Africa

situation analysis

On gender equality in education,
countries like Rwanda and Botswana have
fulfilled their enrollment targets

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.

While Africa remains the developing region with the highest extreme poverty rate, poverty rates on the continent have dropped rapidly since the late 1990s, at least until 2008, when the global food and economic crises hit the region. During that decade Africa, having experienced several years of economic and social stagnation, made important social and economic gains.

According to the 2009 UN MDG report, in 1990, the baseline year for the MDGs, 57% of the population of Africa was living in extreme poverty, earningless than $1.25 a day in purchasing power parities and 2005 prices. By 2005, the poverty rate had dropped to 51 percent. More recent data are not yet available, but projections suggest that the extreme poverty rate in Africa has continued to drop to about 46 percent in 2008.

In addition, according to UNAIDS, Africa has maintained the progress made in tackling HIV/AIDS. For instance, access to Antiretroviral Therapy for HIV patients has expanded in most countries Cumulatively, the number of adults and children newly infected with HIV has dropped by 17.4 per cent between 2001 and 2008. African countries continue to show overall progress in gender equality and empowerment of women. Gender parity in primary education for instance, is likely to be achieved by most countries. Progress on achieving gender parity in secondary and tertiary education and ensuring quality education for both genders at all levels have been more problematic. Changes in women’s representation in national parliaments from the baseline year of 1990 and to 2009 have been impressive. At least thirty-one countries taht have data for 1990-2009 have increased the proportion of seats held by women.

In spite of these developments, major challenges remain. projections also suggest that there has been little or no progress in reducing the poverty rate in Africa throughout 2009. There has been little advancement in improving maternal mortality. Maternal deaths (per 100,000 live births) stood at 920 in 1990, dropping only slightly to 900 in 2005. On hunger, progress had been slow, with a slight decrease in the proportion of undernourished from 32 percent of the population in 1990-92 to 29 percent in 2008.

Achieving environmental targets will also continue to remain a challenge. Deforestation, for instance, continues unabated with a forest loss in 2000-2005 equivalent to 4.1 per cent[4]. The countries of Africa will also face an uphill battle in providing access to safe drinking water and sanitation. Sub-Saharan Africa may be the lowest emitter of carbon dioxide , but it stands to be the region most affected by climate change, which will compound the environmental and energy challenges that the region faces.

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.