Kuwait City / New York - The Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (Kuwait Fund) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) signed today a new partnership agreement to scale up support for countries and communities affected by crisis and seeking to build resilience in the context of growing humanitarian and development challenges.

The agreement will enable the two institutions to jointly reinforce the resilience of partner countries worldwide and contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through support at the humanitarian-development-peace nexus.

The impacts of COVID-19 worldwide have underscored the vulnerabilities facing countries in situations of fragility or affected by crisis, and signal the emergence of new global challenges which require responses straddling humanitarian, development and peacebuilding action. The agreement will enable the Kuwait Fund and UNDP to provide strategic and critical support at this vital nexus as the world seeks to build forward better and achieve the SDGs by 2030.

The agreement, signed before a virtual meeting between Abdulwahab Al Bader, Director General of the Kuwait Fund, and Achim Steiner, Administrator of UNDP, enables support for sustainable livelihoods, peacebuilding, crisis prevention and recovery, and post-crisis stabilization.

“Kuwait Fund is excited about the signing of this MOU with the United Nations Development Programme, as this opens a new chapter of our collaboration. We look forward to exchanging knowledge, experiences and good practices to jointly advance humanitarian-development-peace nexus, with optimal impact to the most needy people and communities,” said Abdulwahab Al Bader, Director General of the Kuwait Fund.

The partnership also sets out a framework for the Kuwait Fund to provide financial support for UNDP’s work in support of the 170 countries around the world in which UNDP operates. UNDP’s programmes worldwide are focused on tackling poverty, inequality and climate change, and helping countries build integrated, resilient and lasting solutions for people and planet – including at the humanitarian-development-peacebuilding nexus.

“The world is facing a development emergency. The COVID-19 pandemic is the latest crisis facing the world, but it won’t be the last, unless we choose to do things differently.” said Achim Steiner, Administrator of UNDP. “We are grateful to the Kuwait Fund for their partnership and we look forward to working together to support countries to develop the capacities needed to build forward better towards a more inclusive, sustainable and peaceful future.”

The partnership builds on joint work between the Kuwait Fund and UNDP in situations of fragility, including a partnership through the Islamic Development Bank, and jointly with the Government of Japan, which enabled the construction and operationalization of the Khan Younis wastewater treatment plant, boosting public health and access to improved water for over 217,000 people in the Gaza Strip.

The agreement also signals an extension of Kuwait’s global leadership role at the humanitarian-development-peacebuilding nexus, as Kuwait has been consolidating a position as both a convenor and a contributor to efforts to boost resilience in the context of the world’s most pressing crises.