Introduction
The Millennium Summit of September 2000 focussed and committed the world to addressing the many dimensions of human development, including halving by 2015 the proportion of people living in extreme poverty. As part of this effort, developing countries are being urged to develop national poverty eradication strategies based on local needs and priorities. UNDP advocates for these nationally owned solutions, helping to make them effective through ensuring a greater voice for the poor people, expanding access to productive assets and economic opportunities, and linking poverty programmes with countries’ international economic and financial policies using the framework of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The UNDP Multi-Country Office (MCO) in Samoa aims to support the development and implementation of evidence-based, regional, pro-poor National Sustainable Development Strategies to address population, poverty and economic exclusion issues, stimulate economic opportunities and decent employment and promote sustainable livelihoods.
Young People’s Programme - TALAVOU
Through the UN joint programme focusing on the development of young people in Samoa, UNDP supports youth development through income generation initiatives, capacity building and skills training; all of which also lead to increasing self-esteem. Extremely high unemployment rates, high suicide rates, rising incidences of sexually transmitted infections, teenage pregnancies and growing crime have been compelling reasons to approach issues affecting young people in a multidisciplinary way. The programme, called the UN Joint TALAVOU (Towards a Legacy of Achievement, Versatility and Opportunity through Unity) Young People's Programme, is an excellent way for the UN to coordinate its development agenda around common initiatives with the ultimate goal of achieving the MDGs.
Mid-term review of the TALAVOU Programme was concluded in September 2008 (Click here to see the Final Report). This review of the Programme implementation and processes from 2006 - 2007 was conducted in order to set the direction of the Programme for the remaining 2 years and to evaluate the feasibility of a project extension beyond 2009
Macroeconomics And Poverty Reduction
Policy advice to government on the development of macroeconomic polices geared to bring about hardship and poverty reduction is a highlight of the Country Programme for Samoa. A combination of top advisers from the UNDP Regional Centre in Colombo and the UNDP Pacific Centre, as well as national experts have come together to provide Samoa with suggestions and evidenced-based recommendations for sound poverty reduction macroeconomic policy. The Macroeconomics of Poverty Reduction Case Study for Samoa Report was launched in 2006 by some of UNDP’s senior officers and the government. Also, the most recent Samoa National Human Development Report of 2006 outlines some of the development challenges facing Samoa currently, including in the area of economics.
United Nations Volunteers (UNV)
Reaching one of the most marginalised groups in society, the UN Volunteers (UNV) Programme has undertaken the Empowerment of Rural People with Disabilities (ERPD) project in Samoa funded by the Japan Trust Fund. The project was implemented in 2002-2004 and was extended from 2005 – 2007, with the objectives to 1) model effective special needs activities at the community level; 2) increase the capabilities of people with disabilities to develop income opportunities; and 3) strengthen rural special education services and project management.
This programme combined a total of 12 international and national UNVs to successfully reach parents, teachers and community leaders in educational training, home care and livelihoods. In 2006, the ERPD project’s second phase continued its support by extending the activities to include school-age children with hearing disabilities into regular classrooms, through providing three National UNV (NUNV) special needs teachers and teaching aids to the two pilot schools. This fundamental support to the two schools was very important in laying the foundations for further support to people with disabilities. In 2007, two NUNVs under the project had the opportunity to participate in a national workshop, along with over 100 government schoolteachers, to support the inclusion of children with hearing impairments into regular schools. Click here for more information
Private Sector Support Facility
As highlighted in the Government’s Strategy for the Development of Samoa (SDS), the private sector is the engine of growth for the country’s economy and moves will be put in place, with the assistance of UNDP and NZAID, to ensure that resources are readily available to people to strengthen and augment the efforts of environmentally sustainable and gender sensitive enterprises to improve their performance and profitability. A Private Sector Support Facility (PSSF) was therefore designed and set up by the government for this purpose. The PSSF is essentially a mechanism for the pooling of donor funds to be channelled to small and medium-sized enterprises in the rural and urban areas for strengthening their businesses and enterprises using grants, with specific attention to promoting gender equality and the equitable distribution of development aid.
Integrated Framework For Trade
The Integrated Framework (IF) forms a component of the PSSF, and lays the foundation for the formulation of a Diagnostic Trade Integration Study (DTIS) for the country, funded separately by the IF Trust Fund managed by the Trade and Human Development Unit of UNDP in Geneva. This projects aims to increase the number of selected government staff participating in trade-focussed training held locally on an annual basis. In addition to the local trade training focus, the project aims to increase the number of selected government and civil society trade negotiators receiving specialist international trade training by 2012. The resulting output will then be increased capacity of government officials, traders and negotiators to more effectively participate in regional and international trade negotiations.