We would like to welcome you to the United Nations Development Programme - South Africa website. UNDP is the UN's global development network, advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. UNDP is on the ground in 166 countries, working with them on their own solutions to global and national development challenges.
The Republic of South Affrica and the United Nations
The United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. Ironically, that was also the year when racial discrimination was formalized in South Africa. The National Party took power based on apartheid, a policy that was gradually refined to cover all aspects of life in South Africa. This took place in a period of history otherwise characterized by decolonization and the emergence of new independent states in Africa and Asia. The continuation of apartheid, and the severe punishment of its opponents, turned international public opinion against South Africa and made the country into an international pariah. The United Nations provided
an important forum for giving voice to the abhorrence felt by most nations, and to support the cause of the South African majority.
The first resolution (395(V)) by the UN General Assembly on apartheid dates back to 1950. It was followed by many others, including the post-Sharpeville Security Council resolution 134 of 1960 and the first arms embargo in resolutions 181 (1962) and 182 (1963). In 1963, the Special Committee against Apartheid was established to report on a regular basis to the General Assembly with support from the United Nations Centre against Apartheid. South Africa had become a standing item on the UN agenda as a systematic offender of basic human rights. Though mostly non-binding, an embargo on South Africa was widened to encompass areas such as economic, political and cultural interaction with the country. Several UN agencies actively supported the struggle. Partly as a result of international pressure, apartheid was finally abandoned and the first fully democratic elections took place in April 1994.
The fall of apartheid in 1994 also signalled the beginning of official development assistance (ODA) to the country from bilateral and
multilateral donors. South Africa's high average per capita income limited the ODA flows that could be allocated to it, however, since the majority of ODA transfers are, by policy, to low income states. This is the case for both multilateral and bilateral donors, and core UN funding to middle-income countries is, by definition, quite limited. In spite of the huge development challenges faced by large sections of the population, the ODA to South Africa only constitutes a small part of the total expenditures by the government.
The 2002-2006 UNDP Country Cooperation Framework was in response to the strategic priorities of the Government in the areas of transformation for human development, integrated sustainable rural development (ISRD), HIV/AIDS and poverty and environmental development.
Under the ISRD programme, strategic support was provided for the formulation of Integrated Development Plans (IDPs) and the Operationalization of sustainable livelihoods schemes in Limpopo. At the same time the Eastern Cape Province was supported in developing its Provincial Growth and Development Plan (PGDP). Building on these initiatives, UNDP has been working closely with Government departments in KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo and the Eastern Cape to strengthen capacity for service delivery utilising Service Delivery Optimisation (SDO) methodologies. In response to specific provincial priorities, UNDP has been successful in strengthening capacity for good governance and accountability within Offices of the Premiers of the three focus provinces. This has been achieved through the deployment of UNVs to provincial M&E Directorates, and support provided to the establishment of Public Sector Learning Academies. In 2006, UNDP revitalised its Environment team with the objective of improving its delivery of resources and services to key national environment clients. Since then, the Government together with the UNDP Country Office and the GEF Regional Coordination Unit has developed one of the most comprehensive GEF portfolios in Africa. The Country Office was successful in augmenting delivery from 8% to 75%, making it the leading GEF implementer in the region. Furthermore the Country Office has built and nurtured strong relationships with Government agencies, resulting in four MOUs being signed that outline UNDP support for project execution and capacity development. Finally, UNDP supported the Government of South Africa to successfully organise and host the GEF Assembly held in Cape Town in August 2006. A key outcome of this meeting was the agreement of the creation of the Benguela Current Commission as a follow-up of the BCLME Project.
