UNDP-USA

UNDP-USA

United States Committee for the United Nations Development Program

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UNDP-USA

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) works to build local expertise and solutions to promote economic growth in 166 countries across the globe. It is the only agency within the UN system explicitly dedicated to combating poverty and promoting governments that are responsive to citizen needs.

UNDP focuses its efforts on eradicating poverty, promoting democratic governance, crisis prevention and recovery, supporting innovative energy and environmental programs, advancing human rights, and empowering women. UNDP is the UN agency directly responsible for tracking progress toward the Millennium Development Goals – a set of targets pledged by leaders of 189 nations, which aim to cut poverty in half by 2015.

Because of the global presence of UNDP, the head of the UNDP country office is often the highest ranking UN official in a developing nation. This enables UNDP to coordinate UN efforts to support long term development initiatives that serve the needs of local populations. Such coordination of the many UN actors helps to reduce overlap and ensure gaps are filled where need exists.

The U.S. Committee for UNDP (UNDP-USA) is a non-profit organization that supports the work of UNDP in the United States. UNDP-USA seeks to reach out to U.S.-based corporations to encourage them to create sustainable, business-oriented solutions to challenges of poverty. UNDP-USA also seeks to encourage a more robust discussion about the value of the United Nations to promote U.S. goals and interests, particularly in international poverty reduction.

In the past, UNDP-USA has supported UNDP projects around the world by mobilizing private resources for:

Developing the micro-enterprise sector in war ravaged Angola

Supporting Pakistan’s achievement of the Millennium Development Goals

Providing tools and training to government officials in the Republic of Georgia to allow them to be more responsive to the needs of the poor in their own country

Rebuilding homes destroyed by flooding in the Dominican Republic

In 2008, UNDP-USA will be:

Raising awareness about the issues of climate change and its impact on worldwide poverty reduction, in line with UNDP’s 2008 Human Development Report on climate change

Engaging business and policy makers in the U.S. in discussions on how the private sector can bring their unique expertise to the challenges of poverty

Funding scholarships to offer Somali women the opportunity to attend college for journalism and other courses that will help to lay foundations for Somalia to develop a transparent and accountable government

UNDP-USA Executive Director Visits Somalia

Elizabeth Latham, UNDP-USA Executive Director, recently returned from a visit to Somalia to see some of the work that UNDP is engaged in.

"I was amazed and impressed with the hopefulness of the people that I met during my stay in Somalia. Somalia is a conservative Muslim nation and I was impressed to see that in some areas women are being empowered, thanks to investments in education. For example, the women in this photo rose to the top of their class and, despite many obstacles, decided to join the first ever female police unit."

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