The Human Development Initiative (HDI) is a series of projects that comprise UNDP’s current programme in Myanmar. All assistance from UNDP and related funds for Myanmar are targeted towards projects having grass-roots-level impact, particularly in the areas of primary health care, the environment, HIV/AIDS, training and education and food security.  Accordingly, UNDP activities have focused on the community level with the objective of meeting basic needs and contributing to the alleviation of poverty in some of the poorest areas of rural Myanmar.
Projects have been formulated and coordinated within the HDI framework, and are implemented by specialized UN agencies, international NGOs and community organizations in strategically targeted townships.
The HDI was originally designed as a set of ten projects, with Phase IV, comprising five projects and also incorporating Early Recovery Components in response to 2008’s Cyclone Nargis.
Experiences and lessons of previous phases of the HDI have indicated that greater efficiencies can be achieved through a more integrated approach towards addressing the various issues facing poor communities. More important, an integrated approach also supports a more holistic understanding of issues by communities and how to maximize the results of their various activities by considering them in light of their interrelationships with other issues.
Based on such lessons, the sectoral projects have been merged into one Integrated Community Development Project (ICDP) operating in HDI townships in Shan State, the Dry Zone, and the Ayeyarwady Delta. The Community Development for Remote Townships (CDRT) project, which has already been addressing community needs in an integrated manner in previous phases, will continue to implement its activities in townships in Rakhine, Chin, Kachin, Mon and Kayin states.
Two sectoral projects, the HIV/AIDS and microfinance projects, continue as separate projects. In addition to their specific focus, they collaborate with the integrated community development projects.

The HDI-IV projects thus consists of the following projects:

1. Integrated Community Development Project (ICDP)
2. Community Development in Remote Townships Project (CDRT)
3. HIV/AIDS Prevention and Care Project
4. Micro-finance for the Poor Project
5. Integrated Household Living Conditions Assessment Project

A fifth project, the Agricultural Sector Review, was completed in 2005