At the midpoint of the 2030 Agenda, the world faces major challenges: climate change, debt burdens, food insecurity, digital divides, and 650 million people in extreme poverty. South-South and Triangular Cooperation offer practical, locally grounded solutions that complement traditional aid. The 2025 theme for the International Day for South-South cooperation (12 September), “New Opportunities and Innovation,” emphasizes sustainable financing, resilient partnerships, SDG progress, and the Global South’s leadership. Platforms like South-South Galaxy and the Solutions Lab help scale what works.

Knowledge, especially practical know-how, is crucial for countries to address development challenges and enhance resilience to disasters. Many people and businesses in emerging economies lack insurance against natural disasters, forcing governments to absorb the costs. In 2023, earthquakes in Morocco, Türkiye, and Syria highlighted this gap. In Morocco and Türkiye, public-private insurance partnerships demonstrated effectiveness in these cases, expanding access and affordability of risk coverage. The World Bank Group Academy launched the Disaster Risk Finance Academy to facilitate sharing of best practices among global experts and officials, with a goal of transforming knowledge into actionable solutions.

Yemen’s Rural Livelihoods Project boosts resilience by restoring water, providing solar power, and teaching nutrition to fight poverty and hunger.

UNOPS is revitalizing public services and spaces in Lebanon – helping to strengthen local communities and foster greater resilience.

Earlier this year, Fatima, a resident of a remote village in Herat Province, received humanitarian cash assistance that provided much-needed relief. However, two local men seized the funds from 23 recipients, claiming they needed redistribution. Despite the risk of retaliation, Fatima contacted Awaaz Afghanistan, a nationwide platform for reporting issues related to humanitarian aid. The team acted on her complaint, leading to a field visit that confirmed the misuse of funds. Within ten days, each affected household received their full assistance. This case underscores the impact of speaking out and the responsiveness of humanitarian actors, facilitated by Awaaz Afghanistan, which has assisted nearly 600,000 calls and reached almost 4 million people.

Home to over 600 million people, the 32 Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) face a highly challenging pathway to sustainable development due to the lack of sea access, geographical isolation, and trade costs that are 30% higher than those of coastal countries. To raise awareness, the UN General Assembly proclaimed 6 August as the International Day of Awareness of the Special Development Needs and Challenges of Landlocked Developing Countries. The first celebration of this day coincides with the Third UN Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries, currently being held in Awaza, Turkmenistan.

Landlocked developing countries (LLDCs) face hurdles in trade, connectivity, and development due to their lack of direct sea access. Without coastal ports, they rely on transit nations, which results in higher trade costs and delays. Despite these challenges, LLDCs host vibrant communities with untapped potential. The Third UN Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries, taking place from today through Friday in Awaza, Turkmenistan, offers a chance to explore solutions and forge partnerships, addressing challenges and unlocking their full potential for a more equitable and prosperous future.

Development has led to significant achievements like longer lives and less poverty, but these gains are threatened by deep global changes, including geopolitical tensions, shifting populations, and climate shocks. The UNDP's report "Development at Risk: Protecting Gains and Unleashing Opportunities Amid Crisis" urges the global community to prioritize risk reduction. It recommends three key actions: rethink development outcomes by incorporating measures of wellbeing and resilience beyond GDP, reimagine governance through empowering local institutions and data use, and reboot cooperation by investing in long-term, flexible solutions. These strategies aim to transform risks into opportunities for advancing development effectively.

On World Rural Development Day, we meet Khmayes from rural Tunisia, whose life was transformed by an IFAD-supported project that gave him the freedom to transport and sell his goods with a motorized tricycle.

People everywhere wish to live in peace and dignity, free from fear and from want. Yet today we face multiple overlapping crises that impact billions of lives and undermine our collective well-being. Identifying threats to human security is our first step towards a future of peace and prosperity. Play the game and see if you can spot the development challenges hidden in the scene.

Rural development goes beyond geographic boundaries and addresses critical challenges such as poverty, inequality, food insecurity, and sustainability. Celebrated on 6 July, World Rural Development Day promotes an integrated approach that values traditional knowledge, advances gender equality, and fosters digital inclusion. It calls on governments, international organizations and civil society to engage in tangible initiatives, informed policy dialogue, and community-led efforts to uplift and empower those who till the soil, harvest the seas, and nurture the land in the rural corners of the world.

Ahead of the Fourth World Conference on Financing for Development in Sevilla, Mariangela Parra-Lancourt highlights how smart investments in individuals can drive progress for all of society.

Government leaders, together with international and regional organizations, financial and trade institutions, businesses and civil society have come together at the highest level to foster stronger international cooperation at the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4) in Seville, Spain. The four day conference offers a unique opportunity to reform financing at all levels — including advancing reform of the international financial architecture and addressing financing challenges that hinder the urgently needed investment push for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Despite a headline rise in 2024, UNCTAD warns that global FDI is in decline for the second year, exposing a widening disconnect between capital flows and development needs.

Over the past decade, migrants have sent US$5 trillion in remittances to low- and middle-income countries, exceeding official development assistance and equaling foreign direct investment. More than one-third of these funds have reached rural areas, where they count the most. Remittances are more than financial transactions; they are a lifeline for millions of families. As part of its decade-long campaign highlighting the role of remittances in achieving the SDGs, the International Day of Family Remittances (16 June) focuses on showcasing how these transfers contribute to financing development.