2024 UN Country Annual Results Report Seychelles

It is my pleasure to present the Annual Results Report of the United Nations Country Team (UNCT) in Seychelles for 2024. The report highlights the key results and achievements of the 25 United Nations agencies, funds and programmes achieved in collaboration with national stakeholders in addressing national development priorities and progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for an inclusive, resilient and prosperous future for all Seychellois.
 

2024 was significant in many ways: it was the inaugural implementation year of the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) 2024–2028. It also marked the new decade of action for Small Island Developing States (SIDS), which are at the forefront of the global climate emergency. The fourth International Conference on SIDS launched the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for SIDS (ABAS), which defines the priorities of SIDS for the next 10 years to include climate resilience, economic diversification, human capital and the acceleration of digitalization, science, technology and innovation and the global frameworks, partnerships, monitoring and financing required. Similarly, the Pact for the Future, adopted at the Summit of the Future in September 2024, underscored the importance of multilateral action in addressing global challenges with attention to increased vulnerability of SIDS. These frameworks provide programmatic and operational guidance to the United Nations and development partners towards concrete broad-based actions that improve sustainable institutional effectiveness, strategic foresight and systems thinking, policy innovation and partnerships for results.
 

Specifically, the contributions of the United Nations in 2024 have been clustered around three pillars, namely People, Planet and Prosperity. Guided by the People Pillar, United Nations advocacy led to the development of key strategies and policies, including the National Digital Health Strategy, national health workforce accounts, the National Diaspora Policy and enhanced border control and anti-trafficking efforts. Under the Prosperity Pillar, the United Nations promoted policy alignment to maximize the benefits of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), advanced digital transformation for food systems and fisheries and took forward the circular economy financing strategy as well as the development of the taxation framework for alignment with the SDGs. The United Nations also developed the Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) roadmap, which is of huge significance for countries like Seychelles, which places digital transformation high on its agenda. The Planet Pillar saw partnerships to bolster the disaster risk financing strategy of Seychelles and integrate disaster risk reduction budgeting into national planning. Initiatives like the Resilience Building and Disaster Response Management in the Indian Ocean programme developed a multi-year Early Warning for All roadmap to improve emergency preparedness and response.
 

Looking ahead to 2025, the priority for the UNCT will be to accompany the implementation of the National Development Strategy (2024–2028) via the UNSCDF. Multilateralism remains a core pathway to support the acceleration of regional integration agenda, as envisaged in the AfCFTA, and global frameworks such as the Pact for the Future and the ABAS. Partnerships and collective national and regional actions in addressing complex challenges with public and private sector, civil society, academia, development partners and regional entities will ensure that we capitalize on our strengths, resources and expertise and together provide a strong foundation for a sustainable, inclusive and prosperous Seychelles where no one is left behind.

Ms. Lisa Simrique Singh
UN Resident Coordinator
for Mauritius & Seychelles