COVID-19 has required UNDP and many of its projects to ‘pivot’ to address the new and prominent issue of a global pandemic and its socio-economic consequences, especially on the most vulnerable. The pandemic has led many projects and agencies to be flexible and innovative in addressing this new challenge, assigning funds for COVID-19-related support or broadening target groups to include those impacted or to include new needs.

This paper offers early lessons from UNDP’s COVID-19 adaptation and response during 2020 and through to May 2021: What worked and how?

1. Successful pandemic responses are integrating longer-term planning into UNDP support to Government-led COVID-responses to build forward better.
2. Accelerated adoption of digital tools ensures the continuity of Government services as well as UNDP’s operations, strengthening the COVID-19 response.
3. Robust, reliable and flexible procurement systems are indispensable to allow organizations to quickly respond to crises in an accountable and transparent way.
4. In-built flexibility in the design of interventions can help UNDP adjust and adapt to urgent and unexpected needs and reach new beneficiaries when a crisis hits.
5. Challenges in project implementation have highlighted the need for clear risk management plans, flexible programme design and measurable results frameworks to minimize the regression of results during crisis.
6. Pandemic crisis responses are strengthened by ensuring consideration of the impact of the pandemic on the longer-term achievement and possible regression of the SDGs.
7. Evaluation has proved relevant, adaptable and possible during crisis through the rapid adoption of technology, thus ensuring safety