The Regional Bureau of Arab States
Dena Assaf, RBAS, NY
JPO Regional Workshop, Nairobi,
May 27 - 31
1
Overview

Personal Experience

The Regional Bureau of Arab States
(RBAS)

Learning
2
Part I – Personal Experience

Worked in a National Government
(former Director of the Palestinian
National Development Plan)

Capacity Building

LEAD 2001
3
Part II - RBAS

Organigram

The Directorate

The Country Operations Division

The Regional Division

Arab Human Development Report 2002
(AHDR)
4
RBAS - Organigram
Directorate
Country
Oper.
Regional
Prog.
N. Iraq
Prog.
Finance
& OHR
5
RBAS Countries (17 countries)

NCC countries
–
–
–
–
–
Bahrain
Kuwait
Libya
Saudi Arabia
UAE

MICs countries
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Algeria
Egypt
Iraq
Jordan
Lebanon
Morocco
Syria
Tunisia
Cont…
6
Countries, continued…

LDC countries
–
–
–
–
Djibouti
Somalia
Yemen
Sudan

Programme of
Assistance to the
Palestinian People
(PAPP) – separate
programme under
the OA
7
The Directorate

The overreaching role of the Directorate is to
provide leadership, vision, and direction for
UNDP’s interventions in the region.

The role of the Directorate is to provide
overall management and coordination, while
also promoting the relevance of RBAS
internally and in the region.

It is also the Directorate’s role to ensure that
RBAS as a whole adds value to our field
offices, while providing means for integration
and follow-up.
8
Directorate Focal Points
Dr. Rima Khalaf Hunaidi – Regional Director
 Oscar Fernandez-Taranco – Deputy Regional Director
 Ali Al-Za’tari – Policy Advisor
 Dena Assaf – Management Specialist
 Laurence Reno – RBAS OHR
 Valerie Cliff – RBAS Finance
 Shafiqa Darani – IT Assistant
 Jackie Ghazal & Fatoumata Diop – Admin Asst’s
Director & Deputy Director
 Jackie Richmond – Finance Asst.
 & Chief N.Iraq Prog – Michel Gautier + 4 staff 9

Country Operations Division

To guide COs in aligning their programmes to the new
vision of UNDP

To support COs in developing new partnerships within
and outside the country

To monitor compliance with UNDP corporate
programming and management mechanisms

To assist the Directorate in strategic human resources
management in line with new profile of COs

To support COs in resources mobilization efforts by
identifying potential new partners and developing
linkages to donors
10
COD Focal Points








Chief – Flavia Pansieri (MDG focal point)
Mona Hider – Tunisia, Morocco, UAE, Bahrain,
Kuwait, Saudi Arabia
Heba El-Kholy – Yemen, Jordan, Lebanon
Bruno Lemarquis – Somalia, Algeria, Djibouti,
Sudan
Maha Bahamdoun – Syria, Iraq, Egypt, Libya
Yasmeen Ariff-Sayed – Prog. Asst to Bruno & Mona
Alem Gebeyehu – Prog. Asst to Heba & Maha
Hazel Gooding – Prog. Asst to Flavia
11
Regional Programme Division






Close collaboration with Country Offices in formulation
and implementation of Regional Programmes
Synergy with CO-supported activities - provision of seed
funding and support to pilot activities in areas that meet
RCF criteria
Using knowledge resources and expertise available at the
SURF and elsewhere within UNDP – knowledge mgmt, best
practices, knowledge sharing
Nurturing and capitalizing on cross-cutting themes & interlinkages in the RP, particularly gender and knowledge
Policy analysis, dialogue, advice, and advocacy
Strategic partnerships (public, private, civil society) –
12
regional & global
RPD Focal Points
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Chief
Zahir Jamal
ICT; SURF; RCF
Moez Doraid
Private Sector/Investment
Ali Al-Za’tari
WSSD II; HIV-AIDS
Walid Badawi
Gender; Programme Finance
Elballa Hagona
Intellectual Capital Development Maen Nsour
Governance; Human Rights
Adel Abdel Latif
Programme Asst
Madi Mousa
13
Regional Disconnects:
Capabilities

“The Arab region
has dramatically
reduced poverty
and inequality in
the 20th Century.”

Yet the backlog of
deprivation must
be cleared.




65 million adults are illiterate,
two-thirds women
10 million 6 - 15 year olds
are not in school: if current
trends persist, that number
will increase by 40% by 2015
54 million lack access to
safe water
29 million lack access to
health services
Maternal mortality rates are
double those in Latin
America and the Caribbean;
four times those in East Asia
Population growth is among
the highest in the world, at
14
about 2.8%
Regional Disconnects:
Knowledge

“The costs of improving
education systems may be
substantial, the costs of
perpetuating ignorance are
incalculably greater”
AHDR 2002




Arab universities and
schools trail global academic
standards and fail local job
markets
Only 0.6% of the population
uses the internet
The penetration rate of the
PC is only 1.2%
Investment in R&D does not
exceed 0.5% of GNP
Production systems remain
natural resource intensive,
not knowledge based
15
Regional Disconnects:
The Economy
Lower inflation and
budget deficits
attained during the
1990’s. However:
Oil wealth distorts the picture:
“In 1999, the GDP of all Arab
countries combined stood at
just US$531.2 billion – less
than that of a single medium
sized European country,
Spain (US$595.5 billion).”




Total factor productivity has
steadily dropped by 0.2%
since 1960 - the largest
decline compared to other
regions
Growth is anemic; highly
vulnerable to changes in oil
prices
For a decade, per capita
income has stagnated at
0.7% a year ( > 3.2%
average for developing
countries)
Unemployment, at around
15%, is among the world’s
highest
16
The Arab World: “Richer Than It is Developed”
Output per person is higher than that of most other developing
regions. Arabs outperform sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia in
human development, but rank below Latin America and the
Caribbean and East Asia on the Human Development Index (HDI)
Human Development
Index (%)
GDP per capita
(hundreds, PPP$)
Adult literacy rate
(% of age 15+)
Life expectancy at
birth (years)
Sub-Saharan Africa
South-East Asia and the Pacific
South Asia (excluding India)
South Asia
Latin America and the Caribbean
East Asia (excluding China)
East Asia
Arab countries
0
25
50
75
100 0
50
100
150 0
25
50
75
100 0
17
20
40
60
80
HDI values, Arab countries
A World of Difference
Among Arab Countries:
Kuwait at the top scores
only slightly lower than the
world leader (Canada).
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
Djibouti, at the bottom, is
not much better off than the
world’s lowest ranked case
(Sierra Leone).
18
Digital Disconnect
Internet hosts (per 1,000 population), world regions
Arab countries
Oceania
Latin America and the Caribbean
North America
Europe
South and East Asia
Sub-Saharan Africa
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
19
Strategic Deficits
GLOBALIZATION – slow response to
new factors of production and growth
KNOWLEDGE – weak mobilization of
new drivers of growth, human development
and poverty reduction (competitive
intellectual and human capital; ICT;
applied research)
GOVERNANCE – halting transition to
inclusive, representative and responsive
democracy
20
Current RPD Programmes
(min of 3 country participants)
Not comprehensive but include:

Globalization – policy advice in poverty
reduction, economic growth, and SMEs

Knowledge – Improving Higher Education
standards and ICT for Development

Governance – Modernizing justice
administrations and e-governance

HIV/AIDs – Addressing denial & utilizing best
practices from Africa
More on RPD
21
The Arab Human
Development Report
2002
Creating Opportunities
for Future Generations
22
AHDR 2002: Main Features
 The first Report of its kind in the Arab region
 Exposes critical opportunity and capability deficits, as well
as untapped strengths
 Stresses the relationship between human development,
human freedom and the institutional context
 Explores broader indicators for
development, in addition to the HDI
assessing
human
 Represents the independent analysis of Arab scholars and
intellectuals
“ ..this is not the grandstanding of outsiders but an honest, if
controversial, view through the mirror” Mark Malloch
Brown
23
“Bridled Minds, Shackled Potential”
North America
Oceania
Europe
Latin America and the Caribbean
South and East Asia
Sub-Saharan Africa
Arab countries
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
Freedom House scores, world regions
Out of seven world regions, the Arab countries register the
lowest average score for civil and political freedoms
24
North America
Oceania
Europe
Latin America and the Caribbean
South and East Asia
Voice and
accountability
Sub-Saharan Africa
Arab countries
-1.0
-0.5
+
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
-
The Report examines aspects of the political process such as civil
liberties, political rights and independence of the media.
For example, the Arab region has the lowest average score for voice
and accountability in the world
25
Missing: The Other Half
Average GEM values, world regions
North America
Oceania
Europe
Latin America and the Caribbean
South and East Asia
Sub-Saharan Africa
Arab countries
0.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
The Arab region ranks lower on GEM than any region
except Sub-Saharan Africa
26
The Three Deficits
1. Freedom
2. Women’s empowerment
3. Human capabilities & knowledge
relative to income
27
AHDR Launch

Official Launch 1st week of July in
Beirut (to be confirmed)

Available in Arabic, English and
French

Press Kits will also be made
available to Country Offices

Website also to be launched in July
28
Part III – Learning

Learning is Priority in UNDP and does not
mean only External Training

Learning takes individual initiative

Learning Policy of minimum of 5%

Country Offices have Learning Managers –
they can assist you to determine how to
achieve your goals

RBAS has Learning Team (Dena Assaf
Learning Manager)
29
RBAS Workshops

Resource Mobilisation workshop (completed in
May)

MDG regional workshop (Yemen, June 3rd)

Results Based Programme Design workshop
(Morocco, Oct 2002 – to be confirmed)

Scenario and Crises Planning workshop
(2002/2003 tbd)
30
Other Resources

Your Learning Manager and his/her access to
the LM network

The LRC (Learning Resource Center)

The Learning Tree (the EL-TREE)

On-line learning such as:
www.xtremelearning.com

The SURF; AS-SURF at: www.surf-as.org

Learning Profile: Humphrey-Mumford Learning
Style on El-Tree (Learn to Learn)

Your imagination…
31
Important that WE Continue to
LEARN from One Another
32
More on the RPD Programme:
33
Country
RPD Goals
A Closer
Partner:
A Stronger
Ally:

RBAS Advisory Board
 Project Advisory Committees
 Regional partnerships-LAS;
OPEC; AFESD; UNCTAD; WB
Knowledge-based
services
Capacity building
services
Results-oriented
services
Policy impact &
leverage
Pro-poor liberalization
A Catalyst for
Change:
office
collaboration
Demand-driven
programmes
Collaboration with
SURF - Regional
Program as client
and animator
policies
International capital
development
Rule of law, political
participation and
transparency
Gender equality
MDGs
Sustainable
development
Breaking the
silence on HIV-AIDS
34
WHAT’S HOLDING
THE REGION BACK?
35
Strategic Deficits
GLOBALIZATION – slow response to
new factors of production and growth
KNOWLEDGE – weak mobilization of
new drivers of growth, human development
and poverty reduction (competitive
intellectual and human capital; ICT;
applied research)
GOVERNANCE – halting transition to
inclusive, representative and responsive
democracy
36
ISSUES
Opportunity to assess & manage risks
Capability &
opportunity deficits
& rewards of globalization
OUTCOMES
Coherence between economic liberation
and poverty reduction
New generation; changing public
expectations; more vocal civil society
Inadequate and untapped human
resources
MISSED ENTRY
POINTS
Poor productivity and exports
Neglected intellectual capital and
uncompetitive labour forces
Inefficient, opaque and unaccountable
governable systems unable to attract
financial capital or popular support
Governing institutions, research institutions, private
sector firms, educational institutions, workers,
employers, and civil society.
CLIENTS
37
1. Globalization
38
Issues
Results
Services
Assets
Clients
39
Issues:
• Promoting coherence between
economic liberalization, trade and
poverty reduction
40
Services:
•Advisory services for building poverty reduction into trade and
foreign investment strategies;
•Training, advisory services, capacity building in commercial
diplomacy and negotiation for WTO accessions
•Support to meet obligations under WTO implementation
Agreements and Pan-Arab Free Trade Agreement\
Advice on promoting small and micro enterprises (SMEs):
•
Strengthening policy and legal frameworks
•
Principles and guidelines for low-cost business start-ups
•
Emphasis on knowledge-based applications
•Build national capacity to enhance coherence and consistency
between liberalization and poverty reduction
•Advocacy for a human development framework for the globalization
debate and related policy formation
41
Results
•National investment policies consistent with poverty reduction
promoted, together with people-centred strategies for managing
globalization.
•National plans and policies demonstrate readiness and ability to
manage globalization in a manner supportive of human
development
•New trade obligations of 11 countries met through stronger policy
analysis and in guidelines and facilities designed to give SMEs
affordable, broad-based market access
•Analysis produced and disseminated of the prospects for export-led
poverty reduction
•Assessment prepared of the impact of foreign trade and investment
policies, not only on countries but on people; Arab trade negotiating
capacities strengthened
42
Assets
• UNDP’s holistic approach to development
• Partnerships with UNCTAD, WTO, ITC,ESCWA,
ECA, OPEC,World Bank League of Arab States, civil
society organizations, academia and economic policy
and research institutions
• UNDP’s neutral capacity building role; BDP-SURF
trade policy specialists and poverty reduction
specialists
• Experience gained with SME development in 1st
RCF
43
Issues
Promoting coherence between economic
liberalization, trade and poverty reduction
•Human Development as the UNDP’s
holistic approach
• National investment policies
•Partnerships with UNCTAD, WTO,
consistent with poverty reduction
ITC,ESCWA, ECA, OPEC,World Bank
promoted, together with peopleLeague of Arab States, civil society
centred strategies for managing
organizations, academia and economic
globalization.
policy and research institutions
•New trade obligations of 11
countries met through stronger
• UNDP’s neutral capacity building role;
policy analysis and institutions;
BDP-SURF trade policy specialists
Arab trade negotiating capacities
strengthened.
• Experience gained with SME
•Policies, facilities, and guidelines
development in 1st RCF
designed to give SMEs affordable,
broad-based market access.
Results
Assets
Trade & Finance ministries, chambers of
commerce, public and private investors,
small and medium sized enterprises
Clients
44
2. Knowledge
45
Issues:
Re-vamping and utilizing
knowledge capabilities
46
SERVICES
Intellectual capital development (ICD) and knowledge based economy
•Assess technological, economic and pedagogical changes driving knowledge
economies
•Design culturally appropriate strategies to promote Arab ICD
Basic & higher Education
• Assess Math and Science school teaching, produce data and analyses to
develop policies, standards and strategies for reform based on international
standards.
• Help 40 Arab universities to plan, manage and improve the quality of higher
education, applying international benchmarks and practices.
• Data base created and tested
ICT for development
• promote enabling policy, legal and institutional contexts
• facilitate broader access, including in rural areas
•support to key, regionally replicable country - level interventions(e.g Lebanon
and Egypt)
• identify/share regional and global best practice
• support National Information Technology advisory bodies
• disseminate information on ICT market niches
• exploit ICT for job creation
• introduce ICT in school curricula
• ICT for poverty reduction initiatives
47
Results
• Internationally comparable scores for student
performance in Math and Science in 5-6 countries;
lessons learned available to policy makers, schools and
teachers.Business and computer science courses at 40
universities assessed, trends analyzed and policy reforms
formulated.
• ICT policies/strategies strengthened, best practices and
information disseminated;
specific ICT applications developed contributing to job
creation education & poverty reduction.
48
Assets
•Intra and interregional experience sharing (AsiaPacific; Latin America; Europe);
• High-calibre RBAS Project Advisory Groups
Frontier studies in Arab ICD;
• Expertise/methodologies of partners - IEA, Boston
etc
• UNDP global ICT partnerships; UNDP global and
regional knowledge management structures; BDPSURF ICT specialists
49
Issues
Re-vamping and utilizing
knowledge capabilities
• Intra and Interregional
experience sharing (AsiaPacific; Latin America;
Europe);
• High-caliber RBAS Project
Advisory Groups
Frontier studies in Arab ICD;
• Expertise/methodologies of
partners - IEA, Boston etc
• E-assessments under GCF;
UNDP global and regional
knowledge management
structures; BDP-SURF ICT
specialists
Results
Internationally comparable scores for student
performance in Math and Science in 5-6 countries;
lessons learned available to policy makers, schools
and teachers; reforms recommended. Business and
computer science courses at 40 universities
assessed, trends analyzed and reforms
recommended.
ICT policies/strategies strengthened, best practices
and information disseminated;applying ICT for job
creation; specific ICT applications education &
poverty reduction.
University and school teachers, administrators &
students; public and private employers; IT policy
makers, private firms, grassroots communities and
50
other user groups.
Clients
Assets
3. Governance
51
Issues
• Enhancing judicial reform,
participation, accountability &
human rights
52
SERVICES
Rule of Law: modernizing justice administrations;
strengthening judicial independence; promoting legal
literacy; automation of voter registration
Participation: support to MPs; improving on-line presence
of parliaments; new legal databases; support to elections
Transparency: establishing transparency and
accountability frameworks in public and business
activities
Human rights: awareness building; support to HR treaty
monitoring and implementation
53
Results
Good practice legal guidelines; model pilot courts;
trained judges, civil servants and court staff; legal
information systems; national integrity systems
tested; anti-corruption measures regionally adapted;
e-governance systems to enhance effectiveness, and
accessibility of public sector services.NGO
monitoring of HR abuses reinforced.
54
Assets
POGAR NGO networks
Partnerships with bilateral and multilateral
players (USAID; OHCHR; EC; legal
associations)
POGAR access to judges and parliamentarians
Regional approaches
55
Issues
Enhancing judicial reform,
participation, accountability &
human rights
Results
POGAR NGO networks
Partnerships with bilateral and multilateral
players (USAID; OHCHR; EC; legal
associations)
POGAR access to judges and
parliamentarians
Trust in UNDP’s impartiality
Assets
Judiciaries, parliaments, court
administrations, civil servants, NGOs and
disenfranchised groups
Good practice legal guidelines;
model pilot courts; trained judges,
civil servants and court staff; legal
information systems; national
integrity systems; anti-corruption
measures regionally adapted; e-for
streamlined public services.NGO
monitoring of HR abuses
Clients
56
Where It All
Comes Together
Intellectual Capital
G
O
V
E
R
N
A
N
C
E
Equity
Human rights
Knowledge
ICT
Sustainable Development
back
G
R
O
W
T
H
57