Czech-UNDP Partnership for the SDGs

Many countries in Europe and Central Asia are facing similar challenges to those of the Czech Republic in the 1990s. Through the Czech-UNDP Partnership for the SDGs, the Czech Republic shares its own experience in tackling those challenges with partner countries. Since 2004, the Czech government and UNDP in Europe and Central Asia cooperate to bring best practices and comparative knowledge to countries across the region.

Until 2018, the cooperation took place under the framework of the Czech-UNDP Trust Fund, and focused on coordination and facilitation of cooperation among stakeholders, delivering needed administrative support, and establishing and running a database of experts on call to provide knowledge support to partner countries. Since 2018, the collaboration takes place via the Czech UNDP Partnership for Sustainable Development Goals (CUP).

Czech-UNDP Partnership for Sustainable Development Goals (CUP)

Building on accomplishments of the Czech-UNDP Trust fund, CUP’s main goal is not only to bring Czech expertise to the fore but also to provide unique innovative solutions for the realization of the SDGs to partner countries. The initiative has also grown in scope and now extends its activities focus to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ethiopia, Georgia, Cambodia, Moldova and Zambia.

The CUP consists of three components:

1. Expertise on Demand

Czech expertise is shared through hands-on experience and trainings in the partner countries. This includes technological assistance, expert consulting, preparation of feasibility studies, specialized on-site trainings, and study trips or professional internships. Experts are assigned for up to 90 days to establish long lasting solutions that bring positive changes to local communities and organisations. Learn more about the 33 Expertise on Demand projects completed to date.

2. Challenge Fund

Innovative solutions from the Czech Republic’s private sector, NGOs, universities, state institutions, research centres and individuals are applied to tackle specific developmental challenges in the priority countries. Candidates with Czech expertise and innovative solutions are invited to apply around specific development themes, which are announced annually. The proposals should consist of solutions applicable at the country and sub-regional level. To date, 90 Challenge Fund projects have been supported.

3. Knowledge Management

To ensure that CUP-supported activities contribute to broader outcomes and have lasting impact, the CUP applies a strategy of monitoring, collecting and validating the outputs of individual projects, making the gained and accumulated knowledge and experience in these projects accessible for further use. In this way, best practices, shared know-how, and lessons learned from the projects are kept readily available to implementors of other projects as well as to the public across the region.