Impact

In 2022, the Funding Windows, aligned with and able to financially deliver on UNDP’s Strategic Plan, assisted countries and contexts across the globe to achieve impact in four main thematic areas, in alignment with UNDP’s Signature Solutions.
16

countries improved access to essential services

940

solar solutions in 7 crisis and fragile settings

Inclusive / People-centred digital transformation: An approach that puts people at the centre of digital transformation efforts to ensure a more open, transparent, and accessible process. For UNDP, inclusive digital transformation:

  • Addresses the needs of the poorest as well as the most vulnerable and marginalized groups, including women and people with disabilities
  • Mitigates the tendency of digital transformation to exacerbate existing inequalities
  • Empowers underrepresented groups to take part in meaningful ways
  • Protects people from the adverse effects of digital technologies
  • Encourages the use and development of digital technology that is open, responsible, and rights-based.
61k

people including over 35,000 women, strengthened livelihoods in 21 countries

8.4k

short-term jobs created in 7 countries in crisis or post-crisis settings

27

countries advanced digital solutions

32

countries received support for more responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making

11

countries supported solutions to prevent and respond to gender-based violence and harmful gender stereotypes

18

countries supported durable solutions to internally displaced persons, migrants, and host communities

14

countries assisted to improve access to justice

1k

public infrastructures built or rebuilt in 18 countries

25

countries supported persons with disabilities

20

countries assisted to work across the Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus

24

countries strengthened capacities of rights holders and/or duty bearers

Poverty and InequalityGovernance, peacebuilding, crisis and resilienceNature, climate and energyGender equality and women's empowerment

Poverty and Inequality window

UNDP Funding Windows poverty and inequality window icon
The Funding Windows underscore UNDP’s efforts to eliminate multidimensional poverty.
UNDP Moonshot for poverty and inequality
UNDP Moon Shot

Empower 100 million poor, marginalized and excluded populations to escape persistent multidimensional poverty and vulnerabilities by 2025. In 2022, 25 million people gained access to health, education, water and other services essential to human well-being.

The Funding Windows contributed to these efforts by facilitating the provision of essential services in 16 countries and enabling improved livelihoods in 21 countries.

Leaving No One Behind — percentage of initiatives supporting women, youth, people living in vulnerable areas, people affected by armed conflict and violence, people living in multidimensional poverty, people living with disabilities, people affected by conflict and IDPs, people who are unemployed, minorities
In Burkina Faso, UNDP established a dedicated recovery fund and successfully implemented various income generative activities (IGAs) in a complex context, with a special focus on women and girls. In late 2022, an independent evaluation report noted, “the IGAs, recovery funds and the jobs created have contributed to improving women's incomes, enabling them to diversify their IGAs, thereby leading to a net increase in income, with impact on the improvement of living conditions. Indeed, the IGAs and the jobs created allow the beneficiary women and girls to meet their needs and take care of household responsibilities. This is the case, for example, of a woman from Zeguedeguin, who was able to sell her livestock to buy a bicycle and buy back small animals to continue her livestock practice.” This support has strengthened the socioeconomic status of women in these communities.

At the global level, the Insurance and Risk Finance Facility (IRFF) underscores UNDP's long-term commitment to support financial resilience and enhance sustainable development using insurance and risk financing. In 2022, in partnership with the Insurance Development Forum, the IRFF extended its support to eight more countries, totaling 29 and benefiting an estimated 64 million people. Notable achievements include refined diagnostic methods for quality improvement, earlier project initiation through revamped financing triggers, and risk financing trainings for all African Ministries of Finance. Lastly, IRFF secured multi-year agreements with leading insurance entities and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Governance, Peacebuilding, Crisis and Resilience window

UNDP funding windows governance, peacebuilding, crisis and resilience window icon
The Funding Windows support breaking the cycles of crisis and fragility, and promote positive peace, resilient communities and sustainable livelihoods.
Moonshot for UNDP governance icon
UNDP Moon Shot

By 2025, 800 million people participate in elections. UNDP supported 12 elections with over 82 million registered voters in 2022 and expect to support 17 elections with close to 400 million registered voters by the end of 2023.

Though Funding Windows-supported efforts to elections were limited in 2022, broader efforts were made to increase civic engagement and participation in political process across 32 countries.

In Kenya, during the 2022 General Election, UNDP and the Media Council of Kenya (MCK) implemented the iVerify platform, a UNDP-developed automated media fact-checking tool, to combat misinformation. Funded by the European Union and recognized as a, "Digital Public Good", iVerify is maintained by MCK and now scrutinizes information beyond electoral matters. To boost election participation, UNDP and MCK orchestrated a presidential debate, attracting 2,700 in-person attendees and an estimated 34 million livestream viewers nationwide.

In Chile, UNDP supported constitutional reform processes. The Funding Windows empowered 1,000+ women from diverse groups to promote gender equality and women's rights in constitutional dialogues and distribute related information. Additionally, UNDP backed the proposed inclusion of Indigenous rights in the draft constitution. Despite the referendum's failure, it stimulated crucial national discourse on intersectional issues within legal frameworks.

The fourth programmatic phase of the Global Programme for Strengthening the Rule of Law, Human Rights, Justice and Security for Sustainable Peace and Development (ROLSHR Global Programme) began in 2022, to reinforce the importance of rule of law and respect for human rights. In collaboration with various stakeholders, ROLSHR integrated digitalization into justice delivery systems, enhanced data collection on human rights and SDGs, and initiated projects to combat violence against women and foster their inclusion in the justice sector. Through the ROLSHR Global Programme, UNDP provided programmatic and policy expertise to over 104 countries and territories.  

The Roadmap for a sustainable solution to the illegal possession, misuse and trafficking of small arms and light weapons and their ammunition guided UNDP’s efforts to address illegal arms trafficking and improved safety in the Western Balkans, while boosting technical capacities of law enforcement agencies in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, and Kosovo.* In Burkina Faso, through the COSED project, UNDP contributed to peace, justice, and human security, with agender-sensitive social cohesion strategy planned for 2023.

Through the Conflict Prevention, Peacebuilding and Resilient Institutions Global Programme (CPPRI), UNDP provided seed funding and technical support for strategic responses in Africa, Arab States, Europe and Central Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean. The CPPRI programme enabled UNDP to establish a policy and research agenda, coordinated engagement on peacebuilding initiatives, and contributed to the Interagency Working Group on Human Security. It also developed new policy notes and tools that facilitated evidence-based policy and programming in areas such as engagement with non-state armed groups, peace impact measurement, and conflict sensitivity. To enhance this, UNDP launched the new Prevention Offer and Prevention Academy, expanding existing facilities and partnerships. 

The Funding Windows amplified UNDP's global policy efforts to address the Humanitarian-Development-Peace (HDP) nexus in 2022, when roughly 274 million people required humanitarian aid. The Nexus Academy, a joint initiative anchored in the UNDP Crisis Academy, launched as part of this initiative, aimed to foster collective understanding and invigorate comprehensive strategies to handle crises on a system-wide level, incorporating programmatic solutions.
*References to Kosovo shall be understood to be in the context of Security Council Resolution 1244 (1999).
Alignment with the UNDP Strategic Plan

Improving livelihoods in Eritrea

With Funding Windows support, UNDP Eritrea improved women's livelihoods and socioeconomic opportunities, particularly targeting those returning from conflict-related displacement in Ethiopia. Initiatives ranged from land rehabilitation and well-digging to livestock distribution and skill development in income generating activities like sewing, farming, and local market trading. Azieb Worede, a beneficiary, testified that the program’s training enabled her to open a small shop, thereby increasing her income and allowing her to sustain her children's meals and education independently. Despite being in early stages, the initiative is already yielding tangible benefits for women and their families.
In response to the humanitarian crisis that resulted from the conflict in Northern Ethiopia, UNDP and UNFPA addressed hygiene needs of affected women and girls of reproductive age by providing 17,500 female dignity kits, funded by the Funding Windows. These kits, containing essential hygiene items, catered to the unique needs of vulnerable demographics such as displaced women, survivors of gender-based violence, pregnant and lactating women, girls with disabilities, and unaccompanied girls. Prior to this intervention, overcrowded settlement conditions hindered the management of personal and menstrual hygiene. The kits not only increased personal health and safety but also served as a conduit for sharing vital information about gender-based violence and available sexual and reproductive health services, including specialized care referrals.

Watch: Urban Resilience Response After COVID in Myanmar

Nature, Climate and Energy window

UNDP funding windows nature, climate and energy window icon
The Funding Windows are an effective financing platform for fighting the triple planetary crisis.
Moonshot for UNDP energy
UNDP Moon Shot

By 2025, UNDP aims to increase access to clean and affordable energy for 500 million people.

In 2022, the Funding Windows supported increasing energy access in 10 countries, including with 940 solar solutions in seven crisis and fragile settings.

The Funding Windows underpin flagship initiatives in UNDP's nature, climate, and energy portfolio:

Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment window

UNDP funding windows gender equality and women's empowerment window icon
The Funding Windows elevate the status of women and girls by breaking barriers to equality and opportunity.
The Global Observatory of Gender-Responsive Public Policies supports national governments to develop gender responsive policy measures to achieve gender equality. The Observatory platform hosts several online tools, such as the UNDP UN Women COVID-19 Global Gender Response Tracker dashboard. In 2022, the tracker had more than 31,818 visits and was rated among the top three of the world’s most significant policy tracker initiatives by the Social Science Research Network at the University of Edinburgh.
The 10-point action agenda for advancing gender equality in crisis settings
Additionally, through the newly established Gender and Crisis Facility, a new policy framework, the 10-Point Action Agenda for Advancing Gender Equality in Crisis Settings (10 PAA), was finalized through in-depth consultations with academia, civil society organizations, feminist activists, development experts, Country Offices, Regional Hubs, and UNDP’s Global Policy Network.  

UNDP’s Global Project on Ending Gender-Based Violence and Achieving the SDGs, which ended in 2022, was a trailblazer in providing evidence of what works to prevent and respond to gender-based violence. Through this project, UNDP worked to:
  • Facilitate change in social norms, attitudes and behaviours
  • Increase community resilience
  • Promote the effectiveness of broader interventions with an integrated gender-based violence lens
Woman in PNUD RDC

UNDP / Democratic Republic of the Congo
Benoît Almeras-Martino