ABSTRACT
The United Nations (UN) Charter's provisions on economic and social development reflected a liberal vision of building institutions and programs to promote prosperity and peace through international cooperation and industrial change. The broad-based institutional focus is consistent with the idea that institutions are critical for sustainability and that partnerships among institutions are necessary. Over time, the UN has established organizations to address various economic issues and developed several approaches to fulfilling the operational side of its mandate to promote economic and social advancement. Based on ideas from Adam Smith to contemporary thinkers, economicliberalism asserts that human beings are rational and acquisitive and will seek to improve their condition in the most expeditious manner possible. The UN and UN-sponsored global conferences have provided much of the intellectual leadership in developing key ideas and frameworks for thinking about development, and UN programs and specialized agencies have undertaken major development tasks, working with other actors in partnerships for development.
