Germany significantly increases funding to UNDP

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has welcomed a further 25% increase in funding from the German government to its 2019 core resources, which follows a 60% increase for 2018.

Germany also confirmed that it will become a “launch partner” in supporting UNDP’s pioneering and groundbreaking launch in January 2019 of Accelerator Labs in 60 developing countries. These Labs will become integral to UNDP’s existing country-based teams and infrastructure and will enable UNDP to connect its global network and development expertise spanning 170 countries, with a more agile, innovation capacity to support countries in their national development priorities.

“We welcome the decision by Germany to invest in UNDP’s core capacity as well as our cutting-edge Accelerator Labs initiative,” said UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner. “It is my hope that by supporting and connecting a diverse group of government actors, entrepreneurs, academics, and civil society with global networks of development innovation and best practice, we can surface nationally inspired solutions that will accelerate and scale up progress towards the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.”

Alongside its increase in core contributions from 40 to 50 million EUR in 2019, Germany will be a launch partner in the “Accelerator Labs” with 10 Million EUR for 2019.

Gerd Müller, Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany: “The work that UNDP is doing is absolutely essential in a changing world where countries are increasingly turning their backs on multilateralism. Development, in particular, is a global challenge that we can only tackle and achieve through concerted action as a global community of nations. The SDGs and the 2030 Agenda require a commitment from all of us, every nation and every individual. That is why we are giving our backing to UNDP and to its new initiative, the Accelerator Labs. Their task will be to bring together clever minds around the globe who have good ideas regarding trailblazing solutions for the future. That way, the goals of the 2030 Agenda will be translated into concrete action on the ground.”

UNDP works in over 170 countries, helping to achieve the eradication of poverty and the reduction of inequalities and exclusion. The Accelerator Labs will be connected and supported by a global learning network and a wide array of partners to build on work already done by UNDP in incubating policy and innovation in labs in over a dozen countries.

Original source: UNDP
Published on 12 December 2018