What does UNDP do? The United Nations development programme, working in about 170 countries and territories. Mission, structure, and what it does.
Last updated: October 2026
UNDP — the United Nations Development Programme — is the UN’s global development network. The General Assembly created it in 1965 by merging two earlier technical-assistance bodies. It is headquartered in New York.
UNDP works in about 170 countries and territories. Its mission is to eradicate poverty, reduce inequalities and build resilience so countries can sustain development gains — and to help governments turn the Sustainable Development Goals into national plans and budgets.
UNDP publishes the annual Human Development Report and its Human Development Index (HDI), launched in 1990, which ranks countries by life expectancy, schooling and income per person.
A 36-member Executive Board, shared with UNFPA and UNOPS and elected by the UN Economic and Social Council, oversees the programme. An Administrator runs it: Achim Steiner has held the post since 2017.
Five regional bureaus — Africa, Arab States, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and Central Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean — manage country programmes agreed with host governments.
UNDP supports democratic governance and rule of law, poverty reduction, climate and energy transitions, and crisis prevention and recovery. It places advisers inside ministries, funds pilot programmes, and connects governments to financing and expertise.
As the UN’s development integrator, it coordinates how UN agencies work together inside each country through the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework.
UNDP is the United Nations development programme, working in about 170 countries and territories. It fights poverty, strengthens governance and helps countries meet the Sustainable Development Goals. It is governed by a 36-member Executive Board shared with UNFPA and UNOPS.
UNDP is the United Nations Development Programme, created in 1965 to help countries eradicate poverty and sustain development.
UNDP works in about 170 countries and territories, through country programmes agreed with host governments.
It supports governance, poverty reduction, climate and energy transitions, and crisis recovery, and publishes the Human Development Report.
A 36-member Executive Board shared with UNFPA and UNOPS oversees the programme, and an Administrator runs it.
