First Regular Session of the Executive Board 2025

January 30, 2025
UNDP Administrator at UNDPEB First Annual Session 2025

As prepared for delivery

UNDP@60 – More Relevant, Responsive, Responsible 

Mr. President, members of the Executive Board, colleagues and friends, I am honoured to join you for the 2025 first regular session of the UNDP/UNFPA/UNOPS Executive Board.

I warmly congratulate His Excellency Andrés Montalvo Sosa, the Permanent Representative of Ecuador on his election as the President of the Board and welcome our new Bureau members for 2025. I also extend my heartfelt gratitude to the outgoing President, His Excellency Muhammad Abdul Muhith, the former Permanent Representative of Bangladesh, for his unwavering leadership and guidance. 

New faces have joined the UNDP leadership team: Ms. Linda Maguire of the United States of America as the Assistant Secretary-General and Director of the Bureau for Management Services, and Ms. Susan Brown of Switzerland as the Assistant Secretary-General and Director of the Bureau for External Relations and Advocacy. 

Excellencies, 2025 marks 60 years since the establishment of UNDP. Central to the UN’s mandate, UNDP has consistently advanced development thinking and achieved tangible results globally over its six-decade history, owing much to the invaluable support of our partners.

Over 30 years ago, amidst structural adjustment policies, UNDP's inaugural Human Development Report (HDR), asserted that "people are the real wealth of nations." Since then, the concept of human development has transitioned from a fringe idea to a mainstream principle. We continued to innovate, playing an instrumental role in supporting the Millennium Development Goals, Poverty Reduction Strategies, and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG 16, which for the first time explicitly integrates governance and peace with development.

We have advanced new concepts related to crisis – human security, resilience and risk-informed development - and were the pioneers of stabilization, an approach designed to holistically support governments and communities safeguard against the resurgence of violence.

This approach, now extensively implemented in partnership with the UN system and the international community, has delivered $2.1 billion and benefited nearly 17 million people.

We accompanied and supported countries through one of the worst pandemics in a century – delivering, together with UN country teams (UNCTs), 128 assessments of the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19 across all five regions of the world in just three months. In partnership with the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, we have worked alongside countries and communities to save over 9 million lives. 

We were at the forefront of supporting countries translate multilateral environmental conventions into action. As the largest implementing agency of the Montreal Protocol, UNDP worked with 120 countries and contributed to the removal of 99 percent of ozone-depleting substances. Since 1991, we channelled $10 billion from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the Green Climate Fund (GCF), with an additional $39 billion in expected co-financing. 

We have always served the UN system - providing operational services to over 70 UN entities.   

Today, UNDP operates as a $5 billion per year organization, underscored by the continued support and trust of our partners. Our 23,000 personnel collaborate with governments, communities, civil society, international financial institutions (IFIs), the private sector, and UN entities to co-create integrated development solutions in over 170 countries and territories. In 2024, 73 percent of our investments in programming advanced gender equality. And we continue to evolve to ensure UNDP’s relevance. Our 2025 Human Development Report examines how generative artificial intelligence (AI) is influencing human development.

By the end of the third year of our Strategic Plan, UNDP has notable achievements to celebrate:

We have already reached our Election Moonshot, enabling 800.6 million registered voters to participate in 57 elections across 43 countries. We contributed to aligning and leveraging $757 billion in public and private finance with the SDGs – achieving almost 80 percent of our $1 trillion Finance Moonshot. We supported governments in providing essential services to 102 million people and helped over 19 million displaced people, returnees, and host communities in regaining livelihoods, accessing justice and benefiting from services. 

We continue to strengthen our capabilities as a future-smart, responsive and accountable organization. UNDP was a top performer across all five categories of the 2024 UN 2.0 Systemwide Assessment. Our Our 19th clean  audit from the UN Board of Auditors (UNBOA) in 2024 means that UNDP has transacted over $100 billion in total revenue in an accountable and transparent manner over the last 20 years. Continued efficiency gains have translated into more spending on development results: in 2024, 92 cents of every dollar were invested on development programming and services, an increase from 88 cents in 2018, while our institutional costs have decreased by almost 30 percent in 10 years.

Our journey has not been easy. UNDP lives have been lost because we stay and deliver in conflict zones. Risks persist because mitigation does not mean zero risk. Development is not linear, so results are not always immediate. Donor contributions to our core funding have decreased significantly - from 50 percent of total contributions in the 1990s to 12 percent today. This reduces our ability to address country priorities, respond to crises, maintain current levels of investment in oversight, and innovate effectively and strategically in a fast-changing world. It inevitably forces us to operate more on a project basis and limits our financial capacity, preparedness and agility to respond, and ability to invest.  

Excellencies, our partners have spoken loudly - UNDP brings value.  According to AidData’s independent Listening to Leaders Survey of more than 11,000 development partners in 147 low- and middle-income countries, over the past decade UNDP achieved double-digit growth in its “perceived influence and helpfulness.” UNDP is the only UN organization consistently ranked among the top five development partners by leaders receiving its advice or assistance.

We also offer value for money. In 2024, with $570 million in core funding, UNDP delivered an expected $4.8 billion - a multiplier effect of over 8 times. In the Pacific, with every dollar of core, we have raised $24 in non-core resources. I would like to take this opportunity to extend our appreciation for the unwavering support of all our partners. Despite the challenging financing context, 10 of our donors increased their core contributions in 2024, sending an important signal of confidence in UNDP’s value to development (see box 1 for details). 

Programme countries agree. In 2024, government cost-sharing totaled $1.2 billion, including for example, a $610 million agreement (2022-2024) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to build infrastructure in the most remote areas; $200 million (2024-2026) in Gabon to improve access to services for marginalized communities, and $170 million (2015-2025) in Turkmenistan to enhance national health systems. 

What lies ahead: The road to UNDP’s next Strategic Plan

2025 marks the year that you, our Executive Board, will endorse UNDP’s Strategic Plan for 2026-2029. This comes at a time when the world is experiencing profound disruptions and uncertainty - from a climate emergency to rising conflicts; from economic shifts to political polarization, pushback against gender equality and head-spinning leaps in technology. All this when official development assistance (ODA) to the core development agenda stagnates.

Each of these global trends amplifies or transforms others. Challenges cannot be addressed in isolation. But this interconnectedness offers opportunities too. In line with the 2024 Quadrennial Comprehensive Policy Review (QCPR), integrated solutions that recognize how environmental, social, economic and technological developments affect one another are requiredFor instance, pairing low carbon investments with SDG accelerators across digital, green economy, social protection and governance, could lift an additional 175 million people from poverty by 2050.

Our aspirations with the new Strategic Plan in a changing and uncertain world are for UNDP to continue evolving as a responsive partner of choice, an agent of change, a development innovator and leader. 

To get there, we are gathering lessons learned, canvassing feedback from our partners, probing our results and critically evaluating our delivery models. UNDP convened over 570 consultations across 115 countries with governments, civil society, private sector, academia, IFIs and other UN entities. We have never before undertaken such a large-scale effort to understand how we can keep doing better. We have also conducted a business model review (BMR) that takes a factual and honest look at how UNDP creates, delivers and finances value. We are already taking several management actions to further enhance our efficiency and effectiveness, while developing more systemic changes and innovations for the future.

Of the many takeaways, I share three here with you: 

  • Insight 1: Our partners value the combination of UNDP’s global, multidimensional development mandate and our ability to tailor support to local context: a unique ‘glocal’ advantage. This enables UNDP to support countries deliver on the 2030 Agenda, taking into consideration the Pact for the Future and aligning with the QCPR. Our partners also value UNDP's ability to connect country priorities with global resources and expertise.
  • Insight 2: We see strong demand from our partners across our existing areas of work. The top areas of demand are governance, resilience and poverty, which correspond with our existing programming. The demand for digital and development finance are growing fast. Moreover, the main “ask” is not in sector-specific areas, but rather at the intersections, for example, of poverty and equity; climate and finance; digital and governance; women’s economic empowerment and the green transition.
  • Insight 3: Our partners value UNDP’s impartiality as an asset that builds trust among stakeholders and makes UNDP an effective convenor and integrator. This reflects the latest QCPR’s emphasis on the importance of being a neutral, trusted partner.

Three threads are emerging as we start to think about the contours of the next Strategic Plan:

  1. Raise UNDP’s capacity to meet countries’ growing ambitions to reach the SDGs and their demand for UNDP’s support, even in today’s difficult funding landscape.
  2. Sharpen our value proposition to advance human development with the planet in balance; strengthening UNDP as an integrator and connector of value and impact, including in crisis situations, where UNDP helps establish pathways to development even amid urgent humanitarian response.
  3. Transform the way we deliver by applying lessons from the BMR to improve UNDP’s impact, enhance efficiencies with a risk-smart culture, and accelerate implementation of UN 2.0.  

UNDP’s Value in a Time of Disruption

Conflict & Crisis – Hindering Poverty Reduction; Increasing Inequality 

Today, violent conflicts are at their highest levels since the establishment of the UN, with an unprecedented displacement of 120 million people. Of the 1.1 billion people living in poverty, nearly 40 percent are in countries exposed to violent conflict. Investing in development in crisis contexts is not just a moral imperative; it is an investment in global stability and shared prosperity. 

Against this backdrop and thanks to the continued investment in maintaining our universal presence, UNDP takes a steadfast stance to “stay and deliver”, particularly for women. In 2024, fragile and conflict–affected countries accounted for almost 50 percent of UNDP’s annual expenditure, with 70 percent of UNDP’s resources in crisis contexts allocated to projects where gender equality is a principal or significant objective.  

  • Through our universal presence, UNDP is on the ground ‘before, during, and after’ a crisis, immediately facilitating support from the international community and with the UN system. With our presence in 170 countries and territories, UNDP is the only UN agency able to work on prevention, peacebuilding and preparedness at a global scale with a network of trusted local partners. We are immediately operational when disaster or crisis strikes, or when peace opportunities emerge.

For example:

  • We were on the ground when the devastating landslide struck in Papua New Guinea in May 2024, and immediately worked with the Enga Provincial Government to initiate a disaster recovery plan.
  • Our presence in Lebanon meant that during the latest escalations of conflict, we were immediately able to co-lead the UN’s inter-agency response and support the Government in its own crisis response.
  • In Gaza - where despite severe operating challenges over the past 15 months - UNDP removed more than 21,600 tonnes of rubble and collected 244,000 tonnes of solid waste. With the long-awaited ceasefire agreement, we can immediately scale up support to the humanitarian response and continue to solidify the foundations for early recovery.
  • In Syria, at this critical juncture in its history, our presence continues to cover all 14 governorates. We are ready to expand our area-based approach to the “whole of Syria” to support local service delivery and governance, social cohesion and economic recovery.
  • In the Gulf of Guinea countries (Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, and Togo) facing increasing threats from the spread of violent extremism from the Sahel, UNDP in partnership with national authorities and local actors, established 38 early warning and response mechanisms to address the root causes of extremism. We reached more than 3 million people with messages of peace and tolerance.
  • At local level, since 2021, UNDP reached over 23.7 million people in Afghanistan and 3 million people in Myanmar, enhancing basic services, livelihoods and community resilience. In Sudan, UNDP delivered almost $45 million in 2024 to restore essential services, with over 3.5 million people, including internally displaced persons (IDPs), returnees and host communities benefitting from improved healthcare services alone.  
  • UNDP’s integrated approach advances global agreements and bridges the gap between humanitarian, development and peace efforts. Through our work on early recovery; forced displacement, rule of law, security and human rights; disaster risk reduction; conflict prevention; and women’s economic empowerment - UNDP saves livelihoods, reduces tensions, supports legitimate governments to provide services and makes it possible for communities to return home.  

As a member of the UN Steering Group on Solutions to Internal Displacement, UNDP worked closely with authorities in 15 affected pilot countries. The Governments of Central African Republic, Colombia, Ethiopia, Iraq, Mozambique, Nigeria and Somalia have collectively committed to place 11 million IDPs and returnees on solutions pathways anchored in development approaches. 

Amid the anticipated withdrawal of UN peace operations, UNDP has been working closely with Governments in the DRC, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan to provide critical peacebuilding and development support. 

In Haiti, UNDP is proactively supporting the transitional authorities by strengthening institutional capacity and governance effectiveness. We remain a key partner to the Haitian National Police in enhancing security and are prepared to assist with the organization of elections once favorable security and political conditions are in place. 

In Mozambique, UNDP’s partnership with various UN entities on stabilization are making notable gains towards gender-equality. In our cash-for-work activities, 57 percent of participants were women and we helped improve food security for over 3,000 women farmers.  The UNDP-UN Women ‘Gender Justice Platform’ expanded its support to 37 countries, strengthening gender-responsive rule of law and access to justice.

In Ukraine, UNDP’s partnership with the European Investment Bank not only enabled the Government to access over 940 million Euros for recovery efforts, but also improved transparency and the effectiveness of loan disbursements. We also supported the clearance of over 3,900 km² of land from mines and explosive ordnance, protecting lives and reclaiming access to productive land.

Climate Change, Biodiversity Loss, Desertification – Universal Challenges, Unequal Impacts 

2024 was the hottest year on record. The impacts of climate change are deepening inequalities. Every degree Celsius of increased temperature leads to a 9.1 percent increase in extreme poverty and a 0.8 percent increase in inequality.  

  • UNDP as a trusted government partner, supports developing countries to raise their climate ambition and integrate climate, nature and sustainable development action. 

At the request of the Secretary General, in 2024 UNDP is leading the “Climate Promise 2025”, a UN system-wide effort to coordinate and support developing countries as they prepare to submit “NDC 3.0s”.  A UN System NDC 3.0 Portal has been developed, UN offers of NDC assistance are being mapped and joint support is being deployed, including through UNDP for NDC 3.0 preparation in 80 countries. This builds on UNDP’s earlier support to second generation NDCs in 128 countries, which raised mitigation and adaptation ambition in 91 percent and 93 percent of countries respectively. Seventy-five percent of second generation NDCs also referred to women or gender in specific sectors compared to 15 percent of first generation NDCs.

Through our Nature Pledge, we now support 133 countries in developing and implementing their national biodiversity finance plans. Our support also enables countries to deliver simultaneously on internationally agreed targets in the Paris Agreement and Global Biodiversity Framework. For example, Colombia with UNDP’s support, released an ambitious national biodiversity plan that fully integrates nature and climate, and complements its NDC.

  • With a diverse range of partners, UNDP helps developing countries access and multiply the impact of climate and nature finance.

UNDP remains the largest provider of environmental assistance in the UN system and implementing partner of the GCF and GEF. This programming is directly benefitting more than 191 million people, helping to avoid over 1.37 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2eq), and improving management of 459 million hectares of terrestrial ecosystems and 83 million hectares of production systems. 

Building on its partnership with the Korean International Cooperation Agency, UNDP now supports national entities in several countries, including Eswatini, Nigeria and Zambia, to directly access climate finance by assisting with the development of GCF proposals. 

With the European Union (EU) and other partners, we have transformed financing for biodiversity. Since 2012, ‘BIOFIN’ has grown into a $200 million programme with 10 donors, covering 133 countries, with $1.5 billion catalyzed for new biodiversity financing, $1 billion in nature harmful subsidies redesigned, 500 finance solutions identified, and 150 implemented.

At the community level, between 2017 and 2024, UNDP in partnership with the GEF, Japan, Germany and Australia, through the Small Grants Programme and others, supported close to 30,000 micro-projects, channeling over $800 million to local communities and Indigenous peoples, including to over 2,630 women-led projects and close to 6,500 projects with a specific gender component. 

The Digital Revolution – Empowerment or Exclusion? 

One of the most profound disruptors of our era is the rapid advancement of technology. Consider this: while AI alone is projected to contribute $15.7 trillion to the global economy by 2030 only about 10 percent of the economic impact generated by AI will benefit the Global South, excluding China. 

  • With boots on the ground, UNDP in partnership with the UN system, connects global dialogues on digital development with delivering country level support.

Through our work in over 120 countries and multistakeholder partnerships, UNDP was instrumental in driving the global discourse on safe and inclusive Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and AI, shaping outcomes of the Global Digital Compact, the Global DPI Summit, and the Hamburg Sustainability Conference. 

We were also a key partner to both the Italian G7 and Brazilian G20 Presidencies. UNDP and the Italian G7 Presidency launched the AI Hub for Sustainable Development in partnership with African leaders. The AI Hub initiated the Startup Accelerator Programme that received 350+ applications across nine countries, and the Local Language Partnerships Accelerator Programme that engaged 80+ innovators. UNDP also completed AI Landscape Assessments in Bhutan, Colombia, Montenegro, Rwanda and Sri Lanka, with further assessments underway in 4 countries. 

At the Summit of the Future Action Day, UNDP and the International Telecommunication Union co-led SDG Digital to showcase digital innovations for development, inspiring $1 billion in new government and private sector investment in connectivity, infrastructure and skills. 

Other milestones include the launch of the Universal DPI Safeguards Framework with the UN Secretary General’s Envoy on Technology, and the selection of UNDP’s Data to Policy Navigator as a 2024 Bronze Winner of the Anthem Awards. The Navigator, a capacity building tool developed with GIZ with over 20,000 users, empowers policymakers globally to integrate data into decision-making.

UNDP continued to accompany countries on their national digital transformation – supporting over 90 countries since 2022. For example, in Moldova, UNDP supported digitalized social protection and energy solutions that assisted 66 percent of Moldovan households during the 2024 cold season amid rising energy prices.

  • UNDP, with the UN family, ensures that the digital transformation is mainstreamed into our programmes and capabilities.

Seventy percent of UNDP’s new projects now include a digital component. 

The UN 2.0 Digital Community (UNDC), convened by UNDP, ITU and the UN Innovation Network, has expanded to 3,700 members from across 60+ agencies and other actors, with UNDP representing the largest portion of UN members. The network fosters knowledge exchange and embeds a digital-first culture within the UN system and beyond. 

UNDP has also taken significant strides in enhancing digital literacy through the Digital Fitness Programme, an intensive series of hands-on, in-person trainings conducted in over 50 countries. We have also developed comprehensive Digital Guides, accessed over 12,000 times by our country teams worldwide, equipping UNDP staff with the tools needed to integrate innovative digital solutions across UNDP’s Signature Solutions in its Strategic Plan 2022-2025. 

Challenges

Excellencies, these disruptions create risks, challenges and setbacks. Crises and fragility affect the ability of most international development and humanitarian partners, including UNDP, to operate effectively. Contexts where we must do the most, are often contexts where our space - politically, operationally and financially - is the least. Similarly, while there is recognition of the benefits of integrated planning and action across multilateral climate, environment and development agreements, it is ‘easier said than done’. National ambitions change with electoral cycles; efforts remain siloed; and there is also often a mismatch between expectations of short-term results with the complexity of transformative change. Capacity constraints – both within the organisation and at country level – in areas including digital technologies continue to slow progress. 

UNDP - Creating Value for the UN System and international financial institutions

In collaboration with UNCTs and Resident Coordinators (RCs), UNDP remains committed to advancing the 2024 QCPR and to continuing to serve as the operational backbone of the UN development system (UNDS).  In 2024, with over 70 UN entities as clients, 52 percent of the $2.1 billion in annual payroll administered by UNDP was for UN agency personnel. UNDP offered common premises in at least 121 countries and remained the highest single entity cost-share contributor to the RC system, channeling $10.5 million in contributions and $6.5 million in coordination levy in 2024. 

We continue to invest in and deliver on Member States’ call on UNDP to deepen its ‘integrator function,’ and to put these capabilities at the service of the UN system. To date, UNDP continues to support partners and UN agencies to advance SDG integration initiatives in 100 countries. Our ‘SDG Push’ is fully integrated into the revised UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Frameworks and Common Country Analysis guidance, and has been featured as a best practice in the Global Sustainable Development Report

UNDP remained the largest participating UN organization of pooled funds and joint programmes with transfers amounting to over $240 million in 2024.

We continued to be the institutional platform and core funder of the United Nations Volunteers (UNV), the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), the UN Office for South South Cooperation (UNOSSC) and Multi-Partner Trust Fund Office (MPTFO) - enabling service to the whole UN system, with impressive results in 2024: 

  • 14,631 UN Volunteers aged 18 to 80 from 181 nationalities served across 169 countries with 59 UN entities. 70 percent were national volunteers and UNDP remaining the top host of UN Volunteers, engaging 4,161.
  • UNCDF helped to unlock domestic capital and attract private investment in 78 countries, including 43 Least Developed Countries. For example, UNCDF supported the sub-national Tanga Water Green Bond in Tanzania, a first-of-its-kind, where every $1 invested by UNCDF mobilized just over $20 from the domestic market.
  • MPTFO administrated over $1 billion in interagency funds, involving 110 programme countries, 42 UN entities and an increasing number of non-UN actors, with resources from 69 contributors.
  • UNOSSC in partnership with Portugal, established a dedicated Triangular Cooperation Window, launched the South-South and Triangular Cooperation (SSTC) Solutions Lab and provided the UN system with tools to integrate South-South cooperation into regional and country-level frameworks in response to growing demand. UNDP led 612 SSTC initiatives in over 121 countries. 

UNDP also continues to strengthen its partnerships with IFIs. We have formal partnerships with 20 IFIs; and in 2024, received $343 million from 13 IFIs to support initiatives in 39 countries, of which almost half are considered fragile.

For example, in Bangladesh, UNDP supported the Government’s access to a $1.4 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund’s Resilience and Sustainability Facility. In North Macedonia, UNDP together with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the International Organization for Migration and the UN Economic Commission for Europe, have established the Green Financing Facility, which in partnership with local banks, allocated $3.9 million to over 100 small and medium enterprises through performance-based payments and $2.5 million in loans to households for green energy solutions. In collaboration with the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean, UNDP promoted gender-responsive financial inclusion by strengthening seven national public banks with the Gender Equality Seal for Public Financial Institutions across Bolivia, Mexico, and Panama, and providing more than 44 million clients with gender-responsive financial products and services.

Delivering Value   

Excellencies, UNDP has a strong track record of delivering value efficiently, accountably and transparently. UNDP expects to deliver $4.8 billion in 2024, with almost 80 percent of programme country governments agreeing that UNDP delivered quality programmes and projects. UNDP continued to rank in the top category in the 2024 Aid Transparency Index. We exceeded 14 of 16 indicators, outperforming the overall UN system’s average results in the UN System-wide Action Plan on Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (SWAP). 

Our capacity to deliver value is enabled by a decentralized operating model that allows UNDP to respond and adapt to local needs and build relationships with the government and local partners; robust policies, processes and systems that allow UNDP to balance agility with risk management; and a culture of investment in people innovation and continuous learning.

For example, beginning in 2025, UNDP will significantly enhance its capacity to monitor performance across five key areas - impact, accountability, efficiency, values, and people at country, bureau and global levels - by using its new Performance App. The App leverages data from dozens of UNDP’s systems and dashboards to help managers make better decisions and identify risks proactively. This transparent use of data has already led to improvements, with our Social and Environmental Screening Procedure performance improving by over 200 percent in the pilot year of the App. 

At the same time, we continue to identify priority areas for improvement. Partnership policies and the centralization of operations functions have at times become cumbersome, reducing our agility and ability to unlock new funding opportunities. We must also address operational bottlenecks and optimize our new enterprise resource planning (ERP) system - Quantum - and our global shared services offer to ensure more agility and flexibility. Ten UN entities have selected UNDP’s Quantum as their new ERP since UNDP launched it in 2023.  

In 2025, UNDP will continue to improve how it delivers value, including by streamlining policies and operational procedures; improving communication between headquarters and country offices; leveraging AI to improve delivery; and meeting UNBOA and evaluation recommendations to analyze the allocation methodology of core resources for the Board’s consideration.

Risk Management

UNDP has integrated risk management into its core operations and our Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) policy ensures that risks are managed at all levels – from project to corporate.

Our risk management maturity is firmly established against the UN High Level Committee on Management and Joint Inspection Unit benchmarks. This maturity is reflected in the adoption of the Three Lines Model, which enhances accountability and collaboration between management, internal audit, and corporate governance. This also makes risk management firmly part of UNDP’s value proposition, helping partner governments achieve their development objectives by managing uncertainties that can affect their goals. We have also updated our ERM policy to better align roles and responsibilities and integrate risk management into our strategic planning processes.

UNDP's commitment to strengthening risk management is exemplified through various initiatives. We have launched the Integrated Risk Module for Results Management, which improves policy coherence and provides granular data on threats and opportunities. Additionally, our Business Continuity Management policy ensures that critical functions are maintained during disruptions, safeguarding our personnel, assets, and operations.

However, we must not ignore the critical threats that loom over our strategic goals. Let me outline these key threats and how we are addressing them:

  • First, the challenge of insufficient flexible resources. The decline in core contributions impacts our ability to respond effectively to crises and achieve impact at scale. To counteract this, we are advocating for more flexible funding and enhancing our crisis response capabilities. We continue to boost visibility and recognition to our core donors at home as well as in recipient countries, and Resident Representatives are increasing engagement with core donors at country level. In line with our corporate Resource Mobilization strategy, we will make smart investments to diversify and grow revenue streams from new sources.
  • Second, the risk of harm to beneficiaries and UNDP’s reputation from instances related to fraud, misconduct, sexual exploitation and abuse and harassment, and social and environmental safeguards. We have implemented robust policies, procedures, and action plans to identify and manage these risks proactively, maintaining the trust placed in us by those we serve and our partners.
  • Third, adapting to changing partner expectations. As global needs evolve, so too must our business model. We are reviewing our operational effectiveness and efficiency to ensure we stay relevant and responsive to our partners' changing needs.
  • Fourth, escalating technological threats, including cybersecurity breaches and AI-driven misinformation. We are fortifying our cybersecurity measures and upgrading staff capacities to manage these risks effectively, ensuring that our technological infrastructure is secure and resilient.
  • Finally, the increasing frequency of crises and climate-related disasters demands a resilient operational model. We are enhancing our safety, security, and business continuity planning to ensure that we can continue to deliver in high-risk environments, supporting those who need us most.

To further embed a culture of risk management, we have also conducted extensive training and capacity-building initiatives across the organisation including with senior leadership. 

People

2024 marked the 5th Anniversary of UNDP’s People for 2030 Strategy, establishing UNDP as a leader in people management innovation within the UN system. Notable achievements include:

  • Completion of our first Integrated Talent Management System that aligns talent with organizational needs.
  • Growing our online career audience from 13,000 in 2021 to over one million today, resulting in greater diversity and increased applications.
  • Over 300 leaders participated in our award-winning “Leaders for 2030 Programme”. Data shows that offices where leaders participated in this Programme were twice as likely to be top performing. Senior leaders also received training on the Prevention of Sexual Exploitation Abuse and Harassment (PSEAH).
  • UNDP’s overall Engagement Index Score increased by two points to 74 percent in 2024, placing UNDP on par with other international organizations. Offices with stronger people management excellence demonstrated increased programme delivery.
  • We continue to implement UNDP’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Strategy (2023-2025) and Gender Parity Strategy (2022-2025) and have been EDGE re-certified.
  • In 2024, there were over 8,300 attendances in sessions delivered by UNDP’s independent Ethics Office, the highest ever and a 31 percent increase from 2023. The 2024 Ethics Awareness Month, conducted with UN Women across 130 countries, focused on ethical standards for political activities and public expression. 

Conclusion

Excellencies, over the past 60 years, within our resource envelope, UNDP with our partners has brought value; has made a difference in national development trajectories; and has had a positive impact on people’s lives:

“If it’s a development issue, you can find a solution with UNDP”; “Working on the ground, in the field, on the front line, and shoulder to shoulder with people”; “Evolving in step with the complex development challenges we face”; “Strategic view while remaining politically neutral”;  “Leveraging global network and resources while grounding its work in local realities”. 

Words from some of you, our Board Members and our partners about why UNDP matters. Some Members saw this first hand during the recent Board visit to Cambodia, Ukraine and Moldova.

While the challenges are many and uncertainty can be unsettling, discouraging – even disabling, UNDP will do what it has always done looking back over the past 60 years and looking forward to our next Strategic Plan: rise to the challenges of a rapidly changing world; roll up our sleeves and continue to work - because the people we serve, the planet we live in, the generations to come -  don’t have the luxury to give up. Neither do we. 

I have no doubt that with your engagement and guidance, our new Strategic Plan will articulate a compelling view of why development cooperation through its largest platform – UNDP – is a matter of strategic and shared interest. I also assure you that UNDP will continue to evolve as a responsible, modern, agile and innovating organization, effectively and efficiently delivering results. 

Allow me to close with deep thanks to all our partners for your trust, your collaboration and your investment in UNDP over the past 60 years, and reaffirm UNDP’s commitment to our shared future in the years ahead. And to our staff in UNDP who every day, everywhere we work, strive to deliver on the promise of the UN Charter and development partnerships. 

 

Box 1: Details of Top Partner Contributions in 2024

 

  • Top core contributors: Germany, the United States, Switzerland, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Canada, Denmark, the Republic of Korea, Qatar, the United Kingdom, France, Belgium and Australia, who together account for 92 percent of our total core contributors.
  • Member States that increased their core contributions: Germany, the United States, the Netherlands, the Republic of Korea, France, Spain, India, Luxembourg, China, and Austria.
  • Member States who committed to multi-year pledges to core (listed alphabetically): Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Luxembourg, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Qatar, Sweden, Switzerland, and Türkiye.
  • 40 Member States contributed to our core, including 14 programme countries, led by India, China, Saudi Arabia, and Türkiye.
  • 12 Member States prioritized flexible funding by contributing to the Funding Windows.
  • 101 Programme countries invested in UNDP through government cost-sharing, amounting to $1.2 billion or almost 25 percent of our total resources, in addition to their contributions to Government contributions to local office costs.