Partnership is at the heart of everything UNDP does. At UNDP in Europe and Central Asia, we are working closely with development assistance providers in the region, mobilizing means to implement the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.

Development assistance providers in the region have unique comparative strengths, building on the experience of recent transition to market economies or cherishing close historical ties with neighboring developing countries. What is common among our partners is the desire to explore innovative solutions to development challenges in a spirit of global solidarity and strong South-South cooperation. Combined with UNDP’s global presence and development expertise, these strengths allow for a greater development impact.

Partnerships for Development Impact

With its global presence and experience in delivering development solutions, UNDP offers a unique range of tools to new development assistance providers in the region, focusing on:

• Capacity development at the institutional, organizational and individual levels, ranging from setting up legislative frameworks for official development assistance (ODA), to establishing aid agencies, and training personnel (e.g.  SlovakAid, RoAid, KazAid).
  
  In addition, development assistance providers learn, exchange ideas, and experiences with peers and experts through our ODA Learning Series jointly organized with the OECD. Launched in 2014 as Capacity Development Series for Emerging Donors, the learning events are delivered at the request and based on the needs and priorities of partner development assistance providers in the region and often hosted by them. In 2020, the Series transformed into the ODA Learning Series, adapting to an online format.
  
  Organized jointly by UNDP and the European Commission, the Kapuscinski Development Lectures invite top global thinkers to universities for discussions around development issues such as climate change, economics, human rights and aid effectiveness. Our partner universities have hosted over 125 lectures gathering over 40,000 participants since 2009.
  

• Implementation support: Through trust funds such as the Russia-UNDP Trust Fund for Development, regional initiatives like the Slovak Republic strengthening public finance management, or Innovation Challenge Funds, we ensure a results- based implementation, reaching the most vulnerable even in places where development assistance providers have limited presence.
  
  Challenge funds provide a great opportunity to involve various stakeholders towards a common goal of achieving sustainable development. Created as financing mechanisms to allocate (donor) funds through a transparent competition among organizations (e.g. private sector companies, NGOs, research institutes, universities etc.), challenge funds are set up to meet specific development objectives, such as reducing air pollution.
  
  Examples include The Czech Solutions for the SDGs, the Polish Challenge Fund, the Slovak Challenge Fund, and most recently, the Challenge Fund supported by the Russian Federation. In addition to these separate challenge funds, donors also pool funding for a joint cause together with private actors in the BOOST Solutions for COVID-19.

• Global network of development expertise: UNDP’s Global Policy Network boasts experts who provide cutting-edge timely development advice based on best practices from around the world. Tapping into South-South development cooperation experiences as well as resources of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation, partners gain access to global and regional networks and increased visibility in UN fora. In addition, through UNDP’s presence, development assistance providers can share their own expertise for development around the world (Russian Experts on Demand programme; Czech Experts on Demand).