the poor and civil society for self-organization and the development of alliances; (e) strengthen the capacity of governments and vulnerable groups to take preventative measures to reduce the impact of health epidemics such as HIV/AIDS. Six months after the approval of the Millennium Declaration, the UNDP Administrator set out his pitch for a role for the UN noting that although the World Bank and IMF have clear strengths in driving the PRSP process, the UN can ‘play an invaluable role in helping develop a new campaign at global, national and even community level to monitor and benchmark outcomes.’ 85 UNDP’s role subsequently evolved to being the ‘score-keeper’ for the MDGs and to ensure their effective utilization in planning at all levels. The specific role of UNDP is set out in Box 4. The second MYFF document noted that the Millennium Declaration and the MDGs ‘represent the overarching basis for all UNDP activities’ during the period of the MYFF, that the MDGs will be placed at the centre of the organizations strategic goals and that the MDGs codify and crystallize in very specific targets, for the first time, the concepts of human development and poverty eradication long advocated by UNDP.86 The second MYFF (2004-2007) set out an overall poverty-related goal: To eradicate extreme poverty and reduce substantially overall poverty. In turn it had two sub-goals (1) promote poverty-focused development and reduce vulnerability; and (2) promote the livelihoods of the poor through strengthened self-organization and access to assets and resources. It proposed a number of service lines that would
Box 4. UNDP Role in the MDGs87 At the national level, UNDP works in close collaboration with UN organizations to:
Provide leadership and UN coordination to develop capacity in countries to assess what is needed to achieve the MDGs, to conceptualize policies and to design strategies and plans. For this purpose, UNDP organizes consultations and training, conducts research, develops planning and information management tools; Provide hands-on support to countries to scale up implementation of initiatives to achieve the MDGs, in areas such as procurement, human resources and financial management; Assist countries to report on their progress.
be used to support upstream pro-poor policy reform as well as poverty monitoring but both were framed within the MDGs. Local poverty initiatives, including microfinance were also maintained but the new areas of globalization benefiting the poor and making information and communication technologies for development work for the poor were added. HIV/AIDS became a separate goal but gender mainstreaming was also added to the poverty cluster. Finally, within the group of activities aimed at poverty reduction, the list included private-sector development and civil society empowerment. In 2008 the Executive Board reiterated its decision to give top priority to achieving Millennium Development Goals and reducing human poverty88. Following its commitment to MDGs, UNDP’s Strategic Plan (2008-2013)89 stresses that in this regard (para 6)
85. Malloch Brown, M., Presentation at the World Bank event ‘From Consensus to Action: A Seminar on the International Development Goals’, 19 March 2001.
86. MYFF 2004-2007. The latter quote refers to the directive from EB Decision 2003/8 but in fact Decision 2003/8 simply: reiterates the role of UNDP in the area of poverty reduction and in promoting and advancing the MDGs in support of programme countries; Requests that in the next MYFF, 2004-2007, UNDP align and clarify the relationship between the MDGs, the strategic goals and the practice areas with a view to establishing a consistent framework. 87. <www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/ourwork/povertyreduction/focus_areas/focus_mdg_strategies/>
88. Decision 2008/14. The focus was repeated in decisions in 2009 and 2010, decisions 2009/9 and 2010/13 respectively. While referring to the 2008 decision, the later decisions changed the language to “UNDP to give top priority to achieving the Millennium Development Goals and eradicating poverty”. 89. The Strategic Plan originally spanned the period from 2008 to 2011 but was subsequently extended to 2013 (Executive Board Decision 2009/9).
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