Belgium Commits €30M in Core Funding to UNDP, Reinforcing Support for Crisis Response and Long-Term Development

The pledge confirms Belgium’s position as one of UNDP’s top 20 core donors and underscores its continued commitment to flexible, predictable funding at a time of mounting global instability.

 

The Government of Belgium has announced a €30 million multiannual contribution for 2025–2028 to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), strengthening the organisation’s ability to respond rapidly to crises while advancing long-term, sustainable development.

The pledge confirms Belgium’s position as one of UNDP’s top 20 core donors and underscores its continued commitment to flexible, predictable funding at a time of mounting global instability.

In its official communication to UNDP, Belgium’s Federal Public Service of Foreign Affairs stressed the importance of core contributions, noting that they are “indispensable for enabling UNDP to carry out its mandate effectively and flexibly, safeguard its normative functions, and contribute to the 2030 Agenda in a coherent, coordinated and sustainable manner.”

Timely Support Amid a Fragile Global Context

Belgium’s renewed commitment comes as the world faces overlapping economic, political, environmental, social and technological shocks, unfolding at unprecedented speed. According to the 2025 Human Development Report, three decades of progress in human development are now fragile and losing momentum.

Against this backdrop, Belgium’s contribution will help underpin UNDP’s work in some of the world’s most challenging contexts and support the rollout of UNDP’s new Strategic Plan 2026–2029. The plan prioritises:

• Effective and inclusive governance

• Stronger resilience to crises and shocks

• Action on planetary pressures, including climate change

A Long-Standing Partnership with Global Impact

Belgium has been a long-standing and trusted partner of UNDP, supporting efforts to reduce poverty and inequality, strengthen crisis resilience, and advance gender equality.

In recent years, Belgium’s support has enabled UNDP to:

• Help rebuild Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and support large-scale demining efforts

• Deliver emergency assistance in Gaza, including support to healthcare services and solid waste management

• Conserve Burundi’s largest and most biodiverse national parks

• Strengthen transparency in national climate commitments through UNDP’s Climate Promise

• Address gender-based violence in fragile and conflict-affected settings

Flexible Funding for Greater Impact

UNDP says core resources are critical because they allow the organisation to allocate funds where needs are greatest, respond quickly to emerging crises, and invest strategically in long-term solutions.

This renewed multiannual funding ensures that Belgium’s partnership remains instrumental in supporting fragile and least developed countries, while also enabling UNDP to scale innovative approaches to sustainable development.

As global challenges intensify, Belgium’s commitment sends a strong signal of confidence in multilateral cooperation—and in UNDP’s central role in advancing human development worldwide.