United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
PARTNERSHIPS TO FIGHT POVERTY
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the UN's global development network. It was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1965. Since then, UNDP has become one of the major partners of developing countries and countries in transition. It advocates for change and connects countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life.
UNDP is on the ground in 166 countries, working with them on their own solutions to global and national development challenges. As they develop local capacity, they draw on UNDP’s wide range of partners. The UNDP Resident Representative is, as a rule, authorized by the UN Secretary General to coordinate the activities of the UN Agencies in the country. Through such coordination, UNDP seeks to ensure the most effective use of UN and international aid resources.
Over the past several years, UNDP has made significant progress in strengthening its international partnerships and marshalling the resources it needs to support progress toward the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
UNDP substantive focus is helping countries build and share solutions to the challenges of:
Poverty Reduction
Democratic Governance
Crisis Prevention and Recovery
Energy and Environment
Information Communication
Technologies for Development (ICTD)
HIV/AIDS
UNDP IN KYRGYZSTAN
The six UNDP corporate priorities are largely reflected in UNDP’s activities in Kyrgyzstan. Following the signing of the Standard Basic Agreement (SBA) on 17 September 1992 by the Kyrgyz Government and UNDP, in March 1993 the UNDP office was opened in Bishkek. In its activities, UNDP addresses challenges in various activities on building the country's capacity for development. The basis for a successful program implementation is a high degree of the national partnership.
The First Country Programme (1993-96) focused on Aid-Management and Coordination, Management Development and Democratisation. This was followed by the two Country Cooperation Frameworks (CCFs) for 1997-2000 and 2000-2004.
Within these CCFs, the UNDP Office in Kyrgyzstan has undergone a process of re-programming aimed at developing and improving programme management through an efficient system of result measurement and evaluation of staff performance. The major projects were included as components into three programmes on Central, Local and Social Governance, whereas less significant projects with a weak impact have been closed. The main objective of this consolidation was to focus on the agreed priority areas of cooperation and to target an achievement of visible and specific results.
In 2003, UNDP in Kyrgyzstan launched a new programme framework that consists of the following five programmes: 1) Poverty Reduction, 2) Local Self-Governance, 3) Preventive Development, 4) National Governance, and 5) Joint Programme on Expanded Response to HIV/AIDS in the Kyrgyz Republic.
The same year the UNDP Kyrgyzstan Gender Mainstreaming Strategy for 2003-2004 was signed. The strategy aimed at incorporation of gender perspective into all the UNDP’s programmes to ensure the positive impact of the programmes activities on lives of women and men and to redress the existing inequalities in the development process at all levels, including the gender aware legislation, gender sensitive media, gender dissagreggated statistics, gender academic education and etc.
Also, in 2003 UNDP initiated a Strategy for Central Asia for the period 2003-2005 to encourage governments and societies to build stable foundations for peace and stability by overcoming obstacles to reform and cooperation from the regional perspective. Specifically, UNDP Strategy for Central Asia - building in part on some of its successful ongoing interventions at the national level — will support programmes under the following thematic pillars: economic reform and poverty reduction; democratic governance and environmental management, while the economic reform and democratic governance pillars will be based in Bishkek where achievements in UNDP’s ongoing national programmes will be consolidated and the lessons learned transferred to other countries in the region.
UNDP's projects of the Global Environment Fund (GEF) includes a Small Grants Programme aimed at supporting national efforts in preserving biodiversity and mitigating global climate change. The programme builds the capacities of communities and NGOs to address environmental problems.
POVERTY REDUCTION PROGRAMME
The overall objective of the programme is to complement to the efforts of the Kyrgyz Government, civil society and other organizations to the reduction of rural poverty in accordance with national development goals set out in the National Poverty Reduction Strategy (NPRS) and of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The Programme contributes to overall poverty alleviation by empowering the poor, especially women, for self-reliance, advancement and more active participation in community development.
In order to replicate the UNDP experience in social mobilization, the Programme identifies NGOs and governmental institutions and transfers the knowledge and shares the experience, as well as creates more close partnership in this sphere. The one of the main directions of the Poverty Reduction Programme is to provide access of the poor, mobilized in self-help groups, to micro credits disbursed by Kyrgyz Agricultural Finance Corporation (as result of a good partnership with IFAD and the World Bank).
LOCAL SELF-GOVERNANCE PROGRAMME
This Programme supports the Government’s efforts to create high quality governance institutions at the local level in accordance with the goals of national development set out in the CDF and NPRS. One of the main achievements of the UNDP Local Self-Governance Programme’s policy interventions is the adoption of the National Strategy “Decentralization of State Government and Development of Local Self-Governance in the Kyrgyz Republic through the year of 2010” signed by the President in 2002. Recently the President also signed the Law On Financial and Economic Foundations of Local Self–Governance. UNDP's assistance has contributed to adoption of the Law, which is one more step towards the improvement of the legal basis for financial and economic activities of local self-governance in the Kyrgyz Republic.
UNDP provides expertise and information on models for effective, autonomous local self-government. Institution and capacity building component includes substantial training in local self-governance issues such as participatory development planning, economic development of local self-government, social mobilization, accounting, management and leadership techniques, especially for women, gender aspects of local self governance, communal property management etc.
As annual development plans of village municipalities and districts are elaborated, local self-governments get small matching grants for the implementation of the selected projects and use them as an example for further resource mobilization from the Government and other donor agencies.
PREVENTIVE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME
The Preventive Development Programme is designed to support the Government of Kyrgyzstan in its efforts to prevent the negative effects of the nation-building process and strengthen development aiming at social harmony, tolerance, peace and human security. This programme reflects interventions at both the community level and among decision-makers at local and central levels to prevent and to cooperate with conflict in a constructive way.
Early Warning Reports are applied as the main instrument for identifying areas of tension. The vulnerability analysis based on the reports has shown a potential conflict over access to resources caused by, for example, shortages of water and the lack of electricity and basic health services. Emergency Grants are created to address potential conflicts. In support of community development projects, a small grants program provides funding on a cost-sharing basis for the development of a population’s common resources for example: infrastructure such as water-supply or sewage, reconstruction of a health care center, and information/educational activities.
NATIONAL GOVERNANCE PROGRAMME
The Programme aims at supporting the country to establish an effective and transparent system of national government. Following UNDP-led pilot reviews in several ministries, the government has used the UNDP model to complete functional reviews in central offices of government ministries and agencies. Since 2000 UNDP has been leading the gender mainstreaming initiatives into policies, strategies and activities of the several ministries.
UNDP has helped the parliament to open its processes to the public, and advised on reforming of its procedures and structure. UNDP works closely with the parliament to ensure that the beneficial changes in process are retained, and to help the parliament to plan an appropriate internal structure and procedures for the coming unicameral form, and introduce mechanisms to implement effectively its oversight function, especially over state budget. Also, at the threshold of the parliamentary elections of 2005, UNDP supports building of capacity of women leaders to run for politics through conduct of the intensive regional trainings on leadership, gender equality, political campaigning, image making and social partnership.
Since 1999, UNDP has supported the government and parliament to apply ICTD to more effective and open information management to the public as well as to develop national ICT strategy and action plans toward the society’s integration into the information society. At the recently held ICT Council’s meeting the President thanked the UNDP Resident Representative for assistance provided to Kyrgyzstan to draw up an program of action in ICTD.
UNDP IN HIV/AIDS PREVENTION AREA
Since 1996 United Nations Development Programme in the Kyrgyz Republic advocates for placing HIV/AIDS as one of the problems to be solved to reach the goal of the development. Considering the fact that HIV is no longer perceived as only a health sector concern, UNDP in Kyrgyzstan focuses its assistance on developing of the multi-sectoral approach to the HIV/AIDS problem, involving different ministries and departments, as well as civil society to consider and integrate HIV prevention in their plans and activities.
As a result of it the country has Republican Multisectoral Coordinating Committee under the Government chaired by the First Vice-Prime Minister comprising of the representatives governmental, non-governmental and international organizations.
UNDP has created good partnership with the representatives of the vulnerable groups such as sex workers, injecting drug users, men who have sex with men, prisoners, migrants and refuges, youth. Through its pilot projects UNDP assisted the groups in developing interventions on HIV prevention using peer education approach. UNDP’s links with the vulnerable groups in the country enabled the involvement and joint cooperation with UN Agencies and international organizations on a cost-sharing basis (UNAIDS, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNODC, WHO, Soros Kyrgyzstan Foundation, British Council and others).
For more information you can visit www.undp.kg
Ç go back È
|
