UNDP South Africa Country Programme Overview

The UNDP South Africa Country Programme 2007-2010 is situated within the framework of the UNDAF 2007-2010 and takes into account the current UN Reform processes, changing global aid architecture and the global policy perspectives that have emerged following the 2000 Millennium Summit and commitment to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015.

Within the context of the current United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) 2007 - 2010 UNDP South Africa will focus its partnership with the Government on achieving demonstrable and sustainable development results. In response to the Government's comprehensive programme of improving the performance of state services, the corresponding UNDAF goal is to build institutional capacity at all levels to deliver quality basic social services, particularly to the most vulnerable and marginalised groups. Derived from this programme mandate UNDP South Africa will focus its governance and capacity development activities on formulating demand-driven capacity enhancement initiatives in priority areas of service delivery and service access.

Programme Focus

Under the direction of key Ministries, the technical expertise and coordination capacity of UNDP South Africa will be focused on pro-poor capacity development interventions to support the service delivery commitments of the Government, specifically within provincial and local government structures .

UNDP will provide demand driven technical assistance for diagnosing delivery constraints and strengthening the delivery capacity of the state and its development partners in the following areas:

• Institutional and human capacity needs for the developmental state, including broad-based civic engagement;
• Strengthened capacityto implement policy frameworks that serve to deepen the macro-organization of the state and promote public participation;
• Consolidating the Government of SA - Africa Agenda;
• Mainstreaming practical hands-on support to Local Government to improve municipal governance, performance and accountability;
• Capacity to address the structure and governance arrangements of the State in order to better strengthen, support and monitor Local Government; and
• Strengthened capacity to refine and deepen the policy, regulatory and fiscal environment for Local Government and give greater attention to the enforcement measures.

Programmes

• I/ Strengthening sustainable knowledge and participation networks
• II/Leadership Development for Accountability
• III/ Institutional Reform & Change Management for Good Governance

The National Human Development Report 2008-2009

The participatory, pro-poor capacity development approach will be implemented in 2008/2009 in South Africa through the Human Development Report process. The Human Development Report is UNDP's flagship policy advocacy and capacity enhancement tool. The Human Development Report process seeks to put people back at the centre of development strategies in order to meet contemporary challenges of development.

The South Africa HDR 2008 will:

• Use action research and inclusive citizen participation processes to strengthen national responses for democratic governance
• Use the process of strategic inquiry conversations among stakeholders, to promote solutions-based analyses of priority areas or gaps in service delivery and access
• Provide a template for action by institutionalizing citizen engagement processes on pro poor growth and service access
• Facilitate capacity for social cohesion of communities, civil society and government stakeholders, in order to strengthen participatory governance

The National HDR process aims to provide:

• A powerful advocacy mechanism to forge, energize and sustain partnerships between different tiers of government, communities and civil society
• A platform for inclusive policy and public dialogue to address service access and delivery constraints and create an environment that contributes both directly and indirectly to the MDGs

UNDP's Mission in South Africa

Globally UNDP leads the advancement and evolution of development debates and formulation of new paradigms for democratic governance and capacity development. In South Africa, UNDP's mission is to strengthen capacity for participatory governance and pro-poor growth based on normative and inclusive human rights principles.