Abu Dhabi, July 1 - The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) signed a partnership agreement today to strengthen their collaboration in support of countries wishing to enhance government services and governance models in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Achim Steiner, UNDP Administrator and Mohammad Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs and the Future of the UAE, signed the Memorandum of Understanding on the margins of the Abu Dhabi Climate Meeting which was hosted by the UAE to take stock of progress on climate action so far in the lead up to the Climate Action Summit in September 2019 in New York.

The UAE and UNDP agreed to collaborate to advance the wellbeing and happiness agenda in the context of UNDP programmes and to draw on UAE’s policy experience with a “well-being” approach. Both sides also agreed to deepen collaboration and trilateral partnerships with African nations.

The UAE and UNDP also agreed to work together to support the “next generation” of support to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of governments in Africa, taking into account new technologies and other advances that can better support governance and further Sustainable Development Goal 16 on building peace, justice and strong institutions.

The UAE and UNDP will also work together in the context of the World Government Summits to further engage government leaders from across the world, and to launch new regional and global initiatives as well as reports.

“The future of development and the next generation of UNDP services requires us to create, synthesize and share world class analytics, and the World Government Summit is a crucial space to share this type of knowledge and thinking,” said Steiner.