REPRESENTATIVE of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Ms. Khadija Musa has lauded Guyana’s effort as it relates to its achievements made thus far under the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) initiative.

Musa’s comments came as several stakeholders convened at the Grand Coastal Inn, yesterday, where they discussed the mid-term review of the UNDAF 2012-2016 initiative.
In moving forward with the last lap of the UNDAF, Musa said greater effort will be needed to ensure strengthening, joint collaboration, monitoring and reporting on the UNDAF.
The UNDP Representative added that there also needs to be increased vigour and wide ranging partnerships in order to fast track the achievements of the lagging Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
“As we enter the last lap to achieve the MGDs, at the UN we are committed to enhance our effort to achieve greater coherence, reduced duplication and, to continue to provide high quality technical services to our partners.”
According to Musa, the ultimate goal of UNDAF is to help people of Guyana achieve a better life.
“The UN has it norms and values to which member states have signed up to. The UNDAF and all our work are human rights based and have their root in many international conventions, treaties and other agreements and goal that Guyana have committed itself to.”
She added that the MDGs are among those values and form an integral part of UNDAF.
“One of our key goals in the UN is to develop capacity not only for the government, but also for civil society and private sector and others to help them take on and address development challenges in the country.”
She however, reiterated that the UN’s value is not on money, but it is in their expertise role as an impartial broker and in their outreach.
The UNDP Representative further called on the participants to make the best of the review and the findings as they move forward.
Meanwhile, Donna Levi, Head of Bilateral Division at Ministry of Finance who spoke on behalf of the Guyana Government, noted that Guyana was able to meet a lot of the targets set under the UNDAF initiative thus far. She said the initiative continues to stimulate positive changes in society.
She said, too, that the feedback received from agencies indicates that a significant amount of work has been done, and in some instances most of the MDG targets have been met.
However, she noted that while there is much to be talked about, there are some areas where the targets became irrelevant due to the changes in the environment and the needs of government and people.
Levi took the opportunity to thank the various stakeholders who worked on developing the UNDAF as its outcomes thus far have been rewarding.
The UNDAF is a collective response of United Nations agencies in Guyana to agree developmental priorities, and covers the period 2012 to 2016.
The mid-term review examined the first two-and- half-years of the programme cycle and aims to both determine the status of implementation and propose any modifications, re-orientations and recommendations for the remainder of UNDAF.
The four thematic areas of the UNDAF and their outputs are – Environmental and Sustainable Development, Inclusive Growth, Inclusive Governance and Human and Social Development. (GINA)