Urbanization has led to around 4.4 billion people living in cities today, accounting for 56% of the global population. This has made cities economic powerhouses but has come at a cost. The Global Environment Facility (GEF) Small Grants Programme (SGP), implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), supports local communities in developing sustainable urban solutions. SGP operates in 127 countries, providing financial and technical support to community-based organizations. Their focus areas include clean energy access and sustainable transport, biodiversity conservation, land use planning, climate action, and more. SGP has supported over 28,000 community-based projects in 136 countries with over $795 million in project funding.

Equanomics is an initiative led by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) that aims to make economies work for gender equality. The earnings gap between men and women is only one part of a broader gender imbalance that has many causes and serious consequences for women's well-being and overall development progress. According to the World Bank, if women earned the same as men over their lifetimes, the world could reap a significant 'gender dividend'. This is why lifting women out of poverty is critical to achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5 on gender equality and has multiplier effects for all 17 Goals. Equanomics envisions a new path by dismantling economic structures that generate and perpetuate gender inequality, and it is helping countries take it by building expertise and supporting partners that want to transform their economies to work better for everyone.

Galapagos Islands has implemented selected innovative solutions for waste management in order to preserve its open-air biological museum status.

The devastating earthquakes in western Afghanistan have left a trail of sorrow, as narrated through the poignant stories of survivors like Dawood, Mahzada, and Raiza Gul. Trapped under debris and haunted by the cries of his daughter, Dawood emerged from the wreckage to discover the loss of his brother and another daughter. Mahzada's simple life in the village crumbled with the walls during the earthquake, leaving her family in darkness and despair. Meanwhile, Raiza Gul, saved by a twist of fate as she checked on her sheep, witnessed the collapse of her village and the tragic demise of 27 family members. These narratives emphasize the urgent need for comprehensive humanitarian aid, addressing shelter, medical care, and the unique vulnerabilities of women and children, to help these shattered communities rebuild amidst the harsh conditions of winter and the challenges of displacement.

"I want my old life back." It’s a powerful reflection of how people feel when they’re in the thick of crisis, when unthinkable tragedy has struck. Because behind each crisis headline, where we read of millions uprooted or facing trauma or conflict, are the individual humans who just want to once again walk their children to school along safe roads, eat a warm meal, go shopping, laugh with friends, live free from fear and dread. As we close 2023, we hear from people around the world who have faced tremendous adversity this year, and see how they're working, with UNDP support, to get back the most basic and also most precious right—that to a ‘normal’ life.

The Earth is now 1.2° Celsius warmer than in pre-industrial times. The harmful impacts of climate change have already become a harsh reality, but climate change does not affect everyone in the same way. The differential impacts undermine development efforts and most severely affect the poorest and most vulnerable, who often rely directly on natural resources for their livelihoods and subsistence. There is an urgent need to address the challenges. The Global Environment Facility (GEF) Small Grants Programme (SGP), implemented by UNDP, has over three decades of experience in providing financial and technical support to civil society and community-based organizations at the local level to tackle global environmental issues while improving livelihoods. Read stories showcasing these locally-led climate actions here

UNDP presents its 3 episode of season two, Hello Future; The nature and climate crisis is rapidly transitioning from the theoretical and distant to the very real and immediate. Yet transformational change is still possible – and already happening in some places.

Fighting has resumed in Gaza after a temporary humanitarian truce that allowed desperately needed assistance to reach people displaced by the war. The temporary halt provided some respite for residents who endured constant shelling, repeated displacement and sleepless nights. One of them is Asmaa Marouf. A UN Volunteer, Asmaa was working as a geographic information systems specialist with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). When the war began, she was forced to flee her home along with her children. Asmaa shares her experience, her fears, her hopes and her belief that the current war is different from the previous escalations she has lived through. Her words underscore the need for a full humanitarian ceasefire.

The Montes del Aguacate Biological Corridor is located in the western part of Costa Rica's Central Valley. It serves as a link between Protected Wildlife Areas and Protected Zones, promoting biological connectivity. The area is home to several rural communities with scarce job opportunities and low human development. However, the inspiring story of María Olivia Rodríguez Vasquez and Jesús María Molina Salas shows that this doesn't have to be the case. Over 30 years ago, they started farming livestock on a 20-hectare land, and with the support of the Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme, which is implemented by the United Nations Development Programme, they have been able to make a living out of it.

Gökova Bay, a sparkling blue body of water on the Mediterranean coast off Türkiye, is one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots and one of the most successful marine ecosystem conservation initiatives. This is in large part thanks to Zafer Kizilkaya and the efforts of his organization, Mediterranean Conservation Society, a UNDP Equator Prize winner. At its outset, the organization focused primarily on the creation of marine protected areas, which allowed fishing but limited development, and included no-take zones, which forbid all fishing and were critical to fully restoring marine ecosystem functions after years of overfishing. The organization still maintains the highest level of respect and reverence for the small-scale fishermen who have accumulated generations of knowledge about local fishing conditions of this Mediterranean spot.

Hello Future is a UNDP video series exploring the trends shaping our world. Today's episode explores the current cost-of-living and food insecurity crisis, fuelled in part by the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, impacting the entire world.

Cities, towns and surrounding areas act as powerful magnets for innovation, culture and opportunities, alluring talent and investment. Urban living has already been embraced by more than half of the world's population, and projections indicate that nearly 70 percent of us will live in cities by 2050. Urban areas can also be an inequality trap, with overcrowding, pollution, poor infrastructure and social injustice. While there isn't a one-size-fits-all formula for attaining sustainable urban development, the UN’s New Urban Agenda offers guidance and strategy. When the urban landscape is well planned and managed, it can be a transformative force to accelerate the SDGs.

In 1987 Cyclone Uma, resulted in a spike of malaria incidence due to damage to health facilities, and increase in the number of mosquito breeding sites. In 2015, Cyclone Pam found Vanuatu prepared, having learnt from its previous experience, and no increase in malaria outbreaks were detected. In March of 2023, Vanuatu was hit by twin Tropical Cyclones Judy and Kevin within 48 hours of one another and the damage was extensive, creating a serious burden on the country’s resources. UNDP and partners are undertaking a four-country project to enhance the capacity of national and local health system institutions, personnel, and local communities to manage health risks induced by climate variability and change.

While decades of progress have lifted more than a billion people out of poverty, COVID-19 and a series of geopolitical shocks have resulted in serious setbacks. We are halfway to the deadline set by the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals. Therefore, there’s still time to finish strong. Eliminating poverty in all its forms is the all-access key and as we mark the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, there needs to be an understanding of what poverty actually is. Poverty is the very unnatural outcome of failing to truly recognize, or care, that every human is equal in dignity and deserves the same opportunities. It is a byproduct of unjust, biased laws, policies, or institutions that deepen marginalization.

Tourism is one of Malaysia’s major economic sectors, contributing 6.7 percent to its gross domestic product, and was responsible for generating US$18.32 billion in revenue in 2019. However, the COVID-19 pandemic and consequent travel restrictions resulted in a 72 percent reduction in tourism’s direct contribution to Malaysia’s GDP in 2020. To address the issues of tourism sustainability and island waste management, UNDP Malaysia launched the Integrated Island Waste Management in Malaysia project and subsequently the Sustainable Tourism Recovery project.