UNDP is the UN’s development agency with a broad-based mandate, which works with governments and other partners around the world, including in 36 countries in Asia and the Pacific, and has been doing so for over fifty years. Singapore is a great example of what we do in the region. In 1961, UNDP, which was known as the UN Expanded Programme for Technical Assistance, worked with the government to prepare a report on employment and housing that became part of the country’s first modern urban plan. It helped Singapore become the contemporary city state we know today. This type of big-picture development contribution that translates into policy and pragmatic action to advance progress, remains our core mission.

The challenges we’re addressing, and the solutions to them, have evolved since then. Today, employment and housing are complex and multidimensional issues interconnected with the effects of climate change, people’s displacement, the ascent of artificial intelligence and growing income, social and gender gaps. These 21^st-century interrelated threats and opportunities require similarly interconnected public policy, new institutions and investments.

Integrated policy making and financing choices were a common thread through hundreds of posts in the internal digital #UNDP4AsiaPacific Conversation we just held. Over six hundred UNDP colleagues participated, and shared their ideas, insights and practical experiences that will help shape our 2020 priorities in the 36 countries we serve in Asia and the Pacific, framed by our larger corporate vision. UNDP’s Strategic Plan is up for mid-term review in 2020, so this is also an opportune moment to bring this feedback into that process as well.

The Conversation showed that trusted, well-functioning public institutions remain central to delivering the structural changes needed for a more sustainable development. This is particularly relevant to transform economies highly dependent on burning fossil fuels to produce and grow. Colleagues presented options being tested in countries that switch to greener and bluer development pathways, without diminishing growth. They spoke of effective growth policy alternatives, but also governance systems that cut across sectors and silos and are not captured by private interests. As UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner said, “We urgently need to re-imagine, re-invent and reinvigorate the institutions of governance.”

It was clear throughout the #UNDP4AsiaPacific Conversation that we are called on to play a significant role in this space of transforming economic and social policy, climate and environmental strategy and governance institutions. A region beset by climatic, population and demographic challenges, and at the same time has the vigor of social movements, the energy of youth driving new jobs, relevant education and new technology, needs this new thinking and actions.

We have supported electoral processes in Afghanistan, Solomon Islands, Timor Leste and many other countries. We have provided support to women in parliament in Bhutan and helped increase the number of women judges in the Maldives. We’ve introduced phones against corruption in Papua New Guinea, supported public procurement reform  and promotion of business transparency efforts in Thailand. With OHCHR and other partners, we’ve supported a dozen Human Rights Commissions across the region. We promote responsible social media reporting in Cambodia, Nepal and elsewhere. We incubated the successful Access to Information initiatives in India and Bangladesh which are now nationwide initiatives, and also shared with other countries. Multiple stories came through on building, strengthening and modernizing public sector and independent institutions across sectors, locations and time.

This investment in good policy, capable systems and community trust-building propels our UNDP ‘next generation’ efforts to move forward the SDGs in Asia and the Pacific. And we do so with our partners. We have grouped the content we gathered from through the #UNDP4AsiaPacific Conversation under five themes, which emerge from the first two years of delivering UNDP’s 2018-2021 Strategic Plan. These provide the reader with a glimpse into what we are doing, will learn from, try new applications and take the tested to scale, this year.

• Planning and delivering on Green and Blue Economy transformations that benefit all.  In partnership with 14 governments, the GEF,  Forum Fisheries Agency, and others, we have helped transform the tuna fisheries sector in the Pacific. The participating 14 Pacific Islands are expected – for the first time ever – to have caught more fish last year in their waters than foreign fleets net. It increased the GDP by $500 million, created 10,000 jobs, and has ensured that all four tuna species are fished sustainably. We’re applying the same big picture thinking to our contributions on circular economy in Indonesia, Philippines, India and the Maldives.
  
  
• Preventing economic and social exclusion resulting from new inequalities, particularly around gender, technology and education. We’ve helped the government of Pakistan adopt the multi-dimensional poverty index (MPI) as an official poverty measure used to design policies and budgets. We are advocating against discrimination through the ‘Being LGBTI’ regional initiative. A few of our offices, including Sri Lanka, are preparing National Human Development Reports on inequality-related topics. We’re clearing unexploded ordinances which kill and maim innocent civilians in Lao PDR and Cambodia. We’re focused on gender inequality, people living with disabilities, indigenous communities, HIV/AIDS communities, and other vulnerable groups. Addressing inequalities is front and center of our work.
  
  
• Promoting innovation, and safeguarding tolerance in the growing digital space. Last year we launched in Viet Nam the “Dengue Model Forecasting Satellite-based System,” which can forecast dengue outbreaks based on analyzing the availability of mosquito breeding sites. Developed in partnership with several bilateral research institutions and WHO, it gives authorities in seven ASEAN countries time to minimize the effects of this dangerous disease; such learning could be possibly used for other epidemics as well. Blockchain technology is transforming the supply chain for cashmere products in Mongolia. We currently support implementation of e-government services which enable citizens to provide immediate and direct feedback to authorities throughout the region, including in Cook Islands, Niue, Samoa and Tokelau. Helping poorer communities and institutions keep abreast of the digital revolution to advance their goals is an underlying driver for 2020.
  
  
• Accelerating environmental and climate action and building climate resilient communities. We will continue to be a leader on accelerated climate action in the region, with a US$ 100 million portfolio of strategic initiatives, partnering with GEF, GCF, UN Environment and others. We’re working on a “Climate Promise” to support 100 countries get their nationally-determined contributions (NDCs) done. We’re supporting the Clean Air Program in India, revitalization of Lake Urmia in Iran and rehabilitation of 8,500 hectares of wetlands in Sri Lanka. We’re helping Yeti Airlines in Nepal become a carbon neutral air carrier. Climate action and nature-based solutions are integrated throughout our programmes, and this is key.

• Anticipating and addressing the governance challenges of the future. We’ve come full circle back to governance. To anticipate the future governance challenges, we’ve been using better forecasting methods. New instruments, such as sensemaking and studio methodologies, are ready for sharing with our national and sub-national partners. It speaks to that more integrated approaches demanded by the SDGs, and the UN systemwide integrator function entrusted to UNDP that brings these many-dimensional approaches and solutions together. The areas of governance for a more peaceful and prosperous development continues to be a mainstay of UNDP’s 2020 offer in the region.

While we have an excellent team, we couldn’t do this alone. The centrality of partnerships was repeated many times in the Conversation. We work with governments, UN system, donors, NGOs and civil society partners. Building on these core partnerships, we are also expanding our reach with independent institutions and the private sector. UNDP established the Global Centre for Disaster Statistics together with Fujitsu Corporation and Tohoku University, and it supports disaster preparedness in seven countries in the region. In Pakistan, UNDP, the Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad and Coca Cola are testing the use of plastic bottles in road construction. In Myanmar, UNDP and telecom operator Ooredoo are strengthening climate resilience in 150 villages in the Dry Zone. In 2020, we’re committed to building an even greater partnership momentum for financing, innovation and action for the SDGs.

Financing is critical and we reflected on it during our Conversation. Japan, EU and Germany are the top donors to our work in Asia and the Pacific. The contributions from the Multi-donor trust fund are increasing. We’re maintaining a strong cooperation with the GEF, GCF, Global Fund, and want to work more with the International Financing Institutions. Also with private investors and companies on socially responsible investing. We also recognize that our programme governments increasingly fund our efforts. More than 20 governments, led by   the Philippines and Malaysia, finance a growing part of UNDP operations in their countries, recognizing the strong value we bring. We have entered into innovative partnerships on SDG finance in Indonesia, China, the Maldives and other countries.

Stay tuned. And please share your ideas with us. This first-round reflection early in the new year provides a glimpse into the depth and breadth of UNDP’s work as captured in the #UNDP4AsiaPacific Conversation. For the 600 plus colleagues, the main takeaway was that we leave no one behind in this quest to reach the SDGs. This is our guiding light in the 36 countries where we operate. Count on us in 2020 and over the next 10 years. The conversation continues with you.