Mission

The Equator Initiative is a partnership that brings together the United Nations, governments, civil society, businesses, and grassroots organizations to build the capacity and raise the profile of local efforts to reduce poverty through the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.

What We Do

Since its inception in 2002, the Equator Initiative is dedicated to celebrating successful local initiatives, informing policy to foster an enabling environment for local action, building the capacity of grassroots organizations to deliver results and scale-up impact, and creating opportunities for sharing experience and good practice.

The Equator Initiative, as part of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), accomplishes these goals in three areas of work:
- Every other year the Equator Prize recognizes outstanding community efforts to reduce poverty through the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. The Equator Prize shines a spotlight on successful community work on the national and international stages.
- The WIN (World Network of Indigenous Peoples and Local Community Land and Sea Managers) facilitates learning and sharing good practices in managing ecosystems, protecting the environment and supporting sustainable livelihoods.
- Knowledge sharing is a main goal of the Equator Initiative. 152 case studies in over 30 languages have documented the Equator Prize Winners’ innovative practices that deliver the win-win-win solutions that ensure social, economic, and environmental sustainability.

UNDP works on the ground in more than 170 countries and territories, helping to achieve the eradication of poverty, and the reduction of inequalities and exclusion. We help countries to develop policies, leadership skills, partnering abilities, institutional capabilities and build resilience in order to sustain development results.

Inclusive growth, better services, environmental sustainability, good governance, and security are fundamental to development progress. We offer our expertise in development thinking and practice, and our decades of experience at country level, to support countries to meet their development aspirations and to bring the voices of the world’s peoples into deliberations.