As mandated by the UN General Assembly, within its broad development mandate the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) works in areas where natural disasters and violent conflicts undermine sustainable development. The Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery (BCPR) supports efforts to reduce the impact of natural disasters, prevent armed conflicts, and assist in recovery from crises when they occur. BCPR is also responsible for consolidating UNDP's crisis prevention and recovery knowledge and experience, providing a bridge between humanitarian response and the development work of UNDP, and advocating for crisis sensitivity in the context of development policy. In 2001, UNDP's Executive Board strengthened the work of UNDP in crisis situations by creating the Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery (BCPR). One of nine bureaux, BCPR serves as the practice leader for crisis prevention and recovery within UNDP. A repository for tools, methods, and experience, BCPR supports country offices and advises UNDP Senior Management on issues related to conflict prevention and recovery, natural disaster risk reduction and recovery, and cross-cutting issues, such as early recovery and gender equality. (UNDP BCPR, UNDP BCPR Objective of BCPR, October 15, 2007, p. 1)