As conflict rises and aid declines, UNDP argues that investing in long-term development is essential to building resilience, reducing costs, and securing global peace and stability.
Economic Development
When psychosocial factors harm workers, they become hazards that, alongside physical, chemical and biological risks, must be addressed and managed to ensure safe and healthy working environments. Each year, an estimated 840,000 deaths are linked to psychosocial risks at work, underscoring the scale and urgency of the challenge. The 2026 campaign of the World Day for Safety and Health at Work (28 April) focuses on creating safe and healthy psychosocial working environments, tackling issues such as work-related stress, burnout and mental health, alongside physical safety.
The world is seeing a huge rise in the number of young people ready to work, especially in developing countries, but far too few jobs are being created. Governments don’t need to create all the jobs themselves. Instead, they should make it easier for businesses to start, grow, and hire by setting clear, fair, and predictable rules. When companies feel confident to invest, more jobs follow. If countries succeed, growth and stability will spread globally. If they fail, job shortages could lead to deeper poverty, migration, and unrest.
A where developing countries collaborate, share debt management strategies, and strengthen collective capacity to address rising financial challenges.
The finds that a worsening global context—marked by financing gaps, energy shocks, debt burdens, aid declines, and geopolitical fragmentation—is constraining progress on the SDGs. It highlights a “financing squeeze” in developing countries, with high borrowing costs and limited investment. The report calls for implementing the , a blueprint for action on financing development.
To protect low-income households, small businesses, farmers and vulnerable communities from financial risk,
Rising borrowing costs are shrinking fiscal space across developing countries, forcing governments to cut essential spending and delaying development investments.
India has approved its first smell trademark: Sumitomo’s rose‑scented tires, marking a shift in how the country handles non‑traditional marks. Because scents are hard to represent objectively, Sumitomo used scientific tools—like chromatography and mass spectrometry, to define the molecular fingerprint of its rose fragrance —to meet legal standards of clarity and non‑functionality. The case sets a precedent for sensory marks, highlights the need for guidelines and scientific support, and opens opportunities for scent‑based branding in India and beyond.
are unevenly altering competitiveness, , limiting value chain upgrading, and reshaping global trade flows.
The world is shaped by fast crises and slow, powerful forces. Among the most significant is a coming wave: 1.2 billion young people in developing countries will soon enter the workforce, but far too few jobs await them. This story explores why this demographic surge is often overlooked, why it matters for global stability, and how early investment—in skills, infrastructure, and thriving businesses—could transform a looming risk into a historic opportunity.
±«±·°ä°Ő´ˇ¶Ů’s warns that service growth in least developed countries is limited by low productivity, weak digital capacity, and insufficient job creation, restricting broad-based prosperity.
Despite ongoing efforts, Asia and the Pacific's progress towards our UN 17 global goals for a better world remains insufficient, according to the latest for the region. The document shows that while these countries have achieved notable success in reducing poverty, improving health and well-being, and driving rapid industrialization, these gains are being undermined by failures to protect the environment and reduce inequality in areas such as education and justice. At the current pace, 88% of measurable targets will be missed.
Maw Maw Hmwe operates a food stall selling rice noodle salads in Myanmar's Magway Region. As a mother of eight facing unstable crop yields due to climate change and political crisis, she needed a reliable income. In 2024, she joined a women's savings and credit group supported by the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), which helped her access low-interest loans. Initially hesitant, she took a loan to improve her rice farming, which led to better harvests. The group not only provided financial support but also fostered a community where women share ideas and support each other during challenging times, giving Maw Maw a sense of confidence and independence.
At a time when nature needs allies, our money is still marching in the opposite direction. A new United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report warns that for every US$1 invested in protecting nature, US$30 goes to activities that harm it. In 2023, nature‑negative finance reached US$7.3 trillion, driven by private sector flows and US$2.4 trillion in harmful public subsidies. The report calls for a major shift in global financing of Nature-based Solutions () and phasing out harmful investments to deliver high returns, reduce risk exposure, and enhance resilience.
When the world stumbled, the economy kept walking, but more slowly. Despite recent shocks, the global economy has remained resilient, but long‑term growth has slowed, leaving many developing countries poorer than before the COVID‑19 pandemic. Rising inequality between high- and low‑income economies reflects policy setbacks, especially weakened fiscal discipline. The lesson is clear: strong governance, clearer fiscal rules and renewed reforms are essential for developing economies to regain momentum.