All governments from developing countries confront the challenge of designing coherent policies that can simultaneously accelerate growth, reduce poverty and inequality, preserve and improve the environment, and help adapt/mitigate to climate change. To successfully achieve these objectives, countries need both i) sound institutional arrangements for policy integration; and ii) quantitative analytical capacities to assess policy options. The ultimate aim is to foster a cohesive policy formulation process that incorporates development objectives across the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of sustainable development.
In response to the Government requests from Cameroon, Ethiopia and Senegal, this project aims to support policy coherence through stronger inter-agency collaboration and coordination, while building integrated assessment methodologies and capacities to address the interlinkages and tradeoffs among policies, goals and the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development. A climate, land-use, energy and water systems integrated assessment (CLEWS), including socio-economic aspects, will be developed in each country within the framework of improved cooperation among institutions and public administration and integrated whole-of-government approaches. Capacity building activities will be provided to government officials, in order to address the challenges and particular policy scenarios discussed with official government counterparts, to inform evidence-based policy discussions.
The Project will result in enhanced institutional capacity and inter-agency cooperation within target countries for developing integrated approaches and tools to support evidence-based policy-making to address the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The project aims to enhance and strengthen knowledge, policy development and national capacities of developing countries and countries with economies in transition to improve their policies and programmes supporting the growth of micro-, small-, and medium-enterprises (MSMEs) in order to promote productive activities, job creation, income generation and entrepreneurship especially among socially disadvantaged groups including women, youth, and to effectively contribute to the achievement of the sustainable development goals (SDGs). The project activities focus on developing policy and program options to build capacities and promote MSMEs in developing countries, to develop global and regional networks for enhancing collaboration and partnerships, to exchange experiences and lessons learned, including through HLPF.
Sustainable development requires growth of economic activities, production of goods and services, creation of employment opportunities, revenue growth and infrastructure development without compromising environmental and social integrity. In this regard, the role of the private sector, in particular, of MSMEs cannot be overemphasized. Micro-, small- and medium-enterprises are present in almost every country of the world. Their role is even more vital in the developing countries. Formal SMEs contribute up to 45 percent of total employment and up to 33 percent of national income (GDP) in emerging economies. These numbers are significantly higher when micro enterprises and informal SMEs are included. MSMEs often involve people with little or no financial resources who also face tremendous barriers to access the conventional financial institutions for start-up businesses due to their poverty and lack of collateral assets. In addition, MSMEs are constrained by lack of capacity and knowledge on launching businesses, market access and other resources. Furthermore, many developing countries have not been able to fully tap the potentials of MSMEs due to weak policy, institutional and support mechanisms. MSMEs can be a powerful vehicle to improve economic and social conditions of individuals, communities and society. Accordingly, the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development has specific targets regarding MSMEs under Goal 8 but the significance of and support for MSMEs have been mentioned in many other Goals and Targets.
Add core problems/issues: lack of access to financial resources, credit, business operation capacities, market analysis skills and management skills. Lack of regional and global initiatives to strengthen the capacities of government agencies and financial sectors to provide necessary policy and operation support to the MSMEs.
Who are the key beneficiaries? The public sector agencies, in particular the ministries/agencies of planning and economic development, as well as the business association in support of MSMEs, and private sector, including the financial sector and trade associations, will be the main beneficiaries of the project. It is expected that the eventual beneficiaries of the project will be the MSME entrepreneurs including women and youth.
What/whose capacities will be strengthened by this project? Government ministries/agencies, business associations in support of MSMEs, MSME entrepreneurs, credit agencies and other lending institutions for MSMEs.
Main entities involved? DSD together with DPAD, FfD, UNDP, UNIDO, UNCTAD, ADB, AFDB and WB and other UN system partners; WBCSD and other business groups and foundations in support of MSMEs, through collaboration in desk studies, assessments, workshops and when appropriate, advisory services.
What capacities to be enhanced? Planning, policy formulation, training, market analysis, access to credit, business plan development, business management, accounting, etc. Building global and regional networks of MSME practitioners, financial sector, IT sector and relevant government agencies.

This project provided technical assistance to four least developed countries (LDCs), Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Lao PDR and Tanzania, on different aspects of their efforts to integrate the 2030 Agenda into national development plans and strategies. The work focused on areas that many countries have identified as a priority for technical assistance in their Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs): policy coherence and inclusiveness (including aspects such as modeling, institutional arrangements and stakeholder engagement); financing of national development priorities; and data and monitoring.
The assistance was tailored to the specific needs and demands of each country. In addition to delivering the technical assistance itself, the project piloted an approach to DESA interdivisional work in close cooperation with the Resident Coordinator’s Office (RCO) of each country.

The proposed project aims to address the lack of systematic and long-term asset management at the municipal level in the four least developed countries (LDCs). The ultimate objective of improving municipal asset management is to help municipalities meet a required level of basic services, in the most cost-effective manner, through the management of physical assets (land, buildings, infrastructure) for present and future customers. This objective is accomplished through enhanced lifecycle asset management and portfolio asset management. Lifecycle asset management encompasses all practices associated with physical infrastructure and property so that decisions are made based on the lowest long-term cost rather than short-term savings. Portfolio management involves managing groups of assets to maximize value and investment for the entire portfolio of assets rather than individual or single groups of assets. The project will follow a four-pronged strategy, consisting of (i) helping target countries assess the needs of their municipalities in asset management by training central government officials in the application of a diagnostic tool to review municipal assets in a holistic and integrated way and identifying critical areas for improvements; (ii) training municipal officials in the formulation and implementation of customized asset management action plans (AMAPs) that can be effectively linked to a medium-term budget and a long-term sustainable development strategy; (iii) increasing the dialogue among different stakeholders, in particular between central government agencies and municipal authorities to better understand the impact of existing policies, laws and regulations on municipal asset management and explore areas of reform and improvement; and (iv) sharing lessons learned and general policy recommendations with other LDCs. Accordingly, the project should result in the creation and implementation of AMAPs in the target countries in support of sustainable development, as well as a comprehensive publication of policy lessons that provides general guidance to other municipal governments in LDCs. Municipal governments in target countries (no more than 3 per country) will be chosen in consultation with the cooperating entities and national governments to ensure the project can leverage existing work of partner agencies and fits well into national sustainable development strategies. To make sure the proposed AMAPs will be implemented and lead to concrete actions on the ground, specific attention will be paid to ensuring that the sequencing of recommended actions is tailored to the municipal context; existing skills and technologies are considered and municipal ownership is ensured.

Small-scale farmers in mountainous areas and in drought and desertification- affected regions of developing countries encounter constant challenges with respect to growing agricultural produce putting them at risk of not being able to get enough harvests to support their families’ livelihoods.  Lack of sufficient arable land to grow traditional agricultural produce, especially in mountainous areas and in regions experiencing drought, land degradation and desertification, compounds the perennial problem of poverty in many developing countries. Juncao technology (jun meaning fungi, cao meaning grass) that has been developed by the National Engineering Research Centre for Juncao Technology of the Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University (FAFU) of China has allowed farmers in mountainous areas and in regions experiencing drought, land degradation and desertification to grow several types of nutritious mushrooms from dried, chopped grasses, without cutting down trees and damaging the environment. Such an environmental-friendly technology can help small-scale farmers and farming communities to develop a low-cost, commercial-scale mushroom cultivation industry that can provide sustainable livelihood for thousands. In addition, the technology can also be used for producing cattle feed, methane gas and also minimize soil erosion to combat desertification. In the long run, depending on local demands and the scale of production, it may also provide opportunities for exporting the mushrooms cultivated using the technology. To date this technology, that has the potential of lifting populations out of poverty, has been successfully transferred to a number of developing countries, including Fiji, Lesotho, Papua New Guinea, Rwanda, and South Africa. The key beneficiaries of the project will be the small-scale farmers, relevant line ministries and government agencies, in particular in the ministries/agencies of agriculture, forestry and of planning and economic development; as well as other stakeholders, including women and youth living in poverty who would be equipped with the technology. Academia in the participating pilot countries will also benefit from the project enhancing their knowledge and understanding of the backend of the technology through fellowships and study tours to enable them to understand the scientific basis of the technology and also provide them with the opportunity to contribute to its continuous innovation through research and development in collaboration with the developers of the technology at the National Engineering Research Centre for Juncao Technology of the Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University (FAFU) of China. This project aims to enhance knowledge and strengthen national capacities of developing countries to improve their policies and programmes supporting sustainable agriculture through the transfer of Juncao technology in order to promote productive activities, income generation and entrepreneurship especially among socially disadvantaged groups including farmers, women, youth and to effectively contribute to the achievement of the sustainable development goals (SDGs).  The project activities focus on developing policy and program options to build capacities and promote sustainable agriculture in developing countries and build a global network for enhancing collaboration and partnerships, including contributing to reports going to the HLPF on implementation of the SDGs.

This project supports and assists selected countries in developing a comprehensive and efficient system for monitoring progress towards SFM. This is be achieved through a step- by-step approach, which includes conducting inventories of existing forest-related data, mapping data gaps, addressing these gaps and selecting appropriate indicators. Particular attention is be paid to socio-economic aspects (e.g. livelihoods, food security, poverty reduction) of forests and financial flows for SFM. The socio-economic benefits of forests are particularly important to societies in the selected developing countries, yet these are the areas where methodology is missing and data is either very weak or not existing. The project takes into account the outcomes of the Inter-Agency and Expert Group on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Indicators (IAEG), particularly indicators on SDG15 and target 15.2, which specifically address SFM. It is expected that the monitoring framework developed within this project will serve domestic needs as well as help to report on forest related international commitments including the SDGs, the UN Forest Instrument and its Global Objectives on Forests. To a large extent the analytical work will be done by national consultants and results of their work will be presented and discussed at series of national workshops. These workshops will gather not only forest authorities but also focal points of the Rio Conventions (CBD, UNCCC, UNCCD), FAO/FRA and stakeholders from other sectors (employment, demographics, energy), which gather data relevant to and whose decisions have effect on forests and forestry. The lessons learned and experiences gained within this project will be shared at a global workshop, which could agree on a common approach to reporting among broader group of countries and possibly serve as starting point for an updated reporting mechanism to UNFF.

The objective of this project is to strengthen the statistical capacity in China and other developing countries especially in the area of basic statistics. Within this overall objective, special attention will be given to the fields such as the organization of the national statistical system, application of modern technologies in statistical work and service to statistical users. Knowledge transfer will include sharing of experiences in South-South collaboration.The proposed expected accomplishments are (1) strengthened and optimized organization of national statistical systems and improved dissemination of data to policy makers and other users, and (2) increased capacity of the national statistical systems to produce better quality and more relevant statistical data for policy makers and other users especially in the areas of economic, environment and social statistics, thus improving data quality and credibility in a comprehensive manner.  In consideration of the statistical demand from China and other developing countries, priority will be given to a wide range of subject matter areas, including: big data, use of administrative records in statistics, application of modern technologies in statistical work, spatial analytics and information, research on innovation of statistical survey methods, statistics for services sector, environmental economic accounting, energy statistics, household surveys, enterprise innovation statistics, social statistics, gross fixed capital formation accounts, evaluation of resource utilization, well-being statistics, service to statistical users, and development and use of statistics, etc. 

 The implementation strategy to achieve the above expected accomplishments include: (i) international workshops; (ii) provision of materials on practices in implementation of latest international standards; (iii) technical advisory missions; (iv) exchange of staff among statistical offices; (v) sponsorship of short-term work or study in international organizations or other institutions; and (vi) study visits for officials to international seminars and conferences. The Statistics Division is currently implementing the second phase of this project. The first phase run from 2009 to 2014.

Over the last ten years, DPAD/UN-DESA has supported a number of Member States in developing the required capacities to use modelling tools to inform development policies. As such, an important number of models and training activities have been developed to support countries in the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and more recently to assess strategies for low-carbon growth and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.
Governments from developing countries confront the challenge of designing coherent policies that can simultaneously accelerate growth, reduce poverty, deepen human development, preserve and improve the environment, and adapt/mitigate to climate change. To successfully achieve these objectives, countries need quantitative analytical capacities to assess comprehensive, coherent and detailed policy options. This requires assessments that integrate a large number of development objectives across the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of sustainable development.
In response to the Government requests of Mexico, Ghana and Rwanda, this project aims at building integrated assessment methodologies and capacities in each country to address the interlinkages and tradeoffs among policies, goals and the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development. A climate, land-use, energy and water systems integrated assessment will be developed in each country, with capacity building activities provided to government officials, to address the challenges and particular policy scenarios discussed with official government counterparts, to inform evidence-based policy discussions.

The Ministry of Social Affairs of Kyrgyzstan requested UNDESA to provide assistance on designing and conducting a national survey on ageing formulating an evidence-based national policy on ageing in order to follow-up to the recommendations contained in the UNDESA Mission Report conducted by DSPD/DESA in Kyrgyzstan in April 2014. This project is a continuation of the initial support that UNDESA has provided to Kyrgyzstan in 2014 by advisory mission that concluded that, among other things, the country needs to analyse current social conditions using evidence - based approach and to develop sound social policies for social groups.

The objective of the project is to engage at national level with five strategic partners where biodiversity is at stake, so as to enhance their knowledge of valuation of ecosystems and their services. Building on an internationally-agreed methodology and EU-agreed methodology where relevant, and on the development of national competences, the project will initiate pilot testing in each country. The outputs are expected to influence policy-makers at national, regional and local level to take action in line with national environmental priorities, international commitments and EU priorities where relevant. In addition, the project will ensure awareness-raising for the private sector and the civil society.