All over the world, families and communities are refusing to accept the status quo and are fighting for a better future for themselves and for generations to come. UNDP partners with them to achieve their goals.
Though tragedies more often make headlines, it’s equally important to take note of all the positive things happening around us. Whether it’s rebuilding their lives after crisis, tackling pollution and deforestation, or defending biodiversity, humans are endlessly innovating and creating new ways to meet evolving challenges.
The global biodiversity crisis is at a tipping point, with a million species at risk of extinction and ecosystems declining at an unprecedented rate. Costa Rica’s Indigenous Térraba community, which has been fighting rampant deforestation and the use of chemicals in agriculture for decades, are holding fast to their ancestral connection to the land.
In the 1990s Paulino Nájera Rivera began to replant the trees being lost to logging. He and his siblings planted 37,000 native varieties. Now his land is flourishing again, and he shares his values and traditions by leading visitors on walking tours.
Paulino is one of 77 Indigenous entrepreneurs who have benefited from start-up incubator Raíces programme established by the Costa Rican government, with support from UNDP’s Biodiversity Finance Initiative.
“Rincón Ecológico Cultural was born from a dream—a vision nobody supported at first. But we wanted to showcase what we had: our culture. We wanted people to know about us."
— Paulino Nájera Rivera, Entrepreneur
Yemen has one of the oldest coffee cultures on Earth, and preserving this tradition is vitally important for the country’s heritage and economy.
Saeeda grew up on her family’s coffee farm in the southern Taiz region. Today she cultivates the farm as her ancestors did. But with the effects of climate change intensifying, rainfall has decreased dramatically, and crop yields have fallen.
UNDP, with the Public Works Project, has constructed rainwater harvesting tanks across the region, funded and supported by the World Bank. The tanks provide crucial water reserves during dry months.
Two 400 cubic metre tanks have allowed Saeeda and her neighbours to maintain their crops and their traditions despite recent droughts.
“Our connection to the coffee tree runs deep. When we drink a cup of our coffee, we feel the value of our effort and the months spent caring for that tree.”
— Saeeda, Farmer
Like many others, Daw Khin Thit came to Yangon in search of a better life, only to find scarce opportunity. Urban poverty in Myanmar’s capital has escalated from 10 percent in 2017 to a shocking 43 percent in 2023.
Daw Khin Thit and her friends and neighbours decided to create their own opportunities by going into mushroom farming. The Women’s Mushroom Farming Group presented their proposal to the Urban Resilience project. Supported by UNDP, it provides training, startup capital and technical guidance.
Daw Khin Thit and her team quickly got to work. Mushroom farming doesn’t require much land or high start-up costs. Straw mushrooms mature in two weeks and can be grown on agricultural waste like rice straw and sawdust.
Now abandoned lots have been transformed into areas of quiet industry, and farmers are profiting from healthy harvests.
“I am very happy that we are starting this kind of work.”
— Daw Khin Thit, Urban farmer
Francine has been displaced five times by violence in North Kivu, in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Despite the hardships she and her family have endured, she remains steadfastly optimistic.
Before being displaced, Francine led a microcredit organization. Through it, women used small loans to start businesses and buy land. Even while displaced, she organized small savings groups to help herself and others cope with limited food, water and shelter in camps.
Recently, Francine returned to her home village with practically nothing. Where her home once stood, she put up a tent.
UNDP is supporting efforts to rebuild housing, and restart farms and businesses. Our work combines emergency aid with long-term support and matches the determination and resilience of Francine and her community.
“Our land, our tools, our businesses, everything is gone. But we are not giving up. We will rebuild, together.”
— Francine, Community leader
The Pikialasorsuaq polynya is a rare oasis of open water surrounded by thick Arctic ice.
Narwhals, belugas, polar bears and seabirds thrive here, and for millennia, Inuit communities have safeguarded this vital ecosystem, drawing upon their deep knowledge of land and sea.
As the Arctic heats at alarming rates, the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC), a winner of UNDP’s Equator Prize, is leading the multi-national efforts to protect its last ice stronghold. The ICC has risen to this existential and challenge and is making historic steps towards Inuit-led governance, backed by growing international support.
"The Pikialasorsuaq is not just an ocean or a unique wildlife area impacted by climate change. This is our home, our Nuna. This shared body of water defines who we are as a people—it connects us."
— Okalik Eegeesiak, Former ICC International Chair
© 2026 United Nations Development Programme
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