Annual Report 2022

The future is...

It might seem hard to hope in 2023. The headlines chronicle a grim world of conflict, displacement and the struggle to keep up with the rising cost of living. Poverty has increased while trust has receded. With ecosystems out of balance, nature is in revolt.

At UNDP, the development organization at the heart of the United Nations, we work with developing countries on all these issues and more. We know their severity and yet we also know that some of their solutions are at hand. That gives us room for optimism—and a vision of the future that is not just an aspiration but something we are working towards right now.

Everything that UNDP does is encapsulated in the Sustainable Development Goals, a promise that countries made to their peoples and to each other. The goals take us to a future that leaves no one behind, that protects the planet and that disrupts the cycle of conflict because inclusive development has taken root.

In 2022, UNDP helped to advance that vision with a record delivery of $4.8 billion, achieved amid countervailing challenges around the world. This translated into development results in over 170 countries and improvements to the lives of millions of people. Life-giving health, water and other services offered 25 million people a platform to thrive and create better lives. Jobs and livelihoods sustained 11 million people stranded in crises with few other ways out. UNDP laid the foundations for using new technologies that could eventually provide clean power to nearly 265 million people in 21 African countries, with benefits expected for health care, education, businesses and economies as a whole.

This annual report is proof positive that development works. That alone signals a hopeful future—but we also know that prospects must get better given the tools and knowledge we have today. UNDP is harnessing the power of innovation and digitalization as a public good. Our Accelerator Labs Network backed innovations in 115 countries in 2022, improving air quality, upholding human rights and enhancing food security, among many advances. Digital services, infrastructure and open-source solutions are closing the digital divide—and the development divide, such as through the prompt delivery of over a billion COVID-19 vaccines.

The future is also hopeful because more people than ever are working together for sustainable development, including through partnerships with UNDP. Governments, international financial institutions and businesses are unblocking new streams of SDG finance, such as through investor maps and tax reforms. Public and private collaboration is shaping new markets for insurance for climate-vulnerable people. UNDP’s Gender Equality Seal programme has certified over 1,000 public entities and businesses committed to act for gender equality.

Within UNDP, our own organization gives us the capacity not just to talk about our vision but to achieve it. Our future-smart portfolio approaches and policy networks amplify collective development intelligence and push the frontiers of development thinking. Our award-winning People for 2030 Strategy orchestrates a workforce with the skills to tackle complex development challenges creatively and effectively. It also keeps our workplace safe and inclusive, in line with our values.

Above all, the future is hopeful because so many of us are committed to making the right choices. Notwithstanding the challenges and setbacks we currently face, collectively these choices add up, as illustrated across this report. As policymakers and donors, as business leaders and activists, as people with our world at stake—we can shape a future that works for us all.

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Achim Steiner
Administrator
United Nations Development Programme

Reaching the furthest behind first is a primary objective across the UN family of organizations and partnerships. For UNDP, this starts by applying over 50 years of leadership in development to our six, cross-cutting signature solutions – moving towards a better world for all.

With UNDP support, millions of people improve their lives each year.

UNDP in 2022

20,000+ people

working across 170 countries and territories

$5.8 billion

in revenue (unaudited)

$4.8 billion

in programme delivery,
highest in over a decade

100+ countries

supported to build inclusive, ethical and sustainable digital societies

Three Somalian boys smiling against a colorful background

Brighter days ahead.
Given that people are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change in different ways, Somalia’s revised climate action plans take inclusion seriously. But these can only be achieved through climate finance and support.

Photo: UNDP Somalia

Our signature solutions

Poverty

Tackling inequality of opportunities by investing in the enhanced capabilities people need to move above the poverty line and keep moving forward.

25 million people

gained access to basic services, with support from 44 UNDP offices

Governance

Helping countries address emerging complexities by future-proofing governance systems through anticipatory approaches and better management of risk.

27 million new voters

were registered, with support from 13 UNDP offices; 51% being female

Resilience

Supporting countries and communities in building resilience to diverse shocks and crises, including conflict, climate change, disasters and epidemics.

11 million people

benefited from jobs and improved livelihoods in crisis or post-crisis settings in 2022; 49% being female

Environment

Putting nature and the environment at the heart of national economies and planning; helping governments protect, manage and value their natural assets.

$224 million

investment leveraged to support green recovery

Energy

Increasing energy access for those furthest behind and accelerating the transition to renewable energy.

4.6 million people

gained access to clean, affordable and sustainable energy

Gender

Confronting the structural obstacles to gender equality and strengthening women’s economic empowerment and leadership.

46 countries

implemented risk-informed and gender-responsive recovery solutions

Photo of a smiling Nepalese woman with other women smiling in the background

Empowered women
and girls

LGBTQI+ communities

Photo of a boy playing chess against a colorful AI-generated background

Disabilities and dignity

Inspired by youth

With 8 billion people on the planet, the world clearly has the brainpower to provide more creative, innovative answers to current problems. The key is finding them and sharing them widely.

Welcome to UNDP’s Accelerator Labs Network. Active in 115 countries, the labs break down the traditional ringfencing of ideas through their ability to link global problem-solvers - from communities to conference rooms. This has transformed the way UNDP operates, driving our thought leadership, expanding our engagement with the private sector, and quickly becoming a resource for governments in every region. All of this means the network has significant potential to scale up investment in the SDGs through our signature solutions as new innovation ecosystems take off.

Accelerator Labs Network

252 innovative solutions adopted by programme partners, with support from 30 UNDP offices

Supported public sector innovation in 50+ countries, including delivery of the first national innovation policy for the Democratic Republic of Congo

Powered by each country’s Lab, UNDP and partners from all sectors have used artificial intelligence and/or other innovative technology to:

Update air quality data with low-cost bicycle sensors in Argentina

Calculate and offset carbon emissions in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Strengthen climate resilience of farmers in Egypt

Increase access to civil registration and legal aid in Guinea Bissau

Improve air pollution enforcement in India

Increase smarter use of water and irrigation in Palestine

Detect and address plastic pollution via satellite in the Philippines

Provide mobile solar-powered cookers in Sudan

Assess and address barriers to tourism in Tanzania

Better understand food security in Zimbabwe

Grassroots innovators inspire the world
The Accelerator Labs proudly collaborated with Hyundai on the For Tomorrow platform, which showcases 72 innovations from people in 44 countries. The eponymous, multi award- winning documentary film showcased the power of bottom-up innovation for sustainable development.

Future Smart Networks

At the mid-point in the 2030 agenda, building the digital and human networks for collective intelligence is our top priority. Combining knowledge and know-how that meets specific needs in real time is at the heart of UNDP and its Global Policy Network. This is how we support countries to navigate uncertainty and assess accelerators and trade-offs to inform better development choices. UNDP has amplified the collective intelligence of 33,000 experts and practitioners globally through our knowledge networks. It has recently anchored global dialogues in the run-up to Stockholm+50, connecting the experience of 50,000 people through 56 national consultations.

This Development Future Series is a prime example of our strong thought leadership. The series provides a unique channel for evidence-based knowledge produced by UNDP personnel to reach and influence global debates. By presenting practical insights for the future of sustainable development, policymakers, practitioners, specialized journalists and academia can find new information, analysis, and policy recommendations on the top development issues of today and tomorrow.

colorful futuristic graphic symbolizing dataflow and connections

In 2022, the United Nations General Assembly recognized that a clean, healthy and sustainable environment is a human right. The global environmental crisis caused by climate change, pollution, biodiversity and nature loss is disproportionately impacting the world’s most marginalized communities.

One of today’s most important missions is to decarbonize in order to help lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. We have far to go, but countries are more ambitious than ever, helped by UNDP’s Climate Promise and its support around Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). Governments all over the world must now finance, implement and monitor NDCs at the scale and speed that climate action requires.

The double irony is that those who contribute a tiny fraction of global GHG emissions often face the worst impacts of climate change – while also leading the way in climate action. Antigua and Barbuda is proposing a shift to 100% renewable energy across sectors in the next two decades, while Dominica is determined to become the first climate-resilient country in the world.

Our Climate Promise

173 countries have now submitted new or updated NDCs to the UNFCCC, covering 91% of total global GHG emissions. Of the 120 Climate Promise supported countries, 93% of countries have strengthened mitigation target in their revised NDCs. Similarly, 93% of countries have enhanced adaptation measures in their revised NDCs.

95% of all NDCs include gender equality considerations. Uruguay’s is amongst the most comprehensive worldwide, recognizing that women are not only powerful agents of change and sources of solutions, but that solving the climate crisis – part of achieving the SDGs – is not possible without gender equality.

Through the Climate Promise, 56 countries were assisted to develop financing strategies to make the best use of climate funds. Chile, for example, is the first country to simultaneously apply all four of UNDP’s climate finance tools. Meanwhile, over 75 countries, from Lebanon to Viet Nam, have gained better climate data and measurement systems to keep progress on track.

UNDP’s flagship Carbon Payments for Development initiative, a collaboration with Switzerland, makes $120 million available for performance-based payments to reduce emissions.

Protecting the land of 350 generations.
The Wampís Nation’s forests cover more than 1.3 million hectares, providing water for Peru, Colombia and Ecuador, but are endangered by deforestation. Regions across Latin America rely on the “flying rivers” – clouds that blow over from the Amazon – for water security. To preserve their indigenous lands and reduce the risk of drought, the Wampís Nation agreed to join an official registry and database of protected areas. Implemented by UNDP through Global Environment Facility (GEF) grants, this initiative is now present in 26 countries.

Photo: UNDP Peru/Nuria Angeles Tapia

Nature, climate and energy

These three areas of development formed a large part of our work in 2022. UNDP’s $3.2 billion nature portfolio is the biggest in the entire UN system. The nature-climate-energy examples described below all met the following “success story” checklist – an objective across much of UNDP’s work:

✓ Was the solution sustainable?
✓ Was it innovative?
✓ Were there tangible results?
✓ Was there impact at scale?
✓ Did we involve a partner(s)?

Mercury is one of the top 10 chemicals of major public health concern. Its use is widespread in small-scale gold mining, which employs 15 million people. UNDP is working with partners to make this industry safer, cleaner and more profitable in Colombia, Ecuador, Ghana, Honduras, Kenya, Indonesia, Peru and Suriname.

With UNDP support, the Government of Vanuatu is scaling up its minigrids to bring electricity to 90,000 people – including 44,000 women, totalling around 17,800 households on up to 60 islands – representing 80% of people currently without electricity in the country. Costa Rica successfully delivered a $23.9-million performance-based payment for forest protection, and enhanced women's and indigenous peoples' participation to access a further $13.3 million. Egypt's ambitious energy policy reform programme includes a target to have 42% of its electricity come from renewable energy sources by 2035, delivered with UNDP’s support. In Uruguay, a leading sustainable mobility project that provided a fleet of 33 e-buses benefited over 810,000 city-dwellers.

Retreating glaciers, advancing preparedness.
Bhutan has 700 glaciers, and they are retreating fast – significantly impacted by climate change. 17 of them are potentially dangerous lakes, and could cause glacial lake outburst floods like the devastating one that happened in 1994 in Lunana, one of the highest human settlements on earth. To reduce this risk in the most vulnerable valleys, hundreds of male and female workers have spent years draining lakes, successfully lowering water levels by up to 5 metres. With UNDP support, crucial early warning systems have also been installed.

Photo: UNDP Bhutan/Dechen Wangmo

Africa Minigrids Programme

Leading the fastest, cheapest, biggest approach to clean energy

The Africa Minigrids Programme is anything but mini. Launched at COP27, it’s UNDP’s largest-ever initiative to extend green energy access, with a huge potential for growth through 2030 that includes:

Supporting 21 countries in Africa
$65 billion investment opportunity
114,000 solar battery minigrids
Converting 265 million people, 200,000 schools and clinics, and 900,000+ businesses
Transformative impact on poor rural communities
Attracting private investment, lowering cost of solar
Around $50 million in country-led technical assistance
Funded by Global Environment Facility
Partnership with Rocky Mountain Institute and the African Development Bank

UNDP Moonshots

Our Strategic Plan 2022–2025 contains moonshots in four areas, including energy. One collective goal is: increasing access to clean and affordable energy for 500 million people. We are also embodying the values UNDP stands for. This includes upholding social and environmental standards. For example:

Planning to cut operational carbon footprint by 50% in the next seven years
Invested in 72 initiatives (from electric vehicles to renewable energy for UNDP premises)
Reduced electricity carbon footprint by 11% so far
Saving over $730,000 in energy costs per year

For the sake of our planet, the future of finance must be one where we align and realign public and private flows with sustainable, inclusive development. Until that happens, we will continue, by choice or habit, to finance the fractures that divide our world and the practices that threaten to destroy it. Redirecting these flows is largely how UNDP is working to achieve greater impact around the world, along with cross-sector partnerships and a shift from projects to portfolios.

UNDP’s Sustainable Finance Hub

UNDP is collaborating with over 40 countries on debt restructuring and thematic bonds. By the end of 2022, these initiatives had generated over $11 billion for the SDGs and climate action. Developing countries have also made UNDP their leading global partner in accessing and deploying billions of dollars in development finance under vertical funds such as the Green Climate Fund, the Global Environment Facility, the Multilateral Fund for the Montreal Protocol, and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. UNDP supports more of these projects and the associated finance than any other international organization.

The Sustainable Finance Hub is unique in its capacity to help align and unlock public and private finance for sustainable development, working towards a goal of $1 trillion to achieve the SDGs. In 145 countries, sustainable finance initiatives connect governments, the private sector and international financial institutions to accelerate SDG progress through measures such as tax reform, policies to develop capital markets, investor maps and gender- based budgeting.

Better bonds

UNDP provides support in relation to debt management, (e.g. debt-for-nature swaps) and thematic bond issuance (e.g. SDG bonds, green bonds, blue bonds, gender bonds, etc.) Uruguay issued an innovative $1.5-billion sustainability-linked bond that both extends the maturity of existing debt and raises new funds based on climate and environmental goals. The market has signalled strong approval, generating almost $4 billion in orders from 188 investors. Other UNDP-supported countries with a significant issuance of bonds included Argentina, Bolivia, China, Indonesia and Mexico.
Integrated National Financing Frameworks (INFFs)

INFFs are robust strategies to mobilize public and private finance. UNDP is leading technical support to governments in 86 developing countries as they establish their INFFs. Collaborating with 20 UN entities, the frameworks offer a ready-made platform for the Secretary-General’s new SDG Stimulus Plan, which targets 2% of global GDP or about $500 million a year for development, humanitarian responses and climate action. Countries have already prioritized more than 250 policy reforms for immediate action. And a growing number of countries – including Gabon, Maldives, Mongolia, Uzbekistan, Cabo Verde, and Cameroon – are using the INFF to strengthen financing for their NDCs.
SDG Impact

The SDG Impact Standards are organized around 12 business actions. These independent, voluntary management standards are designed to guide businesses and investors on their path to sustainability and achieving the SDGs. In 2022, UNDP launched training and advisory services on the SDG Impact Standards. As part of its shift from shareholder to stakeholder capitalism, Japan was the first nation to have organizations take the training course. SDG Impact is now well on its way to having a cohort of Accredited Trainers for the SDG Impact Standards on a global scale.
SDG Investor Maps

21 SDG Investor Maps were launched in 2022, bringing the total to 27, spanning the developing world from Ghana to Indonesia to Tunisia. 460 investment themes and business models – where national sustainable development needs, government policy and investor interest overlap – are freely available on the SDG Investor Platform. The market intelligence has helped governments inform policy to help direct more private capital to the areas that need it most, reaching the furthest behind first, as well as encourage dialogue with private sector investors.
Insurance and risk financing

UNDP’s Insurance and Risk Finance Facility works across a wide range of initiatives to put risk transfer at the heart of development. Launched in late 2021, the Facility is already operational in 29 countries, with a strong focus on working closely with both the insurance industry and governments to construct lasting financial resilience in a world of rapidly rising risk. Complementary new partnerships include a $14-million collaboration with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to pilot financial resilience options for smallholder farmers, and a collaboration with Milliman who will provide $6 million of pro bono expertise alongside UNDP’s work to develop much-needed actuarial expertise and capacity.

International Financial Institutions (IFIs)

Since 2010, UNDP has successfully supported governments and IFIs to execute wideranging projects worth over $2.5 billion with IFI financing in 77 countries. In 2022 alone, UNDP implemented $292 million in financing from 12 IFIs in over 43 countries across five regions, 67% in fragile and conflict-affected countries and/or situations.

• Yemen since 2016, UNDP’s Yemen Emergency Crisis Response Project has delivered $604 million in World Bank grants

• Democratic Republic of the Congo UNDP is working with the government and the IMF to deliver a total of $611 million

• Ecuador UNDP assisted the Ministry of Finance to establish budget tagging tools to track national climate finance as part of accessing nearly $1 billion in development bank loans

• Ukraine with the European Investment Bank (EIB), UNDP signed a $2 million agreement funded by the Eastern Europe Energy Efficiency and Environment Partnership as part of a $308.6 million framework loan to benefit selected cities’ energy infrastructure, and more

Project-to-portfolio shift

Our Strategic Plan 2022–2025 has set out an agenda to catalyse the deep systemic transformations needed to solve the toughest, most complex challenges. The shift from projects to portfolios is UNDP’s approach to tackling those challenges.

Over 40 UNDP Country Offices are currently supporting governments and other partners to design a suite of portfolio interventions, from an economic resilience portfolio in Gaza to a future-of-work portfolio in Ghana. This approach enables UNDP to deliver value as a partner by continuously making its programming process more strategic, holistic and systemic. Meanwhile, over 30 national and city governments are adopting portfolio approaches, with a pending $200 million in additional investment towards new portfolios.

Growing private sector partnerships

UNDP's work with Samsung shows how a strong and uniquely innovative digital partnership can take shape. Partnerships like this can serve as prototypes for future resource mobilization strategies throughout the private sector. Providing UNDP with access to new and ever-widening audiences, the Global Goals app is now installed on over 300 million devices worldwide and available in 89 languages.

Donations through the app have reached over $10 million so far. But the financial aspect is not the primary goal of such partnerships. Instead, they’re about how we can make a concrete impact to advance the SDGs through our organizational strengths.

Fragility is a cycle that must be broken. Currently, around 15% of people live in a conflict zone, and over half of humanity — 4 billion people—has experienced a natural disaster in the last 20 years.

UNDP operates in all 60 countries defined as “fragile”

50% of our total budget is invested in crisis contexts

In 2022, we supported 5.5 million million displaced people

Our new Crisis offer

Traditional forms of response and recovery are no longer a match for the magnitude and intricacies of the challenges the world is facing. Today's crises are development emergencies that require integrated development solutions. Providing food, shelter and housing early in an emergency will remain an essential task, but it should not be a perpetual one. We need to create clearer pathways for before, during and after crises, which make our approach to crisis and fragility more transformative.

To that end, our advanced UNDP Crisis Offer was launched in 2022. The offer sets a direction grounded in experience and based on partnerships to cut across all development fundamentals – job creation, energy supplies, service delivery, and more responsive governance, among others.

Highlights in 2022

In the Central African Republic, UNDP partnered with the UN peacekeeping mission to support the Special Criminal Court. In 2022, it achieved a milestone for justice – a first verdict against individuals accused of crimes against humanity and war crimes.

In Iraq, we joined a massive push to stabilize ISIL-affected areas by restoring services and infrastructure. This contributed to 4 million people returning to their places of origin. UNDP adopted this approach in Libya, built on inclusive local peacebuilding and development solutions. We are now further customizing it in the Lake Chad Basin, the Liptako Gourma region and Mozambique.

In Afghanistan, UNDP and its partners improved access to essential services for nearly 1.2 million people in 28 provinces by constructing and rehabilitating 639 health and education facilities as well as other critical local infrastructure, such as roads, bridges and water supplies. Through the ABADEI programme’s small grants and training programmes, UNDP supported 35,000 women-owned small businesses, benefiting over 250,000 people. With UNCDF, UNDP piloted a digital payment system to transfer close to $600,000 to almost 3,000 ABADEI beneficiaries in nine provinces, an initiative expected to facilitate the digital delivery of cash transfers.

Gender and Crisis: 10-Point Action Agenda

To scale up work on gender equality in crises, UNDP issued a 10-point action agenda to integrate feminist principles across crisis responses. Tailored coaching to offices in crisis- affected countries resulted in a nearly 75% boost in spending on gender equality programmes

UNDP’s gender and crisis facility is also supporting eight countries to develop economic recovery programmes based on gender analyses and the transformation of structural and social norms. Through UNDP support, 5.4 million women gained jobs and improved their livelihoods in 39 countries in crisis or post-crisis settings in 2022, up from 4.8 million in 2021.

Strengthening resilience

In 2022, our work on resilience grew. The Sahel remained – and remains – one of the most volatile areas in the world, with recurring security incidents and protracted conflicts and displacement situations affecting millions of lives. But throughout the region, from Burkina Faso to Senegal, UNDP’s resilience support is rebuilding not just homes, communities and livelihoods, but also better futures. Innovation is playing an increasingly pivotal role: the smart-agriculture methods made available through a UNDP-supported training programme are one such example.

In Yemen, ongoing conflict, climate-related shocks and COVID-19 have left millions suffering from extreme hunger. But investments in food value chains are yielding sustainable food security resilience – for individuals, communities, businesses, and the economy. This new approach is being funded by the World Bank, with joint support from UNDP and other key partners.

Flooding in Pakistan reached historic levels in 2022, with nearly 8 million people displaced. This required an elevated plan of action from UNDP, which included business grants, cash- for-work initiatives, and our recently launched Flood Recovery Programme – all to support the most vulnerable. Meanwhile, in Viet Nam, UNDP supported coastal families by building 7,100 storm- and flood-resilient homes. But with 110,000 families still without safe housing, the model needs to be dramatically expanded.

Photo of a smiling Sudanese man in white

Photo of a Sudanese man standing next to a car with a tractor in the background

Chain reaction.
In Sudan, we are enhancing food and livelihood security through innovative value chain partnerships between farmers, UNDP and manufacturing company Darfood. The increased production and commercialization of groundnuts has helped create over 4,800 jobs, reduced inter-community conflict, and boosted humanitarian supply chains in the Darfur region.

Photos: UNDP Sudan/Field Staff

Working in Ukraine

One year of war – and counting – has devastated Ukrainian communities. With the cost of recovery estimated at $600–$750 billion already, its people will need support for decades to come. UNDP understands that the foundations for the brighter future Ukrainians want and deserve must be laid now.

UNDP’s unique advantage runs deep and wide, and takes different forms: As part of the UN family, supporting Ukraine’s sustainable development for over three decades. As trusted partners of national and local government, NGOs and CSOs. As nearly 400 people working on the ground (soon to increase by 40%). And as an ongoing presence before, during and after crises hit, thanks to the unwavering support of our core contributors.

Our impact so far

Mine action efforts of the UN and partners have reached almost 3.5 million people (UNDP has been leading UN Mine Action in Ukraine since 2016)

Digital mapping of damaged and destroyed infrastructure (68 settlements assessed and 230,000 buildings mapped)

Assessment of 50 educational facilities for priority repair

Energy access for 4.5 million people

Rapid Damage Needs Assessment (RDNA) with the World Bank, across 20 sectors

Livelihood support for 20,000 businesses and individuals

9 million people gained access to e-services

Short- to long-term action

Scaling up support to the government in demining and debris removal efforts, enabling emergency workers to access communities

Analysing and assessing multidimensional damage to help identify the urgent priority needs

Helping procure emergency energy equipment to keep the power flowing

Repairing damaged schools, health centres and community buildings

Creating livelihood opportunities so that small businesses can get back on their feet

Strengthening local and national government services

Transforming the country’s energy network by boosting energy security through clean, affordable, renewable energies

Sustainable Development Goals

We are already at the midpoint towards implementing the SDGs. Adopted by UN Member States in 2015, the 2030 Agenda set that date as its target year to achieve the 17 Goals and transform our world.

Unfortunately, we are experiencing a reversal of progress in the SDGs. A barrage of global crises have posed new challenges to development cooperation, and have exacerbated existing trends like growing inequalities. Just seven years away from the end date, it’s tempting to see the SDG glass as half-empty.

Yet despite the setbacks, the SDGs remain our best chance to spread prosperity, security and human rights to all corners of the world. The arrival of 2023 brings fresh possibilities for resetting and recommitting to this transformative agenda. By making the right choices, we have the opportunity to accelerate action and deliver real progress for people and our planet.

UNDP relies on key resources from donors – beginning with flexible, core resources. These investments are entrusted to us to pivot and drive human development forward, at scale, in line with the SDGs.

An image of the SDG wheel pin on a lapel, with the sentence 'Pin on for #SDGs'

UNDP SHOP. Since 2017, people in 130 countries have purchased almost half a million products to help actively promote the SDGs.

How will we get there?

$3.2 billion in new public and private finance leveraged for the SDGs, with support from UNDP

Funding goal of
$1 trillion in public and private finance for the SDGs, set by UNDP’s Strategic Plan 2022–2025

Over 40 countries collaborating with UNDP on debt restructuring and thematic bonds, with $11 billion generated for the SDGs and climate action by the end of 2022

Almost 50% of our new Accelerator Lab partners are from the private sector, creating significant potential to scale up investment in the SDGs

160+ open-source development solutions available to all, across the SDGs (through the Digital Public Goods Alliance, co-led by UNDP)

UNDP’s work on gender-based violence, part of our Gender Strategy 2022–2025, has the potential to accelerate multiple SDGs

We currently have over 20,000 people working across 170 countries and territories. We strive to embody the values our organization stands for. We take the well-being of our employees seriously, with a focus on creating a safe, inclusive, innovative and equitable workplace where everyone can grow. Our vision, in line with the Strategic Plan, is clear: by 2025, UNDP will have built the skills and competencies to respond to the development challenges of the future.

We aim to do this through the 10 focus areas in our multi-award-winning People for 2030 Strategy:

Strategic Workforce Management
Sourcing, Attracting and Selecting Top Talent
Building Capabilities and Developing People
Excellence in Leadership
Enabling a High-Level Performance Culture
Creating a Rewarding Career Experience
Positive People Experience and Engagement
Building a Diverse, Inclusive and Equitable UNDP
Taking Care of Our People
HR Effectiveness and People Analytics

Our award-winning Graduate Programme is a crucial aspect of People for 2030’s goal of increasing workforce diversity by opening up opportunities for talent from under-represented groups, while building a new talent pipeline of committed professionals for the next generation of UNDP personnel.

We launched our AI-enabled talent marketplace, which allows all offices to identify expertise across UNDP. Meanwhile, new staff learning and development resources are having a positive impact on organizational culture and performance.

In 2022, UNDP was recognized as having the second-best internships across the United Nations by the Fair Internship Initiative (FII) Quality Index.

UNDP Goodwill Ambassadors and Advocates

In 2022, our Goodwill Ambassadors and celebrity advocates leveraged their global status and professional achievements to shine a spotlight on the biggest challenges facing our world:

Moved by the devastating earthquake that struck Syria and Türkiye, Oscar-winner Michelle Yeoh penned a guest opinion essay in The New York Times in which she detailed her personal experience during the earthquake in Nepal in 2015, pointed the spotlight on the deep inequalities women and girls face during crises, and called for solutions that include women in the decision-making process.
At the COP27 Climate Conference, UNDP Goodwill Ambassadors and advocates promoted the UN Secretary-General’s messages around COP27 on social media. In addition, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and UNDP India’s Youth Climate Champion Prajakta Koli participated in UNDP’s Dear World Leaders initiative, showcased at COP27 and promoted across social media.
In conjunction with both World Ocean Day and the UN Ocean Conference, UNDP launched a social media campaign spearheaded by UNDP Ocean Advocate Cody Simpson, UNDP Türkiye Life Below Water Advocate Şahika Ercümen, and marine biologists Sylvia Earle and Nayantara Jain.
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Aïssa Maïga joined UNDP and Frankie the Dinosaur centre stage at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity to raise visibility for the award-winning Don’t Choose Extinction campaign. They called on the creative community to use their influence to fight climate change. The campaign’s video has now been viewed 2.2 billion times, and translated into 58 languages.

Photo of the Oscar winner actor Michelle Yeoh wearing the SDG pin

Michelle Yeoh Photo: UNDP/Freya Morales

Global Leadership

Achim Steiner
Administrator

Usha Rao-Monari
Associate Administrator

Khalida Bouzar
Regional Bureau for Arab States*

Angelique M. Crumbly
Bureau for Management Services

Mirjana
Spoljaric Egger
Regional Bureau for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States**

Ahunna Eziakonwa
Regional Bureau for Africa

Luis Felipe
López-Calva
Regional Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean***

Ulrika Modéer
Bureau of External Relations and Advocacy

Asako Okai
Crisis Bureau

Kanni Wignaraja
Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific

Haoliang Xu
Bureau for Policy and Programme Support

* Abdallah Al Dardari

appointment as Assistant Secretary-General, Assistant Administrator and Director of UNDP’s Regional Bureau for Arab States announced March 2023. Entry on Duty: May 2023 (tentative).

**Ivana Živković

appointment as Assistant Secretary- General, Assistant Administrator of UNDP’s Regional Bureau for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States announced September 2022. Entry on Duty: October 2022.

***Michelle Muschett Zimmermann

appointment as Assistant Secretary-General, Assistant Administrator of UNDP’s Regional Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean announced November 2022. Entry on Duty: January 2023

One for all.

In October 2022, UNDP convened its global network of country representatives with Member State permanent representatives in New York to discuss the future of development.

Group photo of UNDP's country leadership in the United Nation's ECOSOC hall

In 2022, UNDP continued to serve as a thought-leader and partner to strengthen UN’s system-wide partnerships and coalitions, both in response to multidimensional, polycrisis situations, and to help accelerate the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the SDGs.

Bringing UN partners together

Here are UNDP’s top UN partners in 2022, working together globally – from Afghanistan to Ukraine – across our Signature Solutions to address inequality, protect climate and nature, respond to crisis and conflict, and more:

UNDP was proud to host crucial, specialized functions for the UN’s work around the world in 2022:

UNV deployed 12,408 UN volunteers as a UN system-wide service, a 14% increase over 2021

Volunteers representing 179 different nationalities supported 55 UN entities in 166 countries

$1.74 billion in resources transferred to UN agencies and implementing partners to provide integrated development responses

134 programme countries received pooled financing across the humanitarian, peace, development and climate portfolio

Supported the development and scaling up of more than 170 digital and financial products and services, reaching 440,000+ micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and 16 million people

Helped catalyse over $550 million in additional public and private investment capital for sustainable development

150 governments, 30 UN entities and international organizations and many other partners supported to exchange good practices and lessons in South-South and triangular cooperation

500+ institutions connected to work on South-South and triangular cooperation, sharing 1000+ good practices on the digital platform, covering all SDGs

South-South trust funds benefited 70+ developing countries in partnership with 20 UN entities

Colorful AI-generated colorful graphic representing the United Nations building

Digital is defining how we live, work and interact with each other. Whether technology becomes an empowering force for good or a sower of more division and exclusion will depend on choices we make now. Today, 2.7 billion people, mostly in developing countries, are on the wrong side of the digital divide. If left there, they will only lag further behind. Yes, digital transformation can enable countries to adapt and to use digital effectively, systematically, and sustainably – if and when purposefully planned and implemented at a national level. But without intentional efforts to be inclusive and uphold rights, digitalization can reinforce existing inequities in access, power, and patterns of exclusion.

Flagship research by UNDP and the University of Denver found that making targeted investments in digitalization, social protection, and the green economy could cut the number of people living in extreme poverty by 146 million by 2030. That is why UNDP has invested in becoming a digitally literate organization that both applies the latest technology to our own work and supports developing countries in harnessing the digital revolution.

UNDP and digital: a force for public good

Digital is at the forefront of UNDP’s future-ready programmes, which aims to realize human gains, not just technological ones. And we will continue to reshape how our organization responds to the monumental challenges our world now faces.

Our Digital Strategy 2022-2025 lays out how we support countries to build inclusive, ethical and sustainable digital societies.

Realizing the huge potential of digital technologies and its profound ability to accelerate achievement of the SDGs, with UNDP support, countries throughout the world have been pursuing their digital transformation journeys.

In 2022, 124 countries implemented 480 digital solutions for development.

UNDP supported over 40 countries in conducting digital readiness assessments, developing inclusive digital infrastructure, and gaining access to partnerships and open- source technology.

Our digitalization partnerships include private sector, civil society, NGOs, academia and other development partners.

With GitHub, we developed the Digital Development Compass, the largest ever collection of national digital indicators, helping to navigate inclusive, whole-of-society digital transformation.

UNDP co-leads the Digital Public Goods Alliance to make 160+ open-source development solutions available to all, across the SDGs.

With our support, over 40 UNDP country offices have established new capacities for digital justice initiatives.

In 2022, we supported over 30 countries on aspects of their national digital strategies.

We introduced and supported how a data exchange system in Ukraine has sustained social protection and service delivery despite the war.

We play a leading role in mobilizing and implementing inclusive, safe, and trusted digital public infrastructure (i.e. essential society-wide functions and services like digital forms of ID and verification, civil registration, digital transactions and money transfers, data exchange, and information systems.)

We launched the Digital X Solutions Catalogue, a marketplace of 100 vetted digital solutions, used to accelerate or amplify development impact across UNDP’s programming areas.

Photo of a hand holding a smartphone with the CoWIN app on the screen

One billion vaccinations at record speed.
UNDP supported the Indian government’s implementation of CoWIN (COVID-19 Vaccine Intelligence Network), the digital backbone of the country’s COVID-19 vaccination drive – one of the world’s largest. The open, inclusive platform achieved universal vaccination by monitoring vaccine utilization, coverage and wastage. 1.4 billion vaccinations were delivered in under a year across 327,000 centres in India and four other countries, serviced by over 1 million health care workers

Photo: UNDP India

Three decades ago, our Human Development Report (HDR) challenged the dominance of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as a measure of progress. We’ve been redefining development ever since. Today, the accumulation of war, global political tensions, the soaring cost of living, hunger, the debt crisis, worsening climate disasters, and the reversal of progress on the SDGs have truly brought us to the brink. It remains uncertain when, if ever, the recovery will take place.

There is hope, however. UNDP’s capacities to detect, listen and learn from ideas in every part of the world continue to grow. This has allowed us to create new concepts and smarter insights. One of our latest report’s groundbreaking discoveries is the uncertainty complex, where multiple stresses are reinforcing each other and derailing development. These and other findings from the 2021/2022 HDR and three complementary reports were featured prominently in major international conferences, academic forums and leading media outlets, drawing over 4 million website visits.

Human Development Report

Pushing the frontier of development thinking

The HDR continued to build on the importance of addressing inequality and insecurity by unlocking human potential, enabling choices, and enhancing people’s freedoms and opportunities.
Laying down a viable path

For people to thrive today and tomorrow, the HDR provides evidence of the profound transformation our societies and economies need to ease planetary pressures, expand human development, and achieve the 2030 Agenda.
Providing new insights from innovative new data and metrics

By tracking development progress, we can provide fresh insights around poverty and climate change impacts, empowering people to act for change, and influencing global policy.
Unveiling new “poverty profiles”

The 2022 Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) revealed new profiles that offer a breakthrough in development efforts to tackle the interlinked aspects of poverty.
Advancing human development through strong partnerships

Partnerships expand the global dialogue, provide new information, and achieve common goals. The partners, consultants and other stakeholders involved in our reports in 2022 included civil society, youth, South-South representatives, the LGBTQI+ community, experts on the environment and peace, academics, the mainstream media, governments, multilateral organizations, NGOs, think tanks, and the UN system.

Top Partners

The Global Fund

Japan

Germany

European Union

Argentina

United States of America

Global Environment Facility

Multi-Partner Trust Fund

Sweden

Democratic Republic
of the Congo

Green Climate Fund

Netherlands

Switzerland

Norway

Canada

UN Agencies

Denmark

Highlights in 2022

9% decrease in core funding (regular resources)
Core contributions received in 2022 decreased to $591 million from $648 million in 2021

14% increase in third-party cost-sharing
Contributions from third-party cost-sharing increased to $1.92 billion from $1.68 billion in 2021

42% increase in funding windows
Contributions from thematic funding windows increased to $119 million from $84 million in 2021

10 partners increased their contributions to regular resources
United States, Sweden, Japan, Norway, Australia, Italy, Luxembourg, Austria, Iceland, and Spain (returned) increased their contribution to regular resources

6 new multi-year pledges to contribute regular resources
Sweden, Switzerland, Australia, Luxembourg, New Zealand, and Türkiye signed multi-year pledges to contribute regular resources

Funding Windows

Top 2022 UNDP funding partners

Data-based visualization showcasing UNDP's top funding partners for 2022. The chart indicates each country's name, the amount they contributed and the type of resources distinguishing 'regular' from 'other'

Top core contributors

Core funds are flexible, regular resources that are not earmarked for a specific project or theme.

United States of America

Germany

Sweden

Japan

Switzerland

Norway

Netherlands

Canada

Denmark

France

Belgium

India

Australia

Republic of Korea

Ireland

Qatar

All financial figures are provisional as of April 2023 and subject to change until the completion of audited financial statements.

Awards

CSO50 annual award for cybersecurity projects that demonstrate outstanding thought leadership and business value. This was the 8^th time UNDP has won (more than any other organization)

UNDP and Hyundai’s for Tomorrow initiative won an award in the media category at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Innovation Awards

UNDP’s Dear World Leaders initiative voted People’s Voice Winner in the activism category. The Webby Awards are hailed as the “Internet’s highest honor” by The New York Times dearworldleaders.org

Most Effective Emerging Talent Recruitment award for UNDP’s Graduate Programme

Honours mission-driven work and the social impact of individuals, corporations and organizations worldwide. UNDP’s Don’t Choose Extinction campaign awarded Gold and Silver in two separate categories. dontchooseextinction.com

Ranked UNDP 7^th overall in transparency; 2^nd UN agency behind UNICEF (2022 Aid Transparency Index)

Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD)
awarded UNDP’s People for 2030 Strategy, for:

• Best Learning and Development Initiative for a Public Sector Institution
(Leaders for 2030 Programme)
• Best Talent Management Initiative (Graduate Programme)

Testimonials

“Possibly the most significant effort at outlining the SDG opportunity as viable for return-seeking investors.”

Yofi Grant
CEO of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (on Ghana’s SDG Investor Map)

“UNDP is our strategic ally on the way to achieving the SDGs.”

Ms. Sara Omi
President of the Coordinator of Territorial Women Leaders of Mesoamerica and Embera Lead Adviser to the Embera Women Craftswomen's Association, Panama

“UNDP’s Advisory Group on Energy Governance is a truly diverse and first-of-a-kind international group that brings together experts from a variety of backgrounds, cultures, experiences and sectors to solve the governance challenges of ensuring a clean and equitable energy system for the future.”

Mr. Sanjay Jaiswal
Member of Parliament, India

“UNDP has a terrifically important role in advancing environmental justice. Assisting countries with constitutions. Strengthening legislation. Reaching out to judges, prosecutors, national human rights institutions and civil society to raise awareness and empower and protect people, human rights and the planet.”

David R. Boyd
UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment

“For many years, UNDP has been an enduring partner of the Government of Bangladesh in its aspirations to scale up public sector innovations and provide more accountable and inclusive public services for its citizens.”

Mr. Khandker Anwarul Islam
Cabinet Secretary, Bangladesh

The future is for all.
And we can shape it.

UNDP working at the global, regional and local level

World against a colorful AI-generated background

Back to the future

Explore past UNDP annual reports to see how our work on sustainable development has impacted the world over time.

Annual Report2022

The future is...

UNDP in 2022

Our signature solutions

Empowered women and girls

LGBTQI+ communities

Disabilities and dignity

Inspired by youth

Accelerator Labs Network

Future Smart Networks

Our Climate Promise

Nature, climate and energy

Africa Minigrids Programme

Leading the fastest, cheapest, biggest approach to clean energy

UNDP Moonshots

UNDP’s Sustainable Finance Hub

International Financial Institutions (IFIs)

Project-to-portfolio shift

Growing private sector partnerships

Our new Crisis offer

Highlights in 2022

Gender and Crisis: 10-Point Action Agenda

Strengthening resilience

Working in Ukraine

Our impact so far

Short- to long-term action

Sustainable Development Goals

How will we get there?

UNDP Goodwill Ambassadors and Advocates

Global Leadership

Bringing UN partners together

UNDP and digital: a force for public good

Human Development Report

Top Partners

Highlights in 2022

Funding Windows

Top 2022 UNDP funding partners

Top core contributors

Awards

Testimonials

The future is for all.And we can shape it.

UNDP working at the global, regional and local level

Back to the future

Annual Report
2022

Empowered women
and girls

The future is for all.
And we can shape it.