With only 10 years to achieve the SDGs amid significant developmental challenges, the search for innovative solutions couldn’t be more pressing.

Speaking to the Oxford Forum for International Development, UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner outlined trends that will shape the future of development. Drawing on Sudan as an example, he discussed the power of ‘new’ emerging communities - be they virtual or real - and their ability to surmount social  class, geography, religion and other boundaries –  creating a momentum  for  social change.

Consider Sudan, where I was just two weeks ago: a country now determined to transition to civilian, democratic rule by the end of 2022.

Women and young people led the protests that started in 2018 and resulted in this shift. These same groups -- women and young people -- are creating new, inclusive communities in their country and will play a central role in constituting its next “council”.

From the grassroots, to the business communities, to people voting with their feet in protest, mature democracies and autocracies alike are experiencing a new form of community today -- a new form of people power -- representing a profound shift in the global landscape of collaboration and dissent.

As reported by Devex, highlighting modern global protest movements, Steiner noted the impact these ‘community’ groups - generally peaceful, leaderless, and often unaligned with traditional politics – would have on governance and development.

“We are in a fairly epochal moment of being questioned by communities around the world.”

“The international community can only get itself to a point where it can provide humanitarian aid, when actually what Sudan needs right now is development finance, being able to reinvest in the stabilization of its economy. Out of that will arise a new form of government, hopefully more stable and legitimate.”

“If you are thinking about development, you also need to think about governance and the governance systems and how they will function in the future, not least against the backdrop of community.”