The Regional Programme for Africa Annual Report 2021 marks the end of a successful four-year programming cycle (2018-2022), during which 31 UNDP regional projects and initiatives impacted more than 500,000 lives across the Africa region. Thanks to partnerships with over 200 regional actors, institutions and organizations, UNDP achieved tangible impact in the areas of governance, peace and security, women and youth empowerment, support to small- and medium-sized enterprises, and regional responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, to name just a few.

As stated by UNDP Regional Bureau for Africa Director Ahunna Eziakonwa in the report’s foreword, “Together, we are telling a different story about Africa than the one that is so often told.” In 2021, we helped communities recover from the COVID-19 pandemic by investing in and strengthening the capacity of regional actors to drive their own development. The results are evident – more than 400,000 people received COVID-19 education and support. We also helped create an active network of 300,000 integrated testing labs to enable safe travel and trade, including through our support to PANABIOs, a cutting edge technology established to power digital vaccine passports as well as a cross-border and inter-jurisdictional contact tracing solution.

That said, our work is far from over. New ways of growing call for new ways of thinking. Earlier this year, the Regional Programme Advisory Board endorsed the new Regional Programme Document for 2022-2025, which seeks to provide strategic guidance over the next 4 years as we consolidate and build on our past successes along 4 priority areas: People, Peace, Prosperity and Planet.