United Nations Development Programme

United Nations Development Programme South Africa

UNDP supports national processes to accelerate the progress of human development with a view to eradicate poverty through development, equitable and sustained economic growth, and capacity development.

Who are we and What we do
The United Nations Development Programme supports national processes to accelerate the progress of human development with a view to eradicating poverty through development, equitable and sustained economic growth, and capacity development. This means that all UNDP policy advice, technical support, advocacy, and contributions to strengthening coherence in global development must be aimed at one end result: real improvements in people's lives and in the choices and opportunities open to them. Central to the human development approach is the concept of human empowerment, which, in addition to income, treats access to education and health care, freedom of expression, the rule of law, respect for diversity, protection from violence, and the preservation of the environment as essential dimensions of human development and well-being.

UNDP is the UN's global development network, an organization advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. We are on the ground in 166 countries, working with them on their own solutions to global and national development challenges. World leaders have pledged to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, including the overarching goal of cutting poverty in half by 2015. UNDP's network links and coordinates global and national efforts to reach these Goals. Our focus is helping countries build and share solutions to the challenges of:

  • Democratic Governance
  • Poverty Reduction
  • Crisis Prevention and Recovery
  • Energy and Environment
  • HIV/AIDS

    UNDP helps developing countries attract and use aid effectively. In all our activities, we encourage the protection of human rights and the empowerment of women. UNDP has championed this integrative approach to human development since the 1990s, using the Human Development Reports, launched under the leadership of the late Mahbub ul-Haq with Amartya Sen, as important advocacy tools. The annual Human Development Report, commissioned by UNDP, focuses the global debate on key development issues, providing new measurement tools, innovative analysis and often controversial policy proposals. The global Report's analytical framework and inclusive approach carry over into regional, national and local Human Development Reports, also supported by UNDP.

    In each country office, the UNDP also serves as the Coordinating Agency for development activities for the United Nations system as a whole. Through such coordination, UNDP seeks to ensure the most effective use of UN and international aid resources.

    UNDP IN SOUTH AFRICA
    UNDP South Africa is a centre of development excellence and partner of choice in promoting the achievement of Vision 2014, the Millennium Development Goals and beyond.

    UNDP's Mandate

    As the UN's global development organization, UNDP has a normative global mission, as a pro-poor development agency, to promote human rights, gender and the MDGs. As a cornerstone of its work, UNDP connects partner countries to knowledge, experience and resource networks that build capacity for pro-poor growth and human development. Further, as part of the UN Reforms process, UNDP has a mandate to lead the UN in system-wide coordination.



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