United Nations (UN) and its development partners in South Africa have taken action aimed at bringing development to the door step of people in rural communities.
South Africa’s government and the UN recently signed the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) with the goal of realising the country’s National Development Plan (NDP).
The UNSDCF is hinged on four strategic pillars interlinked with South Africa’s NDP, Vision 2030 and the medium-term strategic framework, and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The four pillars are: inclusive, justice and sustainable growth; human capital and social transformation; effective, efficient and transformative governance; climate resilience and sustainably managed natural resources.
‘The UNSDCF is an instrument of partnership aiming to support the South African government to achieve the goals set in its national development plan, particularly those focusing on high level of poverty, high level of income inequality and high level of unemployment’, acting Resident United Nations Coordinator in South Africa, Ayodele Odusola, told Development Diaries.
‘The idea is to bring development to the door step of people in rural communities and we strongly believe that focusing attention on this will really help us to deal with the issue of gaps in development’.
Data from the World Bank shows that structural challenges and weak growth have undermined progress in reducing poverty, unemployment and inequality in the country.
‘Our objective is to make sure that quality of government and the implementation of existing policies focus on those that are marginalised, those in rural and hard-to-reach communities, unemployed youths and the large spectrum of women facing high level of gender-based violence’, Odusola added.
He also disclosed the local partners that will be working with the UN to achieve the four strategic pillars of the UNSDCF, with the Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator, the Congress of South Africa Trade Union, and National Council of Trade Union part of the first pillar of work.
Other partners include Living Lands South Africa, Activate Change Drivers, Nelson Mandela Foundation, Childline South Africa, World Vision South Africa, the Children’s Radio Foundation, National Association of Childcare Workers, Endangered Wildlife Trust, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the Sustainable Landscape Finance Coalition, and several faith-based organisations.
Photo source: Buziwe Nocuze/GroundUp
