2015 was a testament to the resilience and strength of the human spirit. At the heart of our development work are stories of people who are responding to the challenges of climate change, war, disaster, and inequality to maintain and improve their communities.
RESPONDING TO EBOLA
In 2015, countries affected by Ebola reached the end of human transmission of the virus. With our support, affected governments paid nearly 20,000 Ebola Response Workers on time, enabling workers to effectively combat the virus in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. We continue Ebola recovery work in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and border countries to restore the regional socio-economic fabric.
A HISTORIC PARIS AGREEMENT
In December, world leaders at The UN Climate Summit in Paris reached the historic Paris Agreement. While it’s up to every one of us to translate the commitments into local climate action in 2016, UNDP has been working with countries to identify their national goals and how best to achieve them. We have a climate change portfolio in over 140 countries, and here are some of our success stories worldwide.
PROTECTING LIVES, PREVENTING CRISIS & HELPING RECOVERY
According to UNHCR, the number of refugees, asylum seekers, and internally displaced people worldwide has now exceeded 60 million people. UNDP has long worked on migration and displacement issues, forging partnerships between humanitarian and development organizations to find durable solutions at the local and national level. This includes preventing and mitigating conflicts, improving governance and access to justice, fighting poverty, providing jobs and opportunities, and implementing well-managed migration policies, all in line with the new Sustainable Development Goals.
PROVIDING WORK IN SYRIA
The war in Syria has driven over 4.3 million Syrians from their country. At the end of 2015, as world leaders continue to negotiate peace talks, refugees continue the perilous journey to safety in neighboring countries and Europe. Since the onset of the war, UNDP has been working in Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and Turkey to support both refugees and displaced Syrians and their host communities.
7.6 million Syrians are internally displaced and struggling to stay alive. Emergency employment is the heart of our commitment to the Syrian people and their host communities both in Syria and and in neighboring countries. We’ve created emergency jobs to generate work and income, allowing people to provide for their families and afford essential human necessities—food, clean water, shelter, warmth, and access to healthcare and education.
CREATING HOPE IN YEMEN
In March, war erupted in Yemen. According to UNOCHA, over 84% (21.1 million) out of Yemen’s total population of 25 million are in need of humanitarian assistance and are struggling to access the basic necessities such as food, water, healthcare, and shelter and to protect their fundamental human rights. Yemen‘s public services have collapsed, and the price of food, fuel, and cooking gas have soared.
Through our Yemen Resilience Programme, we aim to restore livelihoods, social cohesion and security, and pave the way for stabilization and recovery to rebuild human development in Yemen. Our current Cash for Work programs focus on areas such as food security, clean water, rebuilding shelters and infrastructure, and restoring essential public servants’ capacities. For example, in the midst of active fighting, our midwifery project protected the health of pregnant women by training and deploying midwives, ensuring safe births and maternal health during conflict.
VISION OF PEACE: SOUTH SUDAN
“The consequences of war are severe. Disease, death and poverty are everywhere and are a clear result of war. The fighting has to stop.” - Mary, a community leader, former volunteer teacher for Mercy Corps, and a farmer who now lives in Magateen camp for Internally Displaced Persons in Juba, South Sudan.
Mary and her husband fled their home in Bentiu with their 71-year-old mother and eight children, escaping with just the clothes on their backs. She was feeding her newborn baby when she heard gun shots and screams outside. For safety, they hid for days in the denseness of the bush and eventually found their way to Magateen camp.
Since the onset of the civil war in December 2013, UNDP has been prioritizing peacebuilding and social cohesion, restoring rule of law and security, livelihoods, and rebuilding civil servants’ capacities to effectively provide government services to its people.
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
The sectarian violence that erupted three years ago in the Central African Republic has uprooted nearly one million people. More than half of the country‘s population, the equivalent of about 2.5 million people, are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, while more than 60 percent of the population continues to live in extreme poverty.
On 30 December, 1.8 million registered voters took to the polls to vote for a new President and Parliament. This follows the Constitutional Referendum on 13 and 14 December where voters overwhelmingly approved a new Constitution, signaling hope for lasting peace. Through our project, “Support the Electoral Cycle in the Central African Republic” (2014-2016), UNDP has supported the National Authority for Elections in establishing electoral lists, training and management polling station staff, and procuring and transporting election equipment.
REBUILDING AFTER CYCLONE PAM
On 13 March 2015, the category 5 Cyclone Pam made landfall on Vanuatu and Tuvalu. Over 95% of Vanuatu’s agricultural sector was destroyed, paralyzing livelihoods and food security.
Within a week of the cyclone, an emergency response team of UNDP experts was rapidly deployed to help with the recovery. In collaboration with local authorities, we launched our Cash-for-Work programme in Port Vila, the capital of Vanuatu. Affected populations received wages for clearing storm debris and recovering and recycling waste.
This work prevented sanitation and water-borne related diseases and helped communities make room to build back better. Together with partners, we’ve supported farming communities to rebuild, replant their gardens and orchards, and replace their lost seed stocks and tools.
RISING FROM RUBBLE IN NEPAL
On 25 April, a 7.9 magnitude earthquake hit Nepal and northern India. Over 15 powerful aftershocks rocked Nepal within 24-hours after the initial impact. The earthquake is the worst disaster to hit Nepal since the 1934 earthquake.
With staff already in Nepal when the earthquake struck, we were able to start a very rapid early recovery program of action. By August, communities were starting to rebuild lives. Gajaraj, a blacksmith and participant of our Micro-Enterprise Development Programme, shared his journey of recovery.
CLIMATE ACTION AROUND THE WORLD
2015 was not just about disasters—it was a year of community climate action worldwide.
In the foothills of Mount Elgon in Uganda, Catherine an elementary school teacher and Chairperson of the Sangaasana Women’s Collective is leading community action against deforestation. With support from UNDP, the women rolled out an environmentally-friendly brick production method, which uses compression rather than heat to form the bricks, avoiding the need for firewood.
In Turkmenistan, where only 20% of the land is arable, farming communities fight the encroaching sands to survive.
Pacific Islands are on the front line of climate action, being the first to feel the devastating impact of climate change. The Maldives are one-meter above sea level at its lowest point and the water is rising, forcing a community to act for their very existence.
In the mountain community of Miraflores, Peru; farming communities adapt to changing climate to preserve traditions such as herding. Changing climate has not only affected water and land resources. Livestock, which are the lifeline of indigenous and pastoral Andean communities are becoming sick more frequently.
High in the peaks of the Himalayas, the health of the people of Bhutan is at risk as melting Himalayas, more frequent flash floods, and longer standing pools of water create conditions for the spread of mosquitos and sandflies which carry Malaria, Dengue Fever, and Visceral Leishmaniasis. Until 2004, Dengue Fever has never been detected in Bhutan. Now it is endemic during monsoon season.
EQUALITY AND PROTECTION FOR ALL
1 in 3 women globally will experience domestic violence in their lifetime. Rape is increasingly used as a weapon of war as armed violence, conflict and extremism rises. We work with communities to widen women’s access to rights and tackle gender-based violence. In this blog, women worldwide shared their voices in our 16 Days of Action against Gender Violence.
In India, 65-year-old Basi behen went to court and won back her land. 15-years ago, after her husband died, her brother-in-law accused her of being a witch and took land that she should have inherited. With our support, she was able to navigate the legal system and exercise her rights.
In Afghanistan, only 16% of women work. But in 2015, Afghanistan’s first female park rangers headed out on their patrol in Band-e-Amir National Park, the country’s first national park. The park rangers and the return of tourism signal hope for a region long riddled with poverty and insecurity, and for women working outside the home.
Monica, an activist for Lesbians, Gays, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex (LGBTI) people, became the first transgender woman to hold a third gender passport in Nepal.
For the first time in history, 2,000 athletes from 40 indigenous groups worldwide traveled to Brazil and participated in the World’s First Indigenous Games to recognize indigenous heritage and traditions.
A HISTORIC YEAR, A NEW SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AGENDA
This year saw the conclusion of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), eight anti-poverty targets that the world committed to achieving by 2015. In September, the world adopted the Sustainable Development Goals, otherwise known as the Global Goals.
The new SDGs, and the broader sustainability agenda, go much further than the MDGs, addressing the root causes of poverty and the universal need for development that works for all people. Humanity’s survival depends on changes in the way we treat fellow humans and our planet. 2016 will be about local action as communities embark to meet the new Sustainable Development Goals.