Mexico

The United Nations in Mexico

The United Nations is an international organization that came into existence on 24 October 1945. It was founded by 51 countries committed to maintaining world peace and security, fostering friendly relations and promoting the development of nations, as well as working for human rights. Today, it has 193 Member States which are represented in the General Assembly.  

Mexico and the UN have collaborated in a strategic alliance since 1947, when the opening of the first UN office in Mexico took place. Nowadays, the United Nations system in Mexico is a multidisciplinary team of a new generation within the framework of the UN Reform, which focuses more on people and less on processes to be more agile and effective in supporting the State efforts towards achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The United Nations system in Mexico is composed of more than 25 agencies, funds and programmes, all of which have a presence and operate in the country. According to their mandates and areas of expertise, these entities work on sustainable development in Mexico from different approaches in collaboration with key stakeholders from several Government spheres and various sectors of society. 

In 2020, the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework for Mexico 2020-2025 (Cooperation Framework) was signed with the Mexican Government. It was the first document of its kind to be aligned with the 2030 Agenda and built from a collaborative and inclusive approach. 

Based on a joint analysis of the country’s situation, four areas of work and two cross-cutting areas were defined and prioritized, considering the added value of the mandates and actions of all the entities in the country. 

Priorities 

1. Equality and inclusion 

This area of work seeks to end poverty and inequalities from a human rights-based approach. This entails comprehensive and inclusive social policies and universal social protection schemes—to leave no one behind. It also supports transformative and innovative strategies meant to regulate a new paradigm of social co-responsibility for unpaid care and domestic work. 

2. Prosperity and innovation 

This area of work seeks to stimulate sustainable and inclusive economic growth, with equal opportunities for all people and benefiting all country regions. The United Nations system supports territorial planning to reduce poverty and inequalities; it also fosters productive, inclusive and sustainable development with improved governance for equality and full employment strategies to ensure decent work for all, particularly for women, youth, migrants and refugees. 

3. Green economy and climate change 

This area focuses on the need to move towards an inclusive and sustainable economic model, which, on the one hand, promotes climate change mitigation and, on the other hand, strengthens adaptation and resilience to the effects of climate variability and change, especially for the most vulnerable population groups and territories. 

4. Peace, justice and the rule of law 

This area of work seeks to promote peaceful, just and inclusive societies in Mexico, with effective and accountable institutions and a rule of law that protects, respects, guarantees and promotes the human rights of the entire population. It focuses on three particularly relevant issues in the national context: the eradication of violence, with a focus on women, girls and adolescents; the promotion of transparency and accountability; and guaranteeing human rights, including access to justice for victims and protection of migrants and refugees. 

5. Gender equality and empowerment of women and girls 

Through the mainstreaming of this area, the aim is to promote a society based on social norms that guarantee substantive equality and the closing of existing gaps between women and men in all spheres of sustainable development, as well as the right of women and girls to a life free of violence and discrimination. 

6. Migrants and refugees 

Through a transversal and more visible approach to migrant and refugee matters, the aim is to support a migration policy based on a comprehensive vision of the structural causes that motivate migration in all its dimensions. This approach places the human rights of migrants and refugees at the centre of the management of the migration cycle and integrates human mobility into equal and sustainable development. 

Data about the work of the UN Country Team on COVID-19 is available on their Country Dashboard. 

For more information, please visit: Mexico.UN.org.