What is The People Edition?

The new Regional Bureau for Africa's (RBA) Regional Programme will underpin priorities across four areas: People, Planet, Peace and Prosperity. Therefore, the theme of this first special issue of our monthly newsletter explores People through the original views, voices and experiences of seven individuals:

• A climate migrant who escaped prolonged drought in Angola; 
• A youth entrepreneur making waves in Nigeria’s creative industry; 
• A parliamentarian advocating for the rights of key populations in Zimbabwe;
• A young Malawian with an ambitious plan for an integrated Africa;
• A senior government official leading innovative financing in Cabo Verde; 
• A business analyst in Tanzania reflecting on the role gender sensitive policies can play in corporate spaces; and 
• A human rights activist and Right Livelihood 2021 Laureate playing a key role in the fight against Boko Haram in Cameroon.

Data for development

As a leading player in a wide range of technical areas such as governance, climate change and adaptation, financing for development, and addressing trans-boundary challenges in Africa, the Regional Programme recognizes the importance of data for mapping the development footprint of UNDP’s priorities at the regional level. In the section ‘What can data tell us?’, we provide readers with a brief overview, using quantitative analysis and visualization, of the emerging trends in COVID-19 vaccination rates in Africa. We hope you enjoy reading this first special issue and would like to thank UNDP colleagues and partners for taking the time and effort to share these stories.