Sub Progamme Review Meetings and
Annual Regional Review
Integrating Population Factors into
Development Planning
Improving
Quality of Care in Reproductive Health: A Pacific Perspective
Using Energising Games for
Participatory Advocacy
Niue: Halting Population Decline
| Vol. 7 No. 2 | Southpac NewsUNFPA Country Support Team for the South Pacific |
Dec 1999 |
Population Problems are
Multi-Dimensional Stephen Chee, has been Director of UNFPA Country Support Team for the South Pacific since April 1993. In 1978-80, he was Executive Director of the International Council on Management of Population Programmes (ICOMP), an international NGO representing national population programme managers in Asia, Africa and Latin America. He taught for 22 years at the University of Malaya, in Kuala Lumpur, where he was Professor of Public Administration and one time Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Administration. He talked with Southpac News before his retirement from UN service on 30 November. Excerpts: What were some of the challenges facing the CST when it was established in the Pacific in 1993? Before 1993, technical assistance provided by UNFPA and channeled through the executing agencies was compartmentalised and focused narrowly. The establishment of the technical advisory programme (TAP), especially the Country Support Teams (CST) in various sub-regions was an innovative approach in inter-agency collaboration and multi-disciplinary technical assistance in population. A first challenge is team-building, creating a cohesive multi-disciplinary team from the fissiparous tendencies of the previous regional adviser system. On the demand side, there was a need to demonstrate the value of technical assistance and expert services in population. Ultimately, the challenge is to promote a team approach to population programme management among all stakeholders. Can you elaborate on how the CST works? The goal of UNFPA's Technical Advisory Programme is improved national capacity to plan and implement population and reproductive health programmes that will help achieve the objectives of the ICPD Programme of Action. At the sub-regional level, the CSTs (and there are eight such teams of various sizes and compositions) provide countries and territories with a wide range of high quality technical advisory services ranging from ad hoc consultation to planned national and regional training programmes and close technical backstopping with the aim of developing national self-reliance in the population field. The technical inputs to be supplied by CST advisers is planned jointly by the governments, the UNFPA Representative or Country Director and the CST Director, with the country requests for technical assistance channelled through the UNFPA Country Office. The CST also serves as a clearinghouse for technical support and finds alternatives when its advisers cannot provide it. Technical advisory services from the CST are available in the three broad programme areas of the UNFPA, namely reproductive health, population and development strategies, and population advocacy and information, education and communication. In assisting the countries to build up core competencies in these areas and to strengthen self-sufficiency, CSTs attempt to establish close working relationships with national and regional experts and institutions. What has been achieved in the past six years? The Technical Advisory Programme of UNFPA postulates that population problems are multi-dimensional and require multi-disciplinary inputs and that the coordinated timely delivery of technical assistance enhances the prospect of quality population programmes. The system is evolving in response to changing needs and priorities of countries. Over the past six years, in the Pacific sub-region, the CST has assisted countries in all stages of programming and in the formulation of programmes and projects and in their implementation and technical monitoring; helped to provide programme managers and project personnel with state of the art substantive knowledge and skills in the various technical fields of population; assisted in organizing training programmes at both regional and national levels; and played a strong advocacy role on population issues and in promoting the ICPD Programme of Action. But much remains to be done. As you prepare to leave your position as Director of the UNFPA CST, what advice do you offer your successor? Do not compromise on the technical quality of the advice and assistance provided by the team. To the extent possible, avoid the expert resources of the Team being diverted to too many jamboree-type activities; after all, advisers are hired to do technical work. Focus on helping to enhance core competencies and programme management capacity. What are you going to do next? Some time ago, browsing at a book-store on Fifth Avenue in New York City, I saw the cover story on one of the monthly magazines. It said, "Don't Retire. There are better goals in life". I plan to follow that advice. I can't tell you exactly my plans; but it seems a good time to return to my country for the third working phase of my life. Ni sa moce |
