United Nations Industrial Development Organization Research Articles

BREAKING THE BONDAGE TO METHYL BROMIDE IN AGRICULTURE - UNIDO EXPERIENCE

For decades, methyl bromide was used as the fumigant of choice to rid the soil of noxious pests, diseases and weeds in the pre-plat stage, particularly in intensive agriculture around the world. Breaking the chains of the methyl bromide bondage by 2015 in developing countries – as set by the Montreal Protocol on the Substances Depleting Ozone Layer – has been a great challenge, but at the same has created an opportunity to promote a variety of non-chemical alternatives. By initiating the transition towards sustainable technologies, United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) – as one of the implementing agencies of the Protocol – has been instrumental in phasing-out methyl bromide in developing countries. In partnership with local governments and institutions, UNIDO has brought the benefits of environmentally friendly alternatives to growers in various sectors around the world. Through the successful adoption of novel technologies such as vegetable grafting in Mexico, bio-control agents in Honduras, soilless systems in Turkey, biofumigation + solarization in Ecuadorean flowers or compost technology in Morocco, these growers have developed successful disease and pest management programs that not only are not reliant on methyl bromide or other soil fumigants, and which are proving to be equally efficient and sustainable in the long term. Such programs are further giving market headway to various agricultural sectors by making them more competitive in international markets, which are increasingly requiring products grown within environment-friendly standards.

Comment on “Changing China, Changing Africa: Future Contours of an Emerging Relationship”

Davies et al. (2014) describe China's engagement in Africa and indicate its intention to shift some parts of manufacturing from China to Africa. The possibility of a transfer of production capacity, especially of low-ended and labor-intensive manufacturing sector, from enriched China to Sub-Saharan Africa has been seemingly envisaged and incubated jointly by China and the World Bank. Many watchers of “China in Africa” share the common observation that China's policy toward Africa has many similarities to Japan's “economic cooperation policy” in the 1960s and 1970s toward Southeast Asia. In Japan's case, the final consequence of its policy was, maybe unintentionally, to allocate production capacities from Japan to other Asian countries. Especially after the Plaza Agreement in 1985 that resulted in a large appreciation of the Japanese yen, Japanese manufacturers were deprived of competitiveness and emigrated in search of cheaper production inputs. That movement initiated the formation of the Asian regional economy with integrated value chains. This history indicates that it is not startling for China to put its policy goal as a production shift from China to Africa. However, in my observation, China now faces difficulty in attaining that purpose in spite of the limited success of some special economic zones. It is widely said, and also Chinese people may think, that the economic circumstances in Africa are not suitable for manufacturing in various aspects, namely, power supply shortages, insufficient infrastructure, and others. Above all, high production costs including labor should be the most crucial aspect. According to surveys done by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, the average wages of the manufacturing sector in Sub-Saharan African countries have been historically higher than in their Asian counterparts. For example, the average wage in Kenya's manufacturing sector was $3322 (2010) higher than Thailand's $2233 (2006), whereas the per capita gross domestic product (GDP) of Kenya is $792 much lower than Thailand's $3116. The huge divergence between high wages and low per capita GDP is found generally in Sub-Saharan Africa. For Japanese manufacturers, therefore, the destination of any production shift is inevitably directed to Asian countries, currently Vietnam and Myanmar, for example. In the case of Hong Kong companies responding to the US policy of African Growth Opportunity Act, they put almost double the capital equipment per worker in Kenya than in their home economy to maintain competitiveness. Africa's manufacturing sectors are more capital intensive than developing Asia's. Japan's “economic cooperation” was able to find its landing ground in Asia, but China's “South–South cooperation” has a few exit in current Africa. Why are wages in Africa higher than in Asia that has a larger GDP per head? It is because the levels of consumer prices are higher in Africa. According to surveys undertaken by the International Labor Organization, cereal prices and meat prices are higher in general in Sub-Saharan African countries than in Asian developing countries. The analysis of global data shows that a high living cost brings about a high wage level. This leads to the next question: why are food prices so high in Africa? The high prices of foodstuffs are supposed to be brought about by underdeveloped agriculture in Africa. The very low level of material and technical inputs has locked cereal production of Africa into such low productivity as in the premodern era. Roughly speaking, cereal production volume per hectare in Sub-Saharan Africa stays at less than one third of the global average and one sixth of the countries that have advanced agriculture. Many Asian countries have been benefited through the “Green Revolution” started in 1960s, but modern technologies never came to Africa. Only highly productive producers can provide cheap and abundant products; therefore, foodstuffs are expensive and insufficient in Africa. Accordingly, Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the biggest cereal-importing regions despite the fact that almost 60% of its workforce is still engaged in the agricultural sector. Sustainable development of manufacturing will be realized based on agricultural development, which has been lacking in Sub-Saharan Africa. It means that development assistance for food production should be a requisite for cooperation packages if China wants to shift parts of its manufacturing to Africa. East Asia and Africa are now the largest cereal-importing regions in the world, and the volume of cereal imports by Sub-Saharan Africa is steadily increasing along with its population increase and urbanization. The most serious threat to the global cereal market is definitely the explosive growth of Africa's imports. Agricultural development is not only a topic for Africa's development but also a regional topic for East Asia's food security. The situation of agricultural development in Africa should be carefully watched to see the future contours of “China in Africa.”

A Lantern Retort for Small-Scale Gold Extraction

Two major retorts used in small-scale gold mining operations to reduce mercury emissions, during amalgam distillation are the steel and thermex retorts. Steel retorts are not very popular due to the reported darkening of gold after retorting. In addition, its opaque nature prevents miners from observing the process directly. The Thermex glass retort introduced by the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) is also not patronised due to the extended heating periods resulting from the low thermal conductivity of glass. This paper describes a new retort, the Lantern retort, a combination of highly conductive steel with transparent glass, and therefore, a potential solution to the above concerns. The Lantern retort has a shorter warm-up and amalgam distillation time, and the rate of heating is 1.81oC/s while that of the Thermex is 1.49oC/s. For an amalgam of mass 20 g, 900 s was required to carry out complete distillation in the Lantern retort as against 2100 s in the Thermex. The height of the distillation column of the Lantern retort required to reduce mercury loss to below 1%, as it is with the Thermex retort, is 2.5 cm. Other advantages of the Lantern retort are that, it is less expensive and can withstand the harsh terrain of small-scale gold mining.

It's about dam time: Improving microhydro electrification in Tanzania

Tanzania currently suffers from a severe shortage of electricity with only 14% of the total population connected to the national grid, and access in rural areas below 2%. This article therefore analyzes an internationally sponsored energy development program for microhydro electrification in Tanzania to provide recommendations for how the country's rural energy sector can be improved. More specifically, it investigates the Mini-Grids Based on Small Hydropower Sources to Augment Rural Electrification program (MBSH for short), a $13.4million effort backed by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, Global Environment Facility, and national actors to build 3.2megawatts (MW) of microhydro capacity from 2011 to 2014. After introducing readers to the study's research methods, primarily semi-structured interviews, and to Tanzania's energy background, the article details the design, stakeholders, and targets of the MBSH. It then presents four major challenges the MBSH must overcome to be successful: seasonal changes in hydroelectricity output, financial problems at the national electric utility TANESCO, historically low electricity tariffs, and high rates of poverty and electricity theft. The article concludes by calling on five sets of national reforms including the scaling up of pilot projects and increasing investment in microhydro projects.

Technology Sophistication and Industrial Diversification are the Key for Global Manufacturing Competitiveness

Manufacturing is considered to be a driving force of any country’s economic development by creating more employments and social income. However, in this era of rapid technological change every country struggling to increase more market shares and to remain competitive in the international scene. In this study we tried to analyze the competitiveness of small countries and island economies by using United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) methodology. Nevertheless, the study support the notion that while giant struggling to maintain their position the miniature are kicked out by rapid losing their manufacturing capability and hence decreasing the market share.

Energy Consumption in Indian Non-Ferrous Industries: Need for Bench Marking of Data

Being an energy-intensive industry, the energy usage pattern in the non-ferrous metal industry merits close observation with the intention to bring down specific energy consumption for all metals. United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) has taken up extensive programmes for international benchmarking, based on data available from individual industries of various countries. Major producers of non-ferrous metals across the globe have initiated measures to reduce energy consumption per unit weight of product at important production steps and have gained substantial benefits. Adoption of superior technology has been shown to also mitigate emission of toxic gases. Extensive Reports and Reviews, particularly from the European Union countries and organizations such as International Aluminium Institute, have made available extensive verifiable data on the energy usage by the member countries. However, although the non-ferrous metal sector in India has been on expansion mode, the industry in general is reluctant to publish data on energy usage in various plants and measures to mitigate emissions. The actions of concerned government agencies in this direction are neither transparent nor available in public domain. Extensive and verifiable data for each step of production can identify Best Practice Technology (BPT) as a first step, based on which subsequently benchmarking standards for energy consumption can be arrived at.

Partnership on Reducing Mercury in Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining (ASGM)

The Artisanal and Small Scale Gold Mining Partnership area is an initiative to reduce global mercury pollution through coordinated voluntary actions. This partnership area, co-led by Natural Resources Defense Council and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, gathers the major actors in the sector, including governments, academia and civil society. The ASGM sector remains the largest demand sector for mercury globally (best global estimates put mercury use by the sector in the range of 1400 tonne/year in 2011). Virtually all of the mercury introduced in the process is released to the environment. This sector involves an estimated 10-20 million miners, and the numbers are likely increasing as the rising price of gold attracts additional poverty-driven miners. Serious long-term environmental health hazards exist for populations associated with or living downstream/wind from mining operations, often including indigenous peoples. The objective of the ASGM Partnership area is to minimize and where possible eliminate mercury uses and releases in artisanal and small scale gold mining. The presentation will outline the key challenges associated with the ASGM sector and summarize the activities under the Partnership to address those challenges.

Assessing the Health Effects of Informal E-Waste Processing

Riederer et al generate twice the number of obsolete personal computers as the developed regions by 2030.1 Ideally, by that time most countries will have adopted/ enforced formal health, safety and environmental standards for e-waste processing, and taken advantage of new technologies and management systems facilitating electronics reuse and recycling, supported by novel collaborations. But realistically, informal e-waste processing will continue to thrive, increasing the urgency with which we must examine the health risks in order to prioritize strategies for protecting local populations.

CCS from industrial sources

The literature concerning the application of CCS to industry is reviewed. Costs are presented for different sectors including “high purity” (processes which inherently produce a high concentration of CO 2), cement, iron and steel, refinery and biomass. The application of CCS to industry is a field which has had much less attention than its application to the electricity production sector. Costs range from less than $ 2011 10/t CO 2 up to above $ 2011 100/t CO 2. In the words of a synthesis report from the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) “This area has so far not been the focus of discussions and therefore much attention needs to be paid to the application of CCS to industrial sources if the full potential of CCS is to be unlocked”.

Engaging International Perspectives through EWRI for a Global Profession

The diverse range of global water and environmental issues must be acknowledged to deal effectively with the challenges facing their management in the decades ahead (McDonald et al. 2011; Postel 2010). Nationalistic attitudes are giving way to international collaborations to resolve such problems. These issues require productive interaction among professionals in different parts of the world to most efficiently share approaches and collaborate on innovative developments. One role that professional societies can play is providing opportunities for such collaboration through their activities, including conferences. However, due to imbalances in income and resources in different countries, it can be difficult for colleagues in developing countries to attend meetings in more developed countries. The Environmental and Water Resources Institute (EWRI) of ASCE has been increasing international collaboration in global issues, such as water availability, climate change, and pollution control, by partially supporting competitively selected international fellows from developing countries through the Visiting International Fellowship (VIF) program to attend EWRI’s annual World Environmental and Water Resources Congress. Since the program was established, it has successfully increased participation of water resources and environmental professionals from developing countries in EWRI conferences and promoted sustained professional and cultural exchange. Since 2001, 30 fellowships have been awarded to professionals and students from 19 different countries. One of the reasons for the program’s success is that each fellow has a United Statesor Canada-based host who is an ASCE or EWRI member who often shares common research and professional interests. The VIF program focuses on the annual EWRI congress, where fellows give technical presentations in sessions specific to their area of expertise, providing the best possible opportunity for technical exchange and networking with their global peers. To take advantage of the range of global perspectives represented by the fellows as an educational opportunity for the EWRI community, each year the fellows have been featured in a panel discussion to compare their countries’ water issues. All fellows also participate in networking and intellectual exchange outside of the congress through seminars, meetings, other professional visits, and cultural tours, often arranged by their hosts, to promote sustained professional and cultural exchange. Through these activities the fellow and host explore opportunities for joint collaboration with appropriate partners, including research projects, coauthored papers or books, or extended visits in either country. The program requires some specific activities at the EWRI congress but otherwise offers flexibility to tailor an itinerary that serves the interests of the fellow. In preparation for the 10-year anniversary of the VIF program, the VIF committee administered a survey of past fellows and hosts to learn how the experience affected them professionally, whether they continued to collaborate, and whether they returned to additional ASCE events. After 12 weeks, survey responses were retrieved from 72% of fellows and 46% of hosts contacted. The results of the survey help assess the success of the VIF program. Almost 20% of fellows reported attending EWRI congresses beyond the one initially attended. This is substantial, given the expenses involved in attending such conferences for participants from developing countries. Survey results also indicated that the program’s other major objective of promoting sustained cultural and professional exchange is being met. Most past fellows and hosts remain in contact by exchanging information about projects or activities being developed in their organizations, maintaining contact for collaboration on publications, visiting each other’s countries since the fellowship, and becoming close friends with people met during the fellowship. The feedback from the fellows and hosts regarding their experiences with the program has been overwhelmingly positive. A few highlights from the survey responses regarding international collaborations follow: • Academic and career growth after receiving the fellowship. Most of the fellows reported publishing numerous research articles, receiving invitations to present at conferences, and receiving awards due to collaborations strengthened by the fellowship. One of the fellows is now a member of parliament in her country, influencing decisions made for managing water, health, and the environment. Another fellow noted that the fellowship provided a very positive introduction for him to a new president at his university shortly after he received the fellowship. One fellow was awarded a fellowship from the United Nations Industrial Development Organization to participate in a group of experts regarding water supply in postcrisis situations. Another fellow noted that the visits during his fellowship solidified his decision to focus his career on urban water supply management. Several of the fellows mentioned having been promoted at their institutions since receiving the fellowship. • Collaborations within ASCE/EWRI. Several of the fellows joined EWRI committees after attending the congress with the fellowship, and three of the fellows indicated they had attended other EWRI congresses after receiving the fellowship.

Overcoming the Global Injustices of Energy Poverty

Joan Brown, a college student in Atlanta, Georgia, wakes up in the morning to an electronic alarm clock before she microwaves breakfast, takes a hot shower, grabs a latte at Starbucks, and drives h...

Binational collaboration to study Gulf of Mexico's harmful algae

Blooms of the toxic marine dinoflagellate Karenia brevis cause massive fish kills and other public health and economic problems in coastal waters throughout the Gulf of Mexico [Steidinger, 2009]. These harmful algal blooms (HABs) are a gulf‐wide problem that require a synoptic observing system for better serving decision‐making needs. The major nutrient sources that initiate and maintain these HABs and the possible connectivity of blooms in different locations are important questions being addressed through new collaborations between Mexican and U.S. researchers and government institutions. These efforts were originally organized under the U.S./Mexico binational partnership for the HABs Observing System (HABSOS), led by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Gulf of Mexico Program (EPAGMP) and several agencies in Veracruz, Mexico, since 2006. In 2010 these efforts were expanded to include other Mexican states and institutions with the integrated assessment and management of the Gulf of Mexico Large Marine Ecosystem (GoMLME) program sponsored by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (SEMARNAT), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Analytical Methodology to Evolutionary Steps for Manufacturing Strategy in Small and Medium Enterprises

Usually, we can find lots of methods and recipes for operating in the field of strategy. Many distinguished and important organizations, like the United Nations, the Food and Agriculture Organization, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, and others, work so hard to help a constellation of Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) across the world. These kinds of enterprises exist in the developed countries as well as in the emerging economies, but, usually, the global strategy that they adopt can't be easily synchronized with the manufacturing function.

UNIDO-ICHET support to hydrogen and fuel cell technologies in Turkey

The International Centre for Hydrogen Energy Technologies (ICHET) has been implementing measures to demonstrate potential benefits of “hydrogen and fuel cell systems” in developing countries. ICHET is a United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) project funded by the Turkish Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources. To achieve its mission, ICHET implements pilot demonstration projects, provides applied research and development funding, and organizes workshops, education and training activities. Long term objective of the centre are to show implementation of hydrogen energy technologies with renewable energy systems and encourage local industries to manufacture similar systems for commercial applications. Support has been provided to select industrial partners in Turkey for developing prototypes including a fuel cell forklift, a fuel cell boat, a fuel cell passenger cart, renewable energy systems integrated mobile house, fuel cell based Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) installations. As more and more systems are demonstrated, public awareness of applications of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies will increase. ICHET has polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell testing capabilities together with analytical equipment to conduct fuel cell, hydrogen production and storage research. These facilities are being used for educational purposes with hundreds of engineers trained to date.

Exports and the Global Crisis: Still Alive, Though not Quite Kicking Yet

This paper describes the severity of the declines of Asian exports during the recent global crisis and provides more detailed information on the hardest hit manufacturing and exporting industries. To do this, we use various sources of data, including Industrial Statistics of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization as well as the latest monthly unemployment and exports data available from official sources. We find severe declines of exports across most product categories, and that the worst-hit sectors often consist of larger, more productive firms relative to other manufacturing sectors. Some of these sectors also employ higher percentages of women workers in countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia. Nonetheless, although official unemployment rose across developing Asia, the level has yet to reach that of OECD countries. In further contrast to the jobless recovery facing some OECD countries, employment shows recent signs of stabilizing and even increasing. Finally, we conclude with a discussion on the recent upward trends in exports. While we see cautious optimism in the revival of exports, data indicates that Asian workers are not clearly out of the woods yet.

Sustainability along the global supply chain: the case of Vietnam

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact that more sustainable sourcing policies by many multinational companies are having on the suppliers located in developing countries such as Vietnam. Questions are raised about the process through which CSR is reaching the country.Design/methodology/approachThe research was conducted in Vietnam thanks to the support of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization's (UNIDO) Regional Office. The survey was carried out on the basis of a questionnaire that was used as a support during the direct interviews and was sent electronically when the preferred method of on‐site visits was not possible. A total of 25 Vietnamese enterprises were involved in the research.FindingsThe results achieved highlight, on the one hand, how CSR does make business sense even in a developing country such as Vietnam and, on the other, the difficulties related to the way requirements of sustainability are moving from Northern consumers to suppliers in Vietnam.Practical implicationsThis process calls for new forms of collaboration involving firms along the supply chain, local authorities, international players, and civil society.Originality/valueThe paper points out the unsustainability of the process through which corporate responsibility is being imposed on Vietnamese suppliers and how CSR, having become a mandatory requirement for access to international markets, might transform itself into a new type of technical barrier to trade. Therefore, CSR needs to be fostered rather than imposed, through the creation of innovative partnerships and locally‐rooted solutions.

Health assessment of artisanal gold miners in Tanzania

In 2003 UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organization) conducted an environmental and health assessment in a small-scale mining area in Tanzania. BGS (British Geological Survey) performed the environmental assessment. The Institute of Forensic Medicine – University of Munich performed the health assessment. The results of the medical, neurological and neuro-psychological examination of 180 participants from the affected area of Rwamagasa and 31 controls were analyzed. Urine, blood and hair samples were analyzed to detect the level of mercury body burden. Mercury concentrations in the bio-monitors urine, blood and hair were statistically significantly higher in the exposed population from Rwamagasa compared to the control group from Katoro. Only amalgam burners showed mercury levels above the toxicological threshold limits. A speciation of mercury in hair indicated that mainly elemental mercury vapor contributed to the high body burden of the artisanal miners. 104 amalgam-burners, the most exposed population group, were examined. 25 of these workers were found to be intoxicated. Small-scale mining is a serious health hazard for amalgam burners. Reduction of the exposure is essential to prevent further damage.

The Price of Progress: Modern Environmental Health Hazards in Africa

With the spread of industrialization to all areas of the globe, scientists and policymakers alike have voiced mounting concerns over the ability of developing countries to limit the public health impacts of unchecked development. African nations, for example, have experienced rapid urbanization as well as tremendous expansion in industry and technology in an attempt to raise living standards and keep pace with the global community. But this trend has also exposed these nations to numerous modern environmental health hazards (MEHHs)—health threats that tend to accompany rapid development in the absence of health and environmental safeguards. A review of the scientific literature suggests that such hazards have added considerably to Africa’s disease burden and are increasing in public health significance [EHP 117:863–870; Nweke and Sanders]. The authors wrote that ongoing exposures to emerging MEHHs may soon rival the contributions of more traditional hazards—including malaria, poor access to safe drinking water, and lack of basic sanitation—that have long troubled Africa. Furthermore, poor and malnourished populations may be more vulnerable to the impacts of MEHHs, given that malnutrition increases susceptibility to toxicologic challenges. According to the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, Africa’s pollution intensity (pollution generated per unit of production output) is among the highest in the world. Reviewing published epidemiologic, exposure, and environmental studies of chemical agents, the researchers noted ongoing occupational and nonoccupational exposures to organochlorine pesticides such as DDT and to heavy metals such as lead and mercury. All these pollutants are known to persist in the environment and accumulate in the food chain over time, as confirmed by biomonitoring studies of farmworker populations in several African nations. The authors also presented evidence of existing and emerging air toxics issues related to both indoor and outdoor air pollution, pervasiveness of toxic chemicals in consumer products (such as arsenic and chromium in canned beverages), and inadequate management of domestic and industrial waste streams. Relatively robust exposure data for lead showed elevated body burdens in African populations exposed to lead-bearing soil, dust, and paint, offering suggestive evidence of ongoing exposures to MEHHs at biological levels associated with adverse health impacts. Some studies found elevated body burdens of mercury in exposed populations such as miners, workers involved in ore processing, children who resided in mining communities, and women who habitually used soaps that contain high concentrations of inorganic mercury (such soaps are marketed as skin and hair lighteners). However, very few body burden studies have provided conclusive evidence of the relationship between heavy metal exposures and increased disease risks in African populations. Management of MEHHs in many African nations has long been hampered by a lack of various safeguards for environmental health, such as stable institutions, adequate infrastructure, monitoring capacity, and regulatory frameworks. The researchers proposed that MEHHs should occupy a priority spot on Africa’s public health and policy agenda, and emphasized that future public health policy should consider these newer environmental health risks in tandem with other longstanding public health issues.

Greening an international organization: UNIDO’s strategic responses

The United Nations Industrial Development Organization’s (UNIDO) portfolio of technical cooperation projects changed radically between 1992 and 2004. In 1992, industrial-development-related projects constituted 98% of the portfolio in monetary terms, and environment-related projects 2% while, in 2004, the former constituted 43% and the latter 57%. However, the larger share of the environment-related projects in 2004 was only marginally, if at all, linked to UNIDO’s industrial development agenda. A compelling explanation for this radical change in the organization’s technical cooperation portfolio is provided by a model of strategic choice that draws on resource dependency and institutional approaches and that allows for staff strategic actions. Two factors, UNIDO’s financial and confidence crisis in the 1990s and an organizational culture wedded to industrial development, shaped UNIDO’s strategic responses, which, for the most part, did not integrate environmental concerns into industrial development projects and programs as instructed by its principal governing body.

Integration of Women in Industrial Development—the Fate of the Issue in the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation, UNIDO

The attitude of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) towards the integration of women in its activities is described, from the International Women's Year in 1975 to the present: the creation of a focal point for women in 1984 and a unit for the integration of women in industrial development in 1986, the unit's range of activities, and its subsequent abolition as a consequence of UNIDO's financial crises and restructuring; finally the situation in early 2009.