UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME
A SWAp defines a programmatic approach for a particular sector or cross-cutting thematic field (such as legal reform,
HIV/AIDs) that supports the achievement of a coherent set of nationally-determined goals. In development and reform agendas where UNDP plays a strategic support role, and where clear national plans and/or strategies exist, the organisation supports the SWAp as a viable organizing framework for development cooperation.
UNDP can support SWAps in multiple ways: a) By supporting more integrated planning and budgeting, capacity development for policy formulation and review, and aid management efforts toward more informed and coherent decisions around sector planning and budgeting modalities; b) By assisting governments in the development and implementation of a sector strategy or plan, especially where UNDP has an active programme presence. This service is particularly needed in areas that are not traditionally defined as sectors, such as in legal reform, environment, HIV/AIDS and decentralisation, among others; c) By supporting capacity development to strengthen national budgeting, financial monitoring systems, audit/accounting practices and standard reporting mechanisms that conform to international practice; d) By managing a pooled, multi-donor fund mechanism to provide the TA for capacity development required to set up and operate a SWAp. Such mechanism may also be used as an intermediary fund management option for loans and grants issued to finance a SWAp, where conditions for direct budget support are not yet in place within the government; and e) By supporting, at the local level, programme management and service delivery capacities that underpin the delivery of the SWAp.
Moreover, UNDP must continue to play an active role even in areas not immediately amenable to SWAps. This applies to key elements of governance reform, such as the establishment of independent oversight and review bodies, of Human Rights commissions, as well as the support to an independent media
—all of these often fall outside of national budgeting and sector planning.
The past decade has seen a major shift from project to programme-based approaches in both ODA lending and technical cooperation. This has been further accelerated by the introduction of PRSPs, MTEFs and the overall drive toward donor systems harmonization and aid coordination. UNDP introduced the “Programme Approach” to align its programming modality with national priorities and plans. The language of SWAps, which used to be applied specifically to a single sector, is now associated with the programme-based approach. Today, the terms could be used interchangeably, for all intents and purposes, and similar terms
—such as “sector programme approaches”, “sector” or “programme support”—are also used by different national and donor partners.
There is no necessary connection between a SWAp and any single funding instrument, as such can be financed through various modalities, including a mix of direct budget support (DBS), project assistance or pooled programme funds. To the extent that DBS is used to support the SWAp, it is also believed to reduce transaction costs, increase efficiency in public spending, lead to greater predictability in aid flows and ensure greater convergence of ODA with public funds. However, it is the specific country and sector context, together with the value added the development partner can bring to that specific intervention, that should determine both the type of programmatic modality to be used (i.e., a SWAp, project assistance or
BOP support, etc.), and the funding instrument.
The growing concern for aid effectiveness has also contributed to the recent prominence of SWAps as vehicles for policy coherence and transaction efficiencies, while providing for strengthened local accountability for overall resource management and results. SWAps must involve broad stakeholder consultation in the design of a coherent sector programme. Planning and implementation require strong co-ordination between donors and the government, and the use of SWAps is generally adopted in countries where financial accountability measures are in place and correspond to international standards.
The UNDP publication, Ownership, Leadership and Transformation: Can We Do Better for Capacity Development (2004 ), and
ODA as Direct Budget Support: An Issues Paper for UNDP (June 2004), highlight both the conceptual and field-based evidence that demonstrate the importance of SWAps. To illustrate, UNDP in Tanzania, Viet Nam and Surinam have been engaged in a variety of SWAps that include the diversity of funding modalities referred to above. The recently introduced
UNDG Guidelines on Joint Programming also encourages the UN system to utilize the SWAp, where appropriate, as a vehicle for improving development effectiveness.
BDP/Capacity Development Group, December 2004.
Policy Adviser: Kanni Wignaraja (kanni.wignaraja@undp.org)
Group Leader: Terence Jones ( terence.d.jones@undp.org)