United Nations Development Programme

Development priorities and health

UNDP is the United Nations’ development agency, headquartered in New York, United States. Its international programme supports countries working to reduce poverty and inequality and build resilience. Health forms part of this wider development mandate because access to care is shaped by institutions, resources, legal protections and social conditions.

The organization’s health expertise includes reducing exclusion, improving governance and making health systems more resilient. This means working with national authorities, communities and other partners on the circumstances that determine who can obtain services and whether those services can continue during crises.

Sources: [1], [2].

Rights, institutions and service access

UNDP supports legal, policy and regulatory environments that help people access HIV and other health services. Its programme materials identify stigma, discrimination and barriers to justice as issues requiring attention alongside financing and programme delivery. It also works on governance for non-communicable diseases and tobacco control.

Its health systems work includes the use of digital solutions, preparedness for crises and responses to the health implications of climate change. A 2022–2023 annual report, published in 2024, organizes this work around inequalities and exclusion, inclusive governance, and resilient systems. That report provides a dated account of activities rather than a measure of results in later years.

Sources: [2], [4].

Support through the Global Fund partnership

UNDP’s partnership with the Global Fund began in 2002 and supports national responses to HIV, tuberculosis and malaria. Depending on country needs, UNDP may help implement grants, share implementation responsibilities with national institutions, or provide technical assistance. The partnership places national health plans and the leadership of health authorities at the centre of this work.

Capacity development covers areas such as procurement and supply chains, health information, workforce capabilities and community systems. The aim is to strengthen institutions that can sustain essential services, including in difficult operating environments. Human rights, gender equality and environmental sustainability form part of this programme approach, connecting disease responses with broader development priorities.

A retained historical UN Global Mobility Programme member list names UNDP; it does not establish present membership.

Sources: [3], [5].

Sources

1. UNDP: organization, headquarters and global remit
2. UNDP: areas of expertise, including HIV and health
3. UNDP: capacity development through the Global Fund partnership
4. UNDP: HIV and Health Annual Report 2022–2023, published April 2024
5. UN Global Mobility Programme: retained historical member list