Nepal

How UNDP Nepal works to enable the work of the entire UN Country Team?

UNDP in Nepal supports the peace-building process as well as the Government of Nepal in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It does so through a set of projected development results developed under the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF 2008-2010) at the core of which is peace and development for an inclusive society.

UNDAF and CPAP: Based on the Common Country Assessment (CCA) endorsed in February, a transitional United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) for Nepal 2008-2010 was developed in close consultation with the Government, civil society, and development partners. With the aim of harmonising their Country Programme Action Plan (CPAP) exercise, the three Ex Com agencies - UNDP, UNFPA and UNICEF - worked in coordination during the formulation process. The CPAPs are in line with the Government's Three Year Interim-Plan and the UNDAF outcomes are designed to contribute to the peace-building efforts of the entire UN system.

MDG Initiative: Responding to the Government's request for support to finalise the Three-Year Interim Plan and make it MDG-based, and to develop an MDG-based medium-term development framework, the United Nations Country Team (UNCT), largely through the regional offices of UNDP, UNFPA and UNICEF, engaged in the so called MDG Initiative. The programme has supported the Government in preparing a development framework addressing the recovery, reintegration and rehabilitation aspects of the Interim Plan.

Coordination support to the Peace Process: UNDP country programming is also being undertaken in special development circumstances, within the framework of UN Security Council Resolution 1740 of 23 January 2007, which created the United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) and specified a range of UN assistance in support of the peace-building process and development objectives. UNDP has been integral parts of both the first and second phases of the registration and verification of the Maoist army.

In 2007, UNDP assisted UNMIN to conduct the registration and verification of Maoist army personnel, providing experts from the UNDP Afghanistan reintegration programme and from Rwanda, who assisted with the design and management of process and trained a team of Nepalese registration and verification staff for data entry and processing. Fifty-five staff were deployed to assist in the assessment of status, register verified personnel's biographic details, and provide reports and analysis on the verification process. The verification process was completed on 23 December 2007. A variety of peace support activities have been financed through the twin trust funds established in February 2007, the Government's Nepal Peace Trust Fund (NPTF) and the UN Peace Fund for Nepal.

United Nations Country Team (UNCT) coordination and progress toward UN Reform: In line with the principle of harmonisation, UNDP in close collaboration with UNFPA and UNICEF, introduced a new fund transfer mechanism- Harmonised approach to Cash Transfer, which will reduce transaction cost for the Government. As a part of this process, a macro-assessment of the Government's public financial management system was conducted and submitted to the Government for endorsement.

Joint Programmes: UNDP, UNICEF and UNFPA have made preparations on a joint programme on improving service delivery through decentralised local governance. Issues including reproductive health, HIV/AIDS and Sexual and Gender-Based Violence have been identified as common areas for future joint programmes or programme collaboration. The joint Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) approach will be developed further, with UNDAF working groups and an M&E group as the main agents. A joint programme of UNDP, UNICEF and UNFPA on decentralized service delivery will be soon operationalized. These agencies will also continue to implement the Harmonised Approach for Cash Transfer.

UNDP and UNCDF: Partnership with United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) has helped UNDP to achieve results in promoting decentralization and good governance in Nepal. UNCDF and UNDP are working together in 20 districts.

UNDP and UNV: Partnership with United Nations Volunteers (UNV) has helped UNDP achieve results in the areas of access to justice, environment and disaster reduction. A number of national and international UNVs have been deployed to provide advisory and administrative support to government and other UN agencies, including a large number supporting the OHCHR mandate. In addition, UNDP has supported UNV to send Nepali UNVs to serve in other countries. Sixty-four Nepali nationals of various professions and specializations are serving to promote the MDGs, volunteerism for peace and development and other development issues.

Simplification and Harmonization: UNDP has played a crucial role in promoting simplification and harmonization through the provision of operational support and common services as well as operational practices and polices.

Notably, operational support is provided by the Inter-Agency Task Forces on human resources (HR), information technology (IT), procurement and finance to achieve common operational goals. For example, the HR Network has established a Consultants' Roster and the IT Task force negotiated a joint contract for EDP maintenance and repair for all the UN Agencies in Nepal. Operational support has been provided to the Resident Coordinator system by assisting newly arriving UN Agencies (OHCHR, OCHA, OPRSG, ODC and IOM) to set up offices. This includes both allotting space within the UN House as well as renting buildings outside. Most importantly, full fledged services are provided, ranging from technical backstopping to the actual procurement and set up of equipment necessary for fully functioning offices.

Common Services: Newly harmonized practices include the Internal Messenger Service used by all UN Agencies in the UN House to deliver internal documents from one Agency to another, resulting in economies of scale. Two more new common services established in 2006, i.e. a joint contract for international courier services for the entire UN System in Nepal, and joint training for electrical maintenance and repair, strengthen the image of one UN in Nepal. Efficiency in procurement has been increased through a Joint Vendor data-base established by the UN Agencies for the purchase of office items available locally.

UNDP has also facilitated the harmonization of operational policies and practices. For example, UN agencies have been paying uniform DSA Rates to Government Counterparts. All UN Agencies observe the same holidays. It has also been agreed that all agencies working at the field level should harmonize their office hours.

There is a trend of establishing a joint UN Committee to carry out the Inter-Agency Salary Survey for National staff. The UN DSA Survey for UN Staff is done jointly by all UN Agencies, collecting data from various parts of the country.