Amadu Mahama has spent the last 20 years trying to bring modern energy services to his native village of Tamale in northern Ghana. Due to a lack of energy resources, most people in Mahama's village used to do all their work manually, and female children have often had to stay home from school to help grind and process grains by hand.It is estimated that in Ghana's rural areas, only 17 percent of the population is connected to the national electricity grid.

Some mornings Espérance Nibigira, 35, wonders how she will find the energy to begin the day. As a combatant in the north-west of Burundi during the civil war that raged between 1993 and 2005, resulting in 300,000 deaths, she suffered an accident on the battlefield that left her disabled and suffering from amnesia. Since returning in 2009 to her village of Bwayi, in the province of Cibitoke, this widowed mother of three has tried gradually to return to a normal way of life. However, her physical and intellectual capacities have been undermined, and the money she was given upon her demobilization has only enabled her to obtain essential goods.

On a spring day in southwest Mali, a group of Malian women holding corners of a blue and turquoise cloth turn their heads to the sky. In seconds, the green mangoes that hang from the tree branches above will be prodded by a stick, knocking them into the colorful cloth.Anyone who has tried a Malian mango will say it is one of the world’s tastiest fruits. The demand for mangoes worldwide has never been higher, but insect-plagued harvests have prevented Mali from exporting its prized commodity to European markets.

Weak and unable to walk, Fozia Bullen, from Nagbaka village in South Sudan, had lost all hope when she reached Maridi Hospital, one of the few antiretroviral therapy centers in the country for people living with HIV. Her doctor said she had reached an acute level of the disease, with severe body rashes, chronic diarrhea, loss of appetite, and severe weight loss. After one month of treatment, however, Fozia was discharged in better health and continues taking medication at home. After four months of treatment, her rashes were gone, her diarrhea stopped, and she reached 80 percent of her normal weight, which has enabled her to carry out daily work, tend to her gardens, and provide for her family.

Jennifer was just 16 years old when poverty forced her out of her native Nigeria, leaving her family and many young sisters behind. She thought she was heading for a better future as a house maid in Europe, but instead, she ended up in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, where she has been a sex worker for the past nine years.   “This is not something you want to do for a living. We all want to leave this profession,” she said.

Report Summary

This report takes stock of achievements made in 2010/2011 and provides momentum for meeting future demands. On the ground in 177 countries and territories worldwide, UNDP continues to assist governments in empowering their citizens through projects and programmes that make a difference in people's lives, allowing for informed choices, and building the groundwork towards more resilient nations.  Resilience in particular ensures that societies, communities and families can withstand crisis — whether it is a natural disaster or a food price shock — and bounce back with limited long-term damage, and be better prepared for the next crisis.