UNDP MAURITIUS AND SEYCHELLES

Like the rest of the world, Mauritius has continued to face persistent uncertainties rebuilding the economy since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Although the country had successfully stamped out the widespread community infection from COVID-19 in 2020, the resurgence of local cases resulted in the second national lockdown from 10 March 2021.

The negative impacts of the pandemic combined with the 2020 oil spill have continued to compound other vulnerabilities faced by the country. In May, Mauritius had 293 reported cases of domestic violence in just 18 days, mostly perpetuated against women - a similar trend registered in 2020.

This annual report captures the results of the strategic actions and programmatic interventions rolled out by the UNDP Mauritius and Seychelles Country Office to assist the Government and population of the Republic of Mauritius in facing development challenges in 2021.

This Annual Report highlights the strategic support to the economic recovery agenda in Seychelles rolled out by the UNDP and the diversified portfolio of the multi-country office beyond climate action to include public sector transformation for digitalisation and strengthening private sector engagement. 

This annual report captures the results of the strategic actions and programmatic interventions rolled out by the UNDP Mauritius and Seychelles Country Office to assist the Government and population of the Republic of Mauritius in facing multiple challenges throughout 2020.

The year started with an impressive outlook with the economy expected to grow at 4 percent following the equally impressive growth of 3.6 percent in 2019. Following the recent gains, on 1 July 2020, the country had transitioned from high middle income to a high-income status according to World Bank classification on the basis of 2019 data. However, Mauritius’ expectations for 2020 and beyond were immediately shattered when two catastrophes, the COVID-19 Pandemic and Wakashio Oil Spill, hit, prompting the Country Office for Mauritius to reallocate resources and adjust its programming and human resources towards response and recovery to provide support to the people and Government of Mauritius as a responsive development partner. 

This annual report captures the results of the strategic actions and programmatic interventions rolled out by the UNDP Mauritius and Seychelles Country Office to support the Government and population of the Republic of Seychelles in facing multiple challenges throughout 2020.

The Country Office supported resource mobilization to assist the Government of Seychelles in its preparedness, response, and recovery to COVID-19. On behalf of the United Nations Country Team (UNCT), the UNDP took the technical lead to prepare a Socio-Economic Impact Assessment of COVID-19 in Seychelles, and in procuring Rapid PCR test kits. Despite the disruption caused by COVID-19, the UNDP continued to contribute towards the realization of key development indicators linked to Goal 13: Climate action and Goal 14: Life below water,  through ecosystem-based adaptation methods.

UNDP Mauritius acknowledges the Government of Mauritius, our development partners, civil society, the private sector and implementing partners, that play a critical role in the transformational growth of our communities. The support received and partnership contribute towards the delivery of our programmatic interventions and the results captured in this report.

UNDP Seychelles acknowledges the Government of Seychelles, our development partners, civil society, the private sector and implementing partners, that play a critical role in the transformational growth of our communities. The support received and partnership contributes towards the delivery of our programmatic interventions and the results captured in this report.