The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) comes together in times of crisis to find solutions. Present in more than 170 of the member states, the UNDP works with a wide range of issues including poverty and increasing inequalities but also governance, law and human rights issues. They also, along with other UN entities work on disaster risk reduction, looking how to prevent disaster and address risk, support countries and communities over the world.
The socio-economic crisis that evolved throughout the pandemic has only been exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Decades of human development have been eroded around the world. The UNDP Human Development Report issued this year (2022) found that nine out of 10 countries in the report have seen a decline in two consecutive years in human development. This is unprecedented in the 32 year history of this report.
Six out of seven people across the world feel more uncertain than ever before and only 30% of the world’s population have trust in other people in their close neighborhood. There has also been a sharp increase in mental illness, 10% higher than a decade ago.
The trust deficit and mental illness are pillars that have to be addressed. The UNDP believe that working on the ground and with ICMIF members is the way to rebuild trust and recreate the social contract, within countries and internationally.
Financial resilience is central to everything they do and insurance, including social protection, has to be part of the solution. Ways to support countries increasing their investment in human development need to be found. While many of the richer nations have had the opportunity to do this, the majority of developed countries and also middle income economies did not have the fiscal space to do so.
Investment, innovation and insurance are three recommendations of the Human Development Report. The partnership with ICMIF is key to this and the UNDP want to see how they can support ICMIF members in the work they are doing in their local communities and internationally. They have launched an insurance Innovation Challenge Fund with ICMIF which will allow them to bring members experiences and ideas to the international level, build on them and develop products.
