The UN and UNDP in Brussels

EU, UNDP promote tangible development in Albania In 2004, the Northern Albanian region of Kukes was the poorest area of the country. Thanks to the Kukes Regional Development initiative (KRDI), a UNDP programme funded by the European Commission, communities in the region are now benefiting from access to improved roads, irrigation channels, water supply systems, health care centres, schools and kindergartens as well as improved environmental conditions. Read more... Read more success stories: EU, UNDP promote social inclusion in Tajikistan

Poverty Reduction

In the area of poverty reduction, and achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, the UNDP supports countries in accelerating inclusive growth to ensure equitable, broad-based human development. UNDP’s work on the strategies and policies for poverty reduction is anchored in three basic principles: the multi-dimensionality of poverty, the centrality of gender equality and the critical importance of a cross-cutting approach.

Key areas of UNDP global support include:

• Macroeconomic and structural policies - formulating the overall policy framework for growth for poverty reduction;
• Employment for poverty reduction – strategies for the employment- economic growth-poverty reduction nexus;
• Public resource management – focusing on fiscal issues, in terms of policies and management, to make sure they complement poverty reduction initiatives
• Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICTD) – making ICT work for poverty reduction through policy interventions
• Civil society and MDGs – developing strategies for partnering with civil society in overcoming poverty

Actions undertaken by UNDP with the European Commission

Poverty reduction is at the forefront of development initiatives and is reflected in both the UNDP’s and EC’s policies toward the eradication of poverty and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). With the assistance and funding of the European Commission through the European Parliament and its Member States, the UNDP and the European Commission are able to assist countries in formulating, implementing and monitoring MDG-based national development strategies centred on inclusive growth and gender equality.(page 22 Strategic Plan)

The contribution of UNDP and the European Commission in the area of Poverty Reduction and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals focuses especially on the following critical dimensions:

1. Fostering rural employment and social inclusion

2. Integrating the pursuit of the MDGs into a national development strategy that links the MDGs to each other, captures synergies, and is comprehensive.

3. Assist with the evaluation of data that help individual governments decide on the relative allocation of resources for health, education, irrigation, transport, and other sectors.

4. Assisting in the creation of an enabling environment for access to a broad range of financial services, supporting the role of the private sector and small and micro-enterprises as potential vehicles for generating growth and employment, reducing poverty, and providing the poor with greater access to markets, goods, and services.

5. Scaling up public investments and providing support to countries in formulating and implementing MDG-based national development strategies. (page 22 strategic plan)

The partnership is multifaceted and includes projects that focus on: raising awareness in countries like Poland; fostering income generation activities such as the promotion of development and confidence building in Bangladesh; providing training and access to employment opportunities in countries such as Bangladesh, Cote d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Cyprus, Poland, Timor-Leste, Tajikistan and Turkey; agricultural development and productivity in countries like Tajikistan; infrastructure construction in Timor-Leste; job creation in countries like Bangladesh, Timor Leste and Turkey; facilitation of economic growth and development, small market economy development and trade in Cyprus, Poland, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste and Turkey, technical rehabilitation and education in Tajikistan, school registration assistance in Cote D’Ivoire, building infrastructure in countries such as Cambodia and Timor-Leste, and salary assistance in countries like Cameroon .