-at signing of 2012-2016 UNDAF
Minister of Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh, and United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator, Suleiman Braimoh, yesterday signed the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF), at the Foreign Services Institute, Shivnarine Chanderpaul Drive. Senior Presidential Advisor on Governance, Gail Teixeira, said that there has been months of discussions between government and UN agencies in preparation of the UNDAF for the new country cycle, 2012-2016, as the current cycle is coming to an end.
This next cycle will see Guyana focusing on four broad, thematic areas, including inclusive governance, inclusive growth, poverty reduction- human and social development, and environmental sustainability and disaster preparation and reduction, all of which are continuations of the current cycle.       
Teixeira explained that the framework continues what has become government’s developmental thrust in terms of a pro-poor and pro-growth approach in ensuring economic growth, diversification of the economy, and a human-oriented approach in terms of reducing poverty and improving the quality of life of all Guyanese.

Braimoh, in his remarks, recalled that this process started last year, under then resident coordinator, Dr. Kiari Liman Tinguiri, and has benefited from a series of workshops, meetings and consultations within the UN and government.
“What we have today aptly reflects the UN’s desire to increasingly support stronger coherence that is directed basically to support governments…our task is not to create an alternative agenda within the country, but to support and strengthen what the government hopes to achieve,” he said.
He noted that the establishment of a UNDAF is just one small aspect of this programme; the major focus is about people in society at large. As such, the only way a government’s development priorities and strategies can be of any strong meaning is based on the extent to which it impacts the lives of ordinary citizens.    
He called on the parties involved to rededicate themselves to the process of advancing the implementation of the UNDAF, and pledged the unflinching support of the UN to fulfilling this task.
He cited effective coordination as a challenge that both government and the UN has to work to overcome, and called for stronger partnerships between the two parties in order to achieve the desired results of this initiative.                           
Minister of Finance Dr. Ashni Singh, who has been an integral part of this process, said that the thematic areas of economic growth, inclusiveness, good governance, social development and environmental responsibility are dominant, cross-cutting themes of the UN’s mandate, through its specialised agencies.                  
He noted too, that in every major policy pronouncement made by the PPP/C Administration over the years, there are certain constant and recurring areas of emphasis that coincide very closely with the priority areas identified in the UNDAF.  
The Finance Minister said that notwithstanding the painstaking process, the end-result is a document that enjoys strong, national ownership that will be translated into projects and programmes that will be embraced and successfully implemented.

In this regard, he lauded the work of the UN country team as well as the various stakeholders that were consulted, a process that has become a feature in policy formulation in Guyana.  
“We have now, embedded in our policy mechanisms, a strong culture of stakeholder engagement and a strong culture of consultative approaches in all that we do,” he said.
Making reference to environmental sustainability, Minister Singh said that Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS), which has articulated the national vision for environmental responsibility, has benefited from consultations that can be described as unprecedented in scale.
He recognised that progress achieved in economic growth and social development in Guyana has had, as a significant supporting partner, the work done by various development partners, including the UN agencies.
“We have articulated a developmental agenda that places people and human development at the very center, and…at almost every facet of this agenda, you see positive and encouraging signs of progress and movement in the right direction,” he said.
One such aspect that has seen tremendous progress is the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Already much has been achieved with regard to universal primary education, improvement in the access to quality healthcare and potable water, food security, and environmental sustainability.              
In this regard, the Ministry is in the process of finalising the latest MDG progress report, which provides a very comprehensive scorecard on Guyana’s performance against all of these goals. It will be launched in September. 
Minister Singh assured the UN and stakeholders of government’s unwavering commitment to human development and to the objectives outlined in the UNDAF.
Government has been examining the UN’s approach, described as “delivering as one”, which the Minister said can contribute to a more effective UN with improved coordination, and more effective use of in-country resources.
“We believe that the ‘One -UN’ approach is worthy of serious consideration and we hope that as we go forward, we can achieve an alignment, perhaps under the framework of the UN delivering as one, so for the next cycle we can have a single unified programme and delivery within this same context,” Minister Singh posited.   (GINA)