Uruguay

The United Nations in Uruguay 

The UN has been present in Uruguay for more than 70 years. The main task of the United Nationssystem in Uruguay is to accompany the country's efforts to make the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development a reality - our shared vision to end poverty, rescue the planet and build a world in peace. With a decade to go until 2030, this must be the decade of action. We have ten years to transform the world by accelerating sustainable solutions to the most significant challenges we face globally and, in each country, when it comes to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

The agencies, funds, and programmes that make up the United Nations system in Uruguay adhere to a common strategy of action and cooperation agreed biweekly with the government. There is almost no relevant topic for the country in which the United Nations is not present. 

In Uruguay, we work with the State, companies, civil society, academia, the media, and the general public, so that public policy and the private sector generate real change to improve people's lives. Through its global network, the United Nations connects Uruguay with the knowledge, innovation, alliances, and financing necessary for sustainable development to reach everyone, leaving no one behind. 

Milestones 

1. 2030 Agenda positioning, and SDG data and documentation. Working together with the State and societal counterparts, we positioned the 2030 Agenda as a key element in the country's development priorities (which produced three National Voluntary Reports). We also create critical mass, reflection documents, and data on the SDGs specifically, with tools for designing, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating policies to achieve the goals set in each of these points. 
    
2. Environment and renewable energies. We contribute to renewing the country's energy matrix, transforming its energy consumption and production model from a highly fossilized one to non-conventional renewable energies. This model allowed the country to be a pioneer and world example, with almost 100% of its electrical energy produced in this specific way. 
    
3. Social protection policies for vulnerable populations. We work to create and strengthen policies in early childhood, adolescence, and youth and in sexual and reproductive health, to protect various vulnerable populations. We collaborate to create a more robust system that allows them to have an active social network of protection and rights. 
    
4. Institutions, legal frameworks, and policies for social and employment protection. In employment culture and training, we have strengthened the legal mechanisms, instructions, and policies that guarantee decent work and social security, promoting a better quality of life for Uruguayans. 
    
5. Strengthening of the guarantees for Human Rights. We support and contribute to the creation of institutional mechanisms (such as the National Institute of Human Rights) and the strengthening of state capacities to protect human rights. 
    
6. Reduction of gender inequalities and combat against gender-based violence. We helped to adopt legal frameworks to reduce gender inequalities and combat violence against women. We actively participate in raising social awareness about these issues and we also contribute to improving the social climate that allows condemnation of this type of attitudes and situations.  

To learn more, visit: https://uruguay.un.org/.