Detect the threat

The top 10 percent of the world's population own 76 percent of global wealth, while the poorest half own just 2 percent. Both within and between countries, this intense concentration of wealth can be a destabilizing force by limiting development prospects and fuelling discontent.

Poverty and inequality go beyond income. UNDP’s Multidimensional Poverty Index shows how a lack of resources has impacts across multiple aspects of people’s lives, exacerbating inequalities. Common, often overlapping, deprivations include a lack of adequate housing, nutrition, energy and education.

Our research also shows that inequality is not inevitable; it’s a choice. By enacting different policies, decision makers can deliver more inclusive economic growth.

Gender inequality is stubbornly persistent, and it doesn’t harm only women. In general, societies where women have greater rights and opportunities are freer and more prosperous.

UNDP’s Gender Social Norms Index reveals that close to 90 percent of people – men and women – hold at least one fundamental bias against women. Nearly half of people believe that men make better political leaders, and two thirds think men are more entitled to jobs.

These attitudes produce real-world consequences. No matter where they live, women are paid less, shoulder more unpaid housework and childcare, and are under-represented in civic and business leadership. While women have made significant progress in obtaining education, it has not translated into reducing the gender income gap.

Through our flagship Equanomics initiative, UNDP is building expertise and supporting partners committed to building economies that work better for everyone.

2024 was the hottest year on record, and the past 10 years have all been in the top ten.

Increasing global temperatures have many consequences, including rising sea levels, more extreme weather and biodiversity loss. Global heating also has a direct impact on human health, contributing to increased spread of vector-borne diseases and higher mortality rates.

UNDP’s Human Climate Horizons platform is helping us to better visualize, understand and plan for these effects. Built on cutting-edge research, the platform provides localized data and projections for how climate change will impact human security under different scenarios.

Despite global commitments to universal health care, billions of people can’t access quality, affordable care. More than half of the world’s population is not covered by essential services, and 2 billion people face severe financial hardship when paying for medical services and products.

UNDP partners with the Global Fund, governments and civil society to remove barriers that prevent people from accessing the care they need. Combining technology, clean energy and operational support, we work to strengthen national capacities to deliver essential health services, particularly to vulnerable populations.

This includes delivering medicines to patients in conflict zones, helping countries prepare for the next epidemic and using artificial intelligence to expand access to medical testing. And as a founding sponsor of the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS, we are working towards ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.

You may have heard reports about an alarming rise in natural disasters. This is mainly due to a five-fold increase in climate and weather-related disasters over the past 50 years.

At UNDP, we believe there are no ‘natural’ disasters. Rather, disasters occur when natural hazards intersect with vulnerabilities like weak infrastructure, poverty and degraded ecosystems. Our development choices determine whether a hazard becomes a disaster. Weak buildings amplify earthquake damage, while unplanned urbanization makes flooding more devastating.

On the other hand, a drought doesn’t cause widespread suffering if people have alternative water sources, and farmers have insurance and other financial resources to withstand a failed harvest. With risk-informed development, we can build resilient communities capable of weathering almost any storm – making disasters a thing of the past.

More and more people, in more and more places, are having their lives upended by conflict. About a quarter of the world’s population, or 2 billion people, live in places affected by conflict.

Wars and armed conflict threaten our physical safety, one of our most fundamental needs. And the danger isn’t just in the present. Conflicts also rob the future by diverting resources away from development and depriving people of opportunities – for instance, keeping children out of school.

As with many threats to human security, UNDP places a heavy emphasis on prevention. Our work on preventing violent extremism, for instance, focuses on addressing the grievances that can set people on a course to radicalization, or interrupting that journey, while also supporting those who want to leave violent groups.

Very often, wars and conflicts continue to cause harm long after peace treaties have been signed and weapons have fallen silent.

Around 60 million people around the world face risks from landmines and other explosive ordnance. Many live in places with ongoing wars, while many others are in places where conflicts officially ended years or decades ago.

For more than three decades, UNDP has supported mine action in in over 50 countries, building institutional capacities, providing risk education, helping victims and undertaking clearance operations. By releasing previously contaminated lands for agriculture and other productive uses, mine action is literally and figuratively clearing pathways for development.

International humanitarian law requires that warring parties take care to avoid harming civilians and civilian infrastructure during conflict. Hospitals, schools and homes must not come under fire, and roads and bridges must remain open so that food and other supplies can reach people in need of assistance. Still, the destruction is not always limited to military targets.

UNDP helps communities affected by conflict to maintain their physical and economic infrastructure, so they can minimize suffering and recover more quickly. In Gaza, UNDP’s Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian People joined the humanitarian response, focused on providing clean water, emergency employment, medical supplies and waste removal services. In Ukraine, UNDP assists government institutions in maintaining the continuity of basic services, essential to save lives and sustain livelihoods.

Despite being banned, modern slavery and human trafficking are big business, generating an estimated US$236 billion in illicit profits each year. Around 50 million people around the world are trafficked or are in conditions of modern slavery.

Given its role underpinning the entire economy, the financial sector is uniquely positioned to push systemic change to end these abusive practices across industries. That’s why UNDP works with partners to mobilize Finance Against Slavery and Trafficking. The initiative helps financial institutions and professionals identify risks and integrate anti-slavery principles into their operations while linking survivors to financial services and other support.

After decades of progress, the world is sliding backwards on ending hunger. Around 733 million people were undernourished in 2023, equivalent to 1 in 11 people globally. At the same time, around a third of the food we produce goes to waste.

UNDP has a multi-dimensional strategy to fight hunger, providing immediate support to vulnerable populations while addressing root causes, including poverty, climate and conflict.

Our Food Systems initiatives look beyond increasing production, prioritizing resilient, diversified and agroecological models. The aim is to build long-term food and nutrition security by integrating sustainable land management, climate-smart agriculture and a circular approach where food loss and waste is designed out of the system.

More than 1 in every 67 people on Earth has been forced to flee their homes.

Whether it’s due to conflict, climate or other factors, the number of displaced persons is at an all-time high. As of the end of 2024, the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, reports that 123.2 million people had been forced to abandon their homes due to conflict, persecution or other serious disturbances. This includes 42.7 million refugees and 73.5 million people who have left home but remain in their own countries.

Since the 1960s, UNDP has worked with UNHCR and other partners to bring context-specific, integrated solutions for displaced persons and the communities hosting them. In Sudan, where the world’s largest displacement crisis is unfolding, we are helping those who are able to return home to rebuild their livelihoods and revive local economies.

Our unsustainable lifestyles are poisoning the air, water and soil we rely on.

Air pollution kills 7 million people every year, according to the World Health Organization, which reports that 9 out of 10 people breathe polluted air. Pollution also contributes to declining ocean health. If the current trajectory doesn’t change, by 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean by weight.

In 2022, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution recognizing that we all have a right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. UNDP supports the realization this new human right in part by focusing on the role of business in tackling the triple planetary crisis of pollution, climate change and biodiversity loss. Through our Business and Human Rights (B+HR) Academy, we help companies understand and address the environmental and human rights implications of their operations.