United Nations Development Programme

UNDP is the leading United Nations organization working to end poverty, address and prevent crises, and protect the planet we share. With our broad network in 170 countries and territories, UNDP helps people, communities, and governments build integrated, lasting solutions for people and planet. The United States has been a vital partner since UNDP’s creation in 1966. US membership on our Executive Board ensures that no UNDP program goes forward without US approval. UNDP's work helps build peaceful, stable societies and trade partners, which advances US foreign policy, national security, and economic interests. UNDP also contributes directly to the US economy: From 2012-2023, UNDP procured nearly $1.534 billion in goods and services from all 50 US states and the District of Columbia, supporting US jobs and businesses across the country. UNDP also maintains partnerships with the private sector globally, which benefits from UNDP's convening power, understanding of development issues and local contexts, and expertise across a wide range of sectors. The US Government has contributed roughly $80 million per year since 2012 to UNDP’s flexible, "core" operating budget: This voluntary contribution, in addition to US funding for programs of unique and specific importance to the United States, underpins our flexibility and capacity to respond to crises and deliver roughly $5 billion in programming globally every year. From 2010-2023, on average, non-core US funding has totaled approximately $270 million. Total non-core funding for 2024 is estimated at $83 million. Over the last five years, the largest non-core contributions went to Iraq, the Crisis Bureau, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Yemen. Overall, 50 percent of UNDP expenditures go to 60 fragile contexts. As the agency with the most on-the-ground presence, UNDP helps the entire UN system to deliver assistance more effectively, efficiently, and transparently. And because voluntary contributions to UNDP "core" resources often serve as seed money to mobilize additional funds—$1 in US core leverages an additional $7 from others—the aggregate impact of $83.05 million annually from the United States is closer to $600 million. Transparent, efficient, accountable At the vanguard of UN reform, UNDP launched a major restructuring in 2014 that cut costs and moved 20 percent of headquarters jobs to the field—and UNDP’s award-winning business teams continue to streamline operations to maximize transparency, accountability, and efficiency. In 2023, 92 cents of every dollar spent went directly to programmes and services, exceeding our 91 percent target. UNDP maintains the highest standards of transparency and oversight, evidenced by 19 consecutive years of clean, "unqualified" audits and "very good" ranking—the highest category—on the 2024 Aid Transparency Index. UNDP is also consistently ranked among top organizations globally in value for money, including in areas such as justice, security, democratic governance, and anti-corruption, according to the independent nonprofit AidData. UNDP’s broad portfolio includes fighting corruption, preventing and countering violent extremism, responding to complex crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, conflicts, and natural disasters around the world, removing landmines, providing safe water and sanitation, conserving wildlife and halting the traffic in endangered species, supporting democracy, elections, and rule of law, addressing the climate crisis, and helping create jobs and livelihoods that allow people to pull themselves out of poverty. Flexible core funding helps meet broad, complex needs While core funding accounts for only a small part of UNDP’s total budget, it supports vital research and strategic planning and provides flexibility to address emergencies. It helps attract private sector investment, jump-starts activities with seed money, addresses long-running crises, and finances conflict and crisis prevention. Core funding fills gaps when emergency appeals fall short and helps UNDP operate with maximum transparency, oversight, and accountability. US contributions allow UNDP to maintain a coherent in-country presence before, during, and after crises, coordinating UN development and humanitarian work on the ground—and responding quickly to emergencies. In recent years, UNDP has helped provide clean water and sanitation, basic services, and jobs to Syrian, Afghan, and Iraqi refugees, for example, and to the often impoverished, overcrowded communities that host them. In addition to its concrete, cutting-edge work to address the COVID-19 pandemic and conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza, and elsewhere, UNDP has played a critical role in responding to conflicts and complex crises in Afghanistan, Haiti, Yemen, Syria, Iraq, and elsewhere. UNDP brings state-of-the-art, cost-effective solutions to tackle some of the world’s biggest challenges. These include leveraging digital technology to ensure free and fair elections, installing solar panels to keep life-saving health services running when electrical grids are destroyed, and using drones, data, and satellite imagery to monitor and mitigate droughts, storms, and humanitarian emergencies.