Locations
Development Frontier Solutions
Introduction
Our world is staring down an existential crisis. We need to act now, act fast, and act innovatively. With its dynamic population and sprawling geographic diversity, the Asia-Pacific region is emerging as an ideal proving ground for piloting and scaling up ambitious solutions to the challenges confronting the global community. In this series, Development Frontier Solutions, we explore how Asia-Pacific countries are leapfrogging toward development solutions for climate resilience, stabilizing livelihoods, gender-rebalancing the labor force, and more.
Equanomics in the Asia-Pacific region
Gender inequality costs the global labor market a whopping $172 trillion each year. How can equanomics – the UNDP-championed focus on dismantling systems that perpetuate gender inequality and power imbalances – benefit the whole of society? Asia-Pacific Director Kanni Wignaraja showcases initiatives in Mongolia, Indonesia, Nepal, Afghanistan, and other countries in the region that use an equanomics approach to address imbalances and expand options for women.
What Cambodia’s social protection model can teach the world
More than 1 billion people operate in Asia’s informal sector without legal recognition or protection. But to formalize such a vast sector would be daunting and expensive. Cambodia’s solution? To legalize informal work by extending social security benefits to informal sector workers, improving workers’ financial stability and reducing vulnerability to exploitation. Asia-Pacific Director Kanni Wignaraja and Resident Representative in Cambodia Alissar Chaker share how nearly 3 million Cambodians have benefited from the country’s nimble social protection scheme, which began as cash assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic and has since been expanded with support from UNDP and ILO.
How Nepal responds to Glacial lakes outburst floods?
Glacier lake outburst floods, or GLOFs, are a rising threat for Himalayan communities in Nepal, capable of wiping out a village in an instant. But a new slate of innovative solutions is being implemented to prevent GLOF events. Asia-Pacific Director Kanni Wignaraja and UNDP’s Ayshanie Labe describe these feats of engineering taking place in near-vertical mountain terrain, from upstream dams and overflow channels to downstream early warning systems – and the lessons being applied across the region.
New cash crops for Afghanistan
Once the source of 70% of the world’s opium, Afghanistan’s illicit poppy production has been quashed under de facto authority rule. But what about the 600,000 former poppy farmers and their families, whose livelihoods now hang in the balance? Asia-Pacific Director Kanni Wignaraja and Resident Representative in Afghanistan Stephen Rodriques describe the transition to high-value crops like saffron, nuts, and exportable fruits, the emergence of legal market economies in former poppy terrain, and a sustainability-driven focus on water and climate resilience.
Strengthening climate resilience in the PNG highlands
Home to the world’s third largest continuous rainforest, the Papua New Guinea Highlands boasts a rich cultural heritage and abundant biodiversity. But climate change is making the lives and livelihoods of Highland communities more vulnerable – not only to natural hazards, but also to escalating violence and conflict. Asia-Pacific Director Kanni Wignaraja and Resident Representative in Papua New Guinea Nicholas Booth describe how UNDP is piloting strategies to address these challenges.
As sea levels rise, Tuvalu rises higher
Barely above sea level, the nine atolls that make up the Pacific Island nation of Tuvalu are in a fight for survival – not only of the land itself, but also of heritage, identity, and economy. Asia-Pacific Director Kanni Wignaraja shares Tuvalu’s bold, inventive, local-led strategy to rise above the odds by rising above the sea. Together with UNDP and international partners, Tuvalu’s government is implementing a coastal adaptation project to see the community through rising sea levels and strong waves beyond the year 2100.
Viet Nam's green leap
Climate change is costing Viet Nam up to $10 billion a year, a figure that could soar to half a trillion by 2050. UNDP Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific Kanni Wignaraja and UNDP Resident Representative in Viet Nam Ramla Khalidi describe how UNDP is supporting the government in implementing an integrated approach to its energy transition – and how the country’s ambitious green leap is creating jobs while protecting vulnerable communities.
Making tax systems SDG-smart in Sri Lanka
The Asia-Pacific region has abundant capital in its markets, yet traditional tax systems have been falling short on delivering resources for sustainable and human development. UNDP is supporting countries in the region with SDG-smart taxation by overhauling tax systems, taxing ‘public bads’, and improving tax literacy. Here, UNDP Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific Kanni Wignaraja and UNDP Resident Representative in Sri Lanka Azusa Kubota show how Sri Lanka’s investments in digital innovation are enhancing tax transparency can improve public trust in tax institutions.
Nature goes to court
Nature demands justice – and courts are listening. Climate litigation has tripled since 2017. In the Philippines, citizens have the legal power to protect the environment. In Pakistan, a seven-year-old used a new climate change commission to challenge coal expansion. UNDP Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific Kanni Wignaraja describes how courts in Asia and the Pacific are becoming major players in addressing climate migration, Indigenous rights, and extreme weather liabilities.
Indonesia’s environmental footprint strides from carbon to clean
Indonesia is laying the foundation for a clean energy future. Here, UNDP Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific Kanni Wignaraja and UNDP Resident Representative in Indonesia Norimasa Shimomura describe the steps the country is taking to improve energy governance, incentivize green investments, and prioritize energy access across its 6,000 inhabited islands.
The Maldives bets on blue
Perched on the frontlines of the climate crisis, the island nation of the Maldives is betting on blue. UNDP Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific Kanni Wignaraja and UNDP Resident Representative in the Maldives Enrico Gaveglia describe how the Maldives is scaling up its insurance sector to attract SDG financing, while promoting sustainable entrepreneurship in the blue economy.
India’s digital health revolution
“When digital transformation meets health care, extraordinary changes unfold.” India is applying the lessons of its COVID-19 vaccination rollout – at one point administering a staggering 14,000 vaccines per minute – to manage vaccine supply and immunization programmes for people and animals. Here, UNDP Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific Kanni Wignaraja and UNDP Resident Representative in India Angela Lusigi describe how the powerful digital public infrastructure of India’s eVIN platform can benefit other countries in the region and beyond.
How Bhutan became carbon-negative
The Kingdom of Bhutan has achieved what many countries aspire to: carbon-negativity. UNDP Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific Kanni Wignaraja and Prime Minister of Bhutan Tshering Tobgay explain how investing in forests, prioritizing hydropower, and expanding sustainable agriculture have made Bhutan a model for other G-Zero countries to emulate.
Power to the people in Afghanistan
Afghanistan enjoys more than 300 days of sunshine per year – a vital power source for one of the most energy-insecure nations in the world. Here UNDP Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific Kanni Wignaraja and UNDP Resident Representative in Afghanistan Stephen Rodriques describe how solar power systems are powering nearly 500 health and education facilities for more than 3.7 million people.
