3 questions to Alexis Laffittan, Partnerships Manager, UNDP Geneva Office

3 questions to Alexis Laffittan, Partnerships Manager, UNDP Geneva Office

Focus 2030  : The 2025 UNDP Human Development Report shows an unprecedented slowdown in global human development, with widening inequalities and stalled progress across all regions. At the same time, AI is emerging as a potential game-changer. How can countries harness AI to reignite human development while ensuring that technological advances do not deepen existing inequalities ?

Alexis Laffittan : The latest Human Development Report, our annual flagship publication which analyses development trends across a range of indicators beyond GDP, reveals a sobering reality : global progress is slowing at an alarming rate, and there are widening inequalities between rich and poorer countries. Just a few years ago, we were on track to achieve very high Human Development Index (HDI) levels by 2030. Today, we risk being set back by decades. The most vulnerable countries—those with the lowest HDI scores—are falling even further behind.

Yet amid this turmoil, and while Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not a panacea, AI is emerging as a potential catalyst for renewed progress. A new UNDP survey conducted across multiple countries shows that people are already embracing AI in their daily lives—particularly in education, health, and work. In low- and medium-HDI countries, 70% of respondents believe AI will boost their productivity, and 64% expect it to create new job opportunities.

AI holds promise for reshaping economies, accelerating the transition to a low-carbon future, and enabling more inclusive growth

AI can therefore serve as a bridge to advanced technologies and new knowledge, empowering everyone from farmers to entrepreneurs. It holds promise for reshaping economies, accelerating the transition to a low-carbon future, and enabling more inclusive growth. Unlike past technologies, AI requires only electricity and internet access — both of which have significantly expanded in recent years — making its adoption more feasible across diverse contexts.

However, realizing AI’s potential for human development is not guaranteed. It depends on the choices we make today. Without deliberate action, AI could deepen existing inequalities—especially in terms of gender, or control over technology. Currently, AI benchmarks often prioritize technical performance over broader societal concerns. What the report promotes is a focus on “human agency”. If we fail to realign incentives, we risk squandering the potential of both AI and people.

In particular, the Human Development Report outlines three key pathways to harness AI for inclusive development :

1. Build an economy where people collaborate with AI, not compete against it. Rather than trying to predict the future and guess how humans will be replaced by AI, policymakers should focus on “pro-worker” AI that supports agency, economic diversification, and job-creating structural transformation.
2. Shift from technology-driven to people-centered innovation. Rather than accepting a supply-side approach or using compute power to create viral internet memes, resources and efforts could be spent to develop AI solutions that target specific human challenges, from agriculture to service delivery. AI innovation can be steered through incentives (regulatory, financial, economic) — from design to deployment — that align socially desirable and privately profitable innovation.
3. Modernize education systems for the 21st century to prepare to strive with AI, investing in capabilities that count. On the other hand, this also includes addressing risks related to bias, privacy, affordability, and equity, while ensuring that digital infrastructure and skills are accessible to all.

Ultimately, AI’s impact on human development is a matter of choice. We must move beyond asking what technology can do and instead ask what it can do for people.

Focus 2030  : The drastic cuts in official development assistance (ODA) are weakening both the most vulnerable countries and the multilateral system as a whole. What impacts has UNDP already identified, and how can this historic contraction in ODA—likely to continue—be offset to limit its effects on the most fragile populations ?

Alexis Laffittan : According to the OECD, the cuts in ODA are projected to amount to 9–17 per cent in 2025, and potentially more next year. These cuts are disproportionately harming the poorest countries, who are already been the hardest hit by the decline in human development progress. In addition to cuts in foreign aid, many of these countries are facing a “triple squeeze” of the increasing rise of jobless industrialization, a worsening debt crisis, and trade tensions. 

Globally, the longer-term impacts on development are also emerging : weakened health systems (a July 2025 Lancet study projected that ODA cuts could cause over 14 million additional deaths by 2030, including more than 4.5 million children under five) ; reduced support and opportunities for young people, which together with the erosion of basic services, are fuelling anger, conflict and displacement ; and delayed action to finance the much-needed climate and energy transition.

In an inter-connected world, cross-border challenges, including digital aspects or pandemic preparedness, can only be tackled if countries cooperate together. The more we defund aid and multilateral cooperation, the more we lose the ability to act.

In an increasingly turbulent world, we also witness an accelerating arms race globally. In this context, the UN Secretary-General jut released this month a new report : The Security We Need : Rebalancing Military Spending for a Sustainable and Peaceful Future, urging Member States to recalibrate security and development priorities. Indeed, global military spending hit $2.7 trillion last year and is projected to reach $6.6 trillion by 2035 if current trends persist. Concretely, this annual global military approximatively represents the combined GDP of all countries in Africa. $2.7 trillion also represents 750 times the regular budget of the UN in 2024. This massive diversion of resources from development to defence poses serious threats. Defence and deterrence, which may be necessary, should also be coupled with development and resilience investments, adopting a more comprehensive of what “security” means.

Realistically, we all know that public aid will never be enough to meet all development needs. The annual financing gap for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is already at $4 trillion. But these concessional resources are critical to enhance enabling environments – promoting transparent and responsive institutions and de-risking investments –, and to crowd-in additional resources from the private sector. As an example, this year, we calculated that $1 invested in UNDP has a multiplier effect that promotes nearly $60 in private and public investments in developing countries. 

Finally, you ask how the contraction of ODA can be offset for the benefit of the most fragile populations. Some concrete solutions have been put forward during the 4th Financing for Development Conference held in Sevilla last July, including how the world can work more collaboratively to address the mounting debt crisis. Currently, 46 countries spend more on interest payments than on either health or education. This is not sustainable and ambitious reform of the international financial system, notably to improve access to finance and technology for developing countries, is needed. Globally, the financial resources exist and what is needed to catalyse investments at scale for sustainable development, and most importantly align these resources with national priorities and the SDGs. In Sevilla, several initiatives were also promoted to strengthen tax systems and domestic resource mobilization.

Focus 2030  : UNDP plays a central role in shaping development policies and must also contend with the decline in ODA. How do you interpret this downturn, and to what extent will UNDP itself be directly affected ?

Alexis Laffittan : Undeniably, the recent decline in foreign aid has far-reaching consequences for development efforts globally. Programmes on the ground - for instance supporting women and girls in crisis zones - are discontinued, and staff reductions – both at country-level and in headquarters - are being made. The impact is felt across the entire UN system, and it is also important to keep in mind that operational and humanitarian agencies such as WFP, UNICEF or UNDP are entirely funded by voluntary contributions. 

Beyond funding issues, we also witness scepticism about the effectiveness of multilateralism in many traditional donor countries. This year, the United Nations marks its 80th anniversary, and it is true that the world has changed since its creation in 1945... At the upcoming General Assembly, the UN80 initiative launched by the Secretary General will therefore look at three workstreams : a search for additional efficiencies, a review of current mandates given to the UN, and opportunities for more structural reforms.

But, despite growing scepticism, multilateralism continues to be the most effective framework for addressing complex global challenges and UNDP’s work is a testament to that. Concretely, we provide a key platform for international cooperation, reaching tens of millions even in the most fragile contexts. UNDP is on the ground in 170 countries, working hands in hands with partners – governments, private sector, civil society and communities – to safeguard dignity, advance human development, and find innovative ways to make progress towards the SDGs. The impacts from the cuts from several traditional donors are severe, but governments across the world actually do continue to request UNDP’s support for some of their most sensitive priorities : from national development planning, to energy transition, to rule of law. In 2024, developing countries directly invested $1.2 billion in UNDP’s programmes in their own countries (almost 25% of UNDP’s total budget)- a signal that UNDP remains a trusted and a valued partner. 

Having said that, given the immense needs, it is precisely in such moments of instability and uncertainty that we need to rebuild political will for multilateral support and international cooperation. To regain support, the UN should also be better in telling its story and impact.

Actually, 1.5 billion people have escaped extreme poverty since 1990, and millions of lives have improved through gains in health, education, energy, and digital connectivity since the adoption of the SDGs in 2015. We are still far from meetings the targets, but we often forget previous achievements.

And given the world’s interdependency, let’s also highlight that development support also provides many concrete returns to donor countries, both in terms of prevention, global stability and security, preventing pandemics and curbing global warming, as well as in economic terms, fostering trade and resilient value chains that contribute to domestic economies.

As we navigate the current funding challenges, let me thank all the partners who support the UN’s work to advance peaceful, stable and sustainable societies. Strong voices in civil society are key to put these topics high in the political agenda and we extend our appreciation to Focus 2030 for all its work to inform decision-makers, media and citizens about international solidarity efforts.

NB : The opinions expressed in this interview do not necessarily reflect the ideas of Focus 2030.