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The Sustainable Development Goals in Bhutan
The Sustainable Development Goals are a global call to action to end poverty, protect the earth’s environment and climate, and ensure that people everywhere can enjoy peace and prosperity. These are the goals the UN is working on in Bhutan:
Story
24 May 2023
Report of the UNSDG Chair on DCO
Midway through the path to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), rising inequalities, surging conflicts, lingering socio-economic impacts of the COVID pandemic, spillovers of the war in Ukraine, and the widespread effects of the climate emergency constitute tremendous challenges for sustainable development. Strong, integrated and expert UN leadership is now more essential than ever.
The investments agreed by Member States to strengthen the leadership, impartiality, accountability, and effectiveness of the UN Resident Coordinator System are yielding clear returns in enhancing the UN development system (UNDS) support to national governments to advance the SDGs.
This report details the results of development coordination in 2022, which helped foster more coherent support for tailored SDG solutions aligned to countries’ priorities.

Story
06 April 2023
UN Peacekeepers
The Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, thanked Bhutan for its strong support to United Nations Peacekeeping and for the service and sacrifice of its military and police personnel deployed around the world under the UN flag.
Today, Bhutan provides 211 uniformed personnel, including six women, to eight UN peacekeeping operations making it the 53rd largest contributor. Bhutan’s largest contribution is to MINUSCA where 187 of its peacekeepers currently serve. Bhutan also deploys personnel to the UN peacekeeping missions in Abyei, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali, the Middle East, South Sudan and Western Sahara.
Bhutan also endorsed the Secretary-General’s ‘Action for Peacekeeping (A4P)’ initiative, which aims to strengthen peacekeeping through more targeted mandates, stronger and safer operations, better equipped and trained forces, and by mobilizing support for political solutions.
Bhutanese peacekeepers are committed to UN Peacekeeping, as well as for their resolve to minimize the environmental footprint of missions, thus helping advance the UN Climate Neutral Strategy and Greening the Blue Initiative.
Kadrinche la to all Bhutanese Peacekeepers!
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Story
06 April 2023
Press Relase
Press Release
United Nations thanks Bhutan for its contribution to peacekeeping. New York, 5 April- Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, thanked Bhutan for its strong support to United Nations Peacekeeping and for the service and sacrifice of its military and police personnel deployed around the world under the UN flag. This year marks the 75th anniversary of UN Peacekeeping. Since 1948, more than two million men and women have served in 71 UN peacekeeping missions, of which 12 operations are still active today, making a tangible difference to the lives of millions of people caught up in conflict. Bhutan initially contributed uniformed personnel in 2014 to the UN Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO), the first-ever peacekeeping mission, in the Middle East, as well as to the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA). Today, Bhutan provides 211 uniformed personnel, including six women, to eight UN peacekeeping operations making it the 53rd largest contributor. Bhutan’s largest contribution is to MINUSCA where 187 of its peacekeepers currently serve. Bhutan also deploys personnel to the UN peacekeeping missions in Abyei, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali, the Middle East, South Sudan and Western Sahara. Peacekeepers from Bhutan also served in UNMIL at the height of the Ebola crisis and in UNAMID. In December 2017, Bhutan also became the first country to pledge rapid deployment troops as part of the UN Peacekeeping Capability Readiness System. “Bhutanese peacekeepers serve with professionalism and integrity, meaningfully contributing towards the maintenance of international peace and security in very challenging environments. I am grateful for their continued commitment to UN Peacekeeping, as well as for their resolve to minimize the environmental footprint of our missions, thus helping advance the UN Climate Neutral Strategy and Greening the Blue Initiative,” said Mr. Lacroix. “The UN appreciates the service and sacrifice of the men and women from Bhutan and count on their continued support to create more agile, effective and accountable UN peacekeeping operations which deliver results.” added Mr. Lacroix. Bhutan also endorsed the Secretary-General’s ‘Action for Peacekeeping (A4P)’ initiative, which aims to strengthen peacekeeping through more targeted mandates, stronger and safer operations, better equipped and trained forces, and by mobilizing support for political solutions. Note to editors:
UN Peacekeeping Service and Sacrifice: https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/service-and-sacrifice Action for Peacekeeping: https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/action-for-peacekeeping-a4p
Media enquiries in Bhutan: Ms. Tshering Chuki Office of the UN Resident Coordinator Tel: +975 2 322 424 Email: tshering.chuki@un.org
Media enquiries at UNHQ
Department of Global Communications (New York):
Douglas Coffman
coffmand@un.org + 917 361 9923 Department of Peace Operations (New York): Oana-Raluca Topala topala@un.org
United Nations thanks Bhutan for its contribution to peacekeeping. New York, 5 April- Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, thanked Bhutan for its strong support to United Nations Peacekeeping and for the service and sacrifice of its military and police personnel deployed around the world under the UN flag. This year marks the 75th anniversary of UN Peacekeeping. Since 1948, more than two million men and women have served in 71 UN peacekeeping missions, of which 12 operations are still active today, making a tangible difference to the lives of millions of people caught up in conflict. Bhutan initially contributed uniformed personnel in 2014 to the UN Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO), the first-ever peacekeeping mission, in the Middle East, as well as to the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA). Today, Bhutan provides 211 uniformed personnel, including six women, to eight UN peacekeeping operations making it the 53rd largest contributor. Bhutan’s largest contribution is to MINUSCA where 187 of its peacekeepers currently serve. Bhutan also deploys personnel to the UN peacekeeping missions in Abyei, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali, the Middle East, South Sudan and Western Sahara. Peacekeepers from Bhutan also served in UNMIL at the height of the Ebola crisis and in UNAMID. In December 2017, Bhutan also became the first country to pledge rapid deployment troops as part of the UN Peacekeeping Capability Readiness System. “Bhutanese peacekeepers serve with professionalism and integrity, meaningfully contributing towards the maintenance of international peace and security in very challenging environments. I am grateful for their continued commitment to UN Peacekeeping, as well as for their resolve to minimize the environmental footprint of our missions, thus helping advance the UN Climate Neutral Strategy and Greening the Blue Initiative,” said Mr. Lacroix. “The UN appreciates the service and sacrifice of the men and women from Bhutan and count on their continued support to create more agile, effective and accountable UN peacekeeping operations which deliver results.” added Mr. Lacroix. Bhutan also endorsed the Secretary-General’s ‘Action for Peacekeeping (A4P)’ initiative, which aims to strengthen peacekeeping through more targeted mandates, stronger and safer operations, better equipped and trained forces, and by mobilizing support for political solutions. Note to editors:
UN Peacekeeping Service and Sacrifice: https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/service-and-sacrifice Action for Peacekeeping: https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/action-for-peacekeeping-a4p
Media enquiries in Bhutan: Ms. Tshering Chuki Office of the UN Resident Coordinator Tel: +975 2 322 424 Email: tshering.chuki@un.org
Media enquiries at UNHQ
Department of Global Communications (New York):
Douglas Coffman
coffmand@un.org + 917 361 9923 Department of Peace Operations (New York): Oana-Raluca Topala topala@un.org
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Story
30 March 2023
The LDC graduation pathway must not disrupt overall sustainable development, says UN deputy chief
She was speaking during the Fifth UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC5), in Doha, Qatar, where other participants stressed that graduation from LDC category must be sustainable and irreversible.
Speakers argued that the appeal for continued and innovative financing and support measures “has fallen on deaf ears”, as the LDC5 held the last of its eight high-level thematic round tables: ‘Supporting Sustainable & Irreversible Graduation from the LDC Category’.
The path to graduation
LDCs are assessed using three criteria: income per capita, human assets and economic vulnerability. Countries that meet two of the three LDC criteria become eligible for graduation from the category. They may also qualify if the GNI per capita of the country is at least twice the graduation threshold ($2,444) in two consecutive reviews.
In 1971, the number of countries falling under the LDC category was 25. Today, the category comprises 46 countries. So far, six countries have graduated from LDC status between 1994 and 2020.
Sixteen others are on path to graduation and the Doha Programme of Action, or DPoA – which aims at removing structural obstacles to comprehensive growth and sustainable development – sets the aspirational goal of 15 additional countries – many of them African countries that have yet to attain the graduation criteria.
“To ensure a growing number of countries succeed in their efforts towards achieving the [Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)], we must urgently strengthen the graduation process and overcome the multidimensional challenges and external shocks suffered by this group of 46 countries – home to 1.2 billion on this planet,” Ms. Mohammed said, delivering the keynote address at the round table.
©UNICEF/Bernardino Soares
Tackling the challenges facing the LDCs
“Today, graduations are happening in more challenging conditions,” she continued, and outlined the challenges facing the LDCs, including limited fiscal space, high external debt, macroeconomic imbalances, widespread poverty, and underdeveloped or no social protection systems.
The UN deputy chief called for greater consensus-building to renew and reinvigorate partnerships and ensure that LDCs are supported in their efforts to invest in people, leverage the power of science, technology, and innovation for sustainable development, fast track structural transformation, enhance participation in international trade and regional integration, address climate change and care for the environment, and boost resilience.
She also called for debt relief, increased official development assistance (ODA) commitments – government aid designed to promote the economic development and welfare of developing countries – and expanded contingency financing.
“They need debt relief now, not at some point in the future when a better international framework is hopefully in place,” stressed Ms. Mohammed.
UN/Lara Palmisano
Bhutan: An important milestone
In general, the achievement of such a major development milestone can be celebrated as a key stage in a country's history and can therefore provide a, perhaps unquantifiable, boost to national and international morale.
Landlocked Bhutan lies in South Asia at the eastern end of the Himalayas. It is at the top of the waiting list for LDC graduation, and due to cross the threshold on 13 December 2023.
“Graduation means that we have achieved what we set out to do. It means that all our partners, multilateral and bilateral donors, whatever they have done for us, has borne fruit," Lotay Tshering, Prime Minister of Bhutan, told UN News.
He went on to say that the main challenge facing Bhutan is the lack of resources. He also stressed the need to focus on skills-based and technical education in the 21st century.
“We are graduating at a critical time during the pandemic,” the Prime Minister said and noted that he has invited UN experts to visit Bhutan, study the country in-depth and provide tailored support for the next 3-5 years.
He added: “We may need more resources so that we graduate on strong footing and then [this template could be] used for all other LDCs.”
UN News/Pengfei Mi
Timor-Leste: Not quite ready
Graduation from LDC status represents an important milestone in the development path of all vulnerable countries. However, the phasing-out of international support measures associated with that status could present challenges for graduating LDCs in their efforts to continue to integrate into the global economy.
Adaljiza Magno, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Timor-Leste, told UN News that her country met the criteria for graduation because of its GDP – which is largely dependent on oil and gas revenues – but had asked for more time to prepare.
Timor-Leste is one of Asia’s newest nations. Significant progress has been made since independence in 2002, especially with regards to consolidating peace, rebuilding infrastructure and public services. However, the tiny country remains fragile as it contends with legacies of past conflict and the need to diversify its economy.
“Please give us a few more years to prepare,” Ms. Magno said, “and then when we say we are ready [and] we have diversified our economy, then we will agree to graduate.”
She stressed the need to create more jobs for young Timorese, who make up the majority of the population.
The Minister also expressed her hopes that becoming a member of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEA) would help Timor-Leste accelerate its economic growth through regional integration and diversification.
Waypoint but not endpoint
As the Secretary-General told the LDC Summit last Saturday, “graduation must be a reward, never a punishment”.
The DPoA recognizes that graduating LDCs need support to address their specific challenges and needs, particularly in the areas of trade, intellectual property rights and financing for development.
Their multi-dimensional vulnerabilities stem not only from lagging development, but many are also landlocked developing countries (LLDCs) or small island developing states (SIDS).
A critical component of such support is dedicated capacity development in the form of policy and technical advice that is incentive-based, time-bound and tailored to the needs of each country, including in response to possible crises or disasters they may face.
Concrete measures such as the Sustainable Graduation Support Facility (iGRAD), included as a fundamental component of the Doha Programme of Action, can be an important steppingstone for graduating and graduated countries to achieve the 2030 Agenda and its goals in the last mile.
“In the coming years, the graduation pathway will be riddled with added crises,” Ms. Mohammed cautioned.
“[Any such] support should help graduating and graduated countries build resilience to effectively recover from current and future shocks and sustain progress – so that countries move out of the LDC category without any disruptions to their overall sustainable development –and in fact with more tools at their disposal to achieve the SDGs.”
Graduation is a waypoint, not an endpoint. Much more needs to be done, and the UN is encouraging governments to graduate "with momentum" so that progress continues well into the future. Let us make the LDC category history!” she stated.
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Story
12 August 2022
International Youth Day
Fostering intergenerational solidarity between generations is more than ever necessary to ensure an inclusive and sustainable recovery. As we navigate the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is especially important to recognize and address these age-related barriers to “build back better” in a manner that leverages all generations’ strengths and knowledge.
The objective of International Youth Day 2022 is to amplify the message that action is needed across all generations to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and leave no one behind.
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Story
17 June 2022
PSEA workshop
CSOs are partners to #UN agencies in Bhutan, delivering services to the most vulnerable. For awareness on sexual exploitation and abuse, a 2-day workshop on #PSEA started today for the CSO partners. It is supported by #WFP and driven by experts from among the UN agencies in #Bhutan.
Source: WFP Bhutan
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Press Release
10 February 2021
We stand firm in our efforts to uphold and implement the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, says Bhutan's Minister of Foreign Affairs
Thimphu, November 20, 2020: To celebrate the World Children’s Day and to mark 30 years of Bhutan signing and ratifying the Convention on the Rights of the Child, His Holiness the Je Khenpo today issued a decree calling on all to ensure the wellbeing of the children for all times to come.
“Bhutan’s efforts towards children’s wellbeing and happiness is commendable. I urge all to continue the efforts and work together to build a society fit for our children, one that cares for the happiness and best interests of our children at all times,” the decree states.
To celebrate the day, the National Commission for Women and Children (NCWC) in partnership with the Dratshang Lhentshog Secretariat, the Ministry of Education and UNICEF Bhutan organized a dialogue between the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Chairperson of the NCWC Dr Tandi Dorji and children on issues concerning children especially during the pandemic.
During the dialogue, Lyonpo interacted and responded to questions from children on education, health and child protection issues. The dialogue will be aired on BBS 1 after the 9 PM news and on BBS 2 from 8.30PM today.
World Children’s Day, Lyonpo said, is not only a time to celebrate but also to remind all, especially decision and policy makers on the commitments they have made, to abide by them and for children to demand action as many are doing the world over.
“Despite the good work undertaken by the Government and many civil society groups, there is still much to be done to ensure the rights of our children and to enable them to fully participate in the society,” Lyonpo said. “As a small Least Developed Country, Bhutan continues to face a number of constraints in terms of resources, capacity and infrastructure. There are many competing priorities of the Government especially during this pandemic with limited resources and disruptions in our economy. However, Bhutan stands firm in its efforts to uphold and implement the principles and provisions of this convention.”
“Today as we join many other countries in the world to advocate for all children, let us particularly commit and remember those who are not heard, for the children who are in need of special care and protection, for the children who need us every day to thrive and those most vulnerable. Let us work hard, diligently and hope for a brighter and better future, especially for our children in the post COVID era,” Lyonpo said.
To mark signing of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, November 20 is celebrated globally as World Children’s Day. This year is extra special for Bhutan as the nation celebrates 30 years of signing and ratifying the Convention. Bhutan was among the first countries to sign the Convention on June 4, 1990 and ratify it on August 1 the same year.
Amongst the most important achievements after Bhutan ratified the Convention are the drafting of the National Child Policy, the National Action Plan for Child Wellbeing and Protection 2020 and the strengthening of the protection system through development of critical Standard Operating Procedures, guidelines and manuals related to case management, adoptions and alternative care.
The establishment of the Woman and Child Toll Free Helpline 1098 and the Central Management System were key initiatives enabling timely and effective services and a systematic approach for the collection of data. The institutional mechanism was further enhanced through setting up of the Dzongkhag and Thromde Women and Children Committees and the Women and Children Welfare Committees at the national level.
UNICEF Bhutan Representative Dr Will Parks said that the World Children’s Day this year is taking place during one of the most challenging times.
“The coronavirus pandemic has laid bare the deep inequalities in our societies and impacted all of us, especially children,” Dr Will Parks said. “UNICEF Bhutan remains committed to support the efforts of the Royal Government of Bhutan to reimagine a more equal, just and sustainable society for our children.”
As the occasion also coincides with the World Day of Prayer and Action for Children, a thousand butter lamps were lit at the Kuenray of the Trashichhodzong and prayers recited.
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Press Release
27 October 2020
United Nations announces funds to fight COVID-19 and “Build Back Better”
On behalf of the United Nations (UN) in Bhutan, the Resident Coordinator, Gerald Daly, during his meeting with Foreign Minister Lyonpo (Dr) Tandi Dorji, committed USD 1.17 million to support the Royal Government of Bhutan in addressing issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A part of the commitment comes from the Secretary General’s UN COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund, with the aim to support responses to COVID-19 and part of it is from the Joint Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Fund, which will fund activities to accelerate progress towards achieving the SDGs.
The UN Resident Coordinator said the funds will not only protect people from the spread of the virus but will also help to prevent harm to the most vulnerable over the longer-term and ensure that Bhutan can “Build Back Better”.
The programme financed by the Secretary General’s UN COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund supports education continuity and those whose livelihoods in the tourism and agriculture sectors are at risk. The Joint SDG Fund will support the Royal Government to create strategies to increase and make effective use of investments to manage the impact of the COVID-19 crisis, respond to climate change threats, and advance Bhutan’s ambitious sustainable development agenda.
The donor countries for the Secretary-General’s COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund are Switzerland, The Netherlands, Norway and Denmark who also contributed to the Joint SDG Fund.
“Lyonpo (Dr) Tandi Dorji thanked the UN in Bhutan for an additional commitment of US$ 1.17 million to the Royal Government to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic which has affected the world over. It is during times like these that the important role of the United Nations becomes more apparent and much needed. Only through the spirit of global partnership and cooperation, which defines the United Nations, will the world be able to overcome the challenges of COVID-19”.
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