Mine-clearing in Cambodia
Beginning in 2006, UNDP’s mine action project – with support from international donors – has helped clear landmines from more than 8,300 hectares of land in Cambodia. With at least 76% of the cleared areas converted into farmland, villagers can now walk their lands with much less fear.
ASIA-PACIFIC
UNDP has been working in Asia and the Pacific since the founding of the organization . We now support 36 countries and territories, through 24 offices in the region and the Bangkok Regional Hub.
The Asia-Pacific region is home to some of the world’s largest and fastest growing economies, as well as some of its least developed countries; landlocked countries and Small Island Developing States; some of the most populous urban areas; two-thirds of the world’s working-age population; and rich biodiversity and natural resources.
While the region has made huge strides in alleviating poverty, it struggles to combat inequality, create decent jobs, especially for youth, and meet great risks from natural disasters and climate change.
Working closely with governments in the region, UNDP has advanced employment and livelihoods; helped conserve biodiversity over more than 46 million hectares; supported innovative initiatives such as electronic waste disposal in China; and helped communities recover from and build resilience to disasters; such as the quake in Nepal, the cyclone in Vanuatu, and typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.
We’re now assisting governments in planning, budgeting and implementing the Sustainable Development Goals. We also help governments fast-track those efforts through innovative projects on youth employment, technology transfer, climate adaptation and mitigation, and disaster preparedness.
COUNTRY SNAPSHOTS
India
UNDP India
Planting Seeds of Change in India
UNDP has worked in India in almost all areas of human development, from democratic governance to poverty eradication, to sustainable energy and environmental management. Published in 2012 to commemorate a partnership of over four decades, this book illustrates how the people of India have collaborated with UNDP to achieve transformative results in development.
Lao PDR
UNDP Lao PDR
Aiding agriculture in Lao PDR
UNDP officials visit a UNDP farm construction project in Feaung District, Vientiane Province as part of UNDP's work to help farmers modernize their agricultural practices. In this June 1984 photo, a local farmer demonstrates a new rice threshing machine received through the UNDP project. Today, UNDP supports Lao PDR's agriculture sector by helping improve its resilience to climate change.
Mongolia
UNDP Mongolia
Microfinance in Mongolia
With UNDP’s assistance, the Government of Mongolia initiated an experimental microfinance programme in 1997 to support its less advantaged population. While UNDP's support concluded in 2001, nationally driven momentum and private resources have moved the sector forward. XacBank, once a UNDP beneficiary, is now an implementation partner.
Myanmar
UNDP Myanmar
Fostering local development in Myanmar
From 1993 to 2012, UNDP's primary programme of assistance to Myanmar was the Human Development Initiative (HDI), which covered 8,000 villages nationwide, reaching some five million women, men and children. This book tells the stories of people impacted by HDI, which helped communities secure sustainable livelihoods and manage local development. UNDP's work on sustainable development in Lao PDR through inclusive governance continues today.
Philippines
UN/UNDP / Joseph F. Viesti
Philippines: A long-term partner in agriculture
In the 1980's, UNDP, together with FAO, worked with the Philippine Government to develop production of fish and "carabao" buffaloes in order to raise the protein intake of people in areas where malnutrition was prevalent and to augment local farmers' incomes. Today, UNDP, FAO, and other partners are working with the Philippines to address climate change risks in agriculture.
Republic of Korea
UN Photo/PB
Republic of Korea: Sharing success worldwide
For over 40 years, UNDP delivered hundreds of projects in various fields to support the people of Korea. By the time the last country programme was completed in 2009, Korea had begun providing technical assistance in developing countries and today also continues to share its experience and success story with others. In this 1964 photo, an FAO technical expert and a Korean project engineer converse while workers construct bench terraces near the village of Sang Tan - a collaboration with the UN Special Fund and FAO to increase agricultural production.
Sri Lanka
UNDP/Steve Maines, 1983
Improving health and well-being in Sri Lanka
As part of the the Sri Lankan Government's 1983 effort to promote preventive health care and integrate curative and preventive care into its health services, UNDP and WHO provided support to the National Institute of Health Sciences, the country's main medical training facility at the time. The project trained new assistant medical practitioners, provided equipment and expanded the faculty. At work with Sri Lanka for nearly 50 years, UNDP supports it today by helping improve livelihoods, manage hazardous waste, and through other work.
Thailand
UN/UNDP / Maggie Hopp
Promoting sustainable development in Thailand
In this 1984 photo, a laboratory technician conducts an experiment in the chemical laboratory of the Rubber Research Center, which UNDP and FAO helped establish with the Government of Thailand. Aimed at substantially increasing natural rubber production in the country, the accelerated rubber replanting project helped train farmers in bud-grafting and tapping, and in implementing standard quality controls. As rubber trees have a productive life-span of 25 years, Thai farmers are assured of long-term employment. Rubber farming is just one of many projects UNDP has supported in Thailand. Click on the link to learn about others.
China
UNDP China
China: Renewable energy and beyond
In a partnership spanning almost 40 years, UNDP has worked together with China in areas including agriculture, science and technology, health and medicine, and disaster relief. Today we continue to support China in promoting environmentally friendly and energy-efficient solutions, as well as widespread adoption of renewable energy technologies. In this photo taken in Bulunkou Township, one of the pilot sites in Xinjiang, 312 households, along with a clinic and a school are provided with electricity from the wind-diesel-solar hybrid power system.
Lao PDR
UNDP Lao PDR
Lao PDR: Governance, security and prosperity
Since opening of the UNDP country office in 1976, UNDP has worked with the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) to reduce poverty and promote effective governance. In addition to those ongoing efforts, we support Lao PDR in reducing the impact of unexploded ordnance remaining from the Second Indochina War, integrating the needs of its poorest populations into national strategies, promoting sustainable green growth, and integrating the country into regional and international organizations to help tranform its labour market and reduce urban-rural inequalities.
Afghanistan
Building bridges in Afghanistan
UNDP has built 84 bridges across Afghanistan, allowing more than 430,000 people to travel in safety. The Ghozo-Omerz bridge is just one of 556 transportation-related projects. Focused on rural development in the country's 34 provinces, UNDP in the past 11 years has implemented nearly 4,000 projects reaching about 25 million beneficiaries. Pictured here are children on an all-weather bridge, constructed by UNDP’s livelihoods programme, which allows villagers to cross the river every day and connects them to markets and schools.
Papua New Guinea
UNDP Papua New Guinea
Working together in Papua New Guinea
UNDP has had a long and proud history in Papua New Guinea, working in all areas of development since opening its country office in 1981. With the support of the Government, donors, and other partners, UNDP has built successful working relationships across the country and expanded its work in order to help Papua New Guinea improve livelihoods, fight corruption, ensure inclusive political processes, empower women, adapt to climate change and reduce disaster risks, among other efforts.
Bangladesh
UN Photo / M. Wild
Building communities in Bangladesh
Pictured in this 1989 photo are women in a literacy class -- part of UNDP's broader effort to help community development projects in Bangladesh, where we have worked since 1972. Today UNDP assists Bangladesh in reducing poverty, managing disaster risk, strengthening democratic goverance and promoting sustainable green growth. Most recently, UNDP, together with the EU, supported the Government's project establishing village courts that offer fast, low-cost, and local dispute resolution to millions of people in rural areas.
Indonesia
Nicholas Hurt / Rebecca Lake / UNDP
Empowering women in Indonesia
Women make up almost half the world’s farmers. Yet smaller farms and less access to education and finance makes it more difficult for them to adopt new agriculture technologies. As part of its work through the Green Commodities Programme (GCP), UNDP is bringing together government, big business, small-scale farmers and other stakeholders to make farmers’ practices and livelihoods more sustainable in key agricultural commodities such as palm oil, cocoa and coffee, in ten countries, including Indonesia. And success involves closing the gender gap.