UNDP works in some 170 countries and territories, helping to achieve the eradication of poverty, and the reduction of inequalities and exclusion. We help countries to develop policies, leadership skills, partnering abilities, institutional capabilities and build resilience in order to sustain development results.
Inclusive growth, better services, environmental sustainability, good governance, and security are fundamental to development progress. We offer our expertise in development thinking and practice, and our decades of experience at country level, to support countries to meet their development aspirations and to bring the voices of the world’s peoples into deliberations.
In 2016, UNDP is continuing its work to support the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 17 new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), or Global Goals, as they help shape global sustainable development for the next 15 years.
UNDP focuses on helping countries build and share solutions in three main areas:
In all our activities, we encourage the protection of human rights and the empowerment of women, minorities and the poorest and most vulnerable.
Members:
Resources
Displaying 301 - 305 of 358Harnessing IDRC-Supported Research on Large-Scale Land Acquisitions and Accountability in Africa
General
Commercial interest and investments in Africa's agricultural lands have intensified in quantity, speed, and size over the past five years, particularly in the wake of the 2008 food crisis. This project will address concerns over the phenomenon. It aims to enhance leadership skills that will help build more equitable policies and practices for communities around large-scale land investments in Africa. Large-scale land acquisitions Foreign and domestic investors, both public and private, are acquiring control of vast stretches of fertile land for agricultural production in developing countries. While agricultural investments can contribute to economic development and reduce poverty, many investments have failed to live up to expectations and are not generating sustainable benefits. In many instances, these land deals are leaving local people worse off than they would have been without the investment. Pressures on agricultural land are expected to continue to meet the needs of growing populations. There is also the issue of diminishing supplies of fertile land caused by pressures on water sources, encroaching urbanization, and changing weather patterns related to climate change. Investments to date have served to highlight existing weaknesses in the management and governance of agricultural lands and on local communities' ability to secure land rights. More accountable, equitable investments This project will advance IDRC's work on this issue in sub-Saharan Africa to make land investment processes more accountable and equitable, and to prevent displacement and conflict. It will build on five action research projects covering 10 countries. Project teams will work with communities to increase their power to negotiate equitable terms and protect their rights and interests. It will fund the following activities: -Land Research Summit in Dakar, Senegal, to share initial research results and lessons learned, as well as foster policy discussions -Blogs and op-eds to raise awareness about research findings -Conference participation to share the research and findings
Improving governance, voice and access to justice in Ghana’s informal settlements
General
In Ghana, many urban residents have yet to reap the benefit of the country’s democratic stability and recent economic growth. About 40% of the urban population is trapped in poorly planned, overcrowded informal settlements with unsanitary conditions and low access to basic services. Rapid population growth and urbanization risk reversing the country’s progress to date, unless needed interventions are put in place. Public responses, by local and central governments, have taken the form of criminalization and exclusion, such as the use of forced evictions to clamp down on settlement growth, or a limited focus on more technical elements, like physical infrastructure. In many cases, urban planning and social assistance programs have ignored the plight of slums altogether. Exclusion in informal settlements thus results from a complex interaction between poverty, political inaction, weak planning systems, and lack of recognition of residents’ rights. Against that backdrop, this action-oriented research project aims to improve voice and access to justice for settlement residents as well as respect for their social and economic rights. Working with the Land Resource Management Centre, a non-governmental organization based in Kumasi, research will be conducted by a multi-disciplinary team of experts in land tenure, law, human rights, social sciences, and urban governance, as well as civil society and informal settlement advocacy groups. Settlements with three population types have been identified in Accra and Kumasi to enable comparison across contexts: populations largely indigenous to the area, migrants from other regions in Ghana, or a mix of both. The team will take stock of conditions and their causes and identify gaps and opportunities in laws and policies. Building on those efforts, the team will work with settlement residents to develop and test gender-sensitive approaches and engage in targeted and sustained advocacy and policy development.
Promoting Greater Community Benefit and Accountability in Large-Scale Land Acquisitions in Kenya
General
The effective development of land lies at the core of Kenya's national planning strategy, Vision 2030. Agriculture, natural resource exploitation, and infrastructure development are key to achieving the plan's objective. To deliver on Vision 2030's promise, the government will need to implement transparent and accountable processes for large-scale land acquisitions that safeguard and do not disadvantage local communities. There are concerns, among them Kenya's high levels of poverty, and unclear or insecure land tenure rights. As a result, the mainly rural population might be vulnerable to inequitable treatment during land acquisitions. Inadequate social and environmental safeguards may also result in negative impacts. This project will explore the most effective ways to ensure the accountability of government-managed processes to protect the interests of vulnerable communities during large-scale land acquisitions. The project team will review current policy and legislative criteria related to acquiring and granting lands for investment purposes, particularly those developed under Kenya's 2010 Constitution. Researchers will develop a community-based scorecard to track the impact and implementation of laws. They will use the findings as a barometer to assess whether processes governing large-scale land acquisitions are legitimate and accountable. They will also conduct interviews with public officials, investors, and other stakeholders. The research will target two regions in Kenya. Siaya County has granted a 25-year lease to a private company over the expansive Yala Swamp to undertake large-scale irrigation farming. Lamu and Isiolo counties are central to a planned new port at Lamu, and the transportation corridor which runs through Kenya to Ethiopia and South Sudan. This project is part of a series of projects promoting accountability around large-scale land acquisitions in Africa. Findings will help inform future legislation and policy.
Scaling Up Fertilizer Micro-Dosing and Indigenous Vegetable Production and Utilization in West Africa (CIFSRF
General
Poor soil fertility and land degradation result in low production yields and quality for indigenous vegetables in West Africa. This project will address the challenges to improve vegetable production through fertilizer innovations. Increasing vegetable yields and quality This project will build on earlier research funded by the Canadian International Food Security Research Fund (CIFSRF), a program of IDRC undertaken with the financial support of the Government of Canada provided through Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada. Two earlier projects generated promising results to improve food security in West Africa for poor families. Using innovations developed in this earlier work, researchers will speed up adoption of innovative approaches that will use cost-saving fertilizer micro-dosing and better water management to improve indigenous vegetable production in Nigeria and Benin. The project team will develop, test, and deploy two different models (Innovations Platform and Satellite Dissemination Approach) that will reach and benefit more farmers with sustainable vegetable production and marketing approaches. They will connect women-led cooperatives and youth groups to the private sector and business organizations, directly reaching more than 255,000 households. The team's work will involve further developing commercial seed production, postharvest handling, and value chains. They will also strengthen producer groups. Project leadership A consortium of five universities in Canada, Benin, and Nigeria will lead the project. They will mobilize at least 20 private sector partners and government agencies to build small and medium vegetable and fertilizer businesses. Their work will serve to double the income of approximately one million farmers in West Africa along the vegetable value chain.
Interrogating Large-Scale Land Acquisitions and Their Implications for Women in Sub-Saharan Africa
General
Despite their critical role in promoting food security on the African continent, women continue to be marginalized in the distribution and allocation of land. The implications for both family survival and national food security are far-reaching. This project will support research to examine the conditions needed to allow women to become empowered to participate in large-scale land acquisition (LSLAs) processes. The objective is to help ensure that sub-Saharan Africa puts the legal and policy frameworks in place to foster better accountability and legitimacy on issues of land governance. African women must continue to engage in food crop farming to ensure food security for their families and for the continent at large. This is only possible if their right to land is protected, respected, and fulfilled. Previous studies have shown that African women's right to land is seriously under threat. Traditionally, African women have not had equal access to land and weak land laws and governance processes related to LSLAs are further eroding their access. We are now learning more about the impact of LSLAs on livelihoods in affected communities but little evidence exists on gender differences. Little is also known about how African women have developed strategies to foster more equitable land governance policies and practices to ensure greater accountability and transparency around LSLAs. This research seeks to fill these knowledge gaps. The ultimate goal of the project is to promote land governance policies that treat both genders more equally and that contribute to greater accountability and transparency around LSLAs. The research will be implemented in six communities in three African countries: Ghana, Cameroon, and Uganda. All three have experienced LSLAs. The research team will explore the following: -land acquisition processes; -winners and losers in these transactions; -ways in which the losers (specifically, rural African women) respond to their situation; and, -extent to which these responses are successful. The project will create gender-sensitive evidence-based knowledge that can be used by women, local communities, non-state actors, and public authorities to enhance accountability and legitimacy in LSLAs processes. It will also propose gender inclusive strategies for formal and informal institutions that will respect, promote, and protect women's rights in LSLAs processes.