LocationsThe value of cooperation in a fractured world
January 11, 2023
We are witnessing an ongoing collision of crises for which traditional response and recovery are not enough.
Our future is at stake, as wars, epidemics, the climate emergency and economic upheaval leave almost no country untouched.
These numbers are not going to get smaller until we change our way of thinking and acting—these new multidimensional challenges require comprehensive solutions.
We know that investing in development is the best way to prevent crises and maintain peace.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Emerging from crisis depends on development. Development must be invested in, systematically and comprehensively.
Our common goal
Multilateralism and development cooperation have never been more important. The complexity of the path ahead makes it imperative to act together, in partnership.
From the war in Ukraine that sparked a global cost of living crisis to the climate emergency, the floods in Pakistan, the global pandemic, hunger in the Horn of Africa, to the crisis in Yemen — we face never before seen challenges to our future. Effective answers to these challenges cannot be achieved by countries acting individually.
Today's multidimensional crises require a multilateral approach. The war in Ukraine has triggered a cost of living crisis and food shortages across the world. At the same time, humanity faces a climate emergency that has recently manifested itself in Pakistan with devastating impact.
Developing economies accounting for more than half of the world’s poorest people need urgent debt relief as a result of cascading global crises. Without action, poverty will spiral and desperately needed investments in climate adaptation and mitigation will not happen.
To mount an effective response to this perfect storm of evolving threats, we must radically change the way we think and act.
Developing economies accounting for more than half of the world’s poorest people need urgent debt relief as a result of cascading global crises. Without action, poverty will spiral and desperately needed investments in climate adaptation and mitigation will not happen.
To mount an effective response to this perfect storm of evolving threats, we must radically change the way we think and act.
International development is at risk
The proliferation of crises we are seeing should not become a crisis for multilateralism and international development. We must act early, with a clear view of the big picture.
Adequate, flexible and predictable funding is the bedrock that makes it possible for UNDP to ensure that the most vulnerable are not left behind, finding a sustainable pathway from crisis and vulnerability to peace and prosperity.
UNDP, in its Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) integrator role, connects the dots, helping countries tackle complex challenges and laying out a more sustainable future. With our people-centred approach, we work to deepen human security and to build more resilient and stable societies. In times of crisis, we invest in people through the hardest times of their lives—to not only survive, but to live in dignity and free from want and fear.
In Iraq, Somalia and Pakistan, UNDP is working to support reconstruction projects, promote climate solutions that work for communities and help populations emerge from disasters with greater resilience.
New ways of working
We believe that well-planned crisis response can provide an opportunity to transform the development of a country and overcome even pre-existing gaps and vulnerabilities. UNDP is charting new ways forward, using methods such as foresight and horizon scanning, which assesses whether people are prepared for future changes and threats. We are investing in early warning systems, while supporting programming that addresses the causes of conflict, disasters and other multidimensional risks.
We are present in all 60 of the countries designated as fragile states, and more than half our annual budget is delivered in fragile and crisis contexts. We ensure vulnerable communities can get back on their feet and reduce countries’ reliance on external relief. And we work with partners in 26 countries to address violent extremism.
In the northeast of Nigeria, UNDP aided in the rehabilitation of eight communities and helped bring back a sense of normalcy people traumatized by violence at the hands of Boko Haram.
Partnerships are fundamental
As the world faces daunting development finance prospects, investments should focus on protecting a strong and effective multilateral system. This system remains trusted by countries and partners for its reliable delivery of services and record of results, from expanding access to COVID-19 vaccines to caring for people affected by disaster.
Research shows that the multilateral channel, when compared with the bilateral channel, is less politicized, more demand driven and better at delivering global public goods. The institutional and bureaucratic challenges the multilateral system faces must be addressed head on. But a retreat from a shared system of rules and norms that has served the world for seven decades is the wrong response.
The war in Ukraine has reminded us how one crisis can spark another, sometimes of an entirely different nature and on the opposite side of the globe. Our trusted multilateral system is our best hope for preventing similar crises in the future and emerging quicker and stronger when they happen.