UN South Africa Country Results Report 2021

2021 proved to be yet another challenging year for South Africa. It was characterised by new COVID-19 waves and lockdowns, loss of lives and livelihoods threatened with long-term impact on some of the country’s development gains over the years. The year also saw an increase in cases of violence against women and children and civil unrest and looting in the provinces of Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.

2021 was dedicated to “building back better” and emphasising that “we are all in this together”. To this end, the UNCT continued to support the national COVID-19 response, through a communications and advocacy campaign to dispel the myths surrounding the global pandemic and vaccination, supporting the COVID vaccination roll-out programme, responding to the HIV epidemic in the country and more importantly providing capacity building to maintain resilient health systems which are critical for responding to the crisis. 

The United Nations Country Team (UNCT) in South Africa is headed by the Resident Coordinator, who is the designated representative of the UN Secretary-General. The UNCT comprises 17 UN agencies, funds, and programmes. Currently, the country team has 15 resident and two non-resident agencies. The UNCT is an inter- agency forum for joint policy formulation and decision making. It provides strategic direction and oversight to ensure that the United Nations Development System agencies deliver coherent, effective, and efficient support. The UNCT works with the Government of South Africa, civil society, the private sector, international financial institutions; and other development partners to support the national development priorities. The UN remains committed to enhancing its performance and impact in contributing to the country’s development. Download Full Report HERE