UNDP Annual Report 2018 - Changing. Improving. Delivering.
The 2018 Illustrated Annual Report is out, capturing the development results of a remarkable year for UNDP.

At a time of change for the United Nations, we worked with our partners to accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals, with our highest programme delivery in five years, restored financial stability, increased efficiency and a new, gender-balanced senior leadership team in place.

This is a big Thank You! to all UNDP for achieving these excellent results and to everyone who spent hours capturing results achieved with our partners in UNDP’s Results-Oriented Annual Report (ROAR) – it was time well spent!

Now it’s time to pass on the appreciation to our partners – with this Illustrated Report and its multilingual outreach toolkit a s your calling cards. Send it, translate it, present it or tweet it, but let’s get the message out there.

The longer but still easy-to-read version of the Report for discussion at this week’s Executive Board in New York sets out ten observations on how we are doing so far against the Strategic Plan. Have a read and see if you agree, or take a look at what the Administrator said .
THE BIG PICTURE
UNDP’s new People for 2030 strategy – what it means for you 
T o all the pioneers out there: whether your life goal is to reverse climate change, prevent wars and conflict or create the jobs of the future you have found the right place to work.

Working for the United Nations is more than just a job; it is a vocation , with a big mission to help make the world a better place. 

So, it is not enough to have a talented, driven workforce that shows up every day. UNDP needs a people plan that matches the commitment of every person who works here and attracts the very best talent for the future.

That’s why we’re launching People for 2030 this month with nine areas of focus .

It will roll out over the next three years, including steps to encourage and reward excellence and commitment, foster diversity and respect, and build more flexible, family-friendly career paths.

Speaking of a more family-friendly UNDP , the new strategy has already triggered changes.

For example, new staff members serving in D and E duty stations will now receive up to two months of Special Leave with Full Pay in additional to their maternity leave. Read more about these important changes here .
The Accelerator Labs are getting ready to run
A team of 180 explorers, experimenters and mappers  are being recruited across 78 countries for 60 Accelerator Labs right now, with support of the Governments of Germany and Qatar.

By bringing in new expertise and capacity in ethnography and data science, we hope to improve how UNDP learns to tackle complex development challenges with our partners, and fast because we have only ten years and seven months left before the 2030 Agenda deadline to get it right.

Country Offices are already driving ahead, prototyping new ways of working . Our teams in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Lesotho and Moldova are testing out  solution safaris  to learn about grassroots innovations. Our colleagues in Sierra Leone are testing how to tackle flooding in informal urban settlements using real-time, people-generated data to improve collective intelligence . In the Philippines, the focus is on   solutions for cleaning Manilla Bay .

The labs are one milestone on our quest to be the world’s largest and fastest learning network on development. Have a look at #NextGenUNDP to see how the Labs fit with other efforts to improve how UNDP works – and to explain it to your partners. For more information, visit the UNDP Accelerator Labs Medium channel and follow the Labs journey on Twitter.
 SPOTLIGHT
International Day for Biological Diversity on 22 May was a chance to reflect on the profound role nature plays in our lives . With one million species threatened with extinction , said Achim Steiner in a video marking the day , it’s time to think about how we are using or mis-using the biodiversity basics.

Marking International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia (IDAHOT) , UNDP Eurasia asked LGBTI activist Kristian about speaking out on inequality and human rights. This is part of the outspoken.undp.org s eries, capturing the everyday stories of LGBTI persons in the Western Balkans.

Vladi Domínguez, UN-GLOBE Coordinator for UNDP spoke to our work with governments and partners to address inequalities experienced by LGBTI people around the world, particularly in supporting efforts to strengthen laws, policies, and programmes that respect human rights.
 
At the Council on Foreign Relations earlier this month, as part of its Sorensen Distinguished Lecture on the United Nations , t he Administrator spoke on development redefined – the battles we choose to avoid and the wars we can’t win. In a dialogue moderated by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ethan Bronner, he argued that international actors must fully commit to investing in global development to help prevent conflict before it breaks out. Watch the lecture or read the transcript .
 
Feel. See. Hear. Run. Read about how UNDP is working with governments and local communities in the Asia Pacific Region to assess tsunami risks, design emergency and evacuation plans, and carry out tsunami awareness and safety drills.

For a recap of UNDP's main communication initiatives in the last month including news coverage and social media outreach, please see the UNDP Communications Bulletin .
NEW RESOURCES
UNDP report on youth and violent extremism
Frontlines , a new UNDP report based on a global youth survey and launched in May, calls for more investment in the systematic participation of young people in decision-making and governance to help prevent violent extremism. It includes illustrative examples, promising practices and policy and programming recommendations .
New features on UNDP's transparency portal
UNDP’s transparency portal Open.undp.org , which garners on average 2,800 users each week from 200 countries, has new features. In addition to data on over US$4.5 billion of more than 4,500 UNDP projects, it now features improved SDG visualization, satellite imagery, and country flags to enhance our partners’ visibility. 
YOU ARE #NextGenUNDP
Your best photos at work
A big congratulations and hive-five to Rana Sweidan from UNDP Lebanon for her un-bee-lieveable photograph of training for young beekeepers in the Bekaa Valley. Now featured in the 2018 UNDP Annual Report , Rana’s photo encapsulates #NextGenUNDP .

Bees.undp.org continues this theme with a series of stinging facts for World Bee Day on 20 May showing how bees contribute to the SDGs. But take a look for yourself; we won’t drone on about it... 
We still need your help on UNDP Global Climate Survey
A big thank you to all the Country Offices that responded to UNDP’s global climate change survey . We’re putting together the first global picture of how countries are doing on their Paris pledges, to launch ahead of the UN Climate Action Summit this September.

We still need your help . If you haven’t completed this yet, now is the time. The window closes in a week and we don’t want your Country Office to be left out! If you need help, please reach out: ndcsupport@undp.org.
COMING UP
Achim Steiner heads to Washington D.C, 11-12 June, for UNDP’s strategic dialogue with the United States, joined by Ulrika Modéer, and to speak at the Interaction Forum . He will join the Regional Bureau for Arab States cluster meeting, 23-24 June in Tangiers, Morocco. He travels to Germany, 25-26 June, to meet with the Government and address their development committee, speak at the University of Bonn on the Future of Development, and join a kick-off event for the Accelerator Lab network, hosted by BMZ. 

Ulrika Modéer visits Brussels, 17-19 June, for meetings around the European Development Days , i ncluding with the European Union, the Government of Belgium and the UNDP Brussels Representation Office, and leads UNDP’s Annual Consultations with Australia and New Zealand in Bangkok, 26-28 June.

During the European Development Days , Luis Felipe López-Calva will give a presentation at the Kapuscinski Development Lecture , hosted by UNDP and the European Commission, to discuss understanding and measuring inequality, polarization and social contract; and how inequality undermines the effectiveness of governance.

Haoliang Xu will visit the Philippines, 11-14 June, travelling to the new Bangsamoro Autonomous Region to meet with interim regional government officials on peace building and transition from conflict to development. He will speak at the Responsible Business and Human Rights Forum in Bangkok, followed by a country visit to Maldives,15-18 June.

Abdoulaye Mar Dieye will travel to France, 19-21 June, to promote The Lion’s Share at Cannes Lions’ 66th International Festival of Creativity a nd help the Fund secure new corporate contributions.

Mirjana Spoljaric Egger is visiting Montenegro, 3-5 June, and participating in the Green Days 2019: Unlocking Green Growth Potential c onference. She will travel onwards to represent UNDP at the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum i n Russia, 6-8 June.