UN Joint SDG Fund allocates $22.9M to tackle triple crisis

The United Nations Joint Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Fund activated a Development Emergency Modality to respond to the unfolding global food, energy, and financing crises, Report informs, citing the UN press service.

The war in Ukraine set in motion a three-dimensional crisis that is producing alarming cascading effects on a world economy already battered by COVID-19 and climate change.

The speed and interconnected nature of these impacts call for a swift response by the United Nations development system to help countries address the socio-economic impacts, while further strengthening the case for a faster renewable energy transition, economic diversification, digital transformations, and food staples, accelerating progress towards the SDGs.

"UN Country Teams are using the Development Emergency Modality of the Joint SDG Fund to help governments devise strategic interventions to cope with the multi-dimensional crisis in food, energy, and finance, and accelerate the transformation of food systems." Deputy Secretary-General's remarks at the ECOSOC Meeting on the Transition from Relief to Development, 2022.

The Joint SDG Fund activated an envelope of $22.9 million, under the guidance of the United Nations Global Crisis Response Group (GCRG) to support 87 UN country teams covering over 100 countries and territories, in response to the global crisis on food, energy, and finance. Through this process, the Fund received 83 joint proposals, requesting up to $250,000 per UN country teams and $400,000 per Multi-Country Offices. To date, the Fund has distributed $16.6 million to 63 UN country teams.

The Development Emergency Modality offers a swift avenue for donors and development partners to contribute demand-driven financing toward a coordinated UN response for a period of 6 months addressing the three-dimensional crisis. With gratitude to the Government of Germany for the commitment to the Joint SDG Fund and United Nations Reform, the first to contribute to the Emergency Development Modality.

"We are impressed by the speed of the Development Emergency Modality's disbursements and the broad integration of many different agencies into this ambitious undertaking", noted Bärbel Kofler, Parliamentary Secretary of State of Germany's Ministry of Development Cooperation, while meeting with the Joint SDG Fund leadership on the margins of the 2022 High Level Political Forum.

"We are proud to contribute to the Emergency Modality a further US$ 2.7 million from Germany, earmarked to support food security."