Africa

situation analysis

A Guinean farmer at work, pulling out the
weeds in his rice crop, suported by
NERICA (New Rice for Africa) in Farahan,
Guinea.
© UNDP/Dennis Yeandle

Recent evidence suggests that progress in Africa in meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by the target date has picked up although a lot remains to be done.

Sub-Saharan Africa has made encouraging progress toward reducing poverty between 1990 and 2005. During that period, the proportion of people living on less than $1.25 per day declined from 57% to 51%. Breakthroughs were also observed in the area of universal primary education, with enrolment increases of 15 percentage points from 2000 to 2007.

Yet, despite the success achieved in some areas, several of the eight MDGs and associated targets are likely to be missed in many countries unless additional efforts and corrective action are taken urgently. Gender equality is one of them, with fewer female students than males advancing to secondary and tertiary education and limited employment opportunities for women. Child mortality is another. Although recent survey data show remarkable improvements in key interventions such as the fight against malaria, close to one in seven children died before his or her fifth birthday in 2007.

Maternal mortality and HIV/AIDS prevalence also remain areas of concern, with Sub-Saharan Africa still accounting for half of all maternal deaths around the world and 67% of people infected with HIV. Finally, environmental degradation presents another challenge, with deforestation and the provision of adequate sanitation as important areas for improvement.

In addition, projections show that the current economic crisis is likely to affect the economies of the region negatively, slowing down progress toward achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In this climate, important efforts must be made to avoid further increases in poverty among the more vulnerable and low-growth economies of the region.

UNDP's mission and work on the ground

UNDP has been working on ten countries cases to develop a set of credible plans to scale up development assistance in Africa. These plans have become known as 'Gleneagles Scenarios' because they demonstrate in practical terms how the commitment the G8 made in 2005 to double aid to Africa could be implemented at the country level. Specifically, UNDP's assistance to the Africa region includes:

• Support in planning poverty reduction strategies and budgets around the Millennium Development Goals;
• Monitoring and reporting on progress toward achievement of the MDGs;

• Help in building the capacities of African countries to scale up implementation of the MDGs;
• Policy support for the Millennium Villages initiative, including the dissemination of lessons learned;
• Preparation for the United Nations’ 2010 MDG Review Summit via the preparation of an Africa MDG Report;
• Implementation of the recommendation of the MDG Steering Committee in collaboration with UN Agencies, the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the African Union, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and the Internaltional Monetary Fund;
• Advocacy for the MDGs at the regional and global levels.