The Monthly: UNDP’s bulletin for all personnel

Confronting the Cost-of-Living Crisis

The world now faces the worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation as food and energy prices skyrocket, partly as a result of the war in Ukraine. For many people, the food that they could afford yesterday is no longer affordable today. A new UNDP analysis of 159 developing countries shows that the number of poor people in developing countries has increased by 71 million in the three months since March 2022 with clear hotspots in the Caspian Basin, the Balkans, and Sub-Saharan Africa.

“This cost-of-living crisis is tipping millions of people into poverty and even starvation at breathtaking speed and with that, the threat of increased social unrest grows by the day,” said UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner. Crucially, the report also offers clear solutions for policymakers. For instance, it finds that targeted cash transfers are more equitable and cost-effective than blanket subsidies given that they mostly got to the poorest 40% of populations. As debt levels reach a 50-year high, the report calls for a moratorium on official debt for two years for all developing countries, regardless of their GDP, to enable them to bounce back from these shocks.

The report zooms in on the insights provided by the two briefs of the UN Secretary-General Global Crisis Response Group on the ripple effects of the war in Ukraine. Re-watch UNDP’s main side event during the UN High-Level Political Forum, which dived into the findings of the report. Use the report to help identify the best ways to tackle the cost-of-living crisis in the country where you work. The report has resonated globally, covered in outlets including Al Jazeera and Der Spiegel.

THE BIG PICTURE

A Global Reality Check

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Report 2022 gives the global community a reality check on the devastating impacts of multiple, intersecting crises including COVID-19, climate change and conflict, as outlined in a new UNDP feature story They impact all 17 SDGs, creating spin-off crises in food and nutrition, health, education, the environment, and peace and security. For instance, 1 in 10 people worldwide are suffering from hunger while immunization coverage dropped for the first time in a decade. This confluence of crises threatens not only the SDGs, but our very own survival.

Just as the impact of crises is compounded when they are linked, so are solutions. When we take action to strengthen social protection systems, improve public services and invest in clean energy, we address the root causes of increasing inequality, environmental degradation, and climate change. In short, the SDGs provide a route out of our multiple crises.

This annual SDG Report is prepared by UN DESA, in collaboration with the entire UN Statistical System, consisting of more than 50 international and regional agencies, based on data from over 200 countries and territories. Use the SDGs report and the Global SDG Indicators Database to inform your projects and programmes, helping to get the SDGs back on track.

SPOTLIGHT

Explore how UNDP and our partners clear landmines and rubble in Ukraine. And read how algorithms and big data can help to re-build infrastructure.

On a mission to Japan, Administrator Steiner met with Prime Minister (PM) Fumio Kishida and high-level officials, expressing his sincere condolences on the tragic death of former PM Shinzo Abe. During the mission, a new training course on SDG Impact Standards for Enterprises was launched globally.

Representing the UN, Administrator Steiner participated in the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting in Bali, Indonesia.

Switzerland announced a three-year core funding commitment of $155 million to UNDP and $9 million to UNCDF. Norway’s revised budget has restored approximately $40 million to UNDP 2022 core funding.

Explore the 2022 Arab Human Development Report -- it provides policy options for countries in the region to build forward better from COVID-19.

Learn how young farmers are restoring land in Malawi. Discover how a hospital supported by the UNDP Accelerator Lab in Uganda is transitioning to clean, affordable electricity for clean cooking. And delve into the latest edition of UNDP Maldives’ Island Life magazine.

UNDP and India’s State Government of Telangana announced that the Data in Climate Resilient Agriculture programme, which puts climate change data into the hands of farmers, has been added to the Digital Public Goods Registry.

Use the updated UNDP Global Crisis Risk Dashboard to access a wealth of datasets that can inform your programming -- watch this video. See how the UN Country Team in Papua New Guinea is using the resource.

The new UN Multi-Partner Trust Fund Office Gateway brings new data and analytics together to enhance inter-agency cooperation on pooled funds.

A UNDP-OHCHR guidance note aims to support Member States to integrate human rights into Voluntary National Reviews on the 2030 Agenda.

NEW RESOURCES

New Policy Brief: Accelerating Inclusive Digital Transformations

A new UNDP policy brief explores how inclusive digital transformation benefits countries and societies through a selection of case studies and a set of 10 examples of good practices. Use the brief to identify new ways to drive forward an inclusive digital transformation in the country where you work.

Share the brief with national policymakers, government partners and beyond.

Linking Global Finance to Small-Scale Clean Energy

A new report by UNDP and The Climate Bonds Initiative, prepared with support from the Global Environment Facility, analyses the links between global finance and small-scale clean energy projects in developing countries. The analysis identifies key barriers, market enablers, case studies, insights and recommendations on the wider adoption of financial aggregation as a means to enable capital flows at scale toward small-scale low carbon energy initiatives.

Image: Freepik.com

#FutureSmartUNDP

Update: People for 2030

The latest People for 2030 Bulletin focuses on the efforts of UNDP’s Country Offices (COs) in Eritrea and Tunisia to encourage team building. Meet Frank Garcia, a UNDP Human Resources Assistant/People Champion in our Dominican Republic CO. “In UNDP, I can be ‘me’ without any problem, any related issue, any explanation, any stereotype,” says Frank while reflecting on the importance of LGBTI+ inclusion.

Rwanda has joined the UNDP Junior Professional Officer Programme (JPO) paving the way for the recruitment of Rwandan nationals as JPOs. And read how Strategic Workforce Management -- ensuring that UNDP has the required capabilities at organizational and individual levels -- will be a priority in the second phase of our People for 2030 Strategy.