Annual report 2014

Annual report 2014

June 23, 2014

In all five regions of the developing world, UNDP supports progress that is sustainable, inclusive and resilient to setbacks.

Our 2013-2014 Annual Report spotlights results from actions across core dimensions of development, from jobs and food security, to well-run elections, to crisis recovery, to the management of finite natural resources. All our efforts aim at one overarching and increasingly achievable goal: to help countries eradicate poverty and significantly reduce inequalities.

Latin America and the Caribbean -  A decade of progress has transformed the region, with incomes up and 90 million people joining the middle class. Still, growth and the reduction of inequalities are slowing. despite dynamic labour markets, opportunities are not equal for women, youth, and people of African and indigenous descent.


UNDP assists countries to probe and cut the roots of persistent disparities. We advocate understanding poverty as having dimensions beyond just income, and stand by a new generation of universal social protection programmes. We
encourage broad, meaningful participation in development choices as key to both prosperity and stability. A concerted emphasis on gender equality recognizes that women help drive the region’s advancements; they also have rights to live free from discrimination and violence.

"UNDP has been an important partner, strengthening the Central America Security Strategy and its coordination mechanism. Our alliance promotes South-South cooperation and activities in selected countries, especially to prevent violence," Hugo Martinez -- Secretary-General, Central American Integrated System (SICA)

Highlights from Latin America and the Caribbean

  • El Salvador is tackling the complex roots of pervasive violence with measures from job creation to gun control.
  • In Mexico, as central government authorities considered tax reforms, UNDP worked with the Ministry of Social Development to show that a proposed value added tax on previously exempted food and medicine would push 14 million people into extreme poverty. The information guided more nuanced reforms in 2013 that minimize burdens on the poor, and balance economic and social development.
  • UNDP has helped Guatemala with judicial reforms contributing to an over 30 percent decline in homicides between 2009 and 2013.
  • In 2013, UNDP helped the Government of Peru set up a national office to manage conflict prevention grounded in dialogues among local authorities, communities and mining representatives
  • In 2013, Brazil celebrated 10 years of its Bolsa Familia social protection programme, globally recognized for extending health care and education to poor families. A partner since the beginning, UNDP aided monitoring systems to boost outreach—50 million people obtained benefits.
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