Within the UN system, UNDP is the central organization for the provision of development assistance to developing countries and countries in transition throughout the world. Its main goal is to help countries build their own national capacity to achieve sustainable human development, that is, to improve people's lives on an enduring basis: their work, their education, their health, their surroundings and their use of natural resources. The priority areas for UNDP's programmes are those relating to poverty eradication, gender in development, sustainable livelihoods, the environment and governance.