In 2014, UNDP, with the generous support of the Government of Denmark, established the Innovation Facility to improve service delivery and support national governments and citizens to tackle complex challenges. Over the past years, the Innovation Facility has invested in more than 170 country-level experiments.

In ‘Moon Shots & Puddle Jumps – Innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals’, UNDP Innovation Facility shares case studies from over 25 countries of how innovation can make development more impactful.

The 2017-2018 Innovation report takes the reader through the innovation journey at UNDP. Introducing innovation concepts - present and emerging service lines – it features initiatives that tested or scaled new ways to eradicate poverty, protect the planet, prevent conflict, manage climate change risk and advance gender equality.

The case studies encompass a wide range of development innovation in action – some are pursuing moonshots, others puddle jumps: from a collaboration with Makers Space in Honduras to jointly design with persons with disabilities 3-D printed prostheses for inclusion; a spatial data sandbox to improve biodiversity conservation efforts globally together with UN Environment, MapX, NASA and UN Global Pulse; a joint experiment with NudgeLebanon and national partners to improve efforts on preventing violent extremism in Sudan based on findings from behavioral science; a trial to improve remittances transfers in Serbia with the help of blockchain and scaling public sector innovation processes in Armenia, Bangladesh, Georgia, Moldova and Sri Lanka, among others.

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