The United Nations Office for Project Services, celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, is an operating agency that provides aid through humanitarian, peace-building and development projects for countries all over the world.

UNOPS was originally part of the UN Development Program but became its own entity in 1995, employing more than $1 billion in global projects that run the gamut from helping demine Nepal to dismantling chemical weapons in Syria.

“We are an implementing agency, so that’s why I call us the workhorse of UN,” Grete Faremo, UN under-secretary general and executive director of UNOPS, told China Daily in an interview.

In China, the UNOPS has worked closely with the Ministry of Commerce and other institutions to provide procurement services in China, which is the sourcing, purchasing, and payment of goods and services for UN-related projects.

UNOPS’ mission in China is “to help provide innovative ways of working, introducing world class models and processes,” Faremo said. “We actually also help China develop not only its own marketplace, but also offer opportunities to access the international marketplace with its agricultural produce.”

It is currently involved in two projects with local provinces where it provides project management and advisory services.

In Jilin province, it works with authorities in the Asia-Pacific Agriculture and Food Safety Industry Demonstration Zone to improve the livelihood of low-income families in the Changchun area, many of whom are farmers.

The project, slated for five years with a budget of nearly $10 million, will focus on helping local workers deal with demands for safe agriculture and food products. UNOPS will assist farmers in adopting sustainable development concepts, upgrading the regional industrial structure, and improving the regional biological environment.

“We have the intention to support local authorities in building better livelihoods for local farmers in Jilin province as well as in the larger Beijing area.

“The support is intended to improve farmers’ access to markets with their produce and also provide and modernize procurement systems that will contribute to developing new livelihoods,” said Faremo, who was appointed to UNOPS in August 2014 after holding various senior-level positions in the Norway government. She is based in UNOPS’ headquarters in Copenhagen.

UNOPS hopes that eventually, farmers and local communities will see increased food security and lead better lives, she said.

In Fangshan, Beijing, UNOPS provides advisory services and project management for the Knowledge Economy Innovation Park, which aims to help local communities and authorities transition from a traditional economic structure towards a more modern and diversified one.

Fangshan’s economy currently relies on minerals, energy production, manufacturing and agriculture, and the district is looking to establish a modern service industry, which only represents 18 percent of the local economy.