10 July 2014: Helen Clark, Administrator of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and Chair of the UN Development Group (UNDG), has launched a report by the UNDP Multi-Partner Trust Fund Office (MPTF Office) focusing on the role of pooled financing mechanisms in strengthening synergies among humanitarian, development and climate finance provided to fragile and conflict-affected countries.

The report, titled ‘Financing Recovery for Resilience: Enhancing the coverage, capitalization and coherence of pooled financing mechanisms for recovery to strengthen synergies between humanitarian, development and climate finance,’ emphasizes that these three sources of finance are used to fund recovery efforts independently of each other, thus reducing recovery efforts’ effectiveness and increasing risks of financing gaps. Highlighting the valuable role pooled financing mechanisms can play in enhancing synergies among humanitarian, development and climate assistance, the report notes that those mechanisms are constrained by coverage, capitalization and coherence.

The report comes at a time when over 1.5 billion people are estimated to live in conflict-affected countries. It is also estimated that by 2015, half of the world’s population living in extreme poverty will live in fragile States.

In her speech at the launch of the report, Clark emphasized climate change as a threat that could generate more conflict by way of increasing competition for resources – a traditional driver of conflict and violence, cautioning that countries could fall into a “downward spiral,” with growing risks of violent conflicts, disaster and development setbacks. She called for integrated resilience-based approaches instead of “development at the expense of the environment,” and urged stronger synergies among recovery efforts, humanitarian and development assistance, and climate finance. [UNDP Press Release with Link to Report] [Speech by Helen Clark at the Launch of the Report]