Yemen needs broad support to stop its crisis

24 Apr 2017 by Auke Lootsma, Country Director, UNDP Yemen

At pledging conference, donors must stand and deliver Fragile, impoverished Yemen already ranked among the world’s poorest countries when political transition erupted into all-out war two years ago. To make things worse, the country is also suffering the largest food security crisis worldwide. It will take far more than emergency aid to address one of the worst food and humanitarian emergencies in recent memory. Yemen’s deepening crisis has reversed decades of hard-won development gains, with civilians paying an appalling price. Five years ago, for example, as a result of UNDP’s de-mining efforts, the country was nearly mine-free. Now, all 22 governorates are littered with explosives, in some cases severely. More than 3 million people have been displaced, nearly 8,000 killed and over 40,000 injured in the ongoing conflict. Yemen has historically imported 90 percent of its food, overwhelmingly through the embattled port of Hodeidah. With ports, roads, bridges, and other basic infrastructure badly damaged - and in some cases blockaded - and domestic agriculture disrupted, Yemenis are now on the brink of an avoidable famine. Some 17 million people now don’t know where they might find their next meal, and 6.8 million face life-threatening malnutrition—in a country of only 27 million, … Read more

In Belize, local stewardship key to marine conservation

21 Apr 2017 by Leonel Requena, National Coordinator, GEF Small Grants Programme, UNDP Belize

The reef was in plain sight, a majestic view with sandy white beaches surrounding cayes with magnificent frigate birds and booby birds flying overhead at Halfmoon Caye Natural Monument. I was eager to put on my diving gear and see the wonders of the 186-mile-long Belize Barrier Reef, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Colorful coral reefs, whale sharks, turtles, and hundreds of cubera snappers aggregating three days before full moon at the Gladden Spit Spawning Aggregation Site, in Belize. It was May 2002, and I was participating along with a research team to collect data on Nassau Grouper abundance and distribution which would inform the declaration of eleven Nassau Grouper Spawning Aggregation Sites. Our ocean is rich in biodiversity and is a crucial carbon sink. Coastal wetlands, mangroves and coral reefs support a diverse array of marine life. According to a recent economic study of the Belize Barrier Reef, the estimated services derived for tourism and livelihoods is US$559 million per year with a population of 380,010 people. A healthy reef ensures healthy people and a resilient country. … Read more

Is your company ready to engage with the SDGs through inclusive business?

19 Apr 2017 by Sahba Sobhani, Private Sector Programme Advisor, UNDP and Robert de Jongh, Specialist Leader, Social Finance, Deloitte Consulting

SDG engagement can take the form of a tested and decade-old concept: inclusive business. A new report helps companies assess how ready they are to incorporate it. These are unsettling times. The promise of globalization is being increasingly eclipsed by political uncertainty and a rising tide of nationalism and protectionism. In listening to workers displaced by automation or communities who feel the squeeze of disparities in income and political capital, the world is beginning to recognise that progress has not only been uneven, but that the costs of globalization in some instances might outweigh the benefits. But this “globalization hangover” should not serve as a backlash against the potential of global accords like the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which have inherently transformed the relationship between business and government by marrying economic growth and social gain. In fact, in the wake of sociopolitical unease, stakeholders around the world are obligated to commit to the brighter side of convergence, moving beyond rhetoric and into bold action that reaffirms a changing course. After all, successfully reaching the SDGs will require a Herculean effort, to the tune of US$30-45 trillion (£24-36 trillion) in funding over the next 15 years — a daunting figure given that current estimates … Read more

Setting a sustainable table

18 Apr 2017 by Joan, Josep and Jordi Roca, UNDP Goodwill Ambassadors

Food has always been a central part of our lives. We grew up in our parents’ restaurant and realized early on that the way people experience food – especially how they cook food and preserve culinary traditions – has a direct impact on the fundamental areas of life. It impacts our health, happiness – even our sense of identity and belonging. So imagine if your favourite staple foods or ingredients were no longer available. Recipes passed from generation to generation could become impossible to recreate. This is what is happening in many places around the world, where climate change is impacting crop production and undermining food security. Increasing temperatures and changing rainfall patterns are threatening agricultural productivity, and some farming practices are only making matters worse. In our role as Goodwill Ambassadors for the Sustainable Development Goals Fund, we’re partnering with UNDP to bring attention to the Sustainable Development Goals, especially Goal 2, Zero Hunger. Goal 2 is about fighting hunger and malnutrition and improving access for all people to a healthy diet. This goes hand-in-hand with advocating for measures to improve food industry and agricultural practices to protect the environment and create jobs.   Developing strong and sustainable food production systems … Read more

A un año del terremoto en Ecuador, aún queda mucho por hacer

17 Apr 2017 by Nury Bermúdez, Emergency Response, Risk Management and Livelihoods Officer, UNDP Ecuador

It only took 40 seconds to unleash decades of pent up vulnerability in Ecuador. Substandard buildings, additional stories built unofficially, shoddy building materials—they all took their toll on 16 April 2016. With 671 deaths and over 241,000 people affected, it was unquestionably one of Ecuador’s biggest emergencies in decades. The country’s emergency response capabilities were overwhelmed, making clear the need to strengthen preparedness, prevention and recovery for dealing with large-scale adverse events. In the face of this situation, a national and international solidarity network activated to provide aid and relief during the emergency. Government agencies responded on multiple fronts in regions needing immediate aid. Different protocols and mechanisms were created and put to the test during the emergency. Local governments set up temporary operations since many lost their facilities and were also affected. Civil society organizations were also on the ground in different areas, coordinating, managing and supporting those most in need. The humanitarian mandate to provide people with comprehensive care was fulfilled thanks to contributions and accumulated knowledge, where cooperation agencies played an important role and the Country Humanitarian Team was a hub of action that supplemented the Ecuadorian government’s efforts. UNDP aided the government on several fronts. In the … Read more

How do you inspire entrepreneurship in a conflict-affected region?

12 Apr 2017 by Janthomas Hiemstra, UNDP Ukraine Country Director and Sofiya Oshchebska, National Coordinator - Crowdfunding Academy, UNDP Ukraine

The armed conflict in eastern Ukraine has not only disrupted everyday life in the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk but also led to staggering unemployment. Out of 23 major enterprises in Luhansk region, 19 are currently not operating, while half of the enterprises in the Donetsk region have lost about 950,000 jobs. Supporting employment is challenging in the best of circumstances and far more so in conflict situations. How do you talk about the benefits of entrepreneurship to people who lost everything and, after being displaced, are just trying to find their place in a new community? At UNDP Ukraine’s Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme, we have an ambitious goal: to promote entrepreneurship in Donbas, inspire people who worked all their life in mines and factories to step into the unsure path of entrepreneurship, and make them believe in themselves and their country again. So we decided to start by showing the joy of creating and developing your own business through the stories of ordinary people. Stories of people like us, who, despite all the difficulties, have succeeded. That’s how the “Big Stories of Small Businesses” campaign came about. We partnered with the Molodiya Social Advertisement Festival to screen the stories of … Read more

Shattering glass ceilings – and walls

11 Apr 2017 by Shoko Noda, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in the Maldives

Halfway through fourth grade, I opened my report card and saw that my teacher had given me a C for ‘behaviour’.  Understandably, it shocked my parents. I had always gotten top grades in class. I was taken aback too. It was when I got the same grade the following semester, and read my teachers remarks, that the truth dawned on me. My teacher had written: Shoko is finally improving her selection of words, and has started to behave more like a gentle girl.      I think that, among other things, I had upset the teacher by climbing trees with the boys during physical education class.  I was also quite independent-minded and expressed my views in maybe not-so-polite terms. My parents were quite happy when, with a new teacher for the next two years, I went back to getting A grades for good behaviour.  Time passed. It was my first day at my very first job. My boss asked me if I would continue working even after I got married.  I said I would. I knew that he would not have asked the same question of a new male colleague. As the most junior female staff, I also had to serve tea … Read more

To fight Zika, fight poverty and inequality

06 Apr 2017 by Magdy Martínez-Solimán, Director, Bureau for Policy and Programme Support and Jessica Faieta, Director, Regional Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean

Marta and João live in a small town in the state of Paraiba, Brazil. Pregnant with their fifth child, Marta showed symptoms of Zika. Her pregnancy was otherwise uneventful, but an ultrasound at eight months picked up symptoms of microcephaly. Marta remembers: “The nurse and the doctor told me not to worry, that he would be normal. But I was worried.” When Luiz was born, their fear was realized. “We did not expect that this could happen from the bite of a mosquito. The shock is still huge”. At seven months, Luiz requires constant attention. Unsure if he will walk or talk in the future, Marta and João’s worries are compounded by financial woes. “I hope I can work again soon”, Marta laments. “We want to buy a stroller to put the baby in, because he can’t sit. That way I would have a little bit more freedom. But we don’t know how much it costs.” The couple is unable to make short-term plans to resume paid work, creating uncertainty about their financial stability despite the assistance they receive from the Government. Unfortunately, the struggles of Marta and João are not unique. Poor households, like Marta and Joao’s, are both more … Read more

Monitoring implementation of SDG16 for peaceful, just and inclusive societies

04 Apr 2017 by Jairo Acuña-Alfaro, Policy Advisor, Responsive and Accountable Institutions Team, Governance and Peacebuilding, Bureau for Policy and Programme Support, UNDP.

The Sustainable Development Goal 16 recognizes the centrality of governance-informed development to ensure that societies’ aspirations for higher access and quality of public services will be achieved through core government functions that are effective, responsive and inclusive. These core functions of government (for example reform of the civil service or responsive and accountable public administration) are essential for development. The key, however, lies in its implementation at country level. Unlike many other aspects of the 2030 Agenda, monitoring of SDG16 is a relatively new area of engagement but it offers an unprecedented opportunity to drive improvements in governance issues that underpin peaceful, just, and inclusive societies and the attainment of the entire 2030 agenda. SDG16 embodies 10 targets and 23 indicators. However, the novelty and nature of the challenge on objective measuring is even considering only a few of the selected indicators (6 out of 23) are conceptually clear, have established methodology and standards available and data is regularly produced (tier 1). For other nine indicators, data are not regularly produced by countries (tier 2) and other eight do not have established methodology and standards are being developed and tested (tier 3). Considering this, a few questions come to mind: how … Read more

Syria conference must be a game-changer

03 Apr 2017 by Moises Venancio, Adviser, UNDP Regional Bureau for Arab States

The 2016 London Conference on Supporting Syria and the Region drew world leaders from around the globe and raised more than US$10 billion dollars in pledges to address one of the largest, longest-running crises in modern memory. “Never has the international community raised so much money on a single day for a single crisis,” the UN Secretary-General observed. Hosted by Germany, Norway, Kuwait and the UK, London brought together OCHA, UNDP and UNHCR, integrating the need for urgent humanitarian with the need for more medium-term resilience approaches to support Syrians and the communities hosting them in surrounding countries and to assist the vulnerable populations inside Syria.. Significantly, it focused on education and livelihoods, yielding multi-year commitments including concessional loans inside Syria, and tried to spearhead a new “compact” with Jordan and Lebanon—with increased international funding aimed at boosting jobs for Syrian refugees. Together, these and other innovations acknowledged the need for a new, more robust approach to address what remains a vast and prolonged crisis. Giving falls short Yet resources made available to date have fallen short. The Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) for inside Syria has received only 49 percent of requested resources ($1.6 billion out of $3.2 billion), while the Regional Refugee and … Read more