The General Assembly resolution A/RES/64/208 (12 March 2010) recognized the significant diversity of middle-income countries, along with their achievements and the development and capacity challenges that remain. The 2011 report of the Secretary-General on development cooperation with middle-income countries (A/66/220) called for enhanced engagement and identified priorities in cooperation with those countries. This warrants close attention from the development community, including the United Nations.

UNITED NATIONS POPULATION FUNDProgramme Division605 Third AvenueNew York, NY 10158 U.S.A.Tel: +1 (212) 297-5000Email: progdiv@unfpa.orgwww.unfpa.org

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“Despite notable reductions in poverty levels, many middle-income countries face rising inequality, the persistence of extreme poverty, and a lack of adequate social security systems. Further efforts are needed to improve safety nets and economic security.”

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon addressing High-Level Economic and

Social Council Meeting, SG/SM13436/ECOSOC/6471, 10 March 2011.

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Achieve universal access to sexual and

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The goal...To improve the lives of...

UNFPA Strategic Focus

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In October 2011, participants in the UNFPA pilot initiative met in Gaborone, Botswana, to share their experiences and best practices and derive first lessons. Hosted by UNFPA-Botswana, the meeting also involved United Nations partners and key national players, including government officials, civil society representatives and academics from the University of Botswana.

Messages from the Botswana meeting include:• The middle-income context requires catalytic engagement at a strategic

level from UNFPA and the United Nations. This engagement consists of an upstream policy dialogue with governments, advocacy, brokering and transfer of knowledge, national capacity development and consensus-building.

• Programmatic focus and prioritization are crucial for engagement with middle-income countries.

• Strong national ownership of development in these countries calls for closer alignment of United Nations priorities with national/regional priorities.

• The diversity of middle-income countries demands very specific and well-contextualized responses, which in turn requires flexibility. The notion that “not one size fits all” is key.

• It is critical for United Nations operations in middle-income countries to become more efficient. This may include sharing responsibilities for technical

assistance, and maintaining a presence without necessarily maintaining country offices for all agencies.

• The United Nations should place greater emphasis on broad, multi-stakeholder partnerships for development, with increased mutual accountability among partners.

The bottom billionAn estimated 960 million poor people or 72 per cent of the world’s poor now live in middle-income countries. They are the new ‘bottom billion’. The largest countries — India, China, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Indonesia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Pakistan — also have the largest poor populations. Out of 110 countries classified by the World Bank as middle-income in 2011, approximately one-third belong to the United Nations category of least developed countries.

Note: Figures are in millions of people.Source: The Guardian, www.guardian.co.uk/global-development.

India456

China208

Nigeria88.6

Bangladesh76

DR Congo36

Indonesia66.1

Pakistan19.7

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Key first lessonsUNFPA Pilot InitiativeIn November 2010, UNFPA launched a pilot initiative for middle-income countries. Led by the Programme Division, this initiative intends to operationalize the UNFPA Strategy Toward Middle-Income Countries (February 2010), with a particular focus on implementing the International Conference on Population and Development Programme of Action. It also aims to contribute to strengthening United Nations engagement with these countries through innovative work in three country contexts —Botswana, Brazil and South Africa — as well as possible ‘self-starter’ pilot countries. The essence of the initiative is in spearheading new approaches.

Chart 1. Countries by World Bank Income Groups, 1996-2001

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Countries by World Bank Income Groups, 1996-2011

Middle-income countries: achievements and challenges Over the last two decades, countries have shifted out of the low- and lower-middle-income groups into the upper-middle- and high-income groups. Many middle-income countries experienced a sharp rebound in economic growth, with the largest countries leading recovery from the 2008-2009 global financial and economic crisis. The income gains, however, have often been accompanied by ‘residual’ development challenges, including: persistent poverty, inequality, the social and economic exclusion of certain populations and an inability to address population challenges or achieve universal access to health care.

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Objectives of the pilot initiative include: • Collate best practices and challenges in UNFPA and United Nations

engagement in the pilot countries. • Outline the required changes in UNFPA and United Nations engagement

with middle-income countries in terms of the focus/priorities, strategies/modalities of engagement, resource mobilization/allocation, staffing, business models and partnerships. Particular attention should be given to the promotion of South-South cooperation.

• Facilitate peer review and justify/rationalize new approaches chosen for testing. Extract lessons from each of the pilot countries and highlight similarities and differences.

• Find ways to increase the agility and dynamism of UNFPA interventions/engagement in response to specific country needs and interests.

• Fine-tune the UNFPA Strategy Toward Middle-Income Countries based on findings and lessons from pilot countries.

• Provide suggestions for the development of a United Nations-wide policy framework for engagement with middle-income countries as part of inter-agency discussions, building on the Secretary-General’s 2011 report on development cooperation with these countries.

Innovative cooperation between UNFPA and middle-income countries would require changes/improvements in: • Current and future programmatic focus.• Means to stimulate South-South cooperation.• Country and regional office roles and profiles.• Resource mobilization mechanisms so countries can play a more active role

in development finance.• Resource allocation mechanisms for catalytic and well-targeted funding.• Management of transition from traditional to innovative approaches with

new business modalities.• Results-based management to ensure that countries “do more with less”.

Next steps

Source: EADS Snapshot on World Bank Income Groups, USAID, No.45, July 2011, p.1.