125-527: The North-West Caribbean Donor Group , chaired by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), is designed to provide first-responders in the event of emergencies in the northwest Caribbean . It is made up of UN agencies , international relief agencies and non-governmental organizations. This Caribbean-related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This United Nations –related article
250-594: A 2015 report, the International Monetary Fund pointed to widening income inequality as the defining challenge of our time. "In advanced economies, the gap between the rich and poor is at its highest level in decades. Inequality trends have been more mixed in emerging markets and developing countries (EMDCs), with some countries experiencing declining inequality, but pervasive inequities in access to education, health care, and finance remain." New enterprises and foreign investment can be driven away by
375-535: A Thai company in a joint venture. Additionally, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 17 advocates respect for countries leadership to implement policies for poverty eradication and sustainable development. Critics have argued that neoliberal policies have increased economic inequality and exacerbated global poverty . The Center for Economic and Policy Research's (CEPR) Dean Baker argued in 2006 that
500-466: A greater voice for the poor. It also works at the macro level to reform trade, encourage debt relief and foreign investment, and ensure the poorest of the poor benefit from globalisation. The UNDP International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth (IPC-IG) in Brasília, Brazil, expands the capacities of developing countries to design, implement and evaluate socially inclusive development projects. IPC-IG
625-464: A host of other strategies will not work." Despite the promise of such research several questions remain, such as where good governance comes from and how it can be achieved. The comparative analysis of one sociologist suggests that broad historical forces have shaped the likelihood of good governance. Ancient civilizations with more developed government organization before colonialism , as well as elite responsibility, have helped create strong states with
750-414: A large part of microfinance loans are spent on products that would usually be paid by a checking or savings account . Mobile banking addresses the problem of the heavy regulation and costly maintenance of saving accounts . Mobile financial services in the developing world , ahead of the developed world in this respect, could be worth $ 5 billion by 2012. Safaricom 's M-Pesa launched one of
875-408: A more nuanced understanding of economic growth and quality of life and poverty alleviation. Due to COVID-19 , poverty rates have risen higher between 75 million and 95 million individuals suffering from extreme poverty between pre-pandemic to 2022. This higher increase in poverty rates can be reflected by the rise in unemployment and work productivity caused by the pandemic. It is said that
1000-519: A near universal manner are still the exclusive domain of the developed nations . commonly constituting at least 20% of GDP, with the largest Scandinavian welfare states constituting over 40% of GDP. These modern welfare states, which largely arose in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, seeing their greatest expansion in the mid 20th century, and have proven themselves highly effective in reducing relative as well as absolute poverty in all analyzed high-income OECD countries. Philosopher Thomas Pogge
1125-668: A result of graft. If Western banks rejected stolen money, says a report by Global Witness , ordinary people would benefit "in a way that aid flows will never achieve". The report asked for more regulation of banks as they have proved capable of stanching the flow of funds linked to terrorism, money-laundering or tax evasion . Some, like Thomas Pogge , call for a global organization that can manage some form of Global Resources Dividend , which could evolve in complexity with time. Examples of good governance leading to economic development and poverty reduction include Thailand , Taiwan, Malaysia , South Korea, and Vietnam , which tend to have
1250-428: A significant area of discussion with respect to development and economics; however it is often regarded as a topic that only addresses and primarily deals with gender inequality . Because women and men experience poverty differently, they hold dissimilar poverty reduction priorities and are affected differently by development interventions and poverty reduction strategies. In response to the socialized phenomenon known as
1375-635: A social goal in mind, such as micro finance banks, may be able to make a difference. Aid in its simplest form is a basic income grant , a form of social security periodically providing citizens with money. In pilot projects in Namibia , where such a program pays just $ 13 a month, people were able to pay tuition fees, raising the proportion of children going to school by 92%, child malnutrition rates fell from 42% to 10% and economic activity grew 10%. Aid could also be rewarded based on doing certain requirements. Unconditional cash transfer , widely credited as
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#17327721690381500-417: A strong government, called a hard state or development state . These "hard states" have the will and authority to create and maintain policies that lead to long-term development that helps all their citizens, not just the wealthy. Multinational corporations are regulated so that they follow reasonable standards for pay and labor conditions, pay reasonable taxes to help develop the country, and keep some of
1625-452: A successful anti-poverty program, is based on actions such as enrolling children in school or receiving vaccinations . In Mexico, for example, the country with the largest such program, dropout rates of 16- to 19-year-olds in rural area dropped by 20% and children gained half an inch in height. Initial fears that the program would encourage families to stay at home rather than work to collect benefits have proven to be unfounded. Instead, there
1750-449: A way that raise funds which are then given as grants to local charities, primarily ones oriented towards reducing poverty. Toronto Dollars also provide a means to create an incentive for welfare recipients to work: Toronto dollars can be given as gifts to welfare recipients who perform volunteer work for charitable and non-profit organizations, and these gifts do not affect welfare benefits. Some have argued for radical economic change in
1875-529: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . United Nations Development Programme The United Nations Development Programme ( UNDP ) is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human development . The UNDP emphasizes on developing local capacity towards long-term self-sufficiency and prosperity. Based at United Nations Headquarters in New York City, it
2000-452: Is a global forum for South-South policy dialogue and learning, having worked with more than 7,000 officials from more than 50 countries. A 2013 evaluation of the UNDP's poverty reduction efforts states that the UNDP has effectively supported national efforts to reduce poverty, by helping governments make policy changes that benefit the poor. Nevertheless, the same evaluation also states there
2125-424: Is a key element in economically empowering women and fostering economic growth overall for both genders. With legitimate claims to land, women gain bargaining power, which can be applied to their lives outside of and within the household. The ability and opportunity for women to lawfully own land also decreases the asset gap that exists between women and men, which promotes gender equality . Political participation
2250-422: Is a qualitatively significant poverty reduction strategy. Gender equality and women's empowerment are further highlighted by interventions empowering women in the food system (Berretta et al., 2023). According to the study conducted by Bertetta et al. (2023), interventions involving more than one component, including agricultural training and income-generating activities, can improve food security and resilience in
2375-408: Is a set of measures, both economic and humanitarian , that are intended to permanently lift people out of poverty . Measures, like those promoted by Henry George in his economics classic Progress and Poverty , are those that raise, or are intended to raise, ways of enabling the poor to create wealth for themselves as a conduit of ending poverty forever. In modern times, various economists within
2500-602: Is a strong need for better measurement and monitoring of the impacts of the UNDP's work. The UNDP's Strategic Plan from 2014 to 2017 incorporates the recommendations of this poverty evaluation. UNDP works to reduce the risk of armed conflicts or disasters, and promote early recovery after crisis have occurred. UNDP works through its country offices to support local government in needs assessment, capacity development, coordinated planning, and policy and standard setting. Examples of UNDP risk reduction programmes include efforts to control small arms proliferation , strategies to reduce
2625-404: Is a supporter of gathering funds for the poor by using a sort of Global Resources Dividend . A major proportion of aid from donor nations is 'tied', mandating that a receiving nation buy products originating only from the donor country. This can be harmful economically. For example, Eritrea is forced to spend aid money on foreign goods and services to build a network of railways even though it
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#17327721690382750-769: Is appointed by the Secretary-General of the UN and confirmed by the General Assembly for a term of four years. Achim Steiner is the current Administrator. The five countries on the UNDP board have some influence over selection of the administrator. The first administrator of the UNDP was Paul G. Hoffman , former head of the Economic Cooperation Administration which administered the Marshall Plan . Other holders of
2875-483: Is cheaper to use local expertise and resources. Money from the United States to fight AIDS requires it be spent on U.S brand name drugs that can cost up to $ 15,000 a year compared to $ 350 a year for generics from other countries. Only Norway, Denmark, Netherlands and Britain have stopped tying their aid. Some people disagree with aid when looking at where the development aid money from NGOs and other funding
3000-411: Is going. Funding tends to be used in a selective manner where the highest ranked health problem is the only thing treated, rather than funding basic health care development. This can occur due to a foundation's underlying political aspects to their development plan, where the politics outweigh the science of disease. The diseases then treated are ranked by their prevalence, morbidity, risk of mortality, and
3125-509: Is less excuse for neglectful behavior as, for example, children are prevented from begging on the streets instead of going to school because it could result in suspension from the program. Unconditional cash transfer appear to be an effective intervention for reducing poverty, while at the same time improving health and education outcomes. Welfare states have an effect on poverty reduction. Currently modern, expansive welfare states that ensure economic opportunity, independence and security in
3250-518: Is needed for economic growth. Nations do not necessarily need wealth to gain health. For example, Sri Lanka had a maternal mortality rate of 2% in the 1930s, higher than any nation today. It reduced it to 0.5–0.6% in the 1950s and to 0.06% today. However, it was spending less each year on maternal health because it learned what worked and what did not. Knowledge on the cost effectiveness of healthcare interventions can be elusive but educational measures to disseminate what works are available, such as
3375-466: Is only a twenty-fifth as expensive to increase school attendance as by constructing schools. UN economists argue that good infrastructure, such as roads and information networks, helps market reforms to work. China invests in railways, roads, ports and rural telephones in African countries as part of its formula for economic development. It was the technology of the steam engine that originally began
3500-413: Is supported by organizations such as IFAD as one pillar of gender equality and women's empowerment. Sustainable economic growth requires poor people to have influence on the decisions that affect their lives; specifically strengthening women's voices in the political process builds social independence and greater consideration of gender issues in policy. In order to promote women's political empowerment,
3625-534: Is the largest UN development aid agency, with offices in 177 countries. The UNDP is funded entirely by voluntary contributions from UN member states . The UNDP was founded on 22 November 1965 with the merging of the Expanded Programme of Technical Assistance (EPTA) and the Special Fund in 1958. The rationale was to "avoid duplication of [their] activities". The EPTA was set up in 1949 to help
3750-443: Is tied to the importing of products from the donor country over cheaper alternatives. Sometimes foreign aid is seen to be serving the interests of the donor more than the recipient, and critics also argue that some of the foreign aid is stolen by corrupt governments and officials, and that higher aid levels erode the quality of governance. Policy becomes much more oriented toward what will get more aid money than it does towards meeting
3875-498: Is why some experts are now promoting the creation of "quality" and not "quantity" in labour market policies. This approach does highlight how higher productivity has helped reduce poverty in East Asia, but the negative impact is beginning to show. In Vietnam , for example, employment growth has slowed while productivity growth has continued. Furthermore, productivity increases do not always lead to increased wages, as can be seen in
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4000-670: The African Growth and Opportunity Act was directly responsible for a "surprisingly large" increase in imports from Africa. Deals can sometimes be negotiated to favor the developing country such as in China, where laws compel foreign multinationals to train their future Chinese competitors in strategic industries and render themselves redundant in the long term. In Thailand, the 51 per cent rule compels multinational corporations starting operations in Thailand give 51 per cent control to
4125-620: The Equator Prize to recognize outstanding indigenous community efforts to reduce poverty through the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, and thus making local contributions to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Between 1996 and 1998, the UNDP sponsored the deployment of 45 Multifunction Platforms (MFP) in rural Mali . These installations, driven by a diesel engine, power devices such as pumps, grain mills and appliances. By 2004,
4250-618: The Georgism movement propose measures like the land value tax to enhance access to the natural world for all. Poverty occurs in both developing countries and developed countries . While poverty is much more widespread in developing countries, both types of countries undertake poverty reduction measures. Poverty has been historically accepted in some parts of the world as inevitable as non-industrialized economies produced very little, while populations grew almost as fast, making wealth scarce. Geoffrey Parker wrote: "In Antwerp and Lyon, two of
4375-675: The Global Environment Facility (which funded the project) its "entire management fee" as "restitution" and proposed "ongoing efforts to achieve changes in the work culture that reward greater transparency and remove fears of unfair reprisals" aimed at whistleblowers. Concerns over UNDP's failure to handle the Russia controversy in a satisfactory manner led to the government of the Netherlands withholding some 10 million euros in funding in early 2021 . In February 2022,
4500-1077: The Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. The idea is to loan small amounts of money to farmers or villages so these people can obtain the things they need to increase their economic rewards. A small pump costing only $ 50 could make a very big difference in a village without the means of irrigation . A specific example is the Thai government's People's Bank which is making loans of $ 100 to $ 300 to help farmers buy equipment or seeds, help street vendors acquire an inventory to sell, or help others set up small shops. The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) Vietnam country programme supports operations in 11 poor provinces. Between 2002 and 2010 around 1,000 saving and credit groups (SCGs) were formed, with over 17,000 members; these SCGs increased their access to microcredit for taking up small-scale farm activities. The empowerment of women has relatively recently become
4625-525: The Industrial Revolution led to high economic growth, eliminating mass poverty in what is now considered the developed world. World GDP per person quintupled during the 20th century. In 1820, 75% of humanity lived on less than a dollar a day, while in 2001 only about 20% did. In the 21st century, continued economic development is constrained by the lack of economic freedoms . Economic liberalization requires extending property rights to
4750-488: The UNRISD , increasing labour productivity appears to have a negative impact on job creation: in the 1960s, a 1% increase in output per worker was associated with a reduction in employment growth of 0.07%, by the first decade of this century the same productivity increase implies reduced employment growth by 0.54%. Increases in employment without increases in productivity leads to a rise in the number of " working poor ", which
4875-421: The United Nations Development Programme advocated for several efforts: increase women in public office; strengthen advocacy of women's organizations; ensure fair legal protection; and provide equivalent health and education. Fair political representation and participation enable women to lobby for more female-specific poverty reduction policies and programs. Efficient institutions that are not corrupt and obey
5000-824: The World Bank and subsequently became UN Deputy Secretary-General; and Kemal Derviş , a former finance minister of Turkey and senior World Bank official. During meetings of the United Nations Sustainable Development Group , which are chaired by the Administrator, UNDP is represented by the Associate Administrator. The position has been held by Holiang Xu (China) since June 2023. He replaced Usha Rao-Monari (India) Poverty reduction Poverty reduction , poverty relief , or poverty alleviation
5125-684: The World Bank , which gave voluntary debt relief to creditors and on foreign debt for Multilateral and Bilateral debt, which was pushed later in a second phase known as the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative in order to provide debt relief, that helped the IDA , IMF , and to lower-income countries that went through the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries initiative. The process by the IMF to carry out
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5250-525: The World Health Organization job losses for low-skilled workers were 11%, a much higher rate compared to medium and high-skilled workers, and 71% of the lower-income household at least one person in the household was unemployed or had to shut down their business due to the pandemic (61%). Raising farm incomes is described as the core of the antipoverty effort as three-quarters of the poor today are farmers. Estimates show that growth in
5375-620: The chickpea and other legume research in Ethiopia were therefore justified as a means of poverty alleviation. Improving water management is an effective way to help reduce poverty among farmers. With better water management, they can improve productivity and potentially move beyond subsistence-level farming. During the Green Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s, for example, irrigation was a key factor in unlocking Asia's agricultural potential and reducing poverty. Between 1961 and 2002,
5500-413: The feminization of poverty , policies aimed to reduce poverty have begun to address poor women separately from poor men. In addition to engendering poverty and poverty interventions, a correlation between greater gender equality and greater poverty reduction and economic growth has been illustrated by research through the World Bank , suggesting that promoting gender equality through empowerment of women
5625-523: The rule of law make and enforce good laws that provide security to property and businesses. Efficient and fair governments would work to invest in the long-term interests of the nation rather than plunder resources through corruption. Researchers at UC Berkeley developed what they called a "Weberianness scale" which measures aspects of bureaucracies and governments which Max Weber described as most important for rational-legal and efficient government over 100 years ago. Comparative research has found that
5750-467: The $ 2 a day poverty line. For instance, in India most of the chronically poor are wage earners in informal employment as their jobs are insecure and low paid and offer no chance to accumulate wealth to avoid risks. This appears to be the result of a negative relationship between employment creation and increased productivity, when a simultaneous positive increase is required to reduced poverty. According to
5875-445: The 1920s, where people were treated for hookworm and then contracted the disease again once back in the conditions from which they came. To prevent this, money could be spent on teaching citizens of the developing countries health education, basic sanitation, and providing adequate access to prevention methods and medical infrastructure. Not only would NGO money be better spent, but it would be more sustainable. These arguments suggest that
6000-705: The Innovation Facility has fostered innovation labs across all five regions to better deliver and monitor the SDGs . In 2015, the Innovation Facility invested in 62 initiatives across 45 countries to achieve 16 SDGs. Documents of Edward Snowden showed in December 2013 that British and American intelligence agencies surveillance targets with the United States National Security Agency (NSA) included organisations such as
6125-479: The NGO development aid should be used for prevention and determining root causes rather acting upon political endeavours and treating for the sake of saying they helped. Some think tanks and NGOs have argued that Western monetary aid often only serves to increase poverty and social inequality, either because it is conditioned with the implementation of harmful economic policies in the recipient countries, or because it
6250-509: The New Zealand media. In January 2021, this independent report into the matter as requested by the donors was published, ' Systems and Silos '. This independent review found "irregularities" and concluded the project in question was not managed "either efficiently or effectively" by UNDP and that a number of individuals were able to 'game the relatively weak systems of governance and technical capacity.' It suggested UNDP consider returning to
6375-632: The Oslo Governance Centre, and the Singapore-based Global Centre for Public Service Excellence (GCPSE) that issues the "Raffles Review" email newsletter on developments in public administration research. UNDP plays a coordination role in the UN's activities in the field of development. This is mainly executed through its vice-chair role of the UN Development Group and integrator function, within
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#17327721690386500-620: The Secretariat to the Group. The UNDG develops policies and procedures that allow member agencies to work together and analyse country issues, plan support strategies, implement support programmes, monitor results and advocate for change. The Resident Coordinator (RC) system coordinates all organizations of the United Nations system dealing with operational activities for development in the field. The RC system aims to bring together
6625-1148: The Taliban , the UNDP took responsibility for funding most essential health services in the country, including the salaries of over 25,000 health care professionals. This was observed as being outside the organization's usual development activities, and was facilitated by special licencing by the United States government. As the poor are disproportionately affected by environmental degradation and lack of access to clean, affordable water, sanitation, and energy services, UNDP seeks to address environmental issues in order to improve developing countries' abilities to develop sustainably, increase human development and reduce poverty . UNDP's environmental strategy focuses on effective water governance including access to water supply and sanitation , access to sustainable energy services, Sustainable land management to combat desertification and land degradation , conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity , and policies to control emissions of harmful pollutants and ozone-depleting substances. UNDP's Equator Initiative office biennially offers
6750-468: The UN , which reported on whistleblower cases across the UN system, including John O'Brien's case. It reported that O'Brien was fired from UNDP in March 2022 several days after his BBC interview. The documentary was described by The Guardian as exposing "a toxic culture" where senior UN leaders hide " behind a cloak of saintliness ". As of mid-2024, there has been zero accountability for the stealing or for
6875-606: The UN drawing on the support and guidance of the entire UN family. It is now coordinated by the UNDG. The UNDP established the Innovation Facility in 2014, with support from the Government of Denmark , as a dedicated funding mechanism to nurture promising development interventions. The Innovation Facility offers technical assistance and seed funding to collaborators across 170 countries and territories to explore new approaches to complex development challenges. Since its inception,
7000-767: The UNDP GEF Energy Efficiency Standards and Labels project in Russia with a budget of US$ 7.8 million, did not meet its goals and had "strong indicators of deliberate misappropriation" of funds. The Foreign Policy article reported that concerns raised by whistleblowers Dmitry Ershov and John O'Brien and multiple other consultants to the project over many years about irregularities in the programme — which were first reported internally as far back in 2011— were largely dismissed or ignored for several years by their superiors in Istanbul, New York, and Washington, as well as by donor governments, including
7125-675: The UNDP. In 2022, UNDP's budget was US$ 6,737.92 million. The following table lists the top 15 DAC 5 Digit Sectors to which UNDP has committed funding, as recorded in its International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) publications. The UNDP claims on the IATI Registry website that the data covers 100% of development flows. UNDP topped the Aid Transparency Index published by Publish What You Fund in 2015 and 2016, with an excellent score of 93.3%. UNDP links and coordinates global and national efforts to achieve
7250-761: The UNEG has 43 members and 3 observers. The UNDP runs six Global Policy Centres, including the Seoul Policy Centre (USPC) on partnerships, the Nairobi Global Policy Centre on Resilient Ecosystems and Desertification (GPC-Nairobi), the Singapore-based Global Centre for Technology, Innovation and Sustainable Development (GC-TISD), the Istanbul International Centre for Private Sector in Development (IICPSD),
7375-736: The US proposing and creating the International Development Association within the World Bank's umbrella, the EPTA and the Special Fund appeared to be conducting similar work. In 1962, the United Nations Economic and Social Council asked the Secretary-General to consider the merits and disadvantages of merging UN technical assistance programmes and in 1966, the EPTA and the Special Fund merged to form
7500-414: The US, where the gap between productivity and wages has been rising since the 1980s. The ODI study showed that other sectors were just as important in reducing unemployment, as manufacturing . The services sector is most effective at translating productivity growth into employment growth. Agriculture provides a safety net for jobs and economic buffer when other sectors are struggling. This study suggests
7625-751: The United Nations Development Programme, the UN's children's charity UNICEF and Médecins Sans Frontières and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). In August 2016, Israel's Shin Bet security agency publicized the arrest of Wahid Abdallah al Bursh, a Palestinian engineer employed by the UNDP, stating he had confessed to being recruited in 2014 to help Hamas , the dominant Islamist group in Gaza. Among "various assignments" Bursh performed on behalf of Hamas
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#17327721690387750-546: The United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women as a global strategy for promoting gender equality; the UN conference emphasized the necessity to ensure that gender equality is a primary goal in all areas of social and economic development, which includes the discussion of poverty and its reduction. Correspondingly, the World Bank also created objectives to address poverty with respect to the different effects on women. One important goal
7875-573: The United States for irregularities in its finances in North Korea. Artjon Shkurtaj claimed that he had found counterfeit US dollars in the programmes' safe despite staff being paid in euros. The UNDP denied keeping improper accounts and any other wrongdoing. In mid-2006, as first reported by Inner City Press and then by New Vision , UNDP halted its disarmament programmes in the Karamoja region of Uganda in response to human rights abuses in
8000-422: The United States. The Foreign Policy article reported that a 2017 confidential audit appendix prepared by final evaluators found "strong indicators of deliberate misappropriation" of millions of dollars in funds from the project between 2010 and 2014. This led in March 2020 to 12 donor governments writing a letter to UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner demanding from UNDP an independent review of UNDP's handling of
8125-510: The World Bank have predicted at least a billion people would be in extreme poverty, from the war aftermath in Ukraine. Some suggestions that were made were based on countries having the stability to stable access limits, addressing debt risks early, and aligning financial goals with sustainable development goals. One of the most popular of the new technical tools for economic development and poverty reduction are microloans made famous in 1976 by
8250-417: The agricultural productivity of small farmers is, on average, at least twice as effective in benefiting the poorest half of a country's population as growth generated in non-agricultural sectors. For example, a 2012 study suggested that new varieties of chickpea could benefit Ethiopian farmers in future. The study assessed the potential economic and poverty impact of 11 improved chickpea varieties, released by
8375-418: The aid is used. Immunization campaigns for children, such as against polio , diphtheria and measles have saved millions of lives. Aid from non-governmental organizations may be more effective than governmental aid; this may be because it is better at reaching the poor and better controlled at the grassroots level. As a point of comparison, the annual world military spending is over $ 1 trillion. One of
8500-552: The annual Human Development Index . The Gender Inequality Index is one such topic discussed in the Human Development Report. The UNDP spends about 0.2% of its budget on internal evaluation of the effectiveness of its programmes. The UNDP's Evaluation Office is a member of the UN Evaluation Group (UNEG) which brings together all the units responsible for evaluation in the UN system. Currently
8625-410: The bottom of the economic ladder. And they say that the gains of the world's billionaires in 2017, which amounted to $ 762 billion, were enough to end extreme global poverty seven times over. Long run economic growth per person is achieved through increases in capital (factors that increase productivity), both human and physical, and technology. Improving human capital , in the form of health,
8750-618: The broader the Resident Coordinator System. The United Nations Development Group (UNDG) was created by the Secretary-General in 1997, to improve the effectiveness of UN development at the country level. The UNDG brings together the operational agencies working on development. The Group is chaired by the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, with the Administrator of UNDP serving as vice-chair. UN Development Coordination Office (DCO) provides
8875-414: The corruption problems at UNDP and the failure to protect whistleblowers remain, and have not been fixed. The Guardian Newspaper article reveals very similar themes of widespread kickbacks and corruption, staff who are scared to report wrongdoing, and almost no protection for whistleblowers who are scared to come forward in case they are retaliated against and/or lose their jobs. The UNDP Administrator has
9000-614: The cover up of corruption among senior officials at UNDP. The only two persons at UNDP who lost their job after years and years of alleged UNDP corruption and cover up were the two whistleblowers. In on 22 January 2024, the Guardian Newspaper reported here that the US$ 1.88 billion funding facility for stabilization was riddled with corruption. The Guardian discovered that there had been some 136 corruption allegation cases to its Office of Audit and Investigations (OAI) in relation to
9125-414: The creation of decent employment opportunities and movement of women from the informal work sector to the formal labor market are key to poverty reduction. Other ways to encourage female participation in the workforce to promote decline of poverty include providing childcare services, increasing educational quality and opportunities, and furthering entrepreneurship for women. Protection of property rights
9250-405: The different UN agencies to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of operational activities at the country level. Resident Coordinators lead UN country teams in more than 130 countries and are the designated representatives of the Secretary-General for development operations. Working closely with national governments, Resident Coordinators and country teams to advocate the interests and mandates of
9375-474: The disease control priorities project. [1] Promoting hand washing is one of the most cost effective health intervention and can cut deaths from the major childhood diseases of diarrhea and pneumonia by half. Human capital, in the form of education, is an even more important determinant of economic growth than physical capital. Deworming children costs about 50 cents per child per year and reduces non-attendance from anemia , illness and malnutrition and
9500-466: The dramatic decreases in poverty levels. Cell phone technology brings the market to poor or rural sections. With necessary information, remote farmers can produce specific crops to sell to the buyers that brings the best price. Such technology also helps bring economic freedom by making financial services accessible to the poor. Those in poverty place overwhelming importance on having a safe place to save money, much more so than receiving loans. Also,
9625-409: The driving force behind rising inequality in the United States has been a series of deliberate neoliberal policy choices, including anti- inflationary bias, anti- unionism and profiteering in the healthcare industry . The economists David Howell and Mamadou Diallo contend that neoliberal policies have contributed to a United States economy in which 30% of workers earn low wages (less than two-thirds
9750-568: The economic and political aspects of underdeveloped countries while the Special Fund was to enlarge the scope of UN technical assistance. The Special Fund arose from the idea of a Special United Nations Fund for Economic Development (SUNFED) (which was initially called the United Nations Fund for Economic Development (UNFED). Countries such as the Nordic countries were proponents of such a United Nations (UN) controlled fund. However,
9875-452: The economic expansion of fast growing Asian nations . However, trade rules are often unfair as they block access to richer nations' markets and ban poorer nations from supporting their industries. Processed products from poorer nations, in contrast to raw materials , get vastly higher tariffs at richer nations' ports. A University of Toronto study found the dropping of duty charges on thousands of products from African nations because of
10000-452: The empowerment of women with the specific aim of reducing poverty. Encouraging more economic and political participation by women increases financial independence from and social investment in the government, both of which are critical to pulling society out of poverty. Women's economic empowerment , or ensuring that women and men have equal opportunities to generate and manage income, is an important step to enhancing their development within
10125-608: The energy efficiency standards and labels project in Russia, as reported again in Foreign Policy magazine in December 2020 where it was revealed that these donors had blasted UNDP for resisting appeals to fight corruption and further reports by the Financial Times about the 'systemic nature' of the problems and also reports by various other media outlets such as Climate Change News , Passblue and in Newsroom in
10250-930: The environment. One project its scientists worked on demonstrates the impact that improving water management in agriculture can have. The study, funded by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, initially upgraded and irrigated the irrigation system on the Walawe Left Bank, Sri Lanka, in 1997. In 2005, irrigation was extended to a further area. An analysis of the whole area was carried out in 2007 and 2008. This study found that access to irrigation provided families with opportunities to diversify their livelihood activities and potentially increase their incomes. For example, people with land could reliably grow rice or vegetables instead of working as labourers or relying on rainfall to water their crops. Those without land could benefit by working within new inland fisheries. Within
10375-582: The feasibility of control. Through this ranking system, the disease that cause the most mortality and are most easily treated are given the funding. The argument occurs because once these people are treated, they are sent back to the conditions that led to the disease in the first place. By doing this, money and resources from aid can be wasted when people are re-infected. This was seen in the Rockefeller Foundation's Hookworm campaign in Mexico in
10500-506: The first systems where a network of agents of mostly shopkeepers, instead of bank branches, would take deposits in cash and translate these onto a virtual account on customers' phones. Cash transfers can be done between phones and issued back in cash with a small commission, making remittances safer. However, several academic studies have shown that mobile phones have only limited effect on poverty reduction when not accompanied by other basic infrastructure development. Economic growth has
10625-547: The fund was opposed by other developed countries, especially by the United States, which were wary of the Third World dominating such funding and preferred it to be under the auspices of the World Bank . The concept of SUNFED was dropped to form the Special Fund. This Special Fund was a compromise over the SUNFED concept: it did not provide investment capital but only helped to bring pre-conditions for private investment. With
10750-440: The global labor productivity between 200-2007 to 2011–2019 with a difference of 0.9 per cent productivity decrease has a similar rate which is seen between the years 2019 to 2021 and slowly declining since 2010. The International Labour Organization has estimated that global unemployment was increased to 33 million in the year 2020 which was four times higher than the global financial crisis that happened in 2009. According to
10875-676: The goals and national development priorities laid out by host countries. UNDP focuses primarily on five developmental challenges: UNDP supports national democratic transitions by providing policy advice and technical support, improving institutional and individual capacity within countries, educating populations about and advocating for democratic reforms, promoting negotiation and dialogue, and sharing successful experiences from other countries and locations. UNDP helps countries develop strategies to combat poverty by expanding access to economic opportunities and resources, linking poverty programmes with countries' larger goals and policies, and ensuring
11000-545: The hole". If poor countries do not have to spend so much on debt payments, they can use the money instead for priorities which help reduce poverty such as basic health-care and education. Many nations began offering services, such as free health care even while overwhelming the health care infrastructure, because of savings that resulted from the rounds of debt relief in 2005. In 1996 the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative by
11125-457: The household and in society. Additionally, women play an important economic role in addressing poverty experienced by children. By increasing female participation in the labor force , women are able to contribute more effectively to economic growth and income distribution since having a source of income elevates their financial and social status. However, women's entry into the paid labor force does not necessarily equate to reduction of poverty;
11250-445: The impact of natural disasters, and programmes to encourage use of diplomacy and prevent violence. Recovery programmes include disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of ex-combatants, demining efforts, programmes to reintegrate displaced persons, restoration of basic services, and transitional justice systems for countries recovering from warfare. Following the suspension of most foreign aid to Afghanistan due to its takeover by
11375-425: The independent review on the failure by UNDP to carry out John O'Brien's whistleblower case in a satisfactory manner. According to the 2019 Foreign Policy article, Ershov claimed he was "pushed out of his U.N. job" after raising concerns about procurement irregularities and project conflicts of interest way back at the end of 2014. In June 2022, BBC Two broadcast a 90-minute documentary, The Whistleblowers: Inside
11500-582: The indirect potential to alleviate poverty, as a result of simultaneous increases in employment opportunities and labour productivity . A study by researchers at the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) of 24 countries that experienced growth found that in 18 cases, poverty was alleviated. However, employment is no guarantee of escaping poverty. The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates that as many as 40% of workers are poor, not earning enough to keep their families above
11625-604: The initiative could be broken down into two steps, the first would be meeting four criteria including a track record and the second encompasses three criteria which include implementing and adopting key reforms, such as the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper . The UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed reflects debt relief for Developing Countries which showed that between 2019 and 2021, debt from governments has risen from 58 to 65 per cent in GDP , and
11750-458: The irrigated area almost doubled, as governments sought to achieve food security, improve public welfare and generate economic growth. In South Asia, cereal production rose by 137% from 1970 to 2007. This was achieved with only 3% more land. The International Water Management Institute in Colombo , Sri Lanka, aims to improve the management of land and water resources for food, livelihoods and
11875-433: The largest cities in western Europe, by 1600 three-quarters of the total population were too poor to pay taxes, and therefore likely to need relief in times of crisis." Poverty reduction occurs largely as a result of overall economic growth. Food shortages were common before modern agricultural technology and in places that lack them today, such as nitrogen fertilizers , pesticides and irrigation methods. The dawn of
12000-589: The leaders of three leading NGOs in the fight against corruption, Transparency International , the Whistleblower International Network or WIN , and the Government Accountability Project wrote a public letter to UNDP's administrator Achim Steiner , expressing their serious concerns about the lack of whistleblower protection for John O'Brien and Dmitry Ershov by UNDP and highlighting the conclusion of
12125-576: The living conditions of people who are already poor. Aid, particularly in the medical and scientific areas, is essential in providing better lives, such as the Green Revolution and the eradication of smallpox . Problems with development aid include the high proportion of tied aid , which mandates receiving nations to buy products, often more expensive, originating only from donor countries. Nevertheless, some like Peter Singer in his book The Life You Can Save believe that small changes in
12250-616: The long run. The significance of inclusive policies that address social norms and guarantee these outcomes highlight equitable allocation of resources. Addressing gender equality and empowering women are necessary steps in overcoming poverty and furthering development as supported by the human development and capabilities approach and the Millennium Development Goals . Disparities in the areas of education, mortality rates , health and other social and economic indicators impose large costs on well-being and health of
12375-498: The means and efficiency to carry out development policies today. On the other hand, strong states are not always the form of political organization most conducive to economic development. Other historical factors, especially the experiences of colonialism for each country, have intervened to make a strong state and/or good governance less likely for some countries, especially in Africa. Another important factor that has been found to affect
12500-434: The median wage for full-time workers) and 35% of the labor force is underemployed while only 40% of the working-age population in the country is adequately employed. Oxfam , among others, has called for an international movement to end extreme wealth concentration arguing that the concentration of resources in the hands of the top 1% depresses economic activity and makes life harder for everyone else—particularly those at
12625-541: The most suitable finance solutions to achieve national biodiversity targets. UNDP works to help countries prevent further spreading of and reduce the impact of HIV/AIDS , convening The Global Commission on HIV and the Law which was reported in 2012. Major programmes underway are: Since 1991, the UNDP has annually published the Human Development Report , which includes topics on Human Development and
12750-688: The national agricultural research organization of Ethiopia in collaboration with the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT). The researchers estimated that using the varieties would bring about a total benefit of US$ 111 million for 30 years with consumers receiving 39% of the benefit and producers 61%. They expected the generated benefit would lift more than 0.7 million people (both producers and consumers) out of poverty. The authors concluded that further investments in
12875-486: The needs of the people. Problems with the aid system and not aid itself are that the aid is excessively directed towards the salaries of consultants from donor countries, the aid is not spread properly, neglecting vital, less publicized area such as agriculture, and the aid is not properly coordinated among donors, leading to a plethora of disconnected projects rather than unified strategies. Supporters of aid argue that these problems may be solved with better auditing of how
13000-612: The number of MFPs in Mali reached 500. In 2012 the Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN) was established. BIOFIN brings 30 countries together to develop and implement evidence-based finance plans to safeguard biodiversity. BIOFIN has developed an innovative and adaptable methodology to guide countries to analyze the policy and institutional context for biodiversity finance; measure the current biodiversity expenditures; assess future financial needs, and identify
13125-564: The parallel forcible disarmament programmes carried out by the Uganda People's Defence Force . In 2019, reports alleging possible misappropriation of funds for UNDP projects in Russia began to appear in the mainstream media. An article called "Greed and Graft at U.N. Climate Program" in August 2019 in Foreign Policy reported the findings of a 2017 final evaluation that a UNDP Global Environment Facility greenhouse gas reduction project,
13250-422: The poor is one of the most important poverty reduction strategies a nation can implement. Securing property rights to land, the largest asset for most societies, is vital to their economic freedom. The World Bank concludes that increasing land rights is 'the key to reducing poverty' citing that land rights greatly increase poor people's wealth, in some cases doubling it. It is estimated that state recognition of
13375-428: The poor, especially to land . Financial services , notably savings , can be made accessible to the poor through technology, such as mobile banking . Inefficient institutions, corruption, and political instability can also discourage investment. Aid and government support in health, education, and infrastructure helps growth by increasing human and physical capital . Poverty alleviation also involves improving
13500-753: The poor, which diminishes productivity and the potential to reduce poverty. The limited opportunities of women in most societies restrict their aptitude to improve economic conditions and access services to enhance their well-being. Across the board, a number of industries are stratified across the genders. This is the result of a variety of factors. These include differences in education choices, preferred job and industry, work experience, number of hours worked, and breaks in employment (such as for bearing and raising children). Men also typically go into higher paid and higher risk jobs when compared to women. These factors result in 60% to 75% difference between men's and women's average aggregate wages or salaries , depending on
13625-448: The position have included: Bradford Morse , a former Republican congressman from the U.S. state of Massachusetts; William Draper , an American venture capitalist and friend of George H. W. Bush who saw one of the UN system's major achievements, the Human Development Report , introduced during his tenure; Mark Malloch Brown of the UK, who was previously Vice President of External Affairs at
13750-499: The profits in the country, reinvesting them to provide further development. The United Nations Development Program published a report in April 2000 which focused on good governance in poor countries as a key to economic development and overcoming the selfish interests of wealthy elites often behind state actions in developing nations. The report concludes that "Without good governance , reliance on trickle-down economic development and
13875-913: The project's control area, 57% of households were below the poverty line in 2002 compared with 43% in 2007. Making employment opportunities available is just as important as increasing income and access to basic needs. Poverty activist Paul Polak has based his career around doing both at once, creating companies that employ the poor while creating "radically" affordable goods. In his book Out of Poverty he argues that traditional poverty eradication strategies have been misguided and fail to address underlying problems. He lists "Three Great Poverty Eradication Myths": that we can donate people out of poverty, that national economic growth will end poverty, and that Big Business, operating as it does now, will end poverty. Economic models which lead to national growth and more big business will not necessarily lead to more opportunities for self-sufficiency. However, businesses designed with
14000-435: The property of the poor would give them assets worth 40 times all the foreign aid since 1945. Although approaches varied, the World Bank said the key issues were security of tenure and ensuring land transactions were low cost. In China and India, noted reductions in poverty in recent decades have occurred mostly as a result of the abandonment of collective farming in China and the cutting of government red tape in India. In
14125-431: The proposed ways to help poor countries that emerged during the 1980s has been debt relief . Given that many less developed nations have gotten themselves into extensive debt to banks and governments from the rich nations, and given that the interest payments on these debts are often more than a country can generate per year in profits from exports, cancelling part or all of these debts may allow poor nations "to get out of
14250-406: The quality of institutions and governance was the pattern of colonization (how it took place) and even the identity of colonizing power. International agencies may be able to promote good governance through various policies of intervention in developing nations as indicated in a few African countries, but comparative analysis suggests it may be much more difficult to achieve in most poor nations around
14375-591: The rank of an Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations . While the Administrator is often referred to as the third highest-ranking official in the UN (after the Secretary-General and Deputy Secretary-General ), this has never been formally codified. In addition to his/her responsibilities as head of UNDP, the Administrator is also the vice-chair of the UN Sustainable Development Group . The position of Administrator
14500-571: The reconstruction programme – the majority of which were against suppliers rather than employees. Then on 5 February 2024, the Guardian Newspaper reported here that UNDP had commissioned an internal management review of the Iraq corruption problems. It also reported that several donors had requested an independent review which exactly is what happened in the case of the UNDP GEF Russia corruption scandal. The Guardian articles clearly show that
14625-649: The results of inefficient institutions, corruption, the weak rule of law and excessive bureaucratic burdens. It takes two days, two bureaucratic procedures, and $ 280 to open a business in Canada while an entrepreneur in Bolivia must pay $ 2,696 in fees, wait 82 business days, and go through 20 procedures to do the same. Such costly barriers favor big firms at the expense of small enterprises where most jobs are created. In India before economic reforms, businesses had to bribe government officials even for routine activities, which
14750-476: The scale is correlated with higher rates of economic development. With their related concept of good governance World Bank researchers have found much the same: Data from 150 nations have shown several measures of good governance (such as accountability , effectiveness, rule of law, low corruption ) to be related to higher rates of economic development. Funds from aid and natural resources are often diverted into private hands and then sent to banks overseas as
14875-484: The source. Various explanations for the remaining 25% to 40% have been suggested, including women's lower willingness and ability to negotiate salary and sexual discrimination . According to the European Commission direct discrimination only explains a small part of gender wage differences. Gender mainstreaming , the concept of placing gender issues into the mainstream of society, was established by
15000-495: The system. There are several fundamental proposals for restructuring existing economic relations, and many of their supporters argue that their ideas would reduce or even eliminate poverty entirely if they were implemented. Such proposals have been put forward by both left-wing and right-wing groups: socialism, communism, anarchism , libertarianism , binary economics and participatory economics , among others. Inequality can be reduced by progressive tax . In law, there has been
15125-436: The ways people in affluent nations live their lives could solve world poverty. Proponents of economic liberalization have argued that it reduces poverty. Other commentators have claimed that, due to economic liberalization, poverty in the world is rising rather than declining, and the data provided by the World Bank, echoing that poverty is decreasing, is flawed. They also argue that extending property rights protection to
15250-446: The world. Another approach that has been proposed for alleviating poverty is Fair Trade which advocates the payment of an above market price as well as social and environmental standards in areas related to the production of goods. The efficacy of this approach to poverty reduction is controversial. The Toronto Dollar is an example of a local currency oriented towards reducing poverty. Toronto Dollars are sold and redeemed in such
15375-468: Was "using UNDP resources" to build a maritime jetty for its fighters; no further details were provided on this claim. Shin Bet also claimed Bursh had persuaded his UNDP superiors to prioritize neighbourhoods with Hamas operatives when earmarking reconstruction funds for Gaza, which was devastated by the 2014 war with Israel . The UNDP had been criticised by members of its staff and the Bush administration of
15500-804: Was in effect a tax on business. However, the free market principle of ending government sponsorship of social programs has also had negative consequences. For example, the World Bank presses poor nations to eliminate subsidies for fertilizer that many farmers cannot afford at market prices. The reconfiguration of public financing in former Soviet states during their transition to a market economy called for reduced spending on health and education, sharply increasing poverty. Trade liberalization increases total surplus of trading nations. Remittances sent to poor countries, such as India, are sometimes larger than foreign direct investment and total remittances are more than double aid flows from OECD countries. Foreign investment and export industries helped fuel
15625-540: Was the revision of laws and administrative practices to ensure women's equal rights and access to economic resources. Mainstreaming strengthens women's active involvement in poverty alleviation by linking women's capabilities and contributions with macro-economic issues. The underlying purpose of both the UN and World Bank policies speaks to the use of discussion of gender issues in the promotion of gender equality and reduction of poverty. Several platforms have been adopted and reiterated across many organizations in support of
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