and Budget Committee is a subsidiary organ of the Industrial Development Board.

General Conference (GC):
The General Conference determines the guiding principles and policies of the Organization and approves the budget and work programme. Every four years, the Conference appoints the Director-General. It also elects the members of the Industrial Development Board and of the Programme and Budget Committee. The Conference meets every two years.

Industrial Development Board (IDB):
The Board has 53 members, elected for a four-year term on a rotational basis. It reviews the implementation of the work programme, the regular and operational budgets and makes recommendations to the Conference on policy matters, including the appointment of the Director-General. The Board meets once a year.

Programme and Budget Committee (PBC):
The Committee consists of 27 members, elected for a two-year term. It is a subsidiary organ of the Board which provides assistance in the preparation and examination of the work programme, the budget and other financial matters. The Committee meets once a year.

UNIDO currently has 172 Member States.

UNIDO Secretariat

Director General (DG):
The Constitution of UNIDO stipulates that the Director General is the chief administrative officer of the Organization who is accountable to its policymaking organs. Subject to the directives of the policymaking organs, the Director General has the overall responsibility and authority to direct the work of the Organization. The Director General is appointed by the General Conference upon recommendation of the Board for a period of four years. The current Director General is LI Yong (People’s Republic of China).

The Office of Internal Oversight Services, Office of Legal Affairs, Office for Change and Organizational Renewal, Evaluation Group and the Focal Point for Ethics and Accountability are independent units reporting directly to the Director General.

Deputy to the Director General (DDG):
The Deputy to the Director General provides advice and substantive support to the Director General in the overall management of the UNIDO Secretariat, and assists the Director General in the effective and efficient functioning of the Secretariat. He/she represents and acts on behalf of the Director General. In particular, he/she assists the Director General in ensuring that the operations of UNIDO are fully in line with the directives of the policymaking organs and strategies and policies of the Organization.

The Division is responsible for providing analytical, advisory and resource mobilization support to the work of the Organization as well as alignment with its quality assurance framework. It provides Member States as well as other Divisions with state-of-the art analyses of the main determinants and trends of industrial development. On this basis, it advocates the role of industry as an instrument for poverty reduction and environmental sustainability and provides strategic advice to policy-makers at the national and regional levels. Furthermore, it is responsible for conceptualizing, developing and managing UNIDO’s relationships with donor governments and other existing and potential donor organizations.

The Deputy to the Director General also supervises the work of the Organizational Strategy and Coordination Group; the Donor Partnerships and UNDG Collaboration Unit; the Quality Assurance Unit; the Policymaking Organs Secretariat; the Advocacy and External Relations Group; the Development Policy, Statistics and Research Branch and the UNIDO offices in Brussels, Geneva and New York.

Taizo Nishikawa is the Deputy to the Director General.

Divisions

Programme Development and Technical Cooperation Division (PTC):
The Division is primarily responsible for providing capacity-development support and technical cooperation services to enhance the capabilities of developing countries and transition economies to process their agriculture-based raw materials, participate in international trade flows for manufactured goods, increase investment and technology flows, develop entrepreneurship, promote environmentally sustainable production techniques, develop renewable and rural energy for productive use, increase energy efficiency and support the implementation of major multilateral environmental agreements. In doing so, the Division develops, implements and monitors sectoral, cross-sectoral and thematic programmes and projects, and provides technical advisory and institutional and human capacity-building services.The Division comprises the Office of the Managing Director, the Agri-Business Development Branch, the Business, Investment and Technology Services Branch, the Trade Capacity-building Branch, the Energy and Climate Change Branch, the Environmental Management Branch and the Montreal Protocol Branch. In addition, the Division hosts the Bureau for Programme Results Monitoring as well as the Bureau for Regional Programmes.

Philippe Scholtès is the Managing Director of PTC.

Programme Support and General Management Division (PSM):
The Division formulates policies and procedures and provides strategic guidance, direction and support to all entities of the Secretariat, including the offices away from Headquarters, in the five broad areas of human resources, finance and budgets, information and communication management, operational support (procurement of goods and services, assets management and related IPSAS standards, travel, transportation, shipments, etc.), and management of the common services entrusted to UNIDO (buildings management services and catering operations) on behalf of the Vienna-based Organizations (VBOs). Through these services, the Division provides effective support for the Organization’s operational and programmatic activities within an appropriate framework of decentralization of authority, accountability and oversight.

The Division comprises the Office of the Managing Director and four subsidiary entities: the Human Resource Management Branch, the Financial Services Branch, the Information and Communication Management Services and the Operational Support Services Branch.

The Officer-in-Charge of PSM is Akmel Akpa.

UNIDO Staff:
UNIDO employs about 700 staff members at Headquarters and other established offices around the world. Annually, we draw on the services of some 2,500 international and national experts who work on projects worldwide. Approximately 60 per cent of the international and national experts are from developing countries.