TheJourneyVolume1 - Book - Page 103
as the Chief Economist of UNDP Regional Bureau for
Africa, the UNDS Reform transformed me from a professional economist to an administrator.
Transforming the role of UNDP in South Africa has
been my priority. Working as an RR in an upper-middle-income country whose Public Financial Management
Act constrains resource mobilization, including
cost-sharing arrangements, makes the operational
environment very challenging.
I hold a three-in-one position: as UNDP Resident
Representative; serving as the Co-Chairperson of the UN
Country Team - government of South African partnership; and the Manager of the UNDP Africa Finance Sector
Hub (covering 46 RBA countries).
This multitasking function is very challenging yet
provides an opportunity to play the SDG integrator role
more effectively in the context of COVID-19, thereby
scaling up UNDP’s relevance in the country and within
the UN Country Team (UNCT).
This includes negotiating the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSCDF)
with the government of South Africa on behalf of the UNCT
and coordinating three COVID-19 knowledge products,
also on behalf of the UNCT. One of the knowledge
products - The Socio-Economic Impact Assessment of
COVID-19, became the most downloaded knowledge
product in RBA over the past year and the recommendations of another, Rapid Emergency Needs Assessment
for the Most Vulnerable Groups, were presented to the
highest technical policy-making level in the country - the
National Policy Committee of the Directors General of
the government of South Africa - for the first time in the
history of the United Nations in South Africa.
An important takeaway from our work here, is the
leadership breakthrough regarding UNDP’s partnership
with the government of South Africa, which has created
a significant improvement in trust from key ministries
across the government tiers. For the first time, in 2020,
the government issued a Certificate of Partnership to
UNDP, while UNDP was the only international organization invited by the National Parliament to provide inputs
on its development and oversight functions. UNDP was
also the only international organization acknowledged in
the Women’s Charter for Accelerated Development.
In addition, the resource mobilization drive has
succeeded in reducing the concentration of Global
Environment Facility resources from over 80% in 2019
to about 60% in 2021.
HOW TO BUILD BACK BETTER
For South Africa to build back better and recover rapidly,
the following issues remain critical: the fight against
corruption must be strengthened and fought without
fear or favor; strategic support to informal and Small,
Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) sectors must
be provided through enhanced productive capacity and
access to markets and capital; application of national
basic income provided to the army of unemployed youth
which constitutes over 60% of national unemployment
(possibly funded through an Unemployment Insurance
Fund and other sources); implementation of the local
content and beneficiation policies must be accelerated.
The foregoing will help reduce the poverty, income
inequality, and unemployment that are causing tensions
in the country. Meanwhile, international development
partners should deepen their advocacy on South Africa’s
development needs and diversify the overconcentrated
economic and political actors.
U N I T E D N AT I O N S D E V E L O P M E N T P R O G R A M M E
THE POLITICAL ECONOMY
The stronghold of the ruling party on the government is
suffocating its fiduciary and development functions, while
the overconcentration of public resources on government
parastatals is crowding out private investment. The
outsized role of big companies is emasculating the
vibrancy of SMMEs and their capacity to generate decent
jobs, while the belligerent approach of the trade unions
is negatively impacting national productivity, thereby
pushing employers to the cliff of labor-saving technology.
There is no silver bullet solution to these tough political
economy issues.
The solutions lie in adopting a whole-of-society
approach, requiring the convening role of the UN and
other international organizations for substantial progress
to be achieved.
In conclusion, if I were to reincarnate, I would remain
a development practitioner – but would do it differently,
with a better work-life balance as an important parameter
in my journey. n
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