UNDP works in some 170 countries and territories, helping to achieve the eradication of poverty, and the reduction of inequalities and exclusion. We help countries to develop policies, leadership skills, partnering abilities, institutional capabilities and build resilience in order to sustain development results.
Inclusive growth, better services, environmental sustainability, good governance, and security are fundamental to development progress. We offer our expertise in development thinking and practice, and our decades of experience at country level, to support countries to meet their development aspirations and to bring the voices of the world’s peoples into deliberations.
In 2016, UNDP is continuing its work to support the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 17 new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), or Global Goals, as they help shape global sustainable development for the next 15 years.
UNDP focuses on helping countries build and share solutions in three main areas:
In all our activities, we encourage the protection of human rights and the empowerment of women, minorities and the poorest and most vulnerable.
Members:
Resources
Displaying 331 - 335 of 362Sustainable Management of Conservation Areas and Improved Livelihoods to Combat Wildlife Trafficking in Madaga
Objectives
Conservation of biodiversity in Madagascar through strengthened management of the New Protected Areas (Category V), with active engagement by communities, and enforcement to reduce the rate of IWT and poaching
Other
Note: Disbursement data provided is cumulative and covers disbursement made by the project Agency.
Target Groups
The project is designed to provide direct socio-economic benefits to at least 6,260 local people (at least 50% women) in the target communities living in the Angavo, Sud-Ouest Ifotaky, and Behara-Tranomaro NPAs through the involvement of local communities in NPA co-management (assisting local communities in obtaining land tenure titles; development/renewal of co-management agreements, and providing conditions for employment of up to 260 Community Forest Monitors - Outputs 2.1-2.2) development and implementation of CBNRM and alternative livelihood projects (Outputs 3.1-3.2) with direct investments of $1,150,000 to local communities in the form of Low Value Grants. Projected increase of revenue of local communities resulting from implementation of CBNRM and alternative livelihood pilot projects (Output 3.2) can be estimated in 50-100%[1]. At the same time, the project is expected to decrease economic losses from poaching, illegal wildlife trade, and habitat destruction in the project area by 80-100% during its lifetime via increased law enforcement and effective NPA co-management (Outputs 2.1-2.2). That will provide additional benefits to local communities increasing their environmental sustainability and ability to adapt to the climate change. [1] Based on experience of SEED Madagascar, FAO and other successful sustainable livelihood programmes in Mdagascar and other African countries.
Interrogating Large-Scale Land Acquisitions and Their Implications for Women in Sub-Saharan Africa
General
Despite their critical role in promoting food security on the African continent, women continue to be marginalized in the distribution and allocation of land. The implications for both family survival and national food security are far-reaching. This project will support research to examine the conditions needed to allow women to become empowered to participate in large-scale land acquisition (LSLAs) processes. The objective is to help ensure that sub-Saharan Africa puts the legal and policy frameworks in place to foster better accountability and legitimacy on issues of land governance. African women must continue to engage in food crop farming to ensure food security for their families and for the continent at large. This is only possible if their right to land is protected, respected, and fulfilled. Previous studies have shown that African women's right to land is seriously under threat. Traditionally, African women have not had equal access to land and weak land laws and governance processes related to LSLAs are further eroding their access. We are now learning more about the impact of LSLAs on livelihoods in affected communities but little evidence exists on gender differences. Little is also known about how African women have developed strategies to foster more equitable land governance policies and practices to ensure greater accountability and transparency around LSLAs. This research seeks to fill these knowledge gaps. The ultimate goal of the project is to promote land governance policies that treat both genders more equally and that contribute to greater accountability and transparency around LSLAs. The research will be implemented in six communities in three African countries: Ghana, Cameroon, and Uganda. All three have experienced LSLAs. The research team will explore the following: -land acquisition processes; -winners and losers in these transactions; -ways in which the losers (specifically, rural African women) respond to their situation; and, -extent to which these responses are successful. The project will create gender-sensitive evidence-based knowledge that can be used by women, local communities, non-state actors, and public authorities to enhance accountability and legitimacy in LSLAs processes. It will also propose gender inclusive strategies for formal and informal institutions that will respect, promote, and protect women's rights in LSLAs processes.
Inclusive Economies: Inclusive public policies
General
Focus is on strengthening social protection systems and on policy advocacy work at global level. It also includes support to agricultural research for development and people centred land governance with specific emphasis on securing equitable tenure rights of women, indigenous populations and pastoralist communities
Objectives
Goals include strengthened social protection systems and benefits, reduced inequality and more inclusive and sustainable markets, with improved access to resources and benefits especially for the rural poor. Strengthened engagement of Irish companies and development agencies in African Agriculture sector.
Scaling community land protection in the face of large-land investments in Sierra Leone
General
Like many West African countries, Sierra Leone has identified large-scale land investments as a key pathway for economic growth. However, large land concessions risk dispossessing rural communities and depriving them of access to natural resources vital to their livelihoods. Even when welcomed by communities, investments may lead to environmental degradation, human rights violations, and inequity. Communities have few avenues to seek redress when investments result in social and environmental harm. This action research project is implemented by Namati, Inc., a Washington D.C.-based foundation specializing in supporting community land protection initiatives. The project will test approaches to scaling up community land protection efforts and strengthening community capacity to engage with investors on more equitable terms. The project will employ community paralegals to support communities in Sierra Leone at key moments in the interaction between communities and investors. A mix of research methods will examine the institutional and policy barriers to securing tenure, how land registration processes and community-level rules can protect women and minorities against exclusion, strategies to address power imbalances in negotiations between communities and investors, and how citizens’ legal empowerment can foster state accountability for ensuring compliance with the social and environmental terms set prior to investment. As rising competition over land can increase the vulnerability of women’s rights to land, the project includes a specific focus on protections for women and vulnerable populations. It will also develop and test approaches to enhancing their participation in decision-making over communal land and during negotiations with investors. Findings are expected to strengthen community land rights and governance and to contribute to national land reforms and international debates on land rights. This project is part of a group of IDRC-supported projects in sub-Saharan Africa entitled “Using Action Research to Improve Land Rights and Governance for Communities, Women and Vulnerable Groups”
Sustainable Cities Impact Program Global Platform (SCIP-GP)
Objectives
cities pursue integrated urban planning and implementation and increase their ambitions, to deliver impactful sustainable development outcomes with global environmental benefits (GEBs)
Other
Note: Disbursement data provided is cumulative and covers disbursement made by the project Agency.
Target Groups
The Project aims strengthen integrated urban planning approaches through learning material and opportunities for city officials to improve sustainable, inclusive, and integrated planning approaches. Integrated planning relates to the transformation of existing practices and processes to enable multi-sector collaboration to allow cities to take advantage of the co-benefits to operate as systems (transportation, land use, housing, conservation, business, etc.) influencing one another, and increase efficiencies both in terms of land and resource use, ultimately benefitting biodiversity and ecosystems and the services they provide, climate mitigation and adaptation as well as pollution and health. Integrated planning for sustainable urban development aims to facilitate and articulate political decisions and actions to transform cities and neighborhoods. Integrated planning efforts also emphasize participatory approaches, in which women, minorities and vulnerable groups are part of the dialogues and influence decisions. Cities are natural places for integrated solutions and offer fertile ground to integrate interdependent operations. Traditionally, urban systems have been integrated with varying degrees of effectiveness through urban governance and land use planning. The integration of human systems and natural systems provides strong environmental, social and economic benefits. For instance, the development of and management of watershed ecosystems, forests as urban and peri-urban agriculture as elements of green infrastructure in and around cities, offer compounding benefits for global climate change mitigation and local urban adaptation, resilience, diminishing air and water pollution, and increasing quality of life. Moreover, in this century, problem solving is co-created, powered by multi-level governments, multi-sector networks and individuals and entities with knowledge and capacity that cut across disciplines (New localism, 2019). Cities must prioritize work across multiple sectors (e.g. land use, housing, transport, economic development water, waste, sanitation, public safety, education, and energy) and must align multiple strategies (e.g. planning, budget, staff skills, regulatory frameworks, civic engagement) to be able to have an enduring impact on the ground. Evidence-based and integrated urban planning provide this opportunity. When cities utilize integrated approaches for planning, the impact of the sectoral actions is higher than the sum of the parts. A study by the International Resource Panel (IRP) shows how parallel actions in urban spatial restructuring, human-scale sustainable design, resource-efficient urban components, urban infrastructure planning for cross-sector efficiency and the promotion of sustainable behaviors, leads to improvements in well-being for all, while reducing resource consumption and GHG emissions. According to the “Weight of cities” by the IRP, cities can achieve some 30-55% reduction of GHG emissions, water and metal consumption and land use compared to baseline projections, by leveraging connections and resource sharing across urban systems such as green buildings, district energy systems, bus rapid transport, and transition to renewables combined with strategic densification (IRP, 2018). Utilizing integrated urban planning approaches provides multiple benefits to cities. It allows cities to formulate cross-sectoral goals and to develop monitoring systems for cross-cutting policy fields. They enable cities to develop strategies and projects that involve the knowledge and perspectives of different disciplines and actors from civil and private sector. They help cities with limited budgets and capacities to implement their goals more efficiently by joining capacities and funds, and by reducing trade-offs between sectors and neighboring municipalities (Eisenbeiß, 2016). Integrated sectoral approaches include multiple benefits generated by looking at the connections between sectors. Examples include low-carbon transit-oriented development; circular economy and resource flow driven planning. The same thinking, area-based investments (integrated approaches at the neighborhood level) should use approaches to capture multiple environmental and livability benefits, such as combining green spaces with low emission zones to regulate temperature, air quality and noise for healthier living and a more sustainable environment. Not only does inclusive, integrated urban planning incorporate gender and vulnerable processes into decision making and participatory processes, the GP aims to mainstream gender in all its activities to ensure gender is considered robustly in project design and implementation. For instance, the Project will collect sex-disaggregated data for all events. The Project Team will staff a Gender Lead and will have the support of WRI’s Gender Specialist (as co-finance) through the duration of the project to advise on the design and implementation of the gender action plan.