From the beginning UNDP has worked in partnership to build the foundations for human development and create opportunities for people to thrive.
The organization was established in 1965 as a merger of the Expanded Programme of Technical Assistance and the UN Special Fund and grounded in the principles of the UN Charter.
As the world’s largest development agency and the operational backbone of the UN system, our work is woven into the fabric of more than 170 countries and territories.
Hand-in-hand with governments, global and local partners, and guided most recently by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), our work has transformed billions of lives, creating jobs, fostering inclusion, supporting those in crisis, reducing inequalities, and promoting progress for everybody, particularly the most vulnerable.
Lifting people out of poverty
As the world has evolved, so has our understanding of development.
Three decades ago, our inaugural Human Development Report by economists Mahbub ul Haq and Amartya Sen introduced an entirely new human-centred way of thinking about economic growth. This groundbreaking work fundamentally shifted how the world measures progress, moving beyond GDP to encompass broader aspects of human well-being and uncovering the complex realities of poverty, while sparking a global conversation about what development truly means.
Each year our Human Development Index presents a composite measure of life expectancy, education and well-being, putting people at the centre of development.
This transformative approach has guided decades of steady progress in lifting people out of poverty, with particular focus on women and underserved communities.
Since 2022, with our partners, we have brought essential services to 160 million people, connected 259 million to financial services, and linked 82 million to clean energy. These numbers represent real lives transformed—families getting free or affordable healthcare, women entrepreneurs accessing credit, children studying by electric light for the first time.
The evolution continues today through initiatives like the timbuktoo initiative supporting 10,000 African tech start-ups, while YouthConnekt Africa has empowered 12 million African young people and aims to create 10 million dignified jobs.
