How will COVID change the future of development, and why?

This pandemic is a wake-up call for all: it has exposed our weaknesses, showed us the vulnerabilities of globalization and the world as we know it.  But it also highlights the opportunities for improvement to create a better world because the current trajectory is unviable as it damages the planet, our very home.  As we have gone into lock down or pause mode, we have seen pollution levels plummet to lowest levels in recent times and wildlife re-emerge in unsuspected areas. 

COVID-19, in essence, a health problem, underscores the importance of adopting a holistic or whole of government approach to tackle a crisis with a broader developmental impact.  As such, it will be critical to understand the interconnectedness of development challenges and seek solutions through systemic change, instead of single-track or sector specific responses.  In this regard, innovation has an important role to play to disrupt business as usual, by seeking new ways of doing development and putting people at the centre to ensure that solutions are working, affordable and long-lasting.

The lockdown and working from home have taught us that digital technology can play a pivotal role to both enable business continuity and running of government matters, as well as reduce our carbon consumption.  By adopting digital platforms to conduct meetings, transactions, provision of government services, we can get better results without incurring higher environmental penalties.  Acknowledging that developing countries have a long way to go in this respect, this digital transformation coupled with innovation will provide tremendous opportunities for retraining, new jobs, social entrepreneurs,  public-private partnerships, and expansion of accessibility of Internet connectivity to ensure that vulnerable people are not left behind.

How can Pakistan (and possibly the world) achieve that ambitious result?

Pakistan needs to make space for  youth to be part of the development process.  With 70 percent of the population younger than 29, Pakistan’s vibrant youth are eager to engage with a dynamic, open mind to resolve problems and harness its creativity to contribute to the shaping of a more equitable and prosperous society, while also addressing climate change threats.  UNDP’s National Human Development Report on Youth demonstrates the untapped capital of Pakistani youth and its inherent tremendous potential.  The Prime Minister’s Youth Programme (“Kamyab Jawan”), launched to capitalize on this potential, is an excellent start that would require further scale-up and resources.

We also now have an opportunity to fully embrace the digital era for administering government institutions and improve public services delivery. Pakistan is well-positioned to do this from a technological perspective.  What is required is the will to make this transformation happen and follow through with implementation.  While there is no lack of capacity to do so within the country, development partners can certainly help in this regard.

What can we do as UNDP to help countries make it happen, in very concrete ways?

UNDP can support the transformation of state institutions and processes into an effective governance system with optimized political-institutional interaction among the executive branch, other powers of the state and civil society.  As complex as governance can be, it is often shaped by bureaucratic inertia that is a drag on the certainty of the implementation of public policies and makes it impossible to reach the necessary agreements with speed and focus.  This is typical in many overburdened and under-resourced public institutions and this is where UNDP’s global experience can help synchronize political vision, policy design, management action, institutional mechanisms, public engagement and tech-based systems to facilitate all of the above. 

Moreover, UNDP’s network of Accelerator Labs exists to bring forth innovative solutions to recurrent development challenges in a number of ways:  putting the users at the core of problem identification and solution design, as well as investing in locally developed and low-cost solutions that can be replicated for maximum coverage and impact.  To illustrate, in Pakistan, UNDP supported Rehmatullah Kundi, an engineer in Gilgit-Baltistan, to develop an innovative, grassroots designed water pump which uses the water-hammer effects to lift water from lower elevations without electricity.  The test was so successful that we supported its scale-up. As a result, there are now 400 households in 19 villages of Gilgit-Baltistan that have access to running water and which are irrigating 88.4 acres of land (an area of 46 soccer fields).

At the same time, UNDP’s global presence allows us to learn from each other and connect problems to solutions through South-South cooperation.  For instance, rural villagers in Egypt today have access to energy using animal manure to produce biogas, a type of biofuel. Egyptian entrepreneurs are manufacturing biogas burners and specially-trained masons are building biogas units thanks to a technology transfer facilitated by UNDP from India.

What one lesson or experience do you wish to share related to the above.

While COVID-19 is first and foremost a health crisis, it has a cascading effect on the economy and society that needs to be rapidly tackled.  To address this, in Pakistan, UNDP is coordinating the preparation of a socio-economic impact assessment on behalf of the UN system and at the request of the Planning Commission.  For this to yield its intended outcome, it is essential that we, the UN agencies, see ourselves as elements of a single United Nations working as one.  Not only is this effective in pulling together the collective expertise of the UN, but it is also most helpful for the government to hear one UN voice.   In doing so, it is equally important that we speak on behalf of the most vulnerable, who are likely to suffer most from this crisis, to advocate with the government and use our knowledge and evidence to influence decisions supportive of the marginalized. Meanwhile, our top objective will be to identify the situation of the youth in the socio-economic assessment, reflect their needs in the response to the Covid crisis and then ensure of the youth’s engagement in its implementation.  

In addition, the pandemic is an opportunity to do things differently; it gives us permission to change.    We can achieve this by advising governments and development partners to set up new frameworks that are more inclusive, people-centered and grounded on sustainable economic models. 

Click here for more on our work with youth in Pakistan.