The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) organizes United Nations Conferences on Global Policy issues and serves as the Secretariat to the Economic and Social Council and its subsidiary bodies. UNDESA's Divisions carry out research and policy analysis on public administration, population, social development, sustainable development and environmental issues. The Department provides relevant technical assistance to Member States. The experiences from specific technical cooperation activities are integrated with global policy analysis and recommendations from UN conferences.

At an early project planning stage of the ACE Project, UNDESA graciously contributed the results of substantial efforts it had undertaken in planning a technical paper series on election administration. This work was redirected to the joint partnership initiative and provided an early, powerful contribution to making the ACE Project a reality. In addition, the New York headquarters offices of UNDESA have been generously provided as the location of numerous project meetings as well as the site of the official ACE Project launch on August 1, 1997.