Since its founding, the organization has restructured and reformed several times; the 2013 Lima Declaration expanded its mission to include promoting "inclusive and sustainable industrial development" (ISID), defined as benefiting greater numbers of people while safeguarding the environment.

[6][7] On 25 July 2016, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution A/RES/70/293,[8] proclaiming the period 2016–2025 as the Third Industrial Development Decade for Africa (IDDA III).

[10] From 2018 to 2021, UNIDO's strategic priorities include creating shared prosperity; advancing economic competitiveness; safeguarding the environment; and strengthening knowledge and institutions.

UNIDO's mandate is fully recognized in SDG-9, which calls to "Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation".

Accordingly, the Organization's programmatic focus is structured, as detailed in the Organization's Medium-Term Programme Framework 2018–2021, in four strategic priorities: Each of these programmatic fields of activity contains a number of individual programmes, which are implemented in a holistic manner to achieve effective outcomes and impacts through UNIDO's four enabling functions: In carrying out the core requirements of its mission, UNIDO has considerably increased its technical services over the past ten years.

At the same time, it has also substantially increased its mobilization of financial resources, testifying to the growing international recognition of the Organization as an effective provider of catalytic industrial development services.

UNIDO concentrates its efforts on the development of agro-industries, increasing the participation of women and youth in productive activities, and human security in post-crisis situations.

UNIDO provides advisory services to improve the business and policy environment for the private sector, assisting with the creation of productive capacities.

Its programmes support investment and technology opportunities to help enterprises, especially SMEs, improve productivity and innovation, and achieve systemic competitive advantages.

Building on a robust global network aimed at fostering investment, technology and other partnership opportunities, UNIDO seeks to enable SMEs to capitalize on their unique dynamism and flexibility by strengthening synergies among enterprises and with support institutions.

These studies culminated in a programme of work on industrialization and productivity prepared by the United Nations Secretary-General in 1956 and endorsed the next year by ECOSOC and the General Assembly.

The developing countries (the Group of 77) had in the first instance promoted the idea of a specialized agency with its own political decision-making governing bodies and autonomy in budgetary matters.

As part of the institutional arrangements of the Lima Plan of Action, and with a view to assisting in the establishment of a New International Economic Order, it was recommended to the General Assembly that UNIDO be converted into a specialized agency.

All necessary formal requirements were fulfilled in 1985, and in December of the same year, UNIDO finally became the sixteenth Specialized Agency of the United Nations with headquarters in Vienna.

The Organization radically reformed itself on the basis of this business plan and streamlined its services, human and financial resources as well as internal processes during the following years.

On the basis of sound finances and in a second wave of programmatic reforms in 2004, UNIDO further focused its activities and technical services directly responding to international development priorities.

[25] Other UN member states that have never signed, ratified, or denounced the constitution are Andorra, Brunei, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Nauru, San Marino, and Singapore.

It acts as a preparatory body for the Conference and reviews the implementation of the approved programme of work and of the corresponding regular and operational budgets for the forthcoming biennium.

The Committee consists of 27 Member States[29] of the Organization that are elected for a two-year term and meets at least once a year to consider, inter alia, the proposals of the Director-General for the programme of work and corresponding estimates for the regular and operational budgets.

The Secretariat of UNIDO is based in Vienna (Austria) and maintains representative offices in Brussels (Belgium), Geneva (Switzerland) and New York City (USA).