It was a challenging year for families everywhere. Alongside a pandemic that has taken millions of lives, the broader socio-economic effects of COVID-19 reversed decades of important gains for the most vulnerable.
UNDP doubled down on its commitment to build forward better, working with partners at all levels of society to ensure people have the means to live in dignity, and the skills and resources to recover from crises and create fulfilling lives.
Here are some of their stories.
Discriminated against her entire career for being Roma, Angela Radita volunteered for a UNDP-supported voter education campaign in Moldova. It inspired her to run for office.
Despite deeply entrenched biases against Roma and women in positions of authority, a record 12 Roma were elected. Politics has long been considered less accessible for minority groups and for women. Patriarchal norms make a women’s journey in public space harsher and more highly scrutinized. And Roma have long suffered discrimination and exclusion. Angela has broken both of those barriers and is determined to make a change.
“The problems I see every day make me want to see what I can do. Hopefully I will make a good change, for both Roma and non-Roma women. In Moldova, our fates are almost the same,” she says.
Full story: “I really didn’t want to be a wife at 14.”
“Studying remotely was difficult to understand. Now that we are back at school, I can ask questions and understand my subjects better,” says Zena Khalid, 13.
The Al-Haj Secondary School for Girls in Mosul reopened after being closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was a challenging time for the girls and their teachers.
An entire generation of young Iraqi students like Zena have had their education interrupted. Prior to that, the school was severely damaged during the ISIL conflict. It’s one of several hundred schools that have been rebuilt and renovated with support from UNDP’s Funding Facility for Stabilization.
Full story: “Education will help us build a future.”
The word Socotra means “island abode of bliss” in Sanskrit. It’s the name of a Yemeni island located south of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a hub for international holidaymakers enjoying the breathtaking landscape and fascinating fauna, and diving, snorkelling and trekking.
Its residents have suffered from both a lack of visitors due to Yemen’s civil war, and increasingly extreme weather.
In partnership with the World Bank, UNDP, and the Social Fund for Development, Socotra’s communities are envisioning a brighter future for this isolated paradise, with better services, more employment, new skills and increased financial stability.
Full story: Building resilience on the “island abode of bliss”
Carefree is not a word Dea would associate with her childhood.
25 years after the war that left mines across Bosnia and Herzegovina, the country has worked hard to reduce the amount of mine-contaminated land. And through a European Union initiative, UNDP and partners have developed a mobile phone app that allows citizens and visitors to be aware of and avoid remaining danger zones.
Now 20, Dea is a computer science student. Every day on her way to school, she passes an area where military operations once took place. But she’s hopeful future generations won’t have the same concerns she had growing up.
“I hope that my and other children will have a happy and carefree childhood and not worry if something will happen to them,” Dea says. “I hope that their childhood will be the opposite of mine, that they will be able to explore and rejoice as much as they want.”
Full story: "There’s an app for that."
What is the bigger tragedy — never finding your true self or finding it and not being allowed to profess it?
Speak to any transgender person in Pakistan and they will tell you heart-wrenching tales of cruelty, oppression and exploitation. While a landmark 2009 Supreme Court judgment gave them the right to declare themselves as transgenders on the Computerized National Identity Card, it was only in 2018 that the law provided more freedom and rights.
UNDP Pakistan is working with the transgender community as they give a voice to their struggles and help others realize that there is a broader definition of gender than the rigid boundaries of a patriarchal society.
Full story: The question of identity
“I am not free when any other women is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from mine.” – Audre Lorde
Khowla Mohamed Abdow’s life mission is inspired by the words of African American civil rights activist, Audre Lorde. At 25 years old she’s the coordinator of Baidoa’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Centre in Somalia, a Ministry of Justice facility supported by UNDP. It’s where local people can come for help solving disputes.
As a young girl, Khowla had been forced flee with her family to Kenya to escape civil war. Even at 18, she knew society could be better and she wanted to play a part in improving it.
“I used to hear from my mum and dad, and also from the radio, about how women were mistreated and how they were forced to get married,” she says.
Full story: A young woman leads in dispute resolution
Peru is among the world’s 10 megadiverse countries. But despite its many resources some 4.5 million people face severe food insecurity. Climate change, unsustainable agricultural and fishing methods, weaknesses in infrastructure and transportation chains, and the loss of ancestral knowledge are contributing.
Several communities are advancing towards sustainability for Peruvian food systems, at the same time they’re creating development for themselves and the country.
Full story: Sustainability for Peru’s pantry
Basanti Sethy, a 71-year-old widow living in Bhubaneswar, India has found her smartphone opening a new world. One that means she doesn’t necessarily need to leave the house to run errands.
“I have started using Ola to book auto ride and I have started paying online for electricity and other bills using PhonePe,” she says happily.
The pandemic has underscored the crucial importance of closing the digital divide, and the smartphone boom in India is expected to reach 829 million by 2022.
UNDP is working with the Odisha State Government to support digital and also financial literacy, deploying local volunteers and civil society organizations.
Full story: Digital literacy opens up a new world during COVID-19
Before Cyclone Idai swept through Mozambique in March 2019, Cecília lived in a mud house with her four children and three orphan nephews. She worked in agriculture and sold her produce to generate income. But after one of the worst natural disasters ever to hit the southern hemisphere, which affected 1.8 million people and claimed hundreds of lives, she had to start over.
“I lost my house and documents due to the cyclone. I had no money and nowhere to live. I had to figure out how to go on with my life,” she says.
Working with donors and the Mozambique government, the UNDP Recovery Facility is supporting Cecília and her family by building a new house and offering ways for community members to earn money. Mozambique is on the frontlines of climate change, and Cecília’s family has a sturdy concrete home for the first time.
“I see the materials they use, and I can see a big difference,” she says.
Full story: “Where there is life, there is hope.”
© 2026 United Nations Development Programme
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