A fledgling N.W.T. aboriginal government has been recognized by the United Nations for its innovative work in education, health and social services.

The Tlicho Community Services Agency, which is run by the Tlicho First Nation to serve its four communities, is the only North American recipient among 14 worldwide that were chosen for a Public Service Award this year.

Tlicho First Nation, which signed a land-claims agreement in 2003, serves a population of about 3,000 in the communities of Behchoko, Gameti, Wekweeti and Whati in central Northwest Territories.

By combining education, health and social programs into one department, the Tlicho government has developed an innovative and empowering model for others, says UN spokesman John-Mary Kauzya.

"These examples can be replicated all over the world — and that's our contribution to improving the delivery of public services," he said from New York.

The agency grew out of a need to help young people stay in school despite social problems such as teenage pregnancies and addictions, says Jim Martin, who has spent years as a teacher and administrator in the Tlicho region and helped develop the agency he now runs.

"We needed social workers and wellness workers and counsellors and health professionals, and all of these people to be involved," he said in an interview on Tuesday.

"When we started looking at that as a model, it just seemed to make a lot of sense."

Kauzya said he hopes the UN award will motivate the Tlicho agency to make its services even better.

The awards will be handed out in Vienna in late June.