A boost from the UNDP to government’s digital transformation strategy |11 December 2021

Mrs Serumaga hands over the donation to Minister Hassan (Photo: Jude Morel)

To ensure and guarantee business continuity during any unforeseen crisis, especially when it comes to working from home, the Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Trade has received a consignment of Information Technology (IT) equipment from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

The consignment, which includes 98 laptop computers, 98 docking stations, along with four scanners, was handed over to Minister for Finance, Economic Planning and Trade Naadir Hassan by the UNDP resident representative for Mauritius and Seychelles Amanda Serumaga, during a ceremony held yesterday at the Liberty House in Victoria, in the presence of representatives of the ministry and the UNDP.

Accepting the equipment, Minister Hassan said it came at an opportune time when the government is moving forward with its plan to digitalise its services, in order to become more efficient.

He said as we start laying the foundation to launch the digital economy, the government has to lead the process and lead by example, by digitalising the public service, in order to enable its system to ‘do more with less’.

Minister Hassan also explained that the Covid-19 pandemic has shown not only us, but the world, that we have to change our normal way of doing things.

“We have to adapt and adopt new ways of doing things, and the use of technology in our everyday work is no longer an exception, nor a luxury, but it is a norm,” added Minister Hassan, who further noted that, as the custodian of our country’s financial system and economy, staff have worked tirelessly during this testing time to ensure that the government honours all its obligations and commitments, more often by working from home.

This, Minister Hassan said, has not been easy due to many technological challenges, but they however persevered.

On behalf of the ministry and government, Minister Hassan thanked the UNDP for assisting Seychelles in its mission to digitalise the economy, and bring more efficacies in its service delivery.

Mrs Serumaga said the UNDP is grateful to partner with the Seychelles with respect to many aspects, and in particular the digital transformation strategy.

She explained that in the new normal there is going to be different ways of working and one of them is to proceed to paper-less government system.

This, she said, will help government systems attain the efficiencies that they can through being able to work remotely, while it will also help to process documentations faster.

In that aspect, Mrs Serumaga said the UNDP is very pleased to be able to contribute to that strategy through IT equipment donation.

UNDP is based on the merging of the United Nations Expanded Programme of Technical Assistance, created in 1949, and the United Nations Special Fund, established in 1958.

The UNDP, as we know it now, was established in 1965 by the General Assembly of the United Nations.

It is on the ground in about 170 countries and territories, working to eradicate poverty while protecting the planet.

The UNDP helps countries to develop strong policies, skills, partnerships and institutions so they can sustain their progress.

Roland Duval