Known as the Mountain Kingdom, Lesotho is situated in the southern region of Africa. It is a small mountainous country covering a land area of approximately 30,000 sq. km. Landlocked and completely encircled by South Africa, it stands an altitude of 3500m above sea level. About 80% of the country’s 2.14 million inhabitants live in the rural areas while only 20% live in the urban areas. Females make 51% and males make 49% of the population.

With a Gross National Income per capita of US$ 402.8 (2004), the country is classified as one of the least developed countries and is ranked 149 0f 177 countries on the UNDP Human Development Report Index (2005). The national currency, Loti, is pegged on the South African Rand on 1:1 basis.

The economy recorded an annual growth of three point seven percent in 2002 and it was projected to grow at three point four percent in 2003 (Minister of Finance’s Budget Speech 2004/2005). Lesotho’s major natural resource is water, often referred to as ‘white gold’ by Basotho. During 1995 and 1997, with intense construction works generated by the multi-million Lesotho Highlands Water Project, Lesotho became one of the ten fastest growing economies on the African continent. The positive impact of the water project and the small but rapidly growing manufacturing sector contributed to the spurt in economic growth.

Although the strong Loti/Rand heavily challenges the growth of textile industry, according to the budget speech (2004/2005) fiscal year, the textile industry is growing stronger in the country and it contributes 15% of the country’s GDP. The newly established Lesotho Revenue Authority and the introduction of the Value Added Tax (VAT) are expected to bolster the efficiency and transparency of revenue collections and help to address budget pressures.

Lesotho has a temperate climate that is marked by four clearly identifiable seasons. It normally receives 85% of its average rainfall of 700mm in the seven months from October to April, with highest average of 1200mm recorded in the mountain region, and low averages of 500mm recorded in the Senqu River valley which forms a rain shadow area.

Three quarters of the country is made up of highlands, which rise nearly 3,500 meters in the Drakensburg/Maluti Mountain range, hence its popular name ---“Mountain Kingdom”. The remaining one-quarter of the country is lowlands with altitudes between 1,500 and 2,000 meters (Lesotho has the highest low-point of any country in the world). The mountainous topography of Lesotho presents difficult terrain, arable land is limited, and less than 10 per cent of the country is presently under cultivation. The rural highlands are less developed and winters are severe with heavy snowfalls that often cut off the population basic health services and food supply.

Most of the population is engaged in subsistence farming and animal husbandry. However, the production of Lesotho's major crops continues to decline, a trend which started in the 1970s. Household income, once supplemented by remittances from Basotho employed in South African mines is falling due to the retrenchment of mine workers. Unemployment remains high, 45% (2003 estimates) and is one of the most serious problems facing Lesotho. Poverty and malnutrition are particularly pronounced in the country’s rural areas and 16.3% of children under the age of five are estimated to be underweight (World Food Programme; 2003).

UNDP Lesotho is committed to support the Government of Lesotho in reducing poverty and promoting sustainable human development within the context of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG). However, progress towards the MDGs has been slow (click here for an overview table of the MDGs in Lesotho) and several goals are likely to be missed if current trends continue. The key target of halving income poverty by 2015 is one. A total of 58% of Lesotho’s population lives below the national poverty line, which is unchanged over the decade for which information is currently available.

With a comprehensive programme for Free Primary Education which was introduced in 2000, primary school enrolment increased and the country has one of the highest levels of adult literacy on the continent at 81.4% (Human Development Report:2004). In Lesotho, many boys have, for generations, worked as herd-boys from very young ages (as low as five or six). This had placed a challenge for the Government to raise the low rates of educational attainment among males and reversing this traditional practice of child labour.

Progress has also been slow in reducing infant and maternal mortality and improving access to safe water especially in the rural areas. Of all the challenges facing the country, none is more urgent than HIV&AIDS pandemic which, with an estimated adult prevalence of 28.9% (2004 Report on the global AIDS epidemic, UNAIDS), has a devastating impact on individuals, families, communities and society as a whole. HIV and AIDS related deaths have affected the production of the economy and led to increased household poverty. It is estimated that the prevalence rate among women is 51% compared to 28% for men. The staggering number of Basotho children already orphaned due to AIDS forms a crisis of enormous proportions. With Lesotho having the fourth highest incidences of HIV&AIDS in the world, the problem of orphan hood is increasing. According to UNAIDS Report on the Global AIDS epidemic (2004), 100,000 children between the ages of 0-17 years have lost one or both parents.

As stated in the budget speech (2004/2005), HIV and AIDS threaten to reverse all the important economic and social gains that Lesotho has made since independence. In response to these challenges, Lesotho has adopted a new SADC Strategic Framework and a Programme of Action 2003-2007. The framework aims to galvanize SADC Member States, of which Lesotho is one, to focus on access to care, testing and treatment, prevention and education, social mobilization, access to anti-retroviral resource mobilization, and monitoring and evaluation.

Equally important, Lesotho has now adopted its own programme of action to scale up the response against HIV&AIDS. Through UNDP’s support the Act establishing the National AIDS Commission (NAC) was passed by the Parliament in June 2005 and the Commission is currently based within the office of the Prime Minister with legal authority to coordinate country efforts to address HIV & AIDS issues in Lesotho. This was one of the key recommendations of the UNDP spearheaded working document, “Turning a Crisis into an Opportunity”. The National AIDS Secretariat (NAS) mandated to coordinate the affairs of the NAC and stakeholder response of HIV & AIDS in the country, is currently engaged in coordinating the collaborative joint review and development of a new National AIDS Policy and Strategic Plan to be completed by 2006 with commitment and support of UNDP.

Even if the fight against the pandemic has been met with strong commitment from the highest levels of government, the response has been slow and progress is being impeded by weak capacity in line-ministries. Support to the national multi-sectoral effort to combat HIV&AIDS was identified as a key priority in the UNDAF. UN support is being channelled through a series of avenues including; stand alone programmes of UNDP, UNICEF, UNFPA and WHO. UN Theme Group, co-chaired by UNDP Resident Representative and Ministry of Health and Social Welfare serves as the main national consultative body for the implementation of the National AIDS Strategic Plan.