Its activities have ranged from managing the construction of schools in Afghanistan, to building shelters in Haiti, to procuring ambulances to support the Ebola response in Liberia.

[3] Examples of such works include building roads, schools, and health clinics; removing landmines; and providing expertise for holding elections.

[7] UNOPS offers implementation, advisory and transactional services in its five core areas of expertise: UNOPS provides specialized services to a range of partners, including: the United Nations, its agencies, funds and programmes; international financial institutions; governments; intergovernmental organizations; non-governmental organizations; foundations; and the private sector.

In 2024, the Secretary-General appointed UNOPS to operationalise the newly created Office of Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza.

Led by Sigrid Kaag, the office was created in response to the Israel-Hamas war in an effort to accelerate humanitarian relief consignments to Gaza through States which are not party to the conflict.

UNOPS, along with other prominent organizations such as the Gates Foundation, the World Bank, and the European Commission, contributes to this initiative by providing detailed, machine-readable data on their projects.

[24] UNOPS has worked with the University of Oxford and UN Environment Programme in a number of collaborations that focus on enhancing the sustainability of infrastructure.

The report advocates for fundamental shifts in the planning, delivery, and management of infrastructure to align with critical climate and development targets.

It emphasizes the integration of nature-based solutions, which can tackle a broad spectrum of sustainable development challenges while mitigating the impacts of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution.

This recognition highlights UNOPS' commitment to sustainable procurement practices that support social and economic development while protecting the environment.

[28][29][30] She bragged about how she immediately saw to it that "more than 1,200 pages of rules went into the trash" and that she would "rewrite (its) operational principles" in the name of running UNOPS more like a fast and agile business.

As part of an initiative called the "Sustainable Investments in Infrastructure and Innovation", or S3i for short, millions of US dollars worth of donor money was given to contractors that had repeatedly failed to work on the projects they were given.

[32] Faremo's deputy Vitaly Vanshelboim was placed on executive leave in December 2021 as the United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services investigated the allegations and audited the matter.