The United Nations Development Programme has seen to the successful completion of various developmental programmes and initiatives and it is still coming up with new ones with each passing day in the bid to help build a society that will be able to sustain this current generation and those that will follow in the future. Through the numerous programmes and initiatives of the United Nations Development Programme, countries that have been severely hit by various forms of natural disasters and epidemics have been aided immeasurably to get back on to their feet. The United Nations Development Programme has programmes and initiatives which include, the Africa Adaptation Programme, Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BFI), Equator Initiative, GEF Small Grants Programme, the Green Commodities Programme, MDG Carbon Facility and many similar developmental programmes and initiatives. These are but just a few of the programmes and initiatives that the UNDP has introduced in the past. Through the introduction of such programmes and initiatives, the United Nations Development Programme has been able to significantly help numerous member countries to recover from the incidence of any unforeseen natural disasters and epidemics.
Currently, some of the programmes and initiatives introduced by the United Nations Development Programme include response to the Ebola crisis in West Africa, responding to the crisis in Gaza and responding to the crisis in Syria.
Ebola Crisis in West Africa
In the just ended 2014 year, several West African countries including the likes of Liberia, Guinea, and Nigeria were hit by the spread of the Ebola virus. This is a disease that sent shivers down the spines of all who heard about its unrelenting rampage in the above mentioned West African countries. It brought the various institutions of government including the health facilities in all the affected countries down on their knees. Many were even afraid to even go near a person suspected to be carrying the disease and this eventually led to the affected countries almost becoming isolated and strict measures taken to keep citizens from such areas from travelling into other countries. The discrimination was becoming so much so until the UNDP stepped in boldly with it various aids and support to help cater for the health needs of the both the affected and unaffected ones in those countries. This initiative taken by the United Nations Development Programme is what brought about a very drastic change in the fight against the Ebola virus disease in West Africa as other groups and organisations also came on board to join hands in the fight against Ebola virus disease. The UNDP has been at the heart of this fight providing the much needed support in terms of the training of people to handle such situations properly, provision of better protective items, financial aid, quality equipment’s needed for quarantining the infected ones and provision of better medical care for all those suffering from the disease. The UNDP also created awareness about the need for necessary steps to be adopted to bring the deadly Ebola virus disease under control. This has resulted in the drastic reduction in the death rate of Ebola which at first seemed like it was getting out of control.
Responding to crisis in Gaza
The crisis in the Gaza strip has had such telling effects on the entire population to the extent that around 475,000 people have been rendered homeless as a result of the unrest in the Gaza strip. This has resulted in the destruction of the socio-economic infrastructure of the area bringing with it various levels of effects to those residing in Gaza. This meant that some form of intervention had to be made in order to restore the serenity that is needed for development in Gaza and the United Nations Development Programme stepped in at the right time through projects and initiatives like the access coordination and monitoring in Gaza and the construction of 300 residential units to house affected Palestinian families in Rafah.
Responding to Crisis in Syria
The dislocation of more than half of the total Syrian population, the early demise of over a hundred and ninety thousand people and severe living conditions for those that have survived the four years of Syrian conflict are just a few of the effects that the war in Syria has brought on its people. The UNDP being one of the developmental organisations in Syria that has been very vibrant, had to once again step in to ensure that some form of normalcy was restored. This led to the UNDP coming up with various initiatives and programmes like helping all affected societies to recover from the destructions that have been brought upon them by the war, providing employment avenues for some to ensure that there remains some form of development and even going as far as giving a helping hand to neighbouring countries so as to make them well prepared to cater for refugees that may flee from Syria to such countries.
These are some of the programmes and initiatives that the UNDP has introduced in its bid to help countries recover from disasters that may be man-made or natural.