Impact by Regions, Countries & Territories

UNDP’s Global Programme supports crisis-affected contexts across all regions to strengthen the rule of law and human rights. In this section, we present five regional overviews, detailing our priorities and approach depending on the context, as well as feature select country and territory results from 2021.

Five contexts from the list (Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Mali and Yemen) illustrate the achievements of the Global Focal Point for the Rule of Law (GFP). In peacekeeping missions and transition settings, UNDP’s Global Programme works through the GFP to deliver integrated assistance with our UN partners.

GFP Global Focal Point Highlights

Africa

Arab States

Latin America & The Caribbean

Asia-Pacific

Europe & Central Asia

Political
Engagement

The rule of law is essential for sustainable peace and resilient economies, as well as for the prevention or recurrence of conflict. To prevent or address injustice, inequalities or democratic deficits, UNDP works with multiple stakeholders to operate in a way that is consistent with the rule of law and creates opportunities for all individuals to exercise their rights and access justice.

Institution
Building

The importance of strong institutions is more evident than ever as countries and communities respond to disruption, whether because of public health restrictions, climate change or political upheaval. Limitations on public gatherings and travel have revealed the need for institutions that are resilient to disruption.

Community
Security

2021 was a pivotal year that saw various developments affecting peace and security around the world. Civic space continued to shrink and the social contract between states and citizens was increasingly challenged, particularly during and after the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Facing distressing consequences of climate change, states and communities are forced to manage more cross-border conflicts, triggered by the displacement of people seeking increasingly scarce resources.

Human Rights
Systems

The scope of human rights challenges is widening, from eroded public trust and shrinking civic space to ongoing inequality and human rights impacts in the socio-economic repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic, and emerging risks in the digital sphere. National human rights institutions (NHRIs), along with other human rights defenders, are facing rising and sophisticated forms of reprisals for carrying out their work.

Access to
Justice

Sustainable Development Goal 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions) of the 2030 Agenda highlights the importance of access to justice for all for the development of peaceful and inclusive societies. Meaningful access to justice can only be achieved when people know their rights, have the opportunities, agency and capacities to claim them, and have access to independent, inclusive and people-centred justice systems that will respond in a timely, fair and effective manner.

Transitional
Justice

Without justice, there can be no lasting peace. In post-conflict, crisis-affected and fragile contexts, truth-seeking initiatives and reconciliation efforts are essential to bring peace to affected communities. The COVID-19 pandemic has slowed down transitional processes as states prioritized their response to the health crisis and measures to support the economy.

Gender
Justice

In 2021, the continued erosion of democracy and the spread of authoritarian trends in politics in many parts of the world contributed to a backlash against women’s rights. The COVID-19 crisis has reversed some of the hard-won gender parity gains by exacerbating pre-existing inequalities and power imbalances. It has also caused a dramatic increase in sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). All these challenges have been particularly acute in conflict, fragile and crisis-affected settings.

Innovation

New ideas and new strategies are critical to building sustainable and effective development approaches that really meet people’s needs. Technologies and globalization raise new human rights concerns and threaten the rule of law. Responses to the COVID-19 pandemic continue to limit people’s access to basic services. UNDP connected expertise across the globe to learn and adapt. Creating a culture of curiosity and experimentation, these efforts ensured that local needs and expertise were combined with emerging models to bring strategic thinking to people-centred development goals.

Young lady

A young beneficiary of the Goudoumaria reintegration center for former Boko Haram combatants, victims, and released persons in the Diffa region. © UNDP Niger READ MORE

Three international judges

New international judges of the Special Criminal Court pledging their oath in presence of the President of the Central African Republic. ©UNDP CARREAD MORE

General director

Brigadier-General Aliya, General Director of the Family Protection Department, Ministry of Interior of Yemen. © UNDP YemenREAD MORE

Police wearing face mask

Model Police Station Initiative, Al-Salihya Police Station in Baghdad, Iraq. ©UNDP Iraq READ MORE

Welcome

Welcome to this digital space where we present the 2021 Annual Report of UNDP’s Global Programme on Strengthening the Rule of Law and Human Rights for Sustaining Peace and Fostering Development (hereinafter the Global Programme on Rule of Law and Human Rights or the Global Programme).

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Within UNDP and across the wider UN system, the Global Programme is the primary mechanism for the implementation of comprehensive and integrated rule of law and human rights programmes.

Operating via headquarters and at regional and country levels, the Global Programme uniquely combines rule of law, justice, security and human rights expertise, knowledge and ambitions within an overarching umbrella framework for enabling peaceful, just and inclusive societies to ensure that no one is left behind.

The Global Programme contributes to establishing a culture of respect for the rule of law and embedding human rights principles in UNDP’s work to build integrated and sustainable solutions for people and planet.

The Global Programme supports UNDP Country Offices and Regional Hubs, and works with governments, civil society and business entities to make the rule of law and respect for human rights a global reference point and enabler for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It is a platform for partnerships across the UN system, enabling more coherent, collaborative and integrated rule of law and human rights efforts in line with UNDP’s designated ‘integrator’ role and in support of the One-UN approach.

The Global Programme is implemented by the Rule of Law, Justice, Security and Human Rights team within UNDP’s Crisis Bureau and is part of UNDP’s Global Policy Network (GPN). Since its launch in 2008, the Global Programme significantly expanded the breadth and depth of UNDP’s contribution to fostering the rule of law, justice, security and human rights, especially in contexts affected by crisis, conflicts and fragility, through its quality programming, knowledge brokerage and policy support.

Peace Dove

In 2021, the Global Programme’s Phase III (2016-2021) was completed and Phase IV (2022-2025) was developed, representing a redoubling of efforts to anticipate and prevent instability and conflict, to address the drivers of fragility, to build resilience, and to strengthen the protection and promotion of human rights. In doing so, the Global Programme aims to accelerate the transformative ambition of Agenda 2030.

Phase IV is guided by UNDP’s three directions of change, namely structural transformation, leaving no-one behind, and building resilience. It directly contributes to the implementation of UNDP’s Strategic Plan (2022-2025), in particular to the signature solutions of governance and resilience, and it supports organization-wide efforts related to the environment and gender equality.

About
this report

This 2021 Annual Report highlights key achievements of UNDP’s Global Programme in over 50 fragile, crisis- or conflict-affected contexts in five regions: Africa, Arab States, Asia-Pacific, Europe and Central Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean.

Regional overviews present a brief analysis of the overall situation in 2021, focusing on political developments, the human rights situation, justice delivery for the most vulnerable, response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and engaging with businesses to progress towards the 2030 Agenda.

Some of the Global Programme’s essential support is implemented through the Global Focal Point for the Rule of Law (hereinafter the GFP), an arrangement co-led by UNDP and the UN Department of Peace Operations (DPO). In 2021, the GFP offered catalytic funding to joint rule of law programming in Afghanistan, Central African Republic (CAR), Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Haiti, Mali, Somalia and Sudan. For this report, the profiles of five countries have been selected to reflect the accomplishments within the GFP in a dedicated GFP section: Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Mali and Yemen. The profiles of other GFP-supported contexts can be found under the respective regions.

The Global Programme frames its activities within interlinked areas, such as political engagement, institution building, human rights, access to justice, gender equality, and community security. The eight thematic sections in this report detail UNDP’s signature initiatives, success stories and innovative approaches developed in synergy with Global Programme partners.

Since this is the last report produced within the Global Programme’s Phase III (2016-2021), a special section highlights success stories from ten contexts where the Global Programme and its partners delivered significant results that had tangible impact on individuals and communities.

Messages from Our Leaders

The Global Programme benefits from steadfast support from UNDP’s organizational leadership. Click the buttons on the right to see what the UNDP Administrator and the Assistant Secretary-General, Assistant Administrator, and Director of the Crisis Bureau at UNDP have to say about the importance of the rule of law and human rights in crisis-affected settings. These messages reflect how we continue our programming to leave no one behind and maintain support in challenging and fragile contexts.

Lady in white

Asako Okai

Assistant Secretary-General, Assistant Administrator, Director, Crisis Bureau, UNDP

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Achim Steiner

Achim
Steiner

UNDP
Administrator

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Highlights
Highlights
Highlights
Highlights
Highlights
Highlights
Highlights

The Global Programme provides rule of law and human rights assistance to over 50 contexts affected by crisis or conflict across five regions of the world. Our highlights brochure reflects the key achievements of country offices, presents signature initiatives within our eight thematic areas, gives an overview of the financial situation as well as partnership information for 2021.

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