After almost two years on board, today is my last day at UNDP. I joined the organization at the end of 2022 with a task to review programmes through an anti-racism lens and provide advice on how to strengthen efforts. A year ago, I wrote about progress, suggesting to "Be inspired but remain humble”. I concluded that UNDP can be proud of the many activities carried out to empower communities affected by racial discrimination but there is still an immense task ahead. 

There are many reasons why development work must be anti-racist. First, it is a human rights imperative. UN agencies have an institutional obligation to uphold the values of the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Second, anti-racism is a prerequisite for achieving the Global Goals, as racism and racial discrimination constitute global barriers to human development. Third, UNDP’s Strategic Plan 2022-2025 pledges to support governments in eliminating racism and discrimination. 

Moreover, ensuring effective inclusion and meaningful participation of communities affected by racial discrimination, and strengthened diverse partnerships will increase trust in UNDP, cultivating and reinforcing a sense of agency. We must also support countries in addressing historical injustices. Additionally, anti-racist development is economically smart. Research demonstrates that there is high price paid for exclusion. Finally, the Joint Inspection Unit suggested that UN agencies should assess the systemic and structural dimensions of racism and racial discrimination embedded in their programmatic and operational activities.

Therefore, I recommended designing an organization-wide action plan to guide UNDP on how to further strengthen anti-racism in programming as a corporate priority. It was an ambitious and challenging idea, considering limited time and resources.

But we did it.

With a unique approach that allowed 12 organizational units across UNDP to assess their own capacities and formulate their own commitments, we now have more than 100 anti-racism pledges that form our Anti-Racism Action Plan. UNDP is indebted to our Anti-Racism Steering Group members who coordinated this process and thankful to the senior leadership whose support was critical in making this initiative successful. The plan is now awaiting final endorsement by the Executive Group.

We pledged that our communications will more explicitly reflect our anti-racism commitment. Many strategic planning and policy documents will be prepared through an intersectional anti-racism lens. We will build anti-racism awareness and skills, as well as organize and enhance learning opportunities, such as trainings, webinars, academies, labs and information sessions on the history and contemporary manifestations of racism. We will carry out more research and analyze more data, and will produce anti-racism knowledge pieces, reflection and position papers. There will be awareness-raising and guidance on how to embed anti-racism considerations into common country analyses, cooperation frameworks, and regional and country programme documents. Procurement practices, corporate standards on images, independent evaluation methodologies, as well as use of language, attitude and approaches will be reviewed. Consultations will be organized with affected groups, including Indigenous Peoples. More and stronger partnerships will be developed with Global South policy institutions, think tanks and universities, and there will be greater cooperation with UN human rights mechanisms, and other regional structures and inter-agency networks. Some offices will identify anti-racism advocacy champions. And the list goes on.