RCAR 2006 - Indonesia

Presidential elections - the first since the end of civil war in 2002 - are postponed and now scheduled for 2009. Parliamentary elections are planned for 2008.

Angola faces the daunting tasks of rebuilding its infrastructure, providing basic social services (such as water, health, education and social transfers), retrieving weapons from its heavily-armed civilian population and resettling tens of thousands of refugees who fled the fighting. Landmines and impassable roads have cut off large parts of the country. Many Angolans rely on food aid. 2006 saw a major cholera epidemic, with more than 70,000 cases registered during the year, and at times, very high mortality rates. 2006 Human Development Report place Angola at the 161st place among 177 countries.

A supplier of crude oil to the US and China, Angola denies allegations that revenues have been squandered through corruption and mismanagement. Oil exports and foreign loans have spurred economic growth and have fuelled a reconstruction boom.

The state controls all media with nationwide reach, including radio, the most influential medium. Television, the private press, and internet access are very limited outside Luanda.

Summary on progress towards UNDAF outcomes

1. Recognize that development requires both the achievement of a desirable outcome and that this outcome is achieved through a legitimate process. Even a very good outcome can not legitimize an un-acceptable process.

2. The outcomes should reflect human rights standards (e.g. the MDGs) and the processes should adhere to human rights principles (e.g. participation, non-discrimination, accountability, rule of law etc.)

3. The UNDAF outcomes and cross cutting themes should both be treated as ‘desirable outcomes’ (through legitimate processes). For example, the prevention of HIV infection is a desirable outcome.

4. All three result matrices should be reviewed and the most important Country Programme Outcomes and associated Country Programme Outputs should be identified for a detailed review. This review should both look at the achievement of outcomes/outputs and the quality of the processes used.

5. UNDAF must be taken much more seriously by all members of the UN Country Team (i.e. the heads of each agency). How well known is UNDAF and how is it used among (a) UN staff, (b) government staff, and (c) donors?

Current Angola Common Country Programming Cycle will end in 2008. The UNCT will be reviewing the UNDAF in 2007 [having in mind the recommendations above] to prepare ground for the new UNDAF document and the new cycle from 2009. The UNDAF review, among other things, would also be aimed at improving the work of the Theme Groups and the consequent strengthening of the Monitoring and Evaluation system capable of registering the progress of implementation and identification of gaps to be addressed.

Summary on progress in UN Reform

Joint programming effort is still not there fully, but there is cross-participation in each other’s programming meetings and willingness to start new joint programmes/initiatives. The Joint programmes on HIV/AIDS and on Gender are in line with the national strategy and the health focused agencies (WHO, UNFPA, UNICEF) have supported the Ministry to develop a joint plan for the operationalisation of the National Strategy for Mortality Reduction. Efforts were made by ILO and UNHCR to elaborate the joint programme "Creating decent work opportunities in the Moxico Province, Angola". Contacts were maintained with the UNDP Country Director, exploring further partnership and synergies. ILO expert was deployed to Moxico working in close coordination with the UNHCR and the other recovery partners.

All UN agencies in Angola agreed to use a Human Rights-Based Approach (HRBA) for Programming and to use the MDGs as a guide/beacon, as the Government committed itself to do.

During 2006, the UNCT met regularly biweekly to discuss issues related to the implementation of the UNCT workplan. Issues of interest to the UNCT such as the Common Country Programming process, functioning of the Theme Groups, common premises, MDGs, UN week activities or any other relevant topics were jointly discussed and agreed upon at the UNCT meetings.

Donor meetings have been organised throughout 2006 to give an opportunity to the UNCT agencies to present their programmes/activities in front of the donor audience and to hear from the donors about potential funding opportunities.

A UNCT Retreat was held in November 2006 to discuss UNDAF mid-term review, lessons learned and the way forward. The recommendations of the Retreat are provided under UNDAF Outcomes Section of this report.

Theme Groups on HIV/AIDS, Governance and Decentralization, Sustainable Livelihoods and Social Sectors have continued functioning throughout 2006. The overall functioning/structure of Theme Groups [with the exception of the TG on HIV/AIDS] should be reviewed to strengthen the Monitoring and Evaluation mechanism of UNDAF implementation.

Coordination mechanism with the participation of FAO, WHO, UNICEF and USAID supported the National Commission on Avian Influenza (AI). FAO provided technical and material assistance to the commission and also launched a project aimed at strengthening the capacity to respond to a possible AI outbreak.

The Operations Management Team (OMT) continued working throughout 2006. Main achievements of the Team in 2006 include partial renovations to the UN Building including the installation of elevators. The discussions are ongoing regarding common travel agency, bank, mail delivery, security company, medical facilities, medical evacuation and maintenance of IT infrastructure, vehicles and office equipment.

International Chief of RC Unit at ALD4 level has been recruited at the end of 2006 to improve the management of the RC Unit and streamline the implementation of the UN work at the country level in Angola.

Two project officers (UNDP and UNHCR) attended the Regional workshop for enhancing UNCT’s capacity for measuring results of collaborations and Joint Programming organized by the Capacity Development Cluster of the Regional Directors’ Team in Johannesburg from 10 to12 October 2006.

One UNICEF staff and DevInfo focal point (RCU) attended DevInfo training course on Advanced Database Administration version five in Johannesburg in October 2006.

One FAO staff attended the Regional Humanitarian Reform Workshop in Johannesburg during 18 – 19 January 2007 on behalf of the UNCT. The workshop was organised by the OCHA Regional Office for Southern Africa in collaboration with OCHA’s Humanitarian Reform Support Unit (HRSU) and the CERF Secretariat.

In May 2006, four representatives from WFP, UNDP, UNFPA and UNICEF have attended locally the Orientation workshop on Harmonized Approach to Cash Transfers.

With regard to HACT, the macro-assessment process has been initiated and the micro-assessment of partners has been largely completed.

Key aspects of the proposed 2007 workplan

The UNCT in Angola will conduct a desk review of UNDAF mid-term Review in 2007 to:

- assess to what extent it is responding to the needs and priorities of the country and takes into account the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs.). - assess to what extent the current UNDAF document has adopted and integrated a human rights based approach to development and evaluate to what extent ongoing programmes and projects are being implemented through a rights based approach. - review the progress made towards realizing the UNDAF outcomes and conduct a proxy assessment of the contributions made by the UN agencies to these outcomes through their respective CPAPs. - review the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Framework and respective coordinating mechanisms. - identify areas in which there is adequate evidence of complementarities/synergy for the establishment of joint programmes. - conduct a stakeholders/beneficiaries mapping exercise and recommend specific actions to enhance UN system’s partnership and linkage building efforts with key partners.

The evaluation together with an in-country Orientation workshop offered by the DGO and UN Staff College will form the basis for initiation of preparation for the next Common Country Programming cycle in Angola.

The RCU will continue organising donor meetings at which the UNCT agencies can share the information about their programmes with the donors and also get information about the forthcoming funding opportunities.

The UNCT will improve the structure of the Theme Groups and strengthen their performance through the delivery of regular and accurate information on the status of UNDAF implementation.

The UNCT will initiate more joint programmes in 2007 preferably with the pooled funding modality.

The UNCT will put all systems in place for the monitoring of the implementation of HACT in Angola.

The HIV/AIDS TG will be supporting the government in the implementation of the National HIV/AIDS Strategic Plan.

The UNCT will strengthen the work of the Operations Management Team and agree on improvements to the Common Premises and also the expanded number of Common Services resulting in increased savings.

The UNCT will also strengthen the work of the Communications Theme Group in order to raise the importance of MDGs within the government and the general public and to strengthen the government ownership of the Goals.

The RCU staff in 4 field offices will do the MDG outreach work at the provincial level and also gather the information on latest developments there. The provincial profiles will be compiled and made available for distribution among the government and international community towards the end of the year. The field offices will also serve as information sources for needs assessment/assessment of damage in case of potential natural disasters.

The RCU staff in Luanda will support the Resident Coordinator and the UN Country Team in implementing the UN Reform and the Country level. One international ALD3 Field Coordinator is planned to be hired in 2007 to oversee and strengthen the work of the field offices. One Coordination Officer and Coordination Assistant are also to be hired for Luanda Office to widen and strengthen the RCU support to the Resident Coordinator, the Chief of RCU and the UNCT as a whole.

Staff training and learning will be conducted in accordance with the Learning Plan and the needs that may arise throughout the year.

Recommendations

RCO has a limited budget and must rely on unpredictable resource mobilization. This affects negatively staffing and quality of work. DGO should strengthen its fundraising possibly complemented by increased funding from UNDP.

Mobilise the Johannesburg RDT support for the UNDAF MTR and joint agency initiatives.