The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human development. The UNDP emphasizes on developing local capacity towards long-term self-sufficiency and prosperity.
Based at the headquarters of the United Nations in New York, it is the largest UN development aid agency, with offices in 177 countries. The UNDP is funded entirely by voluntary contributions from UN member states.
Founding The UNDP was founded on 22 November 1965 through the merger of the Expanded Programme of Technical Assistance (EPTA) and the Special Fund in 1958.Consolidation of the Special Fund and the Expanded Programme of Technical Assistance in a United Nations Development Programme GA Res 2029, XX (1965) The rationale was to "avoid duplication of [their] activities". The EPTA was set up in 1949 to support the economic and political aspects of underdeveloped countries, while the Special Fund was to enlarge the scope of UN technical assistance. The Special Fund arose from the idea of a Special United Nations Fund for Economic Development (SUNFED).Stokke, O., 2009, The UN and Development: From Aid to Cooperation, Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, especially Chapter 3
Countries such as the Nordic countries were proponents of such a United Nations (UN) controlled fund. However, the fund was opposed by other developed countries, especially by the United States, which were wary of the Third World dominating such funding and preferred it to be under the auspices of the World Bank. The concept of SUNFED was dropped to form the Special Fund. This Special Fund was a compromise over the SUNFED concept: it did not provide investment capital but only helped to bring pre-conditions for private investment.
With the US proposing and creating the International Development Association within the World Bank's umbrella, the EPTA and the Special Fund appeared to be conducting similar work. In 1962, the United Nations Economic and Social Council asked the Secretary-General to consider the merits and disadvantages of merging UN technical assistance programmes and in 1966, the EPTA and the Special Fund merged to form the UNDP.Stokke, O., 2009, The UN and Development: From Aid to Cooperation, Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, p.82Murphy, C.N. 2006, The United Nations Development Programme: A Better Way? Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp.51–66Jolly, R., Emmerij. L. And Ghai, D., 2004, UN Contributions to Development Thinking and Practice, Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press pp.73-84
Executive board The executive board of the UNDP consists of 36 members elected by the UN Economic and Social Council according to the United Nations Regional Groups.
When the UNDP was created in 1965, the UN General Assembly gave a simple majority of board seats to developing countries (19–17 or of board seats compared to of UN members). The regional groups were specified as: 7 seats to the African Group, 6 seats to the Asian Group, 6 seats to the Latin American Group, 14 seats to the Western European and Others Group, and 3 seats to the Eastern European Group.
Currently, the board uses the following regional groups: 8 seats to the African Group, 7 seats to the Asia-Pacific Group, 5 seats to the Latin American and Caribbean Group, 12 seats to the Western European and Others Group, and 4 seats to the Eastern European Group.
Unlike the usual regional groups, Yugoslavia was accommodated among the developing countries and placed in the Latin American Group, while Japan was placed in the Western European and Others Group where it currently still is. (South Korea is in the Asia-Pacific Group )
Budget
, UNDP's budget for 2026 was US$6,482.63 million.
Funding information table
The following table lists the top 15 DAC 5 Digit Sectors to which UNDP has committed funding, as recorded in its International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) publications. The UNDP claims on the IATI Registry website that the data covers 100% of development flows.
UNDP topped the Aid Transparency Index published by Publish What You Fund in 2015 and 2016, with an excellent score of 93.3%.
Committed funding (US$ millions) Sector 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Sum Security system management and reform 624.3 541.7 591.6 643.8 656.4 3,057.9 STD control including HIV/AIDS 415.9 421.4 412.1 465.2 483.5 2,198.1 Public sector policy and administrative management 216.3 299.3 372.2 456.9 462.9 1,807.7 Decentralisation and support to subnational government 256.7 327.5 302.7 338.4 505.8 1,731.1 Reconstruction relief and rehabilitation 249.0 282.5 338.1 376.5 422.0 1,668.2 Elections 157.8 267.8 330.3 279.0 149.8 1,184.7 Disaster prevention and preparedness 146.4 170.2 211.2 243.7 241.3 1,012.9 Energy policy and administrative management 113.3 157.0 198.9 212.3 316.2 997.6 General budget support 77.6 142.7 263.1 223.7 273.9 981.1 Social/ welfare services 108.7 149.4 155.4 219.4 195.2 828.1 Legal and judicial development 62.1 76.6 97.5 113.8 106.9 456.8 Environmental policy and administrative management 49.6 63.4 70.9 95.4 122.0 401.3 Power generation/renewable sources 42.8 44.4 60.3 101.0 125.2 373.7 Democratic participation and civil society 56.3 62.1 62.1 65.9 76.6 323.0 Human rights 28.1 45.5 52.4 88.5 56.2 270.8 Other 334.5 315.5 379.8 507.3 969.5 2,506.6 Total 2,939.5 3,367.1 3,898.5 4,430.9 5,163.6 19,799.6
UNDP links and coordinates global and national efforts to achieve the goals and national development priorities laid out by host countries. UNDP focuses primarily on five developmental challenges:
Democratic governance UNDP supports national democratic transitions by providing policy advice and technical support, improving institutional and individual capacity within countries, educating populations about and advocating for democratic reforms, promoting negotiation and dialogue, and sharing successful experiences from other countries and locations.
In 1994 and 1995 the UNDP Executive Board identified democracy and governance assistance as a core mission of the organisation, and in January 1997 UNDP adopted a governance policy, Governance for Sustainable Human Development, which set out a broad and explicitly political definition of good governance encompassing the nature of the political regime.
Poverty reduction
UNDP helps countries develop strategies to combat poverty by expanding access to economic opportunities and resources, linking poverty programmes with countries' larger goals and policies, and ensuring a greater voice for the poor. It also works at the macro level to reform trade, encourage debt relief and foreign investment, and ensure the poorest of the poor benefit from globalisation.
The UNDP International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth (IPC-IG) in Brasília, Brazil, expands the capacities of developing countries to design, implement and evaluate socially inclusive development projects. IPC-IG is a global forum for South-South policy dialogue and learning, having worked with more than 7,000 officials from more than 50 countries.
A 2013 evaluation of the UNDP's poverty reduction efforts states that the UNDP has effectively supported national efforts to reduce poverty, by helping governments make policy changes that benefit the poor. Nevertheless, the same evaluation also states there is a strong need for better measurement and monitoring of the impacts of the UNDP's work. The UNDP's Strategic Plan from 2014 to 2017 incorporates the recommendations of this poverty evaluation.
Crisis prevention and recovery UNDP works to reduce the risk of armed conflicts or disasters, and promote early recovery after crisis have occurred. UNDP works through its country offices to support local government in needs assessment, capacity development, coordinated planning, and policy and standard setting.
Examples of UNDP risk reduction programmes include efforts to control small arms proliferation, strategies to reduce the impact of natural disasters, and programmes to encourage use of diplomacy and prevent violence. Recovery programmes include disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of ex-combatants, demining efforts, programmes to reintegrate displaced persons, restoration of basic services, and transitional justice systems for countries recovering from warfare.
Following the suspension of most foreign aid to Afghanistan due to its takeover by the Taliban, the UNDP took responsibility for funding most essential health services in the country, including the salaries of over 25,000 health care professionals. This was observed as being outside the organization's usual development activities, and was facilitated by special licencing by the United States government.
Environment and energy As the poor are disproportionately affected by environmental degradation and lack of access to clean, affordable water, sanitation, and energy services, UNDP seeks to address environmental issues in order to improve developing countries' abilities to develop sustainably, increase human development and reduce poverty.
UNDP's environmental strategy focuses on effective water governance including access to water supply and sanitation, access to sustainable energy services, Sustainable land management to combat desertification and land degradation, conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, and policies to control emissions of harmful pollutants and ozone-depleting substances. UNDP's Equator Initiative office biennially offers the Equator Prize to recognize outstanding indigenous community efforts to reduce poverty through the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, and thus making local contributions to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Between 1996 and 1998, the UNDP sponsored the deployment of 45 Multifunction Platforms (MFP) in rural Mali. These installations, driven by a diesel engine, power devices such as pumps, grain mills and appliances. By 2004, the number of MFPs in Mali reached 500.
In 2012 the Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN) was established. BIOFIN brings 30 countries together to develop and implement evidence-based finance plans to safeguard biodiversity. BIOFIN has developed a methodology to guide countries to analyze the policy and institutional context for biodiversity finance; measure the current biodiversity expenditures; assess future financial needs, and identify the most suitable finance solutions to achieve national biodiversity targets.
HIV/AIDS UNDP works to help countries prevent further spreading of and reduce the impact of HIV/AIDS, convening The Global Commission on HIV and the Law which was reported in 2012.
Hub for Innovative Partnerships Major programmes underway are:
ART Global Initiative World Alliance of Cities Against Poverty Territorial Approach to Climate Change Africa–Kazakhstan Partnership for the SDGs
Human Development Report Since 1991, the UNDP has annually published the Human Development Report, which includes topics on Human Development and the annual Human Development Index.
The Gender Inequality Index is one such topic discussed in the Human Development Report.
Evaluation The UNDP spends about 0.2% of its budget on internal evaluation of the effectiveness of its programmes. The UNDP's Evaluation Office is a member of the UN Evaluation Group (UNEG) which brings together all the units responsible for evaluation in the UN system. Currently the UNEG has 43 members and 3 observers.
Global Policy Centres The UNDP runs four Global Policy Centres, which span policy, programme and representational functions and connect UNDP and its partners with external expertise and networks:
the Istanbul Centre for Private Sector in Development (IICPSD), which works with the private sector and foundations through research, advocacy for inclusive business and public-private dialogue