United Nations Resident Coordinator pays courtesy call on Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma

The Acting Resident Coordinator of the United Nations in South Africa, Ayodele Odusola, today paid a courtesy visit on the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, at her residence in Pretoria.

The visit follows the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the two parties last year, in support of the implementation of the District Development Model (DDM) in the three pilot districts of O.R. Tambo (Eastern Cape Province), Waterberg (Limpopo) and eThekwini (KwaZulu-Natal).

Since the signing of the MoU, the technical teams consisting of both parties have worked together to implement 29 projects of the DDM which fall under the Business Solutions Model, the Thuthuzela Care Centres and the Thusong Service Centres. Through the DDM approach, the UN seeks to assist in building sustainable and resilient communities in South Africa.

In his interaction with the minister, the Acting Resident Coordinator shared progress on the ongoing work of the UN in South Africa, the UN’s response in the KwaZulu-Natal Province following devastating floods which caused loss of lives and destruction to infrastructure. The UN made available R21million (US$1.24million) from programming budget to support the Government’s response efforts in the worst affected communities.

Mr. Odusola also took the opportunity to present the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework document to the minister, which spells out the work of the UN in South Africa for the period 2020-2025.

“The UN has an opportunity to support government’s efforts in addressing the structural and developmental challenges facing South Africa,” said Mr. Odusola. “We are committed to support the government in implementing the National Development Plan through the District Development Model to ensure that developmental challenges and crises such as last year’s unrest are circumvented,” he added.