European Union and UNDP partnership key to tackle global development emergency

UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner meets key European Union and Belgium partners during a mission to Brussels

February 21, 2024

Brussels, 20 February 2024 – A high-level policy dialogue between the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the European Union (EU) concluded that the partnership between the two organizations is vital to tackle the growing global challenges and scale up action to achieve a more sustainable, equitable, and prosperous future for all.

Opened by Achim Steiner, UNDP Administrator, and Jutta Urpilainen, EU Commissioner for International Partnerships, the dialogue also launched a year-long campaign to mark the 20^th anniversary of the UNDP-EU partnership.

“With its strong presence on the ground in even the most fragile regions, UNDP has enabled the EU to provide support to the people and communities that need it most. The EU remains committed to multilateralism, universal values, and the rules-based international order, with the UN at its core. We will continue to invest in Europe and its international partners alike. And we will do everything in our power to advance on the 2030 Agenda and pave the way for a successful Summit of the Future,” said Jutta Urpilainen, EU Commissioner for International Partnerships.

“With its strong presence on the ground in even the most fragile regions, UNDP has enabled the EU to provide support to the people and communities that need it most. The EU remains committed to multilateralism, universal values, and the rules-based international order, with the UN at its core. We will continue to invest in Europe and its international partners alike. And we will do everything in our power to advance on the 2030 Agenda and pave the way for a successful Summit of the Future,”

Jutta Urpilainen, EU Commissioner for International Partnerships

The UNDP - EU dialogue provided the platform to exchange views on the global development challenges and identify ways to expand the partnership, especially in the area of green and digital transitions, crisis and fragility, and sustainable finance. Both the EU and UNDP stressed the importance of sustained development assistance in fragile contexts, the support to countries in advancing the globally agreed climate and biodiversity goals, including by mobilising more public and private finance, fostering a digital transformation that benefits all, and de-risking investment which is vital to scale-up private sector investment in renewable energy.

“The world faces a development emergency. International cooperation is the only way forward to tackle rising poverty and growing inequality as well as the climate change impacts across and within countries,” said Achim Steiner, UNDP Administrator. “For more than 20 years, our partnership with the European Union has been supporting people’s lives, their voices and their solutions. We welcome this strong collaboration and remain committed to advance sustainable development for all.”

_{Achim Steiner, UNDP Administrator (left) and Jutta Urpilainen, EU Commissioner for International Partnerships. Photo: European Commission}

“The world faces a development emergency. International cooperation is the only way forward to tackle rising poverty and growing inequality as well as the climate change impacts across and within countries. For more than 20 years, our partnership with the European Union has been supporting people’s lives, their voices and their solutions. We welcome this strong collaboration and remain committed to advance sustainable development for all.”

Achim Steiner, UNDP Administrator

While in Brussels, the UNDP Administrator met EU officials to discuss the partnership which currently spans over 70 countries across the globe in areas related to crisis and fragility, governance and environment through more than 170 initiatives worth over EUR 1 billion.

With Virginijus Sinkevičius, European Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, the conversation focused on how UNDP’s Nature Pledge can support the implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework and on the EU-UNDP support to more than 130 countries in designing and implementing finance solutions to protect biodiversity. They also discussed the EU’s international leadership on environmental matters and progress on the European Green Deal, as well as the global efforts to tackle deforestation.

As UNDP’s partnership with the EU has a strong focus on crisis and fragility, the Administrator discussed with Janez Lenarčič, European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, the joint work on disaster preparedness, climate adaptation and the humanitarian-development-peace nexus. Our joint work in crisis and fragile contexts such as Ukraine, Yemen or Afghanistan helps restore basic services and infrastructure, create jobs and support local development, while improved procedures allow for better disaster preparedness and response in the Caribbean. A meeting with the EU Member States Ambassadors to the Political and Security Committee underlined that the cooperation between the EU and the UN and UNDP can play a key role in addressing the root causes of conflicts and spillover effects in a polarised global environment.

Achim Steiner discussed with Dubravka Šuica, European Commission’s Vice-President for Democracy and Demography, the cooperation with the EU on inclusive governance and civic participation, and information integrity. Since 2006, the EC-UNDP Joint Task Force for Electoral Assistance has supported over 200 electoral assistance initiatives worldwide, while iVerify, a fact-checking initiative, helps combat the spread of false narratives during elections. In the Western Balkans, an EU-UNDP local democracy initiative empowers civil society and encourages young people to actively take part in the decision-making process.

UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner also met Caroline Gennez, Belgium’s Minister for Development Cooperation, which currently holds the EU Council presidency. They discussed the situation in Gaza, DRC and the Sahel, and Belgium’s support to UNDP’s work on resilience, governance and local development.  The Administrator thanked Minister Gennez for Belgium’s commitment to multilateralism and contributions to core funding which have been critical to UNDP's efforts to improve the lives of millions of people and deliver transformative, innovative and integrated development solutions across the globe.