The coming year could be a turning point, accelerating progress towards a more peaceful, prosperous and sustainable future for humanity.
Or it could see geopolitical divides, economic stagnation and gridlock in multilateral cooperation. The path forward depends on choices countries make now: to move beyond differences and refocus on achieving shared goals.
The coming year will provide many opportunities to make those choices count.
International development is stepping into an uncertain new era, marked by shrinking aid budgets, geopolitical realignment and questions about countries working together on matters of importance to the entire world.
Having marked its 80th anniversary in 2025, the United Nations has embarked on a system-wide reform drive, reassessing all aspects of its operations to create an organization that is more agile, more efficient and more effective. For UNDP, this means building on six decades of development experience while adapting to new realities.
UNDP’s new Strategic Plan 2026-2029 was designed for this moment. Built for complexity and adaptive by design, the Plan puts UNDP in an even stronger position to help countries and communities navigate uncertainty while seizing on opportunities for sustainable progress.
Making this happen requires partnership. The Strategic Plan represents a commitment between UNDP and its partners to co-invest in solutions that work—from creating decent jobs to tackling climate change. In uncertain times, the world depends on development partners who can stay the course. That kind of reliability rests on shared resolve and sustained collaboration.
Economists are warning of a global economic slowdown that will affect all geographic regions. UN Trade and Development projects growth of 2.6 percent in 2025 and 2026, down from 2.9 percent in 2024 and well below the pre-pandemic average of 3 percent. Developing countries are expected to grow faster than advanced economies at 4.3 percent, but they face significant challenges from rising trade barriers, crushing debt and escalating climate change impacts. Slower growth constrains countries' ability to create the decent jobs, expand the essential services and build the systems that will help their societies thrive.
Key events in 2026
Conflicts and trade disputes are making things worse. Record levels of conflict are undoing decades of development progress in places like Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine. At the same time, barriers to trade are making it harder for developing economies to sell their goods abroad and disrupting the supply chains that connect farmers and factory workers to global markets. Together, these pressures threaten the decent jobs, functioning services and stable environments that people need to build better lives.
UNDP’s new Strategic Plan is rooted in the conviction that in tough times, our work to create a fairer, more sustainable world is more vital than ever. Attuned to the sustainable development needs of today and tomorrow, the Plan has four bold objectives: prosperity for all, effective governance, crisis resilience and a healthy planet.
Reducing poverty and inequality through sustainable economic growth, creating decent jobs and livelihoods, and increasing access to key services and social safety nets.
Supporting countries and communities to develop strong and accountable institutions, so people can participate in society, claim their rights and access justice.
Managing risks as well as protecting development progress and infrastructure during times of conflict or disaster, so that communities can quickly recover.
Preventing the worst climate change impacts while helping people adapt to new conditions, preserving biodiversity and managing our environmental footprint to reduce pressure on our natural resources.
In all our work, we favour integrated solutions that address interconnected challenges and deliver systematic transformation. How will we get there?
By connecting the dots across sectors, bringing diverse partners together to tackle complex challenges no single effort could solve alone. And by harnessing three powerful forces to drive progress: digital and AI transformation, gender equality and sustainable finance.
Digital and AI transformation: We deploy technological advancements to expand people’s opportunities, improve public services, enhance civic engagement and speed crisis response.
Gender equality: We integrate gender equality throughout UNDP programming, because doing so accelerates results across all development dimensions.
Sustainable finance: We’re supporting efforts to build a fairer global financial system while helping countries identify new resources and build stronger partnerships to achieve their development objectives.
Against the uncertain landscape of the coming years, UNDP’s new Strategic Plan was designed from a place of “determined optimism”. This is how we will work with countries to accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals.
In our fast-changing world, one thing is constant: UNDP remains committed to improving people’s lives while preserving the environment that sustains all of us. This is a shared endeavour. The Strategic Plan offers partners a platform to co-invest in proven solutions, from mobilizing climate finance to strengthening governance in fragile settings. Success depends on sustained partnership—because in an unpredictable world, reliable multilateral institutions matter more than ever.
© 2026 United Nations Development Programme
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
/1x.jpeg?auto=webp)
/1x.jpeg?auto=webp)
/1x.jpeg?auto=webp)
/1x.jpeg?auto=webp)
/1x.jpeg?auto=webp)
/1x.jpeg?auto=webp)