Achieving the MDGs and Reducing Human Poverty

Through the Millennium Development Goals the world is addressing the many dimensions of human development, including halving by 2015 the proportion of people living in extreme poverty. Developing countries are working to create their own national poverty eradication strategies based on local needs and priorities.

The United Nations defines poverty as… “the denial of choices and opportunities for a tolerable life, a lack of access to options and entitlements which are social, cultural, political and environmental as well as economic”.

Situational Analysis

Swaziland is a low middle-income country with a per capita income of about U$1350, over twice the Sub-Saharan African average. However, the proportion of the population living below the poverty line is 69% (of which 63% are females and 37% males) and these are subsisting on less than E128.6 (US$ 24) per capita per month in 2004. This shows the extreme poverty prevailing in the country. Poverty indices also show that women are the worst affected in Swaziland and as such, female-headed homes account for the highest number of poverty stricken families.

The unemployment rate increased from 22% in 1997 to 29% in 2001, and among young people has often been twice as high.  Government and private sector efforts to create new jobs have not been able to keep up with the loss of jobs arising from erosion in Swaziland’s comparative advantages as an investment destination, and recent changes in global trading rules threaten a further loss of jobs.

Changes in the macroeconomic environment since 1990, have resulted in continuing wide income disparity.  Swaziland has one of the world’s highest Gini Coefficients with the top 10% of the population controlling 40% of wealth, while the bottom 40% of the population controls only 14% of the wealth. This shows the extreme income skewness in the country.

Project Sheet: National and local capacity for monitoring poverty and progress on MDGs strengthened

Pro-poor policy reform to achieve MDG targets

UNDP’s poverty reduction programmes seek to contribute to the realization of national poverty reduction goals by supporting Government and civil society to ensure that: 

• National and local capacity for monitoring  poverty and MDG reporting are strengthened;

• Advocacy and awareness campaigns on the MDGs are undertaken at the community level;

• Participatory poverty assessments (poverty profiling) are conducted to inform decentralized planning and effective service delivery; public expenditure tracking, social impact assessments and participatory service delivery monitoring, evaluation and reporting.

The focus of the poverty reduction activities is on the most marginalized and vulnerable groups, thus contributing to the national priority goal of seeing the proportion of people living in extreme poverty reduced. Social safety nets programmes, vocational skills training and income generating activities targeting youths and women are the main thrust of the UNDP poverty reduction strategy while SACI/SWACI will be the entry vehicle for all poverty reduction initiatives.

Project Sheet:  Ownership and customization of MDG targets to support implementation of the PRSAP

The United Nations Volunteer (UNV) Programme

The UNV Programme in the recent past has been closely linked with the capacity stabilization, maintenance and utilization component of the Southern African Capacity Initiative (SACI) programme in Swaziland.

In this regard, the actual implementation of the Southern Africa Capacity Initiative (SACI) in Swaziland started with the deployment of international UNVs. From April 2004, to date, eight (8) International United Nations Volunteers have been placed in advisory positions in 5 key sectors (including Ministries of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Education, Public Service and Information, Health and Social Welfare, Deputy Prime Minister’s Office, UNDP and the Swaziland Network of People Living with HIV and AIDS) to support and strengthen government capacity in enhancing the policy environment to improve service delivery. Since August 2004, Swaziland has customized the Southern Africa Capacity Initiative (SACI) into Swaziland Capacity Initiative (SWACI) to demonstrate a “home grown” framework for effective service delivery in two Tinkhundla (Matsanjeni and Ngwempisi). During the same period, UNDP country office has been working with partners to establish a National UNV Scheme to facilitate the utilization of existing national capacity in implementing the national vision 2022/NDS and the MDGs.

Contributions by International UNVs

Generally, the international UNVs recruited under the SACI programme brought in significant skills, experience and professionalism, which is evidenced in their contribution to policy transformation in addressing issues of HIV and AIDS, food security, and decentralization for enhanced local governance. The specific deliverables included:

• Decentralization Policy, which was approved in August 2005 by Cabinet and now provides the legislative framework to roll out decentralized governance in Swaziland;
• National Food Security Policy- Document has been accepted and submitted to Cabinet for approval. Information from the policy is being used in preparation of National Action plan for food security. It is work in progress;
• Institutional capacity assessment, which informed the content of the National Food Security policy
• Government-wide HIV and AIDS Workplace policy, which has been adopted and awaiting cabinet submission. In the meantime, UNV initiated the preparation of a 3 year HIV and AIDS draft strategic plan
• Sectoral HIV and AIDS Workplace programmes for MOE, MPSI and MOAC
• Food Law to look at food exports & imports, nutrients and toxins level and shelf life is in the pipeline.

THE UNV Programme as it stands

The first UNV Programme Officer for Swaziland was recruited in December 2005 to facilitate the programme and generally promote the use of the values of Volunteerism in meeting the National Development Goals in Swaziland.

As it stands, seven (7) out of eight (8) of the SACI UNVs have been repatriated. Notwithstanding, the UNV Programme has recruited five more UNVs during the period under review with three of them attached to the World Food Programme, one attached to UNICEF and one to the National Disaster Task Force Team in Swaziland. The total number of international UNVs in Swaziland currently stands at seven (7).

Other Programme Initiatives

• The Establishment of the National UNV Scheme
• A Volunteer Mapping Exercise aimed at exploring opportunities to use the values of volunteerism to meet National Development Goals.
• A National Dialogue on Volunteerism to map out strategies in promoting the use of volunteerism to meet development Goals.
• Developed four Project Proposals with partners (NGOs) on the MDG Grants Facility .

Opportunity for Swazi's to join UNV scheme

Very few Swazi Nationals have opted to become international UN Volunteers. Information on becoming an International UNV is obtainable at the UNV Website or email: hq@unvolunteers.org.

ADDRESS

United Nations Volunteers
Postfach 260111
D-53153 Bonn, Germany
Tel:(+49 228) 815 2001
Email: hq@unvolunteers.org

For more information about becoming a UNV Volunteer, contact
Cyprus Recruitment Resources Centre
P.O Box 25711
1311 Nicosia,Cyprus
Tel:(357 22)87 8360
Fax: (357 22)87 83 61)
Email: enquiry@unvolunteers.org

For more information on the poverty programme, contact Tendai Makanza, Programme Analyst, UNDP Swaziland.