This report cautions against an overly rigid approach to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which it argues could limit development options for poor countries, particularly in how they are able to manage critical water resources. It identifies key challenges such as setting realistic targets, carefully considering the local context to address the needs of the poor, and promoting sustainable water resources development in a way that values healthy ecosystems.

Improving women’s ability to securely access land is recognised as an effective means to increase gender equality and advance other key social and economic development goals. Despite progressive laws in many African countries, gender disparities commonly persist in women’s access and ownership of land.

The Integrated Drylands Development Programme (IDDP) is a global UNDP initiative to promote sustainable development in the drylands, and advance the implementation of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification. This topic brief highlights the important role that gender plays in this context of sustainable development, in particular the role of women in the Arab States and Africa. In these regions, inequality and stereotypical gender norms often prevent women from contributing to the sustainable development of drylands, despite possessing a wealth of traditional knowledge and skills.

This NDP is a 3-year nationwide document aiming at (i) building a sovereign State; (ii) consolidating its control over the natural resources; (iii) developing the Area C, particularly Jordan Valley, as well as East Jerusalem and Gaza; (iv) boosting the economy; (v) enhancing the private sector's ability to build its productive capacity and its capacity to create jobs; and (vi) increasing efficiency and sustainability of quality services.Main pillars at the basis of the NDP, compared to previous policies, are (i) a more participatory approach; (ii) mainstream gender equality throughout plann

La Política Nacional de Desarrollo es el instrumento estratégico de largo plazo, vigente hasta el 2032, que le da respaldo político institucional a la operatividad del K’atun introducido mediante el Plan Nacional de Desarrollo K’atun: nuestra Guatemala 2032, adoptado en 2014. Esta política tiene por finalidad institucionalizar las acciones y procesos para el desarrollo, con una visión de largo plazo y permitirá dar seguimiento, así como evaluar las acciones de política y los impactos. El documento consta de tres Partes. La Parte 1 define el marco conceptual y normativo.

As part of the Millennium Challenge Corporation Compact Agreement, the Government of Lesotho has implemented an institutional strengthening and land regularization project in the urban and peri-urban areas of the capital city Maseru. The main objective of this project is to strengthen the rights of the legitimate occupiers of the land by a process of formalizing those rights. This formalization process of the rights to land is expected to promote private sector development and stimulate economic growth.

The widespread acquisition of land for large-scale/commercial production of biofuel crops in Ghana has raised concerns from civil society organizations, local communities and other parties, regarding the impact of these investments on local livelihoods. This paper assessed the effect of large-scale acquisition of land for production of Jatropha curcas on farmers’ livelihoods in Ghana. The study was conducted in 11 communities spanning the major agro-ecological zones and political divisions across Ghana.

Recent experience has shown that as countries get richer, nutritional status does not necessarily improve. In a recent article in the journal The Lancet, IFPRI researchers and others explain that creating the right conditions for nutritional advances often requires political action. The feature article in this issue of Insights looks at how some developing countries and regions—Ghana, Peru, Thailand, and the state of Maharashtra, India—have made nutrition a political priority and how they’ve turned political commitments into widespread changes on the ground.