UNEP, established in 1972, is the voice for the environment within the United Nations system. UNEP acts as a catalyst, advocate, educator and facilitator to promote the wise use and sustainable development of the global environment. To accomplish this, the agency works with a wide range of partners, including United Nations entities, international organisations, national governments, non-governmental organisations, the private sector and civil society. UNEP's work encompasses:

• Assessing global, regional and national environmental conditions and trends
• Developing international and national environmental instruments
• Strengthening institutions for the wise management of the environment
• Facilitating the transfer of knowledge and technology for sustainable development
• Encouraging new partnerships and mind-sets within civil society and the private sector

UNEP's global and cross-sectoral outlook is reflected in its organisational structure, its activities and its personnel. Being based in Africa gives UNEP a clear advantage in understanding the environmental issues facing the world's developing countries.

To ensure its global effectiveness UNEP supports six regional offices, plus a growing network of centres of excellence such as the Global Resource Information Database (GRID) centres and the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC). UNEP also has major offices in Geneva and Paris, where its Division of Technology, Industry and Economics is situated.

UNEP also hosts several environmental convention secretariats including the Ozone Secretariat and the Montreal Protocol's Multilateral Fund, CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Convention on Migratory Species, and a growing family of chemicals-related agreements, including the Basel Convention on the Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes and the recently negotiated Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs).

This information taken from www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=43&ArticleID=3301&l=en