Regional
Bureau
For Arab
States,
Regional
Centre in
Cairo
2009
Annual
Report
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1.
Introduction
3
2.
General Overview
4

Opportunities and Challenges
3.

2009 Results
Development Pillar
6
3.1.
3.2.
3.3.
3.4.
3.5.
3.6.
3.7.
MDGs, Poverty, Inclusive Growth
HIV/AIDS
Democratic Governance
Crisis Prevention and Recovery
Environment and Sustainable Development
Gender Mainstreaming
Knowledge Management
7
9
11
13
16
18
19
3.8.
Capacity Development
20

Management Pillar
3.9.
3.10.
Procurement
ICT
24
26
3.11.
Communications
27

Coordination Pillar
3.12.
UN Coordination
4.
2010 Forward Looking

Development Pillar
4.1.
4.2.
4.3.
4.4.
4.5.
4.6.
4.7.
MDGs, Poverty, Inclusive Growth
HIV /AIDS
Democratic Governance
Crisis Prevention and Recovery
Environment and Sustainable Development
Gender Mainstreaming
Knowledge Management
30
31
31
32
32
34
34
4.8.
Capacity Development
36

4.9.
4.10.
4.11.
4.12.

4.13.
Management Pillar
Procurement
Monitoring & Evaluation
ICT
Communications
Coordination Pillar
UN Coordination
29
37
37
38
38
39
2
1.
INTRODUCTION
As the target date for MDG achievement gets closer, the world confronts a global economic and social
crisis which erupted as countries and citizens were trying to adjust to rising food and fuel prices.
Although their relatively limited integration into the global economy has somewhat sheltered Arab
economies from the full brunt of the combined crises, there is some evidence of shrinking economic
activity, higher rates of poverty, unemployment (particularly among youth and women) and economic
insecurity. Moreover, slow onset climate change processes place Arab States among the most
vulnerable in the world, accounting for eight of the ten most water-stressed countries globally, with
large population centres in coastal zones; this, in a region that is already prone to natural disasters,
particularly earthquakes, floods and droughts. Gender equality and women’s empowerment
indicators in the Arab region continue to lag behind the rest of the world. Complex conflicts affect six
of the countries in the region and stymie or reverse development gains. These constitute the overall
development context and are among the priority challenges which RBAS Country Offices are
addressing through their programmes; they also inform the policy and technical advisory role and
focus of the RBAS Regional Centre in support of Country Offices.
Consistent with UNDP’s regionalization policy and the Strategic Plan, the Arab States Regional Center in
Cairo (RCC) anchors the UNDP Practice Architecture in the Arab States region. The RCC is structured
around 3 pillars aimed, respectively, at strengthening UNDP’s development and management results,
as well as UN coordination results. Towards this end, the RCC provides support to country offices and
their national counterparts based on demand/needs; it also provides direct support to the UNDG
Regional Directors Team for Arab States/MENA in advancing UN Reform efforts. In addition to
providing demand driven policy and technical advisory services, the RCC contributes to the creation of
the evidence base needed to help in shaping global, regional and country-specific development policy
and strategic programme priorities, acting as a node that links these three levels.
RCC’s principal activities involve delivering policy advisory and technical support services, facilitating
capacity development and implementation of UN reforms, ensuring inter-Practice coherence and
synergies, strengthening M&E capacities, connecting knowledge derived from global experiences to
regional and country-focused knowledge, and raising the visibility, credibility and stature of UNDP
through public communications. Combining technical, advisory, capacity development and knowledge
management services in all Practice areas in a single location, closer to Country Offices, helps to ensure
effective, timely and responsive support.
As reported last year, the establishment of the RCC in Cairo started in mid 2008. Its establishment
proceeded in phases and entailed a number of transitional and foundational activities which extended
to mid 2009, including: locating and establishing temporary physical premises, phasing out of the SubRegional Facility (SURF) in Beirut and satisfactory placement of most of its staff; developing and
negotiating a Legal Framework Agreement between UNDP and the Government of Egypt, pursuing the
staffing and funding of the Centre, including for needed additional capacities not originally factored
into its limited budget. On the advice of the February 2009 RCC Advisory Board, the Centre produced
3
an indicative budget, based on a comprehensive Results and Resources Framework contained in a
project document and endorsed by the Board before its approval by the PAC in the latter half of 2009.
Despite the Regional Center in Cairo remaining “in transition” during 2009, its knowledge support,
technical assistance and policy advisory services continued to be regularly provided through the
available capacities, both in response to country office demand and as contributions to global and
regional policies and strategies. These included contributions to the MDG Breakthrough and
Corporate Knowledge Management strategies. In addition, its presence in Cairo provided
opportunities for strengthening partnerships, particularly with the League of Arab States, in a number
of areas of common concern, including youth, climate change, poverty, MDGs and disaster risk
reduction. Particularly noteworthy in this regard was the endorsement of the joint UNDP-LAS
Development Challenges report by the Arab Heads of State and Government in their January 2009
Summit in Kuwait and the follow up demand from the LAS for increased joint action with UNDP. The
report focused on poverty and food sovereignty in the region and was formally launched in December
2009, in a ceremony as part of the LAS Council of Ministers of Social Affairs presided by the LAS S-G.
Coming after the Climate Change conference in Copenhagen, the linkages of the poverty and food
security focus of this report with Climate Change vulnerabilities in the region were highlighted by the
LAS-SG and garnered wide and sustained media interest for several weeks. Other partnerships with
policy research and academic institutions have been established to institutionalize the human
development approach, including in educational systems and university curricula. Partnerships have
also been established with the Economic and Social Commission of West Asia (ESCWA) in a number of
areas, including knowledge management, environment, MDGs and social development.
While a critical mass of Practices is now in place, two principal ones -- Environment/Energy/Climate
Change and Gender – are yet to be staffed despite several attempts. Consolidating the required
capacities (staff recruitment and operational procedures), to establish full operational capacity in
service of UNDP COs in the region, is ongoing.
2.
GENERAL OVERVIEW
The RCC is increasingly becoming equipped to provide COs and their national partners with knowledge,
policy advice, advocacy, programme design, and technical support in all focus areas of the UNDP
Strategic Plan 2008-2011. The focus areas encompass poverty reduction, inclusive growth and MDGs;
HIV/AIDS; democratic governance; environment and sustainable development—including energy and
climate change (partially supported by the GEF unit in Bratislava and DDC in Beirut as the Practice
Team Leader and the Climate Change Advisors are yet to be recruited); and conflict prevention,
disaster risk reduction, and post-crisis recovery (noting that only one of 4 advisers – DRRM --has been
deployed by BCPR); as well as the cross-cutting areas of: gender equality and women’s empowerment
(Team Leader and one additional gender adviser have not yet been recruited); capacity development
(awaiting recruitment of an additional specialist); knowledge management (awaiting content manager
and research staff); and monitoring and evaluation (joined in March 2010). Examples of key
contributions to strengthening UNDP’s development results are described in the following chapter.
4
The RCC provides Country Offices with management support services in the areas of: ICT (post has
been abolished by BOM starting December 09), procurement services and oversight, and
communications advisory services. The RCC also provides support to the Security Team in an effort to
strengthen security and safety at the sub-regional level with the deployment of security advisors for
clusters of RBAS COs.
With the aim of strengthening UN Coordination and programme coherence among UN Development
Group agencies; the RCC provides support to the Regional Directors’ Team which oversees and guides
the UN Country Teams (UNCTs) to implement an evolving UN coherence agenda. A priority, in this
context, is supporting UNCTs in the region in formulating Common Country Assessments and UN
Development Assistance Frameworks or similar strategic planning frameworks, 11 of which will be
prepared over the remaining period of the Strategic Plan.
Opportunities and Challenges
The RCC received the Administrator in its premises in September 2009. It shared its understanding of
key development challenges in the region, a synopsis of the strategic thrust of the RCC’s work in
helping COs to address them, by Practice and through inter-Practice synergies across the three
organizational pillars, and continuing challenges in the implementation of the corporate regionalization
policy. Discussions revolved around the opportunities and challenges for taking forward the
Administrator’s vision for UNDP, specifically its branding as a leader on MDGs, Climate Change and
Gender within an integrated human development agenda in the Arab States Region.
In reaffirming that the network of UNDP Country Offices constitute the primary focus and arena of all
of UNDP’s work in supporting development in programme countries, she emphasized the need to
identify and pool available expertise, wherever they may be located in UNDP, to work in tandem and
coherence and to break silos in supporting Country Offices; she recognized that Regional Centres have
a critical role to play in this connection and welcomed the inter-Practice synergies being forged in the
RCC towards this end. In this context, the Administrator also emphasized that the RCC’s role is not
limited to responding to CO demand but must also “push the envelope” to higher levels of UNDP
engagement, particularly positioning it in upstream policy work
Among the challenges tabled during the discussion, a principal one revolved around the integration or
practice coherence of the regional projects, as the RCC is unique in being the only Centre in which the
regional programme is not integrated, including as an additional pooled source of expertise and
funding in supporting country offices and their national counterparts in programme countries.
At the end of this reporting year, the main overall operational challenges which the RCC faces can be
summarized as follows:
•
Lengthy recruitment of some key posts, due to the difficulty in attracting high quality applicants;
5
•
Mobilizing resources to fully fund the RCC proposed structure and activities (resources currently
secured represent less than 60% of target).
•
Integration of the regional programmes into the practice architecture of the RCC Development
Results pillar for enhanced coherence between policy work and programming and additionality in
policy advisory and funding capacities supporting COs.
•
The Government of Egypt–UNDP Legal Agreement governing RCC establishment and operations
remains unsigned for two years now, despite demarches at the highest levels before, during and
after the Administrator’s visit to Egypt. This affects privileges and immunities.
•
Uncertainty about the legal agreement and hence continuation of operations in Egypt complicates
decision on (a) the long-planned and still awaited relocation to MOSS-compliant premises with the
UNDP-CO, (b) additional RCC staff deployments since current staff accommodated in the RCC’s
temporary premises has reached the physical limits of available office space.
3.
2009 RESULTS
The RCC continued to effectively respond to more than 95% of requests received from Country Offices
for Technical Backstopping and Policy Advisory Services across all Practices. The RCC handled a total of
467 requests for services which were almost equally divided into policy support, Technical
Backstopping and Knowledge Services.
Focus Areas
Types of Requests
Total 467
162
182
34%
34
71
Poverty reduction and MDG achievement
Democratic Goverance
Crisis Prevention and Recouvery
Environment and Sustainable development
36%
30%
Knowledage Services
Technical Backstopping
Policy and technical advisory
The highest number of requests was for Environment and Poverty Reduction practices. The responses
to those requests were met not only by the corresponding Practice teams, inclusive of HIV/AIDS, but
also through the Knowledge Management and Capacity Development cross-practices in those
respective focus areas. Around 162 requests were received with regards to Poverty and MDG
6
Achievement (including HIV/AIDS), 71 on Democratic Governance, 34 on Crisis Prevention and
Recovery, and 182 for Environment and Sustainable Development.
DEVELOPMENT PILLAR
3.1. MDGs, Poverty, Inclusive Growth
The ongoing global economic crisis has affected the Arab region through shrinking economic activity,
higher rates of poverty, caused in particular by historically high food prices, and unemployment,
increasing stress on social services and further economic insecurities and violations of economic and
social rights. This is compounded by the growing impact of climate change on food insecurity and
poverty.
Accelerating progress towards the MDGs by 2015 remains a major priority for the region, given the
mixed status of progress in the Arab countries and differences in the rates and pace of achievement of
national MDG targets by country typology. While it is expected that most of the GCC countries will be
able to achieve MDG targets by 2015, LDCs, and countries in or emerging from armed conflicts on the
other end, as well as some MICs, have fallen behind in terms of progress and are unlikely to attain the
desired progress towards the MDG targets by 2015.
Requests for Poverty and MDG specific support necessitating substantial effort levels amounted to 40
requests (Figure.1), where 54% were for Technical Support, 28% for Policy Advice and 18% for
knowledge management). Main focus areas included promoting inclusive growth and MDG
achievement through inter-alia poverty measurements, pro-poor macroeconomic policy and advocacy
for human development.
Figure(1) Distribution of Requests per
country for the Poverty Practice
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Figure (2) Distribution Type of requests
for the Poverty Practice out of 40 service
33%
40%
28%
Knowledge Managment
Techincal Support
Policy Advise
Syria received significant support notably the completion of three reports in support of the
forthcoming five year plan which explain and diagnose poverty and inequality dynamics in Syria and in
particular the incidence and determinants of pro-poor growth at the sub-national level. The emphasis
7
was on policy considerations drawing the Syrian authorities’ attention to the importance of the poverty
environment nexus as a main factor behind the change in sub national poverty rates. In addition,
support was provided for initiating and substantively leading the process of drafting the MDGR.
Although the reports are not officially published, based on a request from the Syrian authorities, the
main findings are being utilized as a major input in the planning process and fully endorsed by the DPM
and the State Planning Commission (SPC).
For Yemen, the RCC provided substantive support in designing a project proposal (with an initial
budget of 15 USD $ million) on a more diversified economy. The project is of pivotal importance to the
CO and the Yemeni government, in light of the impact of the financial crisis on fuel prices, which
highlights the need to diversify the Yemeni economy. Further analysis will be needed to validate
strategy against Climate Change threats and risks.
The launch of the Poverty Report in Beirut, received wide local media coverage. The report played a
vital role in drawing the attention of policy makers, to the extent of the deprivation and income
poverty, particularly in North Lebanon. While for KSA, the RCC was instrumental in a comparative
poverty analysis between 2004 and 2008, and supported construction of HPI values at the sub-national
level. The analysis was presented to the KSA authorities and had a strong impact on the orientation of
the plan which is currently being revised as per RCC’s recommendations.
At the regional level, the UNDP – LAS Development Challenges Report, the bulk of which was
completed in 2008, was submitted to and endorsed by the Arab Summit held in Kuwait in January
2009. This was one of the major products of the Poverty Team, which was revised, edited, and
translated in the first quarter of 2009 and finally launched in December 2009 under the auspices of the
LEAGUE OF ARAB STATES (LAS) SG. The report generated wide regional and international media
attention, and animated a lively informed debate about development choices in the region
The poverty team took a lead role in initiating the process for developing the League of Arab States’ inhouse analytical ability to inform decision making by the League, through a proposal to develop a
socio-economic decision support centre.
Knowledge Management was also a top priority for the RCC Poverty team where a number of
publications have been produced to shed light on development challenges and issues at the local and
regional levels. These knowledge products include: 1) Impact of the Financial Crisis and Policy
Reactions in Arab Countries; 2) Economic Security Chapter in the AHDR; 3) Understanding Inequality
Dynamics in Syria; 4) Poverty and Inequality in Syria; 5) Poverty, Unemployment, and Hunger in Arab
States; 6) Poverty in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (unpublished); and 7) Policies to achieve Gender
Equality in the Arab Region
The poverty team contributed in strengthening the capacities of local governments and other
stakeholders for participatory local development and achieving the MDGs. A number of initiatives have
been started such as designing and establishment of Poverty Statistics Unit within the Department of
8
Statistics (DOS) in Jordan. RCC also contributed to a global MDG review and provided policy advice on
the promotion of community development projects in Bahrain, with an emphasis on SMEs.
3.2. HIV/AIDS
Country distribution of events Organized/CoOrganized by
UNDP/HARPAS in 2009
25
20
15
10
5
0
Egypt
Algeria
Tunisia
Djibouti
Morocco
Yemen
Lebanon
Syria
Jordan
Sudan
Bahrain
UAE
Qatar
Geneva
NY
kenia
Living with HIV/AIDS in the Arab region poses
particular challenges for those who must face stigma,
silence and fear. While networks, support groups and
structures have been formed to support people living
with HIV in other parts of the world, many people
living with HIV in the Arab Region have to deal with
their status on their own, often in fear of family
rejection and social exclusion.
It is likely that the MDG target on HIV/AIDS will be
achieved in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia; however, it
is less likely in Libya and Egypt, given the presence of other epidemics concentrated in specific
segments of society. While it is unlikely that HIV/AIDS will spread to the general population, it is
probable that considerable numbers among already vulnerable populations will become infected. The
Arab countries in the Horn of Africa (HoA), particularly Sudan and Somalia, are the most affected by
the epidemic. Post-conflict situations, deteriorated health and weak civil society systems, as well as
ambivalent commitment to the HIV response from the political leadership are still undermining
prevention efforts. The Gulf countries are still in denial. There are very few effective preventive
measures among migrant workers and MARPs. The epidemic is believed to be in its early stages there,
but could grow in a concentrated or generalized form in some Gulf countries if the outreach efforts
and policy transformation efforts are not scaled up.
Religious Leaders' attitude toward People
Living Withs HIV/AIDS (PLWH)
2008
Religious leaders' attitude toward People
Living With HIV/AIDS (PLWH)
2004
97%
97%
95%
95%
85%
97%
95%
perceived as a
source of hope
as helping wirh
psychosocial
problems
as advocates for
PLWH
RLs were
aggressive as prejudiced indifferent to
mainly towards PLWH against
PLWH
pereceived as
hostile to
PLWH
The aim of the RCC HIV/AIDS Practice is to mitigate the impact of HIV/AIDS on human
development. Support for strengthening CO capacities for an integrated, MDG-based and
poverty-focused response to HIV is also a priority in the region, with special attention paid
9
Arab countries in East Africa.
Type of event organized or co-organized
by UNDP/HARPAS in 2009
7%
regional
50%
43%
national
global
The main objectives for the practice are to: 1) improve
understanding of the individual and group needs of HIVinfected people and form sustainable and supportive
alliances and leadership capacity; 2) mobilize communityled responses to improve upon or create supportive
environments; 3) build Regional exchanges and replicate
best practices; 4) create regional networks of people
living with HIV/AIDS (PLWH) to impact the regions' policy
environment and broader multi-sectoral leadership in the
HIV/AIDS response;and 5) create regional positive leadership providing guidance, insight and activities
within UNDP's mandate addressing HIV/AIDS as a development issue cutting across governance,
gender and human rights. The UNDP HIV/AIDS Regional Programme in the Arab States (HARPAS)
strategy implements a series of interventions built upon transformative leadership methodologies, to
mobilize communities of action in a multi-sectoral approach.
HARPAS studies conducted in 2008 indicate that approximately 5,000 leaders have been trained on
transformational leadership and HIV/AIDS since 2002. It is estimated that these leaders have trained
approximately another 400,000 leaders, who later reached out to approximately 40 million people in
the Arab region (mainly through Religious Leaders and Mass Media). Some countries, like Algeria and
Morocco, made this initiative their own and started training all prominent religious leaders on a
nationwide scale. A recent study corroborated the emergence of a transformed Religious Leaders
discourse, reversing stigma in Morocco. PLWHs interviewed during this study reported that prior to
2004, RLs were perceived by 97% of PLWH respondents as “hostile”. In 2008 - and after several
thousands of Religious Leaders were trained on HIV - RLs are now perceived by the PLWH interviewed
during this study as a source of hope (97%), as helping with psychosocial problems (97%), and as
advocates for PLWH (95%). Similar breakthroughs are emerging in several Arab countries; most
noteworthy, in Sudan, Somalia and Djibouti where the infection rates are highest.
HARPAS-trained People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWH) established hundreds of support groups, NGOs
and networks in Arab countries. More than three hundred were trained on life skills, management
skills, livelihood and economic independence, leadership, micro-credit, etc. Preliminary results show
that PLWHs felt significantly empowered by their training. The trained legislators and experts also
worked closely with PLWH and RLs to produce progressive PLWH human rights protection laws. Among
the most significant outcomes of this initiative was the establishment of the Yemeni Organization of
Parliamentarians responding to HIV, who have written their own draft law, with HARPAS technical
support. The Sudanese members of Parliament also passed their own law. Most other parliamentarian
groups that HARPAS is working with started processes towards the same goals (Qatar, Bahrain,
Somalia, etc).
On the regional level, the close partnership with the League of Arab States led to the processing of a
10
draft HIV Arab Convention by the Arab Parliament, which, if adopted, could be the first Convention on
HIV in the world. Revised Intellectual Property Rights policies are also being processed for adoption by
national partners for better access to treatment and care, and discussions are being held with Civil
Society Organizations leaders (from NGOs, FBOs, etc) to study their potential involvement in scaling-up
the provision of HIV services: care, treatment and support.
Hundreds of arts and media HARPAS trainees are transforming the media response, thus contributing
to a new level of knowledge and understanding about AIDS. In partnership with ILO, HARPAS mobilized
private sector leaders to establish a regional NGO to champion workplace HIV policies and corporate
social responsibility.
In 2009, the HIV Practice responded to more than 100 requests, that mainly came from the COs (and
translated into national/regional/sub-regional workshops), and from the Media. Thirty training
workshops were organized in coordination with or in response to COs requests. The HARPAS team also
provided Technical Backstopping during 18 events organized by partners/other organizations. In terms
of knowledge services, 6 national studies were conducted to evaluate the impact of HARPAS initiatives
on reducing HIV-related stigma, and approximately 50 interviews were conducted with the media
(available on www.harpas.org).
3.3. Democratic Governance
All regional human development reports have established deep governance deficits that point to an
uneven capacity for transformative change. Not all of the political systems in the region are alike, but
for the most part they share weak participative channels, unclear constitutional and procedural rules
of succession and rotation of power, legal and political exclusion, lack of transparency, accountability,
and weak rule of law.
Arab States have been investing in capable structures of public administration to deliver public goods
and social services. Several Arab states have been enhancing the capacity of anti corruption
mechanisms. The difficulty, however, lies in the fact that the Arab development vision is not pro-poor
and human security is not prioritized. Thus, state capacity, exemplified in civil service reform, has not
been focused on enhancing responsiveness to the poor and marginalized. While several Arab countries
have undertaken local governance and decentralization reforms (e.g. Morocco) and have drafted
public administration reform strategies (e.g. Tunisia and Lebanon), implementation lags behind. New
global challenges complicate matters: in addition to increasing poverty and unemployment levels in
the Arab countries just as it has around the world, the economic crisis is also eroding governments’
fiscal positions and accordingly their ability, perhaps willingness, to invest in needed social services.
With mushrooming civil society organizations in the region, the Arab states manifest various degrees of
openness and inclusiveness of civil society in policy processes, service delivery and monitoring. The
legal framework promoting civic engagement is a constant constraining factor. New media is playing an
11
emerging role in keeping states accountable. The strength of administrative and political accountability
mechanisms that can react effectively to societal voices/demands, however, needs further support.
Conflict complicates the picture. The region has witnessed 15 wars (civil or inter-state) since 1980. The
Palestine-Israel conflict is more complicated than ever; Iraq is searching for stability; Sudan is entering
into a critical stage of CPA implementation (elections and referendum); Somalia has been without a
consistently functioning central government for 18 years; and the government of Yemen is facing
serious challenges from opposition groups. There are more than 17 million refugees and internally
displaced people in the Arab region, more than in any other region, and approximately half the global
total.
The region is also characterized by deep gender discrimination. While tremendous efforts have been
made, women’s political and economic participation rates are still lower than in any other region in the
world. Overall, fewer than 10% of the parliamentarians in the region are women.
The RCC undertook a series of learning missions to the OPT, Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen in 2009 (and
mission is planned to Sudan in early 2010), to explore challenges of programming for local governance
with country office staff and national counterparts. These missions were jointly planned and financed
by the RCC and the UNDP Oslo Governance Centre. Two of those missions were jointly undertaken
with BCPR. The missions have resulted in a series of country specific reports and one regional
reflection note that were drafted in 2009 to be shared with country offices for validation in the first
quarter of 2010. This work is informing RCC plans to develop a future platform of service for conflict
countries which could include training workshops, fast track procurement of expertise and policy and
technical guidance for local governance, electoral assistance, civil society engagement and social
accountability.”
The governance practice at the RCC became functional only in the latter half of 2009, with the arrival
of the Governance Practice Leader. Within this time- frame, the governance practice
leader
responded to 28 requests, half of which came from country offices; countries served were PAPP, Egypt,
Syria, Jordan, Bahrain, and Lebanon. The second highest source of demand was from headquarters
(BDP and RBAS). Governance Practice also received requests from I Know Politics regional network .HQ
demand was primarily in relation to DGTTF 2010 allocations, global democratic governance programs,
RBAS GSIC as well as country office program documents. Most demand was for technical and policy
advice.
The practice has been able, with its limited resources, to respond to 75% of requests on knowledge for
governance and 90-100% on technical backstopping and policy advice. Most of this support was
provided through desktop services using email and other communication tools. CO support was
primarily in the area of responsive institutions with the exception of Bahrain where support was given
in developing their women’s empowerment national strategy.
12
Distribution of requests related to
Governance Practice by Source of demand
in the last quarter of 2009 (Sept.-Dec.
2009)
Egypt
11%
Syria
7%
Knowledge
management
13%
DGG
29%
Jordan
7%
Morocco
4%
Bahrain
7%
Lebanon
3%
Distributionof requests related to DG
per type of request-RBAS Country
offices
RBAS
14%
I know
politics
7%
10%
Technical
backstopping
Policy and
technial advie
77%
PAPP
11%
The governance practice contributed to policy setting in BDP’s global programs, enhancing linkages to
the Global Program on Human Rights (RCC acquired a human rights specialist just recently), the Global
Program on Parliamentary Strengthening (RCC is acquiring a specialist to focus on parliaments in
conflict countries), the Global Program on Electoral Assistance and the Global Program on Anti
Corruption. In support of women’s political empowerment, the governance practice contributed to
IKnowPolitics regional network and to the introduction of the IKnowPolitics Global Coordinator to the
Arab world.
Appreciating the strong implications for MDG1 of linking legal empowerment, voice and organization
with economic inclusion of the poor (especially business, property and labor rights), the governance
practice hosted a small roundtable on legal empowerment of the poor. It attracted participation from
Egypt, Morocco, Syria, and Jordan. The result has been continued support to Egypt’s empowerment of
women rights, with a new direction to explore women’s property rights, as well as initial support to
Syria’s informal sector. Connections to legal empowerment with the UNDP Regional Center in Bangkok
have also been established.
The governance practice of the RCC established a number of goals that correspond to the UNDP
strategic plan and respond to regional and country needs. These goals are: (a) to support
responsiveness of state institutions, (b) to foster inclusive processes connecting state and civil society,
and (c) to support national efforts to reduce poverty, sustain the environment, and promote human
development with increased integrity and gender empowerment. The governance practice of RCC
managed in its first 6 months to contribute to the global debate on governance and sector reforms,
having facilitated discussions in Stockholm on water governance and in London on political economy of
sector reform. Facilitation of discussions on a governance indicators section in the forthcoming
regional water governance report also took place.
13
3.4. Crisis Recovery and Prevention
The region’s distinct geology means that Arab States share common risks to their sustainable
development from natural hazards and conflicts; these include earthquake, drought, flood and
associated population displacements, extreme temperature, wildfire and epidemics. Between 1980
and 2009, disasters affected the lives and livelihoods of more than 43 million people and caused
economic damage of more than UDS 18 billion. Floods have been the most frequent disasters, while
droughts have affected the largest number of people and earthquakes have been the most damaging
in economic terms. Drought and earthquake hazards particularly pose threats on a larger transboundary scale for various countries. The chronic arid conditions of the region, coupled with periodic
droughts and enhanced societal exposure cause severe shocks to national and local development in
Djibouti, Somalia, Sudan, Iraq and Syria.
The region is also exposed to some of the most complex and protracted armed conflicts, with one-third
of the RBAS countries currently in or emerging from conflicts. The Arab region accounts for the largest
number of conflict-induced IDPs and refugees in the world, and at the same time hosts the largest
number of refugees. Conflicts have caused serious setbacks to human development, environmental
sustainability and overall stability in the region. Not surprisingly all conflict affected countries, except
Yemen have seen reversals in their initial development gains, as indicated in the Human Development
Index (HDI) ranking.
A variety of prevalent and emerging trends enhance vulnerabilities and reduce resilience of Arab States
against natural hazards and conflicts including widespread poverty in Djibouti, Iraq, Somalia, Sudan and
Yemen; population explosion across the region reaching 320 million in 2009 from 70 million in the
1970s; and a lack of effective institutional and legislative systems for crisis management and disaster
risk reduction. Disaster preparedness, coordination, early warning systems and public awareness are
weak. Although the region houses sufficient technical capacities for disaster risk reduction, poor
governance systems serve as a bottleneck to pull together those capacities to achieve positive results
through coordinated efforts.
Within the above context, the Regional Centre Cairo (RCC) puts a premium upon strengthening the
Crisis Prevention and Recovery practice in the region. The key strategies are targeted at i)
strengthening UNDP Country Office capacities, ii) supporting the COs to articulate needs, and
design/implement DRR programs, iii) strengthening a regional community of practice, iv) producing
region-specific knowledge for advocacy and learning, v) and building and strengthening partnerships
amongst international stakeholders and Arab political and technical entities and networks. Disaster
Risk Reduction Practice in the Regional Centre was established in August 2009, with the placement of a
Regional Disaster Reduction Advisor (RDRA). Requests for Disaster Risk Reduction amounted to 10, of
which 5 were responded to during the reporting period. Seven Country Offices (Egypt, Jordan,
Lebanon, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Tunisia) requested services of the Disaster Reduction
Advisor in 2009. Moreover, two disaster risk reduction projects have been formulated, for North and
South Sudan. The CO requests were mainly for Policy and Technical Advice as well as Technical
14
Backstopping. The thrust of DRRM support is to strengthen policy and institutional arrangements at
local and national levels, with a view to establishing effective systems for reducing risks through
improved planning, coordination, and risk-sensitive development initiatives.
In Jordan, earthquakes represent a major natural hazard for the city of Aqaba, where a major
investment and infrastructure development effort is being coordinated by the Aqaba Special Economic
Zone Authority (ASEZA). Through UNDP’s support, awareness and participation of senior ASEZA
decision-makers was increased, so as to integrate seismic risk reduction in the Aqaba economic zone
development process. ASEZA has started the project website to create awareness about its efforts for
seismic risk reduction. Accordingly, an interface between ASEZA and the Ministry of Education has
been established to undertake joint initiatives for education and awareness raising aimed at students
about seismic risks in Aqaba in particular.
Disaster related legislation and policies in many countries are decades old and predominantly
response-oriented. In Egypt, for instance, the Information and Decision Support Centre (IDSC) has been
backed by UNDP to formulate a national strategy, in line with global best practices as codified in the
Hyogo Framework of Action (HFA). It puts a premium upon strengthening cross-sectoral synergies, and
also upon adopting disaster risk reduction practices, so as to reduce losses from future disasters. A
capacity development plan has been put in place to improve technical capacities through training of
multiple stakeholders and organizations at all levels.
Coordination, both horizontal and vertical, remains a weak link in most countries in the region.
Departments at national level operate in isolation from each other and multi-overlapping mandates
during disaster preparedness and response; In Syria the Ministry of Local Administration has been
supported in its efforts to clearly define institutional mandates; e.g. the High Committee for Disaster
Management (HCDM) and the High Council for Civil Defense (HCCD). It also aims at improving
coordination between the departments of civil defense, fire services, red cross and the Ministries of
Local Administration and Defense. While in Lebanon, the national stakeholders have been assisted to
remove confusions over responsibility for national disaster preparedness planning and to combine
their efforts behind one national effort. This is done by merging different departmental plans into one
National Disaster Preparedness Plan. It is worth mentioning that in Lebanon, the Prime Minister’s
Office has been trained in the analysis of the threats of disasters, and to identify exposure and
vulnerabilities of the Lebanese society to geological and climatic hazard risks
South and North Sudan remain vulnerable to severe droughts, floods, and other hazards. The country
also lacks information about risk exposure. In order to address them, South and North Sudan have
been assisted with design of projects to develop capacities for disaster risk management. These include
setting-up national and state level institutional arrangements, risk analysis, human resource
development, planning and coordination.
CPR Practice has established close partnerships with UN-OCHA and UNISDR. As a result ISDR and UNDP
have been working on two specific interventions, which include the strengthening of capacities of the
15
Arab Regional Disaster Risk Reduction Centre, and development of disaster impact data-bases in six
countries of the region; e.g. Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Syria and Yemen. UNDP also supported
ISDR in holding a regional urban risk management conference in Syria with the help of the Country
Office. UNDP, OCHA and ISDR coordinate through CADRI Initiative for capacity development in the
region. RCC CPR is providing advice to OCHA Iraq for developing a contingency plan for the UNCT. In
addition, the League of Arab States (LAS) and EC are being assisted by UNDP to establish a Regional
Crisis Response Centre in the LAS Secretariat for enhancing capacity in crisis analysis, crisis response,
conflict prevention and peace building. Synergies were also explored with the World Bank, World Food
Programme, Swiss Development Corporation and Arab Centre for Studies of Arid Zones and Dry Lands
(ACSAD) amongst others.
3.5. Environment and Sustainable Development
In the absence of the E&E/CC Practice Leader in the RCC, the Centre has forged a collaborative and
productive partnership with the GEF Regional Coordination Unit for Arab States which is located in
Bratislava and with the Dry lands Development Centre (DDC) located in Beirut. This partnership and
“virtual integration” is reflected in the RCC’s Results and Resource Framework for 2009-2010, to
streamline and make visible the technical and financial support that is available to COs from these
programmes. It materializes also through the participation of the RCU-AS and DDC in all of the RCC’s
annual work-planning retreats as well as in the planning of the Climate Change and Disaster Risk
Reduction regional CoPs (held in March 2010). In addition there is close collaboration with RPD’s
Regional Water Governance programme, located in Cairo, both at the inter-Practice level (e.g. with
Governance, DRRM, KM, Communications, and Poverty), as well as at the level of technical advisory
services (e.g. technical review of the Iraq UNDAF).
In Environment sub-practice areas, services and support requested from COs were fully satisfied,
through a combination of desk reviews and 29 missions with the exception of support requested from
the Sudan for the allocation of financial resources to support the government in chairing the
G77/China group at the UNFCCC. Desk support was also extended to NCC countries, noting that
missions to these countries are only possible if fully financed by the Country Office. Finally, countries
such as Djibouti, Sudan and Yemen featured less
prominently in terms of mission coverage and
Distribution of Requests related to
Environment
per type of request RBASsupport. Additional focus will be given to those LDCs
Country Office
in the coming year, provided that the security
29%
32%
situation allows for that. The EEG team also extended
support to the Regional Bureau for its water and
climate change programming, as well as
representation of the region at global meetings such
as the UNCCD and UNFCCC COP.
39%
EEG’s support included specific emphasis on drylands
development and expanding access to environment
Knowledge Services
Technical Backstopping
Policy and Technical Advisory
16
finance services. Together, the Environment Finance Group’s coordination unit for Arab States and the
Integrated Drylands Development Program team provided technical, fiduciary, and policy support to a
portfolio of over 45 projects worth more than 200 Million US$ implemented directly by the Country
Offices. Furthermore, the total number of requests amounted to 173, where in 2009 the majority of
requests were for Technical Backstopping
In 2009, the DDC Arab States Programme pursued its technical and financial support towards CCD
implementation and drylands development along three main lines of intervention: 1) Mainstreaming
drylands development and CCD implementation into national development frameworks; 2) Promoting
good governance of land and water resources; 3) Enhancing local livelihoods and building resilience of
drylands communities
DDC-AS support focused on Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Yemen, Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria. In Tunisia,
the support aimed at strengthening the CCD institutional framework at national and regional levels and
promotion of dryland livelihoods and community adaptation in Kasserine. In Yemen, DDC-AS has
provided support to decentralized Governance of water resources in the Amran basin. For Jordan, the
focus was on promoting livelihood approaches to food security and a comprehensive approach at the
UN and national levels. The strengthening of institutional framework for CCD implementation as well
as enhancing market access for dryland products and services were priority areas of technical and
policy advisory in Lebanon, and in Syria, the same support focused on building community resilience
and adaptation to drought. In Morocco DDC-AS contributed to the promotion of eco-tourism in the
Southern Oases within the framework of the Oasis Programme. In addition, within the Regional Water
Governance Programme, DDC-AS has strengthened institutional mechanisms for water resource
management and gender mainstreaming.
In September 2009 the New Phase of DDC Arab States (September 2009-August 2012) was officially
launched following extensive consultations with partners (UNDP COs and national partners) in
coordination with the main donor of the Programme - the Government of Finland -.
The UNCCD Conference of the Parties (COP9) held in Buenos Aires in Sep/Oct 2009 recognized the
DDC’s Integrated Dry lands Development Programme – including its Arab States component (DDC-AS) as an effective vehicle for the implementation of the Convention. This was reflected in COP9 official
documents and presents an opportunity to mobilize additional partners and resources for Programme
implementation.
In the past year, programming in Arab States COs has increased, with the combination and alignment
of policy advisory services with technical backstopping and programming. Notably, policy change has
been achieved in Morocco, Egypt and Jordan through utilizing practical interventions to inform policy
reform. In Morocco, the second national communication was used as a basis for the preparation of
Morocco’s national Climate Change Strategy, presented by the Minister of Energy, Mines Environment
and Water in Copenhagen. This is the first occurrence of a CC strategy in the Arab States that
converges both mitigation and adaptation needs, sets out targets and identifies potential trade-offs
among sectors. In Egypt, market analyses and interventions undertaken through an Energy Efficiency
17
project, have led the Supreme Energy Council to adopt the standards and systems designed by the
project at a national level, and the Ministry of Finance to deploy and finance the retrofitting of all
government buildings per the standards set by the project. In Jordan, the work undertaken through a
combination of initiatives: the second national communication to the UNFCCC, the MDG-Fund, the
country office’s engagement on policy with the Ministry of Environment were catalyzed to generate
Jordan’s national position on UNFCCC negotiations. On water supply and sanitation, support has been
extended to Djibouti whose government has opted to channel UNDP’s support for the preparation of a
water supply and sanitation strategy, which would guide the government’s investment in this area.
3.6. Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment
The first and successive Arab Human Development Reports, including one explicitly dedicated to the
topic: “Towards the Rise of Women in the Arab World,” raised the profile of the deficits in gender
equality and women’s empowerment in the Arab region and placed these deficits on the national,
regional and international development agendas.
While there has been considerable progress in female enrolment and completion rates in Arab
countries at all levels of education and in all country typologies, with the important exception of
reversals in both Palestine and Iraq, the principal gender-based impediments to overall human
development in the Arab region remain persistent, as encapsulated in the following facts and figures:





Lowest women’s economic participation rates in the world, standing at 42% of men’s and with
a preponderance in low-wage, unregulated informal sector occupations and in the service
sector
Highest youth unemployment rates in the world (30% overall, with females accounting for 35%)
Lowest women’s political participation in the world, with fewer than 10% of Arab
parliamentarians on average, although there are wide variations among countries and some
recent increases in parliamentary representation in some countries);
Capacity deficits arising from high rates of female illiteracy (50% compared to 30% for men) as
well as from high rates of maternal mortality (270/100,000 live births and rising to
1000/100,000 in Somalia);
Legal discrimination, including discrimination based on customary law, anchored in patriarchal
systems governing personal status and family law (only Morocco and Djibouti have removed
reservations in CEDAW ratification); this also contributes to a culture of impunity for non-war
related violence against women.
Recognizing that UNDP’s gender equality and women’s empowerment initiatives and their results in
RBAS countries have not been commensurate to the magnitude of the challenge, several measures
were taken to raise the level of this priority human development objective and to scale up RBAS
effectiveness, coherence and results in addressing it. These included:
18
(a) the commissioning by the RCC of a GES programme for eventual buy-in and implementation by
RBAS COs. The programme was developed in January 2008. Auspiciously, it focused on
women’s economic empowerment through trade and on gender equality in natural resources
management and climate change responses – priorities which resonate and remain valid.
However, In the absence of a Gender PL to take this programme forward with the COs, and in
view of uncertainties about the RCC’s role in resource mobilization, it remains dormant;
(b) tasking the RCC Director with producing an all-RBAS Gender Strategy which tailors the
corporate GES to the specificities of the Arab countries. The draft was produced in mid 2008,
for eventual cross-validation and overall alignment with CO-specific gender priorities (see point
below);
(c) tasking each country office with developing a gender strategy and action plan, with additional
funding for this purpose from COD; the bulk of these CO drafts were submitted for RCC-COD
review in December 2009, with a view to consolidating both the draft CO sets and the draft
regional one into a unified, aligned and coherent RBAS strategy.
(d) expanding gender mainstreaming beyond POGAR and into all RPD regional programmes, in
collaboration with CAWTAR;
(e) funding approval by RBAS of an additional gender policy adviser post to strengthen RCC
capacity (funds were allocated late in 2009, and recruitment is underway);
(f) establishing a human rights specialist post, with gender responsibilities, in the RCC’s DG unit.
Notwithstanding the handicap in specialized gender capacities, the RCC has pursued the
mainstreaming of GES issues in each and all Practice areas, highlighted by the following in 2009:
DG:



development of a toolkit for gender-responsive service delivery, produced in Arabic;
design and rolling out of a gender-responsive legal empowerment of the poor initiative;
undertaking “learning missions” on local governance issues in countries in or emerging from
conflict, with a view to developing a platform of gender-responsive services;
 a demarche to preserve IKNOW Politics as a networking platform on women’s political
empowerment and gender equality (now relocated from Amman to Cairo).
Poverty:





gender-disaggregation of MDG indicators in the Arab region
ongoing work to establish a gender disaggregated socio-economic database in the League of
Arab States dedicated to the Arab region, upon which to support the development of policy
options and facilitate informed decisions;
advocacy on women living with HIV/AIDS
Developing a critical mass of both men and women religious leaders as champions on
HIV/AIDS’ prevention and care;
Ensuring that at least 50% of participants in all HIV/AIDS related training and awareness-raising
workshops on HIV/AIDS are female
19

Employing a human rights approach in HIV/AIDS activities, including gender rights.
CD & KM



Customized methodologies for developing capacity for mainstreaming gender into
development policies, plans and programmes, enabling an assessment of capacity assets and
needs as a basis for formulating gender-sensitive strategies for developing capacity; and an
assessment of investments in achieving gender equality results to promote accountability;
Piloting a gender-focused CA-CD approach in the Ministry of Local Administration in Yemen; its
full-fledged application in Bahrain with the Supreme Council for Women. The latter resulted in
the Council spearheading the movement to integrate gender into national and sector
strategies and state budgeting.
CD space on Teamworks on capacity development and gender mainstreaming, enabling
exchange of experiences and best practices.
3.7. Knowledge Management
Knowledge accumulated by UNDP in the Arab States region has not been adequately captured and
factored into regional or global policies, guidance and programmes. This underlies the need for more
development analysis, capacity development, training, content management, generating and sharing
of knowledge pertinent to the region within the region and through south-south cooperation.
The need to raise the profile of knowledge management in the Arab States region is corroborated in
the Country Office capacity self-assessment mapping conducted in late 2008 and the recent CO
responses on their plans to focus on the Administrator’s priority areas for UNDP: MDGs, Climate
Change and Gender within an integrated human development approach. Among the challenges of
using knowledge for effective capacity development, technical support and policy advice are: a) lack of
sufficient capacity for knowledge-based development solutions; b) the capacity gap between
producing knowledge and using it; c) insufficient research capacities on MDGs and Climate Changerelated trends; d) an insufficiently developed knowledge sharing culture.
In developing the RCC’s integrated work plans for 2009/2010, knowledge management was used as a
common driver and objective in all the work plans of thematic and management practices, whether
representing policy advisory services or the outputs of the regional programmes. The major thrust in
this regard is to generate knowledge products and share knowledge, create communities of practices,
build capacity of staff, create strategic partnerships and provide evidence-based policy advice.
Moreover, the Arab States region became the first to pilot the use of the corporate knowledge
management strategy and Teamworks. Since its roll-out in May 2009, the RBAS has become the region
with the highest number of knowledge assets captured by the system amongst UNDP regions and
20
categorizations, including the MDGs. Currently, more than 50 communities of practices have been
created; and more than 350 staff members in 8 countries have been trained on the use of Teamworks,
concept of community of practice, partnerships through knowledge sharing and social networking.
Responses to referrals from all practices, amounting to around 45, have been addressed, bringing
knowledge from one country to solve the needs of another on such topics as private sector
engagement, youth, social responsibility, and strategic planning.
Important partnerships have been created with other UN agencies to ensure delivering as one. ESCWA
is considering UNDP’s knowledge management system for its own technical cooperation effectiveness.
A number of think tank institutions have been identified which will allow all practices to tap into the
knowledge external to UNDP.
3.8. Capacity Development
Capacity Development is about supporting institutions to work better in order to achieve human
development goals. Over the past few years it has become
evident that a more rigorous approach to Capacity
Development (CD) is required if its impact is to be fully
realized. It is undeniable that CD is critical for the
A review of a number of countries in the Arab
achievement of the MDGs, as well as long-term economic
States mapped along two dimensions: Human
and societal development. Against the backdrop of a global
Development Progress and Institutional
commitment to fighting poverty, and pledges to increase the
Effectiveness over the past decade. Although
volume of aid, the development of national capacities has
most countries, given high GDP, enjoy relatively
acquired greater urgency.
strong human development scores (›0.5),yet,
The CD Practice Team Leader (CD PTL) responded to 80
requests from the country level, alongside HQ requests from
RBAS and BDP. All 18 COs were supported either through
desk reviews or direct mission support. The highest support
was to the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPt), Bahrain,
Libya, Yemen, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan. The
second highest source of demand was from regional
partners, then BDP/Capacity Development Group followed
by RBAS. BDP/CDG demand revolved primarily around
support of policy papers and virtual reviews of global CD.
The bulk of requests (22) were from the OPt, for which
sustained support was significant on Capacity Assessment,
Knowledge Services and learning. In 2009, the majority of
requests were for Policy and Technical Advisory (41%),
Technical Backstopping (33%), and Knowledge Services
approximately half of the countries surveyed
sit in the “Capacity-in-flux” stage. In these
countries, state capacity lacks resilience and
threatens the sustainability of currently
achieved human development levels. However,
with the right policy choices and investment
decisions, countries could improve their
institutional capacities. On the other side, the
oil-producing countries present a misleading
picture of their situation and oil led growth has
created weak structural foundations in Arab
economies. These pointers strengthen the
argument for continued investments in
capacity to bring states to the capacity-strong
quadrant where they can be more resilient.
21
(26%). CD support to various line Ministries and the Prime Minister’s Office included development of
capacity self assessment questionnaires, leadership skills and CA training. The RCC, CD PTL provided
service to country offices and UNCTs in integrating CD into programme design, in addition to
conducting capacity assessments and formulating CD response; quality assurance in monitoring and
tracking CD results; and a platform for peer learning and south-south exchanges on what works for
Capacity Development in specific contexts such as in post-conflict, MICs and localizing MDGs. The
chart below illustrates the RBAS/RCC Capacity Development Team coverage in supporting UNDP COs in
the region; with most requests (75%) falling under “Advocate and Advise on CD Policy,”
Distribution of requests related to Capacity
Development per type of request-RBAS
Country Offices
Number of Requests by type
26%
25%
41%
33%
Knowledge Services
Policy and Technical Advisory
Technical Backstopping
75%
Assess Capacity assets and needs
Advocate and Advise on CD Policy
Capacity Assessments for public institutions were in high demand during 2009. In the OPt, capacity
assessments of the Ministry of Planning and Administrative Development, the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, the Prime Minister’s Office and the General Personnel Council were carried out. The CD PTL
formulated the programme and concept paper and facilitated raising funds for the Capacity
Development Initiative in Opt, from the Islamic Development Bank ($3M). Similarly, a capacity
assessment of the Ministry of Public Reform in Jordan, the Supreme Council for Women, and the
Ministry of Social Development in Bahrain were conducted. An assessment of the General Environment
Authority in Libya and the Ministry of Local Administration in Yemen enabled the programme to focus
on technical capacities such as environment and gender mainstreaming and women’s empowerment
in the case of Yemen.
An example of the institutions that we have worked with, particularly the changes/ results that we
have been able to observe, comes from Jordan, where the Ministry of Social Development, responsible
for monitoring progress in the implementation of the “National Agenda for the Achievement of the
MDGs,” has instituted a results-based management approach to monitor institutional performance of
key state agencies and promote greater accountability.
22
Programme and project support, aimed at ensuring that the CD approach was integrated into country
programming and projects, were provided to Algeria, Sudan, Jordan, Somalia, KSA and UAE; and
similar assistance to UNCTs was provided to Egypt and PAPP in particular.
The first pilot of integrating gender in the CA-CD approach was implemented in Yemen. This was later
carried out in Jordan, Libya and OPt through advocacy training. In addition, the 1st Community of
Practice on Capacity Development and gender for the region was launched in Bahrain for the GCC.
Collaborative efforts by the regional capacity development and gender teams in Asia/Pacific and Arab
States have resulted in customized methodologies for developing capacity for mainstreaming gender
into development policies, plans and programmes.
In supporting capacities for aid effectiveness (AE) and in conjunction with CDG AE colleagues, the CD
practice took part in a two day workshop on CD and environmental management in the UAE to
introduce the CA/CD methodology in the context of AE, initiate a more in-depth discussion around the
aid quality agenda in the Arab region, including on the Accra HLF and the Doha conference.
In 2009, RCC CD Practice focused on establishing clarity on the challenges of capacity development in
conflict countries of the region. It developed a reflection note on quick impact CD wins in conflict
countries, with special attention to state building which was used as basis for the establishment of a
nationwide capacity development initiative to provide CD support to line ministries in the Occupied
Palestine territories (OPT).
Partnerships were solidified with academic institutions such as the American University of Beirut,
Brookings Institute, Philadelphia University, AMIDEAST, the Arab NGO Network for Development and
the Social Science Research Council. The aim was to pave the way for the establishment of a regional
think-tank, focusing on youth, migration, capacity development, and linking knowledge products to
decision making. This cooperation has also led to the establishment of the Arab Council for the Social
Sciences, organized in collaboration with the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International
Affairs (IFI)/American University of Beirut (AUB).
The CD team, backed up by its external partners,
fostered advanced research on M&E toolkit, youth
and CD; climate change, and the impact of the
financial crisis. The M&E frameworks developed
are being applied in line ministries in Jordan.
Distribution of Requests related to Capacity
Development by CO
25
22
20
15
10
10
5
5
1
1 2 2
5
1
1
1
3
1 2 2 1
5 4
0
Algeria
Bahrain
Djibouti
Egypt
Iraq
Jordan
Kuwait
Libya
Morocco
PAPP
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
Somalia
Sudan
Syria
Tunisia
UAE
Yemen
In the first 6 months of the year, the CD PTL trained
six international consultants who supported CD
missions, funded by the various CO(s) served.
23
The main operational challenge within the programme concerns the
lack of a sufficient pool of capacity assessment/CD experts to address
the increasing demand in the region for capacity assessments/CD
support; in addition, the absence of a well-articulated regional CD
strategy.
MANAGEMENT PILLAR
3.9. Procurement
Procurement is a crucial component of UNDP’s
delivery and it is becoming a critical factor in the
Organization’s performance and achievement of
MDGs. In general, procurement accounts for 6080% of UNDP’s annual delivery globally, and 80%
in the Arab Region. The perpetually volatile
situation in several conflict countries within the
region, namely Iraq, OPT, Lebanon, Somalia,
Sudan, and Yemen, increases UNDP’s exposure to
risk and vulnerability to the achievement of
procurement objectives.
25%
Balanced scorecard
Under the scorecard, the
percentage of achievement
of cases approved during
first round of review in the
final quarter of 2009, when
RACP was established at RCC,
amounted to 56% while the
percentage achieved of
operating units satisfied with
timeliness and quality of
procurement oversight was
100% with a baseline of
around 70% for both.
2009 Annual Volume of ProcurementRBAS: $582M 80% of the Programme
Delivery.
21%
19%
19%
16%
Egypt
Sudan
Somalia
OPT
Iraq
USD 150-250 Million total contract volume reviewed by ACP in NY annually-Average Contract
Amount below $1M
The UNDP integrated accountability system approved by the executive board, comprises an
accountability framework and the oversight policy. The accountability framework encompasses
organization-wide processes for monitoring, analyzing, and improving performance in all aspects of
organizational policy, management processes and operational procedures (including procurement) in
support of the updated UNDP strategic plan, 2008-2011. Hence, the regionalization of the
procurement support and oversight function at RCC becomes a key component of the accountability
framework as means to enhance organizational performance at all levels.
A region-based capacity for procurement oversight and support to country offices was established
in the Regional Centre in Cairo, through establishment of Regional Advisory Committee on
Procurement (RACP). The RACP is tasked with twin objective of expediting Country Office procurement
processes, and ensuring full accountabilities, transparency and professionalism in procurement. These
objectives are critical to programme delivery, overall UNDP performance, and the achievement of the
MDGs in the Arab States. Thus, procurement aims at facilitating delivery of procurement services, and
overall UNDP performance, through expeditious and responsive oversight service. Since its
establishment in 2009, the RACP ensured CO adherence and compliance with the procurement and risk
24
mitigation guidelines, as well as regional ACP reviews and approvals of transactions of up to $1 million
in the region.
The total volume of procurement in 2009 for RBAS exceeded $512M, while the share of procurement
vs. delivery consisted of 80%. It is worth mentioning that 35-50% of the contracts were above
delegation of authority of the RR/CD, and subject to review by ACP, and the average contract amount
was below $1M. In facilitating compliance and quality in performance and delivery of procurement
services, the Regional ACP reviewed 45 contracts, totaling more than $50M, in supporting clusters of
Governance, CPR, Poverty Reduction, and GFTAM. This was during the period between SeptemberDecember 2009, which coincided with establishment of the unit at RCC. The average turnaround time
of contract approvals was reduced to less than 7 days, compared to the previous trend of 2-4 weeks,
when the process was centralized through HQ ACP.
Management Results: Overseeing Procurement Transactions to ensure and mitigate UNDP Risks
120
100%
100
80
50%
100
100
67
50
57
33
60
40
0%
Percentage
of cases
approved
during first
round of
review
Percentage
of operating
units
satisfied with
timeliness
and quality
of
procurement
oversight
Baseline
Target 2009
20
0
0
Achieved
Total No. of Cases
Success Rate %
To develop the capacity of COs and government counterparts to improve the quality and delivery of
procurement services, and for professional development of procurement practitioners, the RCC
organized a regional procurement workshop in Cairo. The training was attended by Country Office
operations managers, procurement staff and BOM’s Senior Procurement managers, as well as its Legal
Support Office from HQs. The results in improved quality of submissions, and enhancement in approval
rating in the ACP submissions, have been realized in 2009. In addition, training was provided to
operations, and project staff (including government counterparts) to Morocco Country Office. Having
the RACP composed of officials from the COs in the region has enhanced and increased participation of
COs in the oversight process. It also increased ownership and accountability building on confidence
measures, while providing a platform for consolidation of lessons learnt, and capacity building of
procurement practitioners. Support was provided during the workshop in November to queries on
email, and telephone requests, as well as support clinics. Chief RACP also participated in the workshop
in Copenhagen, to finalize the fast-tracking procurement procedures under crisis situations. In
addition, a mission was undertaken to Morocco Country Office at their request, to support the project
25
staff and government counterparts in streamlining procurement process for efficiency for designated
projects, and enhance skills of project and government counterpart officials.
Key policy updates, lessons learnt, trend analysis and best practices, were disseminated periodically to
all COs and procurement practitioners. RCC participated in CPR procurement workshop to strengthen
procurement capacity of operational Surge Advisors, and relevant procurement practitioners operating
in crisis prone environments.
3.10. Information and Communications Technology and Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E)
Key development actors in Arab States are committed to facilitate the use of Information
Communication Technologies (ICTs) to further human development and poverty reduction. Despite
considerable progress in human development, a backlog of deprivation related to information and
technology development persists, with large-scale illiteracy and disabling environments, including
uncompetitive markets, which restrict opportunities to harness ICTs. Only 0.6% of the population uses
the internet and the penetration of the personal computer is only 1.2%. Furthermore, the problems
faced by the region are related to the low uptake, and less than efficient use of new ICTs. This is
compounded by vastly absent enabling environments, and often limited awareness at decision-making
levels, of the importance of sound and forward looking ICT policies and strategies as well as the
potential for ICTs applications.
In light of the current issues concerning ICTs, in 2009, the Information Systems & Technology Policy
Adviser has focused technical and advisory support in the following areas:




Improve the effectiveness of the RCC Tracking System as a management tool
Upgrade ICT-based business processes in, and services for, COs
Enhance the efficiency of procurement services
Ensure core internal operations capacity and efficiency of the RCC
The Regional Centre in Cairo embarked on mirroring and adapting the tracking systems of the Bangkok
and Bratislava centers, with a view to further refinements in functionalities, so that the system can also
serve as an effective management tool. This is particularly important for enabling decisions on
competing priorities for the Centre’s services set by the range of different clients; ensuring synergies
and coherence among the various practices in the provision of support to the same CO or cluster of
COs; and to more reliably gauge client satisfaction, particularly of COs.
Many of the direct support to RBAS COs focused on office operational support and internal business
processes, while working on their Business Continuity Plans along with ICT advisory. This was done in
Syria, Iraq, and Egypt offices. A three month SURGE mission to Gaza was conducted as Operations
Advisor, and then acting as head of office. This involved finalizing the office Operational structure and
recruitments, as well as the Gaza Early Recovery plan.
26
M&E capacities and systems that yield the needed evidence-based results continue to be weak in the
RBAS region and need strengthening in the identification and formulation of indicators, and in
establishing baselines at the project design and/or UNDAF finalization stage.
The recommendations contained in the four main evaluations undertaken by the EO will guide the RCC
regional M&E Advisor (recruited in 2010) in strategizing for 2010 interventions, under the different
practices and in the context of the different country typologies (MICs, LDC,s NCCs, and CCs). The
upcoming wave of new UNDAFs in the region is viewed as an opportunity to improve M&E at the
planning stage.
3.11. Communications
UNDP’s desire to elevate its profile and brand leadership in its areas of expertise remains limited by
persisting deficiencies in investment in communication in the region, characterized by low
prioritization of communication work in COs, lack of funding and junior levels and high turnover in
communication staff. Additionally, an increasing blurring of lines between the UN political missions and
the work of UNDP, in conflict countries, threatens to further complicate our communication challenge.
Public perceptions of the political roles of the UN in the region are predominantly negative and have
serious security implications. Communicating positive developmental impact may be our only resort.
2009 offered many opportunities for strategic Communication and outreach to help position UNDP and
its development agenda regionally. In the second half of the year, UNDP launched 3 flagship reports—
the Arab Human Development Report (AHDR), the Arab Knowledge Report (AKR) with the Maktoum
Foundation and the Development Challenges Report (DCR) with the League of Arab States. In addition,
the last trimester of the year saw the launch of a new and important UNDP initiative focusing on water
governance and a first official visit to the region by the new UNDP Administrator in this capacity. The
year had started with the devastating Israeli incursion into Gaza, which provided an opportunity for
UNDP to demonstrate its work in the areas of early recovery and post-conflict rehabilitation.
With this understanding in mind, RCC’s communication work in 2009 focused on 4 result areas: 1)
providing support to Country Offices and Regional Projects in developing strategic communication to
raise the visibility of the impact of their work and to secure coverage for flagship products; 2)
strengthening strategic communication and outreach to disseminate key messages from regional
publications/initiatives; 3) strengthening communication capacity of staff in response to CO requests;
and 4) strengthening communication capacity in the post-conflict situation in Gaza to allow UNDP to
better communicate its work in this area
Communication advice and technical support included assistance to COs and regional programmes
with the articulation and review of outreach products (e.g., Libya and Syria brochures), assistance with
media materials (e.g., press releases for Kuwait, Egypt, Syria, Tunisia and Qatar-NHDR); supporting
media outreach (e.g., Sudan media trip, focused coverage for WGP-AS and HARPAS); development,
27
review, and feedback on communication strategies and work plans (Egypt Libya, Kuwait, Djibouti, and
UAE); expert TOR reviews and referrals (e.g., Egypt, Sudan, Syria); and assistance with recruitment
processes of communication staff in UNDP (Jordan and Egypt-RC) and a regional coordinator for the
Millennium Campaign. The work was done largely through remote support, complemented by a limited
number of support missions to Syria, Kuwait and KSA. With the RCC picking up pace, more work was
done with Practice Team Leaders on enhancing communication on UNDP practice areas. This included
support and advice to results-oriented documentation (CD stories and TOR/bidding for film), advice on
communication components of initiatives (Legal Empowerment of the Poor), and publications (DCR
policy briefs).
Communication support to the launches of UNDP flagship reports included advice on launch strategy;
articulation/review, final editing and translation of press releases; mobilisation of relevant/specialized
media; featuring on RBAS website; managing media in the event including a large number of TV and
press appearances including press conferences; articulation and placement of an Op-Ed by the
Regional Director (AHDR) published widely across the region; media monitoring and analysis of
coverage and drafting a response article on negative coverage. The three reports and the regional
programme were all extensively covered (predominantly positive and on-message) across the region.
Work on this result also included support to a UNDP-Sudan targeted media field visit, particularly in
Recovery and rehabilitation, demobilization and HIV/AIDS. Al-Jazeera aired 4 news segments and the
Economist included the Sudan stories in a special edition focusing on the Arab region.
The Office of Communication has expanded this year the translation of some of its key corporate
products into Arabic, through the Regional Communication Advisor’s support. Work continued to
progress on revamping and unifying the RBAS web presence. The interface of the website was
enhanced, and the site was updated 15 times across the course of the year.
A regional workshop for CO Communication officers/focal points was organized to enhance the quality
of writing, especially the ability to identify good stories, and to present them in engaging ways,
focusing on the results of what UNDP does. This was complemented with one-on-one support and
coaching to Communication staff in a number of COs as part of support missions (Syria, Kuwait and
KSA), and to staff across the region through continued consultations. Additionally, training on strategic
communication, messaging and results communications was provided to the UNCT in KSA.
SURGE support was provided to PAPP expediently after the end of the incursion. The Gaza SURGE
mission comprised 2 components. The first pertained to the SURGE planning mission, where the
communication advisor was part of a team of 5, to assess needs and develop the GAZA post-conflict
SURGE plan. While in charge of the SURGE Communication plan, contributions were made to the entire
work of the team in developing the overall SURGE plan.
28
UN COORDINATION PILLAR
The RCC Director chairs the Deputy Regional Directors’ Team (D/RDT), which serves as the substantive
coordination mechanism for the UNDG Regional Directors’ Team (R/UNDG). The D/RDT acts to
advance the implementation of the R/UNDG’s strategic priorities and the UN Reform agenda at the
level of the UNCTs in the region; it also facilitates the exercise of the R/UNDG’s decision-making with
regards to joint strategic planning, policy and programme delivery options and the exercise of its
influence on shaping evolving UN Reform policies, strategies and processes bearing on its own role
and responsibilities, including in relation to parallel coordination mechanisms.
In 2009, the strategic regional priorities of the R/UNDG revolved around (i) developing options for
strategic repositioning of UNDG agencies in Middle Income Countries, including addressing issues
relevant to resolving the dilemma of balancing security threats and risks with mandate delivery
imperatives; (2) the nexus of food security and climate change; and (3) developing a youth strategy and
action plan which enables maximum participation by and collaboration of UNDG agencies, each from
their respective mandates and strengths.
The MICs options paper was produced and included as a case study the UNDG’s presence in Algeria.
The paper underscored the heterogeneity of MICs in the region, including the persistence of MDGrelated development challenges, such as wide disparities in socio-economic and gender-differentiated
indicators which are now exacerbated by the overlapping challenges of the global recession, volatilities
in commodity prices and climate change. It also identified new opportunities for focusing
programmes, for example, pro-poor and gender-responsive economic diversification. It examined the
relative benefits of niche-positioning of the UNDG agencies in upstream and downstream work as well
as the implications of shifting increasingly towards upstream policy support on staff profiles, capacities
and organizational arrangements for streamlining the UNDG’s physical presence and programme focus.
The key findings of the paper were used to inform the S-G’s report on MICs and the options are
expected to inform strategic planning in the course of the forthcoming cycle of UNDAF preparations.
The D/RDT participated in all phases of the paper’s preparation.
The concept note for the paper on the nexus of food security and climate change was produced and
the first draft was completed in early 2010. Because the RCM is addressing food security and climate
change in two separate thematic working groups, at the first-ever joint R/UNDG-RCM meeting held in
Beirut in November 2009, it was agreed that work being undertaken by the two coordination
mechanisms is complementary, that both mechanisms would coordinate with each other to ensure
consistency of data and analyses as well as on policy and programme recommendations which will
emerge. The concept paper and evidence base for the youth strategy and action plan were produced
and a R/UNDG consultation of agency focal points was planned by the D/RDT for, and successfully held
in, March 2010. One major result of this consultation process leading up to a finalized inter-agency
youth strategy and action plan was the creation by the RCC of a dedicated space on Teamworks for this
purpose.
29
With more than half of the RBAS countries expected to initiate in 2010 and 2011 the last cycle of
UNDAFs in the lead up to 2015, the D/RDT organized and held, in December 2009, the first UNDAF
workshop for the RCs/UNCTs in these countries, with the participation of DOCO and UNSSC. Central in
this workshop was to convey the R/UNDG’s expectations for strategic UNDAFs which accelerate MDG
achievement; the support they can expect from the PSG and to share lessons learned from PSG
experiences with the Lebanon and Iraq UNDAFs; share lessons from MICs in other regions; ensure
that the R/UNDG’s strategic priorities are incorporated in UNDAF preparation processes; and enable
them to be briefed by DOCO and UNSSC on the new UNDAF guidelines (which were not yet distributed
by DOCO) as a “head start,” as well as on the funding and training support they can provide. What
became very clear from this workshop is the need for urgently issuing the new UNDAF guidelines and
synchronizing the support available to UNCTs from the R/UNDG, DOCO and UNSSC.
In February 2010, the composition of the PSG for the UNDAF roll-out countries was decided by the
R/UNDG as consisting of the Deputy Regional Directors, chaired by UNDP (RCC Director), with cooptation of agency-specific subject matter expertise/country-specific “desks.” From the RCC, these
subject matter/technical specialists will be the Practice Leaders/ Policy Advisers, including for M&E
and, as decided during the RCC 2010 workplanning retreat, held in January, their Practice-specific and
Inter-Practice work is organized in support of this priority, in addition to CO-focused support to UNDP’s
leadership role in UNDAF strategic planning and to CPD development.
In addition, each of the RCC Practices is increasingly engaged in supporting UN coordination through
collaborative work with R/UNDG agencies – for example, on the Regional MDGR (RCC director and
poverty unit); supporting the Morocco UNCT in MDG-5 acceleration in Morocco (Governance, CD,
HIV/AIDS); youth (KM, CD, HIV/AIDS), nexus of food security and climate change (poverty, DRRM);
security-related business continuity (ICT).
The RCC’s UN Coordination Pillar reviewed, commented and coordinated comments of the D/RDT for
consideration by the R/UNDG on key UN reform draft papers and guidance material throughout the
year, including the MAF, the Implementation of the MAF, the new UNDAF Action Plan, the RCMs’
vision of the division of labour with Regional UNDGs, and various others produced by the UN
Secretariat bearing on the R/ UNDG’s work. It was instrumental, for example, in clarifying the division
of labour between the R/UNDG and RCM and in forging the areas of collaboration between them in
advance of their first- ever joint meeting held in November in Beirut, including in connection with
ensuring that the RCM-led inter-agency preparation of the Regional MDG Report is produced as a
contribution to the planned GA MDG Summit. In this context, the RCC leads the preparation of the
chapters on MDGs 1 and 8 as well as on the chapeau theme, which examines the impact of the global
financial crisis on MDG achievements.
The Regional UNDG for Arab States/MENA (ex-RDT) expanded its membership in 2009 from 4 to 16
Agencies (UNDP, UNICEF, UNFPA, WFP, UNESCO, UNIDO, FAO, ILO, ODC, OCHA, OHCHR, UNAIDS,
UNHCR, UNIFEM, UNOPS, WHO) and 2 Regional Commissions: ESCWA and ECA.
30
4. FORWARD LOOKING
A New Phase of Action
In January 2010, the RCC organized a 3-day retreat to further organize and prioritize its work in
alignment with the Administrator’s vision for UNDP as the leader on MDGs, Climate Change and
Gender within an integrated human development paradigm. Such re-alignment of workplans was
initiated immediately after the Administrator’s visit to the RCC in September 2009, but on a
practice by practice basis. The aim during the retreat, therefore, was to emerge with an
integrated and mutually reinforcing inter-Practice plan. It thus focused on developing a strategy
of inter-Practice synergies and coherence that helps deliver on the new vision for UNDP, taking
into account the thrust of the agenda items to be considered by the MG retreat.
The retreat included the participation of the GEF RCU-Arab States in Bratislava, DDC from Beirut,
the two RPD regional projects based in Cairo (HARPAS and WGPAS), and the Practice Coordinator
from the long-established Bratislava RSC to share experiences on their business model and lessons
learned in regionalization.
The RCC reflected upon its relationship with other units in RBAS in an effort to enhance internal
coherence, communications and collaboration around corporate and RBAS-specific priorities, as
well as articulate more clearly the “business model” by which RBAS units can deliver as one in
supporting country offices to strengthen development results in programme countries. It also
reflected upon its relationship with central bureaus, which has strengthened considerably, with
the same objective in mind.
With 11 RBAS countries rolling out their new UNDAF cycles (Algeria, Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan,
Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia and Yemen) and one (Iraq) completing its
UNDAF in 2010; 5 engaged in MDG acceleration programmes (Morocco, Jordan, Syria, Djibouti,
and Tunisia), with additional funding from COD; 6 preparing national MDG reports in time to be
included in the global synthesis report to be produced for the GA MDG Summit (PAPP, Morocco,
Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Yemen), and with plans to organize and follow up two back-to-back
Communities of Practice on Disaster Risk Reduction Management and on Climate Change, with a
one day joint session in between, the priority focus of the RCC’s 2010 synergistic work plan
virtually defined itself.
A plan was developed for scaled up inter-Practice support around these specific priorities and the
related priorities of producing a Regional MDG Report in the context of the RCM and a UNDP
MDG-focused Arab Poverty Report, which examines progress on the MDGs from a poverty and
gender lens, to which all RCC practices will contribute. It subsequently produced a “menu” of
the type and range of support the RCC can provide to support COs in meeting the above priorities,
which it communicated shortly thereafter to all RBAS COs with a view to eliciting from them an
early identification of their specific needs and thus enable the RCC to efficiently manage, and
effectively respond to, the expected spike in demand.
31
The RCC retreat included a half-day “virtual retreat” to brief RBAS/HQ on the organization of the
RCC’s scaled up support for: (1) CCA/UNDAF rollout countries to ensure incorporation of MDGs,
Climate Change and gender in new UNDP Country programme documents; (2) the National MDG
reports to be ready by end-March for incorporation into the global synthesis report; (3) MDG
scale up programmes on maternal health (Morocco and Tunisia), food security (Djibouti and
Jordan) and MDG-based area development (Syria); and (4) the planned back-to-back Communities
of Practice workshops on Disaster Risk-Reduction and on Climate Change for RBAS COs, with
which other relevant practices (CD, governance, KM, poverty, and Communications ), would also
engage. During the virtual retreat segment, the RCC was requested to draft an issues paper on
regionalization in preparation for a joint RBAS-BDP presentation on this topic in the MG retreat.
The retreat contributed immensely to creating a solid team spirit and a sense of coherence and
common purpose with which to meet the challenges and priorities in 2010.
The smooth functioning of the RCC will require progress in 2010 on the following:









Accelerating the search for/recruitment of the E&E/CC and Gender PLs and policy advisers
Exploring the possibility of re-locating the GEF RCU for Arab States into the Regional Centre/to
the region
Reaching full staff capacity in RCC internal office operations (including to ease the burden on
the Egypt CO and accelerate needed actions/transactions)
Articulating a clear business model which, inter alia, establishes the RCC as a “cost centre” with
the capacity and delegated authority to manage and account for funds allocated to it or
mobilized by it.
A clear authority to the RCC to mobilize resources and/or a RBAS strategy for resource
mobilization for all its units
A clear authority, based on the regionalization policy, for the RCC to develop and execute
projects (e.g., EC-LAS Crisis Centre)
A clearly articulated definition of the division of labour, areas convergence and Practice
coherence among RCC-RPD-COD RBAS units
Addressing the existing dilemma of the physical space limitations of the current temporary RCC
office, on the one hand, and the dim prospects for a relocation to new MOSS-compliant offices
in the main future with all that this implies for staffing up the office.
Signature of the Legal Agreement by mid-April, failing which UNDP should decide to re-locate
the Centre elsewhere in the region.
The retreat, along with the virtual meeting with RBAS, facilitated the discussion and consideration of a number
of alternative approaches to support country offices as a one-stop-shop with coherent policy and approach. The
retreat agreed to consider UNDAF as a top priority. A number of avenues for UNDAF support were proposed by
the RCC for consideration by RBAS management, including:
32
1. Engagement with DOCO on their intended regional UNDAF workshop to ensure that the
substantive part is integrated into the process part.
2. Selection of one country (or two) where the RCC, as one team, will take the lead in supporting a
3. Thematic support as needed to all UNDAF countries.
Focus on MDGs was agreed on as another pillar of RCC support in 2010. The team agreed on a number
of joint collaboration activities to deliver coherent support to countries engaged in MDG scale up
initiatives. For example, the Capacity Development team through the assessment of the health sector
will be working with the governance team on applying a governance focused capacity development on
maternal health bringing in other UN agencies and expertise from other countries such as Tunisia.
Knowledge management was also considered as an important bridge among the different practices in
providing the suitable environment for joint collaboration through supporting communities of practice,
enabling rapid responses and service delivery, finding experts, sharing insights and solutions between
countries and with the global teams, and creating effective partnerships with think tank institutions.
Research has been identified as a key priority by the RCC where researchers should ensure integration
of cross-practice work in their analysis and response to CO demands including empowerment of
women, gender mainstreaming, human rights-based approach, linking global policies to local contexts
and vice versa, and capture stories from the field to voice out the Arab states experiences and
solutions in a spirit of south-south cooperation and impacting the global policy making.
There was a commitment by the different practices for the “Arabization” of knowledge, and
communication of stories from and between the country offices and with the outside world in order to
improve the image of UNDP in the region.
The following matrix illustrates the logic used by the retreat to identify priority countries for support in 2010
33
MDGs
UNDAF
COMMENTS
Scaling
Report
LDC
Yemen

MIC
Morocco



MIC
Syria

FebMH


MIC
Egypt

JANMH
----

MIC
Jordan
 2011
 FS
----
Country Workshop
LDC
Djibouti
 2011
 FS
----
1 hour VC every 2 weeks
MIC
Tunisia

 MH
----
Coordinated/ integrating time
planned mission
CONF
Algeria

----
----
Country spaced on Team Works
CONF
Iraq

----

CONF
Sudan

----
----
CONF
Somalia
 SF
----
----
NCC
KSA
 SF
----
----
CONF
PAPP
----
----


Intense engagement
Proactive needs inventory
The government will do
the report on its own.
(program of assistance
for Palestine people)
Lebanon, Libya,
Bahrain, Kuwait
UAE, and Qatar
Demand driven
exclusively
Already support was
given to Bahrain
The strategic Thrust of RCC suggested work in 2010 along the three pillars of development, management and UN
Coordination are offered below
34
DEVELOPMENT PILLAR
4.1. MDGs, Poverty, Inclusive Growth
The Poverty team will be placing increased emphasis on supporting Country Offices in making an extra
effort to assist their national partners in accelerating progress towards the MDGs. Inter-country
cooperation and knowledge sharing will be promoted to take advantage of the observed differences in
MDG achievements of otherwise similarly endowed countries to offer practical suggestions on how
different countries can improve their performance with respect to particular MDGs in which they lag
their peers. The development challenges report that was widely disseminated in 2009 provides an
excellent basis on which to build, by focusing on refining the recommendations contained therein and
devoting more effort to agreeing on concrete follow up measures both at the regional and country
levels.
While the Poverty team will continue to produce high quality analytical products, the focus of the
team’s efforts in 2010 will be on making such products more effective tools for bringing about policy
change by producing shorter reports that devote most of their attention to detailing suggestions as to
what can be done to bring about positive change.
As a rule, all new synthetic products will be produced in Arabic for greater impact and higher quality
and relevance, while background papers will continue to be produced in English for ease of peer review
process. More effort will also go into dissemination of reports produced, including organization of a
number of workshops with various regional and national partners to discuss the policy implications of
such reports and agree on any required support measures for effective implementation of their
recommendations.
The reports produced will further attempt to go beyond the hard facts by giving more of the human
content, in terms of what it means for a person to be poor or socially excluded and the like. In terms of
country focus, the portfolio of support will be rebalanced to ensure more attention to countries and
groupings of countries where the poverty team had less emphasis in 2009. In this context there will be
more attention paid to least Developed Countries and the Maghreb region.
The team will produce an Arab-region specific MDG-Breakthrough strategy for consideration by the
RBAS Cluster meeting (adapted from the corporate one, to which it also contributed).
4.2. HIV/AIDS
The next phase of the Regional Programme is focused on collective action for change by scaling-up the
response among our partners, while continuing to forge new partnerships that yield positive results on
35
the ground, creating country level impact. This includes efforts to support greater awareness regarding
the inter-relation between development, governance, human rights, and gender in the HIV/AIDS
response. In addition, the networking and contributions of PLWH in the AIDS response will be
strengthened.
Although the HIV/AIDS epidemic is still the most devastating global epidemic ever, signs of positive
global change in trends are emerging. Since 2001, when the United Nations Declaration of
Commitment on HIV/AIDS was signed at United Nations General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS
(UNGASS); new data has emerged in the 2009 regarding AIDS Epidemic Update confirming that new
HIV infections have been reduced by 17% over the past eight years. There are also some clear and
alarming indicators of concentrated epidemics emerging in many countries. However, mobilizing the
necessary political, human and financial support for these efforts is still especially challenging since the
impact of the epidemic is less visible in this region.
Seeking to see a comprehensive human rights-based response to the complex challenges of HIV, the
regional programme has been increasingly adopting a synergistic approach that links HIV to other
MDGs, with a special focus on the interaction between MDG 6 (HIV/AIDS), MDG 1 (poverty) and MDG 3
(Gender). Understanding that these issues are closely intertwined, the regional programme’s main
focus has been on the creation of an enabling environment, that protects and promotes the rights of
People Living with HIV and members from marginalized groups (injecting drug users, commercial sex
workers, men having sex with men, migrants, etc), dispels HIV-related stigma, and abolishes HIVrelated discrimination, while partnering with other UN agencies and national partners to ensure that
HIV services in terms of treatment, support and care are available. This strategy is aligned with UNDP’s
mandate as the lead agency on enabling legislation, Human Rights and Gender. The regional
programme in the current phase is putting significant efforts to institutionalize and consolidate the
gains into sustainable Communities of Practice and ensure knowledge dissemination.
4.3. Democratic Governance
Deficits in democratic governance remain a challenge constraining overall human development in the
region. Addressing these deficits requires strengthening systems, including regulatory systems and
public accountability mechanisms, for equitable distribution and delivery of services and fostering
processes that promote social inclusion, legal and political empowerment of poor and marginalized
strata. Special reference to women and youth, based on national and sub-national variations and
disparities, will be key to equitable development in the region.
The governance practice will be exploring and developing an “inclusion platform” that connects legal,
economic and social inclusion to civil society work in the Arab region. The RCC will enhance support to
human rights in the region starting with a mapping of existing activities and UNDP partners. Together
with regional centres in Bangkok and Dakar, the RCC will conduct an assessment of national human
rights institutions and lessons learnt analysis of UPRs. The intention is to support human rights
36
programming for the right to development, especially enhancing capacities to protect social and
economic rights in support of the MDGs.
Governance assistance in conflict countries is another way forward for the governance practice in the
RCC. An in-depth study of DGTTF projects in crisis countries, with special reference to local governance
institution building, showed need to address substantial dilemmas of state and peace building as well
as operational dilemmas related to UNDP programming in such complex contexts. The governance
practice of the RCC will develop a platform of services for conflict countries in cooperation with BCPR
and others.
The RCC intends to provide support for governance analysis in MDG reporting and MDG up-scaling
efforts, and environmental sustainability projects. In cooperation with international and regional
research outfits, the RCC will develop its capacity to support political economy and governance
assessments for effective, responsive and inclusive sector reforms.
4.4. Crisis Prevention and Recovery
In light of the current situation in Arab States, and in order to foster advisory services and technical
capacities in the region, RCC interventions will revolve around the following key strategies in 2010: i)
Consolidate the existing DRR programs in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Sudan, Syria and Yemen by providing
programming and technical advisory services, ii) Provide demand based support to other country
offices to strengthen DRR practice. Currently the RCC has received demands for support from Iraq,
Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia, iii) Produce a regional disaster risk analysis with active participation
from community of practice to define priorities for UNDP for the region, and iv) Conduct a Seismic
Response Capacity Assessment for 7/8 high exposure countries, with a view to support development of
advocacy campaigns by country offices. The CDG and CPR practices at RCC will also conduct joint
assessments for Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon on Disaster Risk Reduction Capacity of the national and
municipal governments, v) and Strengthen the DRR Community of Practice in the Arab States region
through training and E-discussions DRR issues and challenges in the Arab States region.
The RCC is expected to work in the areas of crisis prevention and post conflict recovery, but is not able,
at this stage, to plan for such interventions in 2010, as the required staffing has not yet been made
available by BCPR and there is no indication of when the promised staff will be deployed.
4.5. Environment
The RCC E&E/CC Unit is expected to be fully staffed up in 2010 (the Practice Leader + 1 RBAS-funded
Policy Adviser is under recruitment; a third policy adviser post is being established and funded by EEG).
It plans to take forward the feedback from the participating RBAS COs in the Climate Change CoP on
the strategic priorities they identify where needs fall outside the scope of current funding sources or
programmes.
37
DDC Arab States Team will pursue its efforts towards the provision of advisory/technical support and
catalytic funding towards the design and implementation of integrated drylands development projects
in Programme countries and the mobilization of partners and resources for their implementation. This
work is done within the framework of UNDP Country Programmes and in support of the UN
Convention to Combat Desertification. During this phase of the DDC-AS Programme (2009-2012),
increased focus will be put on enhancing the adaptation of drylands communities to drought and the
effects of climate change and a more systematic approach to mainstreaming gender in drylands
development projects will be adopted with the objective to contribute to women social and economic
empowerment.
Several countries – Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt – are embarking on the Territorial Approach to
Climate Change with interventions at the sub-national level aiming to address both mitigation and
adaptation, identify and deploy innovative sources of financing. Similarly to the territorial approach,
2010 will probably witness an increasing occurrence of novel financial instruments in the Arab States
region, including the Adaptation Fund, insurance and climate risk financing products, as well as carbon
financing through Programmatic and sectoral approaches.
Despite the increased attention to environmental issues in the region, several barriers remain,
summarized as follows:



There are still limitations in the understanding of environmental issues in the Arab States
region, in particular in terms of their linkages to development. A first step is being made
through the commissioning of specific economic and financial studies through project
interventions, such as in Morocco on the role of mobile pastoralists in provisioning the red
meat market, in Egypt on the economic and financial benefits of protected areas – who support
a multi-million dollar tourism industry; in Lebanon where energy efficiency measures were
reported in terms of their energy budget reduction and not only their green house gaz emission
reductions.
The predominant country profile in the region is Middle Income Countries, these are countries
where UNDP’s competitive edge is limited in terms of UNDP’s internal human capacities and
financing. Indeed, these are countries where national capacities are extremely high, with
competent staff, that seek in UNDP even more specialized and cutting edge expertise.
Internal financing remains a barrier at all levels: within country offices limited TRAC is allocated
to the environment portfolio, at a regional and global level the situation is the same as well.
This renders UNDP’s positioning more complex and fragile in the region, in particular as
countries compare us to other multilaterals.
4.6. Gender
 Finalize recruitment for the Gender Unit (PL and Policy adviser)
 Finalize the consolidated RBAS Gender Strategy
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Contribute to strengthening the evidence base for accelerating achievement of all the national
targets of the MDGs from a gender perspective, focusing in particular on the COs engaged in
MDG acceleration;
Ensure gender-disaggregation in all RCC-led analyses and knowledge products, including the
MDG-based Arab Poverty report;
Ensure incorporation of gender-sensitive indicators in the planned establishment of a socioeconomic database in the LAS;
Take forward the GES programme with RBAS COs focused on women’s economic
empowerment through trade and natural resource management/climate change response,
including resource mobilization to support implementation of the programme;
Continue mainstreaming of GES issues in all RCC practices to inform formulation and delivery of
policy and technical advisory services to COs and UNDP “branding” in communications work;
Contribute to strengthening CO capacities in formulating gender-responsive UNDAFs and CPDs
and ensuring the gender-responsiveness in the design and monitoring of their programmes;
Contribute to the development of gender-sensitive M&E indicators and strengthening CO
capacities in monitoring and evaluating gender equality and women’s empowerment results;
Contribute to monitoring implementing of the corporate and RBAS GES
Roll out the Gender Portal
4.7. Knowledge Management
The RCC will focus on creating Arab States- specific communities of practice in order to facilitate the
connection between practitioners in the region to generate and share knowledge, as well as make the
Arab knowledge available at the global level, to inform corporate policies and strategies. There will also
be increased emphasis on south-south dialogue between practitioners in the region with other regions
of the world. Partnerships will be strengthened with other UN members of the UNDG and RCM, the
League of Arab States, the Water Council and others.
The RCC will enhance the quality, relevance and sustainability of its research activities by establishing
long-term agreements or partnerships with regional centers of excellence and research institutions.
The Communities of Practice will be promoted as a means for finding experts, sharing insights and
solutions and strengthening internal and external collaboration. A revitalized CoP structure would
extend the capacity of the practice architecture to respond to country needs by allowing the practice
leaders to also call upon available expertise at the Country Office level. The RCC will facilitate the
exchange of expertise across the region and with other regions, through reviving the Mutual Support
Initiative, in order to simultaneously respond to CO needs and career development aspirations of the
staff member.
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The RCC will further identify the key steps needed for establishing a regional learning, capacity
development and knowledge management center, including for orientation of new UNDP and project
staff, and proceed with its implementation to the extent that resources can be mobilized for that
purpose.
4.8. Capacity Development
In CD team will strengthen external and internal partnerships through deepening links with regional
institutions and cross-practice cooperation and integrated planning. Joint outputs with other practices
will be produced in the areas of MDG achievement, early recovery/disaster management response,
gender empowerment and climate change adaptation. The CD team will focus on LDCs in crisis and
value added role in MICs in particular, and The CD team will foster a higher level of engagement with
the UN system at the country office level, by providing support to the integration of CD approach in the
UNDAF / CCA processes. Finally, the CD team will collect evidence and share knowledge regarding
institutional transformations that have taken place as a result of capacity development efforts/
initiatives. There will thus be a focus on capturing capacity development results in the region through
stories and on film, in ways that make it more comprehensible and tangible to a general audience.
The CD team will advocate for the adoption of the capacity development approach in country-level
programming and operations, through its work in support of UNDAFs. The main focus will be on
providing capacity development support to Country Teams in adopting the Management for
Development Results (MfDR) approach, which places emphasis on development results, rather than
organizational results.
MANAGEMENT PILLAR
4.9. Procurement
In line with the direction from the Administrator, Bureau of Management and the Regional Bureau for
priorities in 2010, the RACP will continue to play an active role in promoting the culture of
accountability. RCC will work on equipping UNDP offices with policies and tools to be fully accountable,
transparent, and at the same time being flexible and creative in responding to particular needs and
situations of countries in conflict and crisis. The on-going work on fast track policies and procedures is
expected to enhance our ability to provide rapid and high-quality response to recovery, development,
and other needs of COs in the Region.
The strategic priorities will need to build on the ongoing work in the region to stay more focused in our
approach to work. Synergies need to be built among projects and procurement teams at the Cos, and
for regional programmes, to integrate management solutions that lead to results, and to be effective in
providing professional, practical, and speedy support and solutions to the many complex and urgent
procurement issues faced.
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4.10. Monitoring & Evaluation
The focus of the Regional Centre on Monitoring and Evaluation for the years 2010-2011 will be on
helping to capture the evidence base on development results and for development programming; as
well as strengthen CO capacities in M&E, including identification of the appropriate indicators.
It will support RBAS COs and UN Country Teams to develop quality UNDAFs with measurable
monitorable indicators. Countries rolling out UNDAFs in 2010 will thus be assisted to better integrate
monitoring and evaluation in the process to ensure improved performance and achieve demonstrable
results.
Country Offices and UNCTs will be assisted to establish manageable indicators for identified outcomes
and outputs, developing and agreeing on a joint monitoring and evaluation framework/action plan of
the UNDAF and CPD that clearly spell out what is to be monitored and evaluated, when, how and by
whom as well as needed resources.
Training on RBM and M&E will be provided as needed. Special efforts to provide technical and
operational backstopping to different types of evaluation processeses will be made by the RCC.
4.11. Information and Communications Technology
BOM has decided to restructure the ICT support structure by centralizing it in Copenhagen, and hence
it is not possible for the RCC to plan activities in this area in 2010. However, the RCC plans to build on a
potential partnership with the Arab League and the EC in the area of crisis information management
systems to provide some pointed support, once the procedural problems encountered in having the
RCC act as an implementing agency are resolved.
4.12. Communications
2010 is an important milestone year for the MDGs as it marks the MDGs 10th anniversary (2/3s of the
way). The mixed record of progress towards achieving the MDGs in this region renders 2010 a critical
year for public advocacy to revive commitment and accelerate action in line with UNDP’s Breakthrough
Strategy. Communication support in 2010 will focus on encouraging and supporting COs to invest in
the launches of National MDG Reports to kick-off national advocacy for the MDGs unmet agenda. The
launch of the Arab MDG Report with LAS and of the UNDP’s MDGs Poverty Report will afford important
opportunities for regional advocacy.
UNDP’s advocacy agenda at the regional level on Climate Change (CC) will be sharpened through
leveraging its current work on related environmental areas, particularly in energy efficiency; water
governance; desertification; and coastal zones protection. UNDP also has impressive projects
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demonstrating a developmental approach to the conservation of biodiversity, in Morocco, Egypt and
elsewhere with demonstrable results that can be captured in print and on video.
Communications support will highlight UNDP’s work in the gender area, as well as continuing its
partnership with HARPAS to focus on: enhancing reporting on results, formalizing a media “community
of action,” building on existing networks and culturally sensitive strategizing and messaging on the
sensitive issue of MSM in the course of 2010. Communications will feature UNDP’s activities in conflict
countries and emerging Disaster Risk Reduction work on the RBAS website—including field stories to
show the scope of what is being done— and to support the launch of the UNDP-supported early
warning/disaster preparedness centre at LEAGUE OF ARAB STATES (LAS) as it materializes.
RCC will put extra emphasis in 2010 on helping COs better report on results, including through a
training workshop on the FlipCam for 6-7 COs to produce video stories on UNDP work in the respective
COs; and organize executive media skills training to RCC practice leaders who are increasingly being
engaged by the media as commentators/analysts on development work in areas of their expertise.
UN COORDINATION PILLAR
4.13. UN Coordination
The priorities of the UN Coordination pillar in 2010 are defined by the priorities set out by the R/UNDG.
Principally, the UN Coordination pillar will support the strategic leadership and policy guidance
responsibilities of the R/UNDG in advancing the UN reform agenda in:
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Finalizing a UNDG strategy and action plan on youth for maximum inter-agency programme
synergy and impact at UNCT level and to help shape global and regional policy at the Mexico
Youth Summit; supporting incorporation of this strategic priority in the new UNDAF preparation
cycles.
Finalizing the study on the nexus of food security and climate change as a basis for concerted
UNDG action at UNCT level at the level of policy and programmes and as a possible contribution
to an Arab position in the Mexico Climate Change conference; supporting the incorporation of
this strategic priority in the new UNDAF preparation cycle and ensuring consistency of data and
recommendations between this study and those being produced under the RCM mechanism
which focus separately on food security, on the one hand, and climate change on the other;
Strategic re-positioning of UNDG agencies in MICs and NCCs, drawing on the R/UNDG options
paper on MICs;
Embarking on joint action to support the Decent Work Agenda and Gender equality and
women’s empowerment.
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Addressing the issue of data discrepancies among UNDG agencies and between UN and
Government sources, in collaboration with ESCWA, particularly in connection with MDG
progress, as a basis for upstream policy work and downstream programmes.
Overseeing the strategic thrust of the new UNDAFs through the PSG mechanism, chaired by the
RCC Director, in accelerating the achievement of the national MDG targets and enabling the
UNCTs to coalesce around, and mutually reinforce, acceleration towards specific targets. RCC
Practices will serve as ad hoc members of the PSG in their specific focus areas and crossthematically, as needed.
Participation in the preparation and/or review of the RCM-led Regional MDG Report for the GA
MDG Summit and organization or participation in related events;
Reviewing developments in UN Reform policies, strategies, guidance frameworks, bearing on
the R/UNDG’s responsibilities
Concerted R/UNDG strategic guidance to UNCTs along the humanitarian-development interface
Country-specific issues arising from fluid dynamics or transitions
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