BACKGROUND PAPER on United Nations Development Programme (UNDP ...

2 Spain relinquishing its seat as of January 2003; France proposed to
complete term;
3 Turkey relinquishing its seat as of January 2003; Germany proposed to
complete term.
4. UNDP BY REGION
4.1 AFRICA
Helping The People Of Sub-Saharan Africa Build A Better Life
In each African country, UNDP has an office and team through which we connect
governments and other development partners to knowledge, experience and
resources from across the region and around the world.
As part of the global effort to halve the poverty rate by 2015, and reach the
Millennium Development Goals, UNDP helps the countries of the region build their
own solutions to development challenges.
This includes support for the development of critical capacities at all levels and for
democratic governance. UNDP is a leading supporter of electoral assistance but also
emphasize that the most important part of any democracy is what happens "between
the elections" in terms of participatory and accountable decision-making.
Since conflict affects one out of five countries in the region, UNDP supports initiatives
for crisis prevention, peace and reconciliation. In many areas, conflict and disease
have ravaged essential social structures, requiring us to assist in rebuilding
communities and their basic institutions.
UNDP supports comprehensive responses to the devastating HIV/AIDS pandemic,
including by seeking out and sharing best practices developed in the region and
elsewhere. We help countries put HIV/AIDS at the centre of national planning;
develop national capacity to manage initiatives that include people and institutions
not usually involved with public heath; and promote community-level action.
UNDP also supports efforts to conserve environmental resources, including through
the promotion of alternative sources of energy that are both clean and affordable.
And since information and communications technology can strengthen development
initiatives and expand participation in the global economy, UNDP is helping African
countries to bridge the digital divide.
Working in partnership with other development agencies, civil society, and the private
sector, UNDP helps developing countries attract and use aid effectively. At the
regional level, UNDP promotes and supports the continent-wide development
objectives set by African leaders, including through piloting and the dissemination of
lessons learned.
UNDP uses two main instruments to define the areas of cooperation at the regional
level and at the individual country level respectively. The Regional Cooperation
Framework (RCF) and the Country Programme reflect the key results African
regional institutions and recipient governments expect to achieve with UNDP support.
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