As the principal arm of the United Nations for the funding and coordination of technical assistance and development, UNDP, under its Administrator, Mr. James Gustave Speth, has contributed to the development debate at both the conceptual and operational levels -- internationally and in the countries it serves.
To strengthen its own capacity to give policy guidance and support in priority areas, UNDP restructured its Bureau for Policy and Programme Support to include four thematic divisions, on social development and poverty elimination, management development and governance, sustainable energy and environment, and science and technology.
Path-breaking legislation on the future of UNDP and on the successor programming arrangements for the next period was approved by the Executive Board of UNDP and UNFPA in June. The decision on the future of UNDP continued the process of redefining its role. The Board recognized poverty elimination as the overriding priority in UNDP programmes and urged concentration on areas where UNDP has demonstrable comparative advantages, in particular in capacity-building.
The Board's decision on successor programming arrangements constituted a major turning-point for UNDP, replacing the programming system that had been in effect since the "consensus" decision of 1970. The new system is intended to provide greater flexibility in the assignment of resources, as well as greater incentives for the formulation of focused, high-impact and high-leverage programmes to promote sustainable human development.
At the conceptual level, the Human Development Report, a report to UNDP, prepared by a team of independent development experts, has contributed to the international development debate. The 1995 Report focuses on gender issues and on valuing women's work as a contribution to the Fourth World Conference on Women.
Several Governments have requested assistance in the preparation of their own national human development reports, based on the methodologies used in the Human Development Report. National reports have been published in 9 countries in all regions in 1994 and 1995 and are in preparation in close to 40 more, including several in central and eastern Europe and CIS. In other countries, such as Botswana, Egypt and Bolivia, exercises based on the human development methodology for the collection of disaggregated data have been conducted. Overall, the reports and data collection exercises help to identify groups excluded from the benefits of development, whether for reasons of poverty, gender or geographic location, and to propose environmentally sound strategies for their inclusion.
The national long-term perspective studies programme, introduced in 1991, has helped African countries define national priorities to guide their development over a 25-year "futures" horizon. By 1994, the programme was active in 11 countries.
UNDP has assisted many programme countries in the preparation of their positions at global forums. Through the resident coordinator system, UNDP has contributed at the national level to preparations for the Fourth World Conference on Women. Several dozen reports on the status of women were prepared for the Conference, most of them based on gender analysis and the collection of disaggregated data. UNDP facilitated dialogue in each country among the organizations of Government, the United Nations and civil society. UNDP is now integrating the broader concept of gender in the programming process. For example, in 1993, the Government of Turkey, with support from UNDP, launched a programme for the enhancement of women's participation in the nation's development. Training was conducted on such topics as women and employment, women and entrepreneurship, and women and violence. UNDP is also cooperating with UNCHS in the preparations for Habitat II.
In 1994, in collaboration with the Inter-American Development Bank and Governments of the region, UNDP co-sponsored development-related preparations for the Summit of the Americas, which mapped out areas for enhanced regional cooperation and development and for movement towards greater participation in development planning and management. In the Asia and Pacific region, UNDP sponsored a regional meeting of development ministers at Kuala Lumpur to facilitate dialogue on strategies for collaboration and for development in the region. It was also heavily involved in the preparations for the International Convention to Combat Desertification and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, assisting with both the preparation of country positions and the conventions themselves.
UNDP experience shows that concepts can only be developed and tested against operational activities. In January 1995, in order to serve development professionals, UNDP pulled together national experience in 13 monographs in the UNDP Series on Sustainable Human Development: Country Strategies for Social Development. The series was launched during the preparatory process for the World Summit for Social Development.
Inter-agency Cooperation has been furthered by widening the resident coordinator pool to encompass candidates from the joint consultative group on policy agencies as well as from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the United Nations Secretariat. Since January 1994, a total of six resident coordinators have so far been selected from the United Nations, UNICEF, the World Food Programme (WFP), UNIDO and UNCTAD. It is hoped that this will lead to greater understanding of the priorities of different agencies and an enhanced sense of ownership of the resident coordinator system on the part of the agencies.
In many countries, resident coordinators have established sectoral subcommittees led by the relevant United Nations agency representative to ensure coordination at the sectoral level. Joint training of United Nations agency representatives and resident coordinators at the ILO Turin Centre has been stepped up. A total of 13 workshops had been held by April 1995, with 63 staff from UNDP and 305 staff from other United Nations agencies being trained. To give further support to inter-agency coordination, UNDP has established an Inter-Agency Coordination and External Policy Office within a restructured Bureau for Resources and External Affairs.
Considerable success has been achieved in increasing the clarity of respective roles within the United Nations system. A statement of principles was signed with UNEP outlining respective roles and an intention to collaborate between the two organizations. A statement of principles was also signed with FAO on food security, a central aspect of sustainable human development in many countries. The high-level task force between UNDP and the World Bank was revitalized, resulting in the negotiation of a revised statement of principles for collaboration between the two agencies, in particular in the areas of forestry and poverty alleviation. Joint programming in select countries is expected to begin in the coming year. Finally, discussions are taking place between UNDP and UNHCR on the collaborative efforts to reintegrate populations displaced by war.
The Administrator of UNDP established a task force under the chairmanship of the Associate Administrator for further strengthening the role of the regional economic commissions. Mechanisms are being established -- with collaboration between UNDP and the commissions -- for coordinating United Nations activities at the regional and subregional levels.
UNDP has improved its support to the round-table process in order to achieve more regular meetings and a sharper focus on policy and resource mobilization. The 1994 round table for the Gambia raised $400 million. Four others were organized in Africa in 1994 (Central African Republic, Guinea-Bissau, Mali and Seychelles). The two organized in Asia, for the Lao People's Democratic Republic and Maldives, raised $500 million and $100 million respectively. The 1995 round table for Rwanda raised $587 million.
UNDP is playing a more active role in consultative group meetings, focusing on capacity for sustainable human development. At the consultative group for the Philippines, the UNDP-sponsored Philippine Human Development Report 1994 served as a principal reference for the agenda item on sustainable development.
In March, the Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development and Programme of Action adopted by the World Summit for Social Development called on UNDP to organize United Nations system efforts towards capacity-building at the local, national and regional levels. In April, the Administrator sent a detailed proposal for UNDP follow-up strategy to all 133 country offices. In June, the Executive Board of UNDP adopted key decisions on following up the Summit and mandated poverty elimination as its overriding priority within the framework of the goals and priority areas agreed to the previous year in support of sustainable human development. The Administrator has asked the UNDP country offices to consult with national counterparts on how the United Nations system can best assist each country in implementing the recommendations of the Summit, in particular in developing national strategies and programmes for poverty elimination. Other areas include the macroeconomic framework for a greater emphasis on poverty reduction; social sector policy and planning; systems to assist vulnerable groups; and poverty definitions, indicators and assessments. UNDP has set up a rapid response system to provide information required for Summit follow-up and to support shifts in programme emphasis.
Poverty elimination, as addressed by the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action, requires participation and empowerment of people at all levels. This requires effective outreach mechanisms that make use of local government, institutions of civil society such as village and community groups and institutions of traditional government, national and international non-governmental organizations, United Nations Volunteer specialists and United Nations specialized agencies. Most importantly, it involves empowerment of target communities in the identification and communication of their own needs and in the management of the implementation of projects and programmes geared to eliminating critical constraints to their development. During 1994 and 1995, the United Nations Capital Development Fund provided local development funds in addition to larger-scale infrastructure and credit facilities. These funds involve the community, whether through community groups or local government bodies, in establishing priorities and in implementing micro-scale infrastructure projects.
To target those who are marginalized in economic or social terms but nevertheless have the potential for productive livelihood requires pro-poor macro-policies geared to build on the productivity of the poor. Many UNDP-supported programmes and projects, as in Sri Lanka and Uganda, have demonstrated how to bring participation, employment and empowerment to poor people. In recognition of the importance of rural agriculture in the alleviation of poverty, employment creation, the preservation of the environment and bringing women into the mainstream of economic development, guidelines for UNDP, government and other development practitioners, entitled "Sustainable Human Development and Agriculture", have been produced and now serve as a basic reference for programming in UNDP.
UNDP took several initiatives in 1994 to promote greater participation by the potential actors and beneficiaries of development. The Conference on Peace and Development, held in Honduras in October 1994, represented the climax of effort by the countries of the region to build consensus on the issues of peace and democratization in Central America. The Conference brought together representatives of Governments, the private sector, cooperatives, trade unions, indigenous communities, universities, regional organizations and the donor community, thus institutionalizing the dialogue with civil society.
Employment generation requires deepening collaboration between UNDP and ILO to identify market demand systematically and to create economically viable jobs that foster sustainable livelihoods. For example, in Ethiopia, the Government has formulated a national programme on human resource development and utilization that looks at both the supply and demand for human resources. The employment and livelihoods subprogramme has set a target of creating 24,000 additional jobs per year over five years and focuses on areas such as the informal sector, promotion of small and medium-scale enterprises, agricultural wage employment and rural on- and off-farm employment.
Protection and regeneration of the environment has been advanced by UNDP for national capacity-building in the follow-up and implementation of Agenda 21 and the Montreal Protocol. China has developed, with UNDP support and with the involvement of over 50 government agencies, research institutes and public organizations, an Agenda 21 strategy. UNDP helped to organize a donor conference during which the Government presented 62 high-priority projects covering such areas as sustainable agriculture; cleaner production; clean energy; conservation and sustainable use of natural resources; pollution control; population growth; and an improvement in the status of people's health, education and general welfare.
To meet the growing demand for national capacity to manage complex environmental concerns, a new Division for Sustainable Energy and Environment was established in August 1994 within the Bureau for Programme and Policy Support. It will further support efforts to incorporate environmental concerns at the earliest possible stages of economic decision-making and promote the full implementation of Agenda 21.
A new initiative for sustainable energy is being formulated to support programme formulation and to provide for greater access to improved energy technology. UNDP along with UNEP, UNIDO and the World Bank are the four implementing agencies assisting some 31 developing countries to eliminate ozone-depleting substances in a programme financed by the multilateral fund under the Montreal Protocol. As at 31 December 1994, total approved budgets amounted to $79.61 million. Eleven country programmes have been approved with UNDP as lead agency and 19 capacity-building (institution-strengthening) projects are under way. Out of a total of 97 projects completed, 20 involve technology transfer investment projects, which have phased out 1,455 tons of ozone-depleting substances.
The governance issues concerning the Global Environment Facility have been resolved and the Facility's Instrument has been approved, delineating the roles of UNEP, UNDP and the World Bank. By December 1994, the UNDP Global Environment Facility pilot phase portfolio consisted of 55 technical assistance projects and 28 pre-investment feasibility studies. In 1995, UNDP launched the post-pilot phase, with 20 projects. As the Programme's main effort to implement Agenda 21, Capacity 21 completed its first full year of operation in 1994, with a solid portfolio of national programmes in all regions. By August 1995, the environmental management guidelines training workshop, a major capacity-building initiative, had been held in 122 countries, involving 3,600 participants.
UNDP is supporting public sector reform in many countries. In Viet Nam, UNDP is helping with reform of the legal, financial and monetary systems, with particular emphasis on social adjustment concerns. It has been assigned the main responsibility for support to the Government in the coordination and management of external cooperation resources. Similar activities are under way in Lebanon, Peru and Zambia. In March, a regional meeting of Latin American and eastern European experts was held in Argentina to discuss how prudent use of regulation, competition and social safety nets can be combined to ensure that privatization contributes to sustainable human development.
During 1994, the United Nations Capital Development Fund began working with UNDP units dealing with governance in selected developing countries. The aim is to promote decentralization by attracting technical cooperation to the local level and providing the capital assistance necessary for newly established local authorities to gain experience in administering development programmes.
Collaborating closely with the Electoral Assistance Division of the Secretariat, UNDP has responded to an increasing number of country requests relating to the introduction or enhancement of the electoral process, including, in Africa, Chad, Ethiopia, Liberia, Mozambique, Togo and Uganda, and, in Latin America, Brazil and Mexico. United Nations Volunteer specialists served as electoral observers and facilitators in Mozambique and South Africa. Other UNDP-supported initiatives have aimed to ensure access to due process and acquired rights. For instance, an international ombudsman workshop was held in the Russian Federation as part of the democracy, governance and participation programme for the States of eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.
UNDP is attempting to promote sustainable development even in the midst of internal conflict situations. The importance of ensuring that humanitarian relief is linked to sustainable human development is widely accepted as a prerequisite for countries to resume progress and rebuild capacity as soon as possible. A case in point is Somalia, where, despite the difficult security situation, UNDP managed to continue an active rural rehabilitation programme in some parts of the country.
In 1994-1995, UNDP substantively enhanced its assistance in two situations in particular. Firstly, resources for the UNDP programme of assistance to the Palestinian people doubled to $25 million between 1993 and 1994. Secondly, the Government of South Africa and UNDP concluded negotiations and signed the Basic Standard Agreement in October 1994 during the visit of President Nelson Mandela to Headquarters during the general debate of the General Assembly at its forty-ninth session.
In other institutional developments, UNDP has become the first United Nations organization to be accepted as a member of the Society for Worldwide Inter-Bank Financial Telecommunications, a financial communications system using leased lines owned by banks. This has improved cash management capabilities while achieving savings of $250,000 per year in general operating expenditures and reductions in staff costs.
The year 1994 was the mid-point of the current fifth indicative planning figure cycle (1992-1996), and 16 mid-term reviews were completed. It was found that fifth-cycle country programmes were essentially strategic, aimed at a limited number of major national or regional development objectives. As such, they are distinctly more focused than in previous cycles. They aim to reduce the number of individual projects and, as called for in General Assembly resolution 44/211 of 22 December 1989, to move towards the programme approach under national execution, with strong emphasis on national ownership and commitment. For example, in the Lao People's Democratic Republic, individual projects have been reduced from 50 to 15 and in the regional programme for Asia and the Pacific from 350 to 80. National ownership is being reinforced, with an increase in the rate of national execution from 34 per cent of approvals in 1991 to 53 per cent in 1994.
In 1994, voluntary contributions by member countries to UNDP core resources amounted to $917.57 million (see fig. 8). Contributions to non-core resources, including UNDP-administered funds, trust funds, cost-sharing arrangements and government cash counterpart contributions, raised the total funds administered by UNDP to over $1.8 billion (see fig. 9). There has been a continued rise in funds received through cost-sharing arrangements, with cost-sharing contributions increasing by 58.7 per cent in 1994 (see fig. 10). Total field programme expenditures for technical cooperation activities in 1994 amounted to approximately $1,036.50 million.
It became clear in 1994 that the UNDP biennial budget would have to be reduced further to keep administrative costs in line with declining core programme resources. This is in spite of the fact that between the biennial budgets for 1992-1993 and 1994-1995 a total of $53.6 million was cut from the administrative budget. Cuts have been made primarily by reducing staff positions both at headquarters (26 per cent) and at the country level (8 per cent).
The stagnation of UNDP core resources since 1992 and the current uncertain outlook reflect the global situation with regard to development cooperation. It is a cause for concern that notwithstanding the substantial adjustments undertaken in response to the changed conditions of the post-cold-war era, the resource base for UNDP has been seriously eroded. The 1995 contributions to the central resources of UNDP are expected to amount to approximately $937 million. This is much lower than the originally projected level under Governing Council decision 90/34, which, on the basis of resources of $1 billion, called for an 8 per cent annual increase during the fifth programming cycle (1992-1996). Viewed in the context of that decision, the shortfall for the cycle would amount to approximately $1.4 billion. For this reason, the Executive Board of UNDP decided to reduce national indicative planning figures by 30 per cent from their original levels.
Tragically, 17 UNDP staff members lost their lives in 1994 while serving the cause of development.
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