Through the Millennium Declaration and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) the world is addressing the many dimensions of human development, such as 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. UNDP advocates for these nationally-owned solutions and helps to make them effective through ensuring a greater voice for poor people, expanding access to productive assets and economic opportunities, and linking poverty programmes with countries' international economic and financial policies. At the same time, UNDP contributes to efforts at reforming trade, debt relief and investment arrangements to better support national poverty reduction and make globalisation work for poor people.

UNDP's work in poverty reduction in Zimbabwe is governed by several international frameworks such as the Millennium Declaration, the MDGs, and the International Development Goals. The core services focus on three main areas:

• Strategies and Policies for Poverty Reduction,
• Inclusive Globalisation, and
• Support for MDG-Aligned National Development Strategies.

In addition, capacity building remains central to UNDP's work.  Efficiency service delivery within the civil servants and the public sector is central for effectiveness through our various programmes.  Our core services to support national efforts to reduce poverty and inequities involve:

• Policy advice and technical support;
• Strengthening capacity of institutions and individuals
• Advocacy, communications, and public information;
• Promoting and brokering dialogue; and
• Knowledge networking and sharing of good practices.

UNDP Zimbabwe Poverty Reduction Strategy Programme

The Zimbabwe United Nations Development Assistance Framework (ZUNDAF) 2007 - 2011 provides the basis for poverty reduction interventions for the UNDP Zimbabwe.  UNDP's work on the strategies and policies for poverty reduction is anchored in three basic principles - which are

• Multidimensionality of poverty,
• Centrality of gender equality and
• Critical importance of an integrated approach toward poverty reduction in Zimbabwe.

Equitable economic growth is necessary for sustained poverty reduction.  The poor in Zimbabwe should not only benefit equitably from economic growth; they should have the opportunity to actively contribute to its generation. Broad based dialogue leading to home grown solutions therefore falls at the very heart of the recovery process for Zimbabwe.

The country office therefore strives to bring together government, civil society, business, labour, donors and development partners towards a common goal guided by the Millennium Development Goals as a development vision. Taking the MDGs as our development vision and their localisation as a strategy for poverty reduction, the country office will endeavour to;

1. Facilitate pro poor policy dialogue and formulation at national level through strengthening of MDG based policy formulation, planning, monitoring and reporting at all levels
2. Continue to support the MDG- based national poverty reduction strategy; the Zimbabwe Economic Development Strategy (ZEDS)
3. Enhance the Integration of Gender and HIV and AIDS into the national development policy frameworks through the national budget and all sector strategies and policies.
4. Promote and advocate for the human development paradigm through support to the regular production of National Human Development Reports (NHDRs) on contemporary thematic issues
5. Strengthen national information systems for MDG- based and evidence- based policy formulation and development planning in order to develop a comprehensive poverty monitoring system. This will include support to the transformation of the Central Statistical Office (CSO) into an autonomous National Bureau of Statistics
6. Support community based livelihoods recovery programmes and vocational skills training
7. Support dialogue between Government, civil society organisations (CSO), labour, business and the donor community towards consensus building on macroeconomic development challenges facing the country 
8. Support the formulation and implementation of policies and regulations supportive of strong macroeconomic frameworks, equitable trade and sustained growth led by effective public- private sector partnerships
9. Support capacity building for skills development and retention and institutional building for effective and efficient service delivery within the civil service and the public sector 
10. Support land and agricultural development as a pillar for sustained poverty reduction within this predominately agro based economy

The UNDP MDG Based Monitoring and Reporting project initiative aims to incorporate the above priorities through the implementation of the following activities:

·   Support to MDG Based National Development Strategies
·   Strengthening of National Capacities for Economic and Financial Management
·   Capacity Development for the Achievement of MDGs at Local Level

Challenges

The economic crisis and the collapse of public services in 2008 contributed to a significant rise in poverty and unemployment and the general deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the country. The political uncertainties and impasse in 2008 negatively impacted efforts to implement and deliver interventions on poverty reduction and compounded the difficulties in raising resources towards supporting development in Zimbabwe. Growth and development are at this stage necessary for Zimbabwe's economic turnaround. The new Inclusive government that came into office in February 2009 has opened new opportunities for dialogue, engagement and the scaling up of poverty reduction activities.


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