United Nations (UN) organization established by the General Assembly in 1966 and fully operational in 1974. Headquartered in New York City, the UNDF, a semi-autonomous unit of the United Nations Development Programme, provides grants and loans to the least-developed members of the UN for projects in areas such as agriculture and agro-industry, drinking-water supply, health and nutrition, low-income housing, roads, and rural schools. The organization has experimented with innovative, decentralized approaches to project planning and finance, as illustrated by its practice of microfinancing small-scale projects. UNCDF's projects are designed to forge partnerships between governments, community organizations, and the private sector.