RCAR 2006 - Vietnam

The year 2006 was a good year for Sao Tome e Principe for it proved that democracy was “alive and well” and on track. Tensions between the President and Prime Minister’s Offices regarding lines of authority and control over key ministers resulted in delays in Government’s programme implementation. The UN played a significant role in providing financial and technical support prior to the election including the importation of electioneering materials and the assurance of security of ballot boxes. Government was at pains to ensure adequate access of media to all political parties a factor that allowed for diverse viewpoints from the 4 major parties. International election observers traversed all areas of the country including Principe in well-coordinated and independent teams. Between March and August, 2006, 4 major elections, all free and fair, had been held, resulting in the election of a new 55 person legislative national assembly; 6 new mayors and their City Councils; a new regional Government in Principe and a renewed second term mandate for President Fradique de Menezes. The “banho” phenomenon – of money changing hands for votes, initially observed in the 2001 elections, but failed to sway voter opinion to the extent of over-riding the popular will. In the end, international observers including resident UN Agencies, were satisfied that the process had adhered to acceptable norms and standards expressing the will of the people. Elections were ground breaking, for it lead to the ouster of the MLSTP/PSD party and ushered in the MDFM/PCD coalition that secured control of all four political arms of state. The “winner take all” mentality had prevailed, with potential positive and negative implications for future governance. The elections underscored a fundamental craving of all Sao Tomense for greater harmony and dialogue among all political actors in the interest of all. . By the end of the year, Government had control of 5 out of 6 City/District Councils and the new Novo Rumo party had won in Principe. A sense of unity of purpose and political calm had been restored although there remained widespread disaffection as a result of hyper-inflation, high unemployment and difficult living conditions for the average Sao Tomense household.. The overall pre-occupation with elections resulted in a paralysis of government and public institutions. Low commitment in the public service consequently lead to delays in the execution of several UN Programmes from March to September not just at the level of coordination but in the attainment of key results, critical for the completion of the 2002 -2006 programme cycle. Some members of the UNCT identified new partnerships among the national and international NGO’s as a new front-line for attaining the Rights of families, communities and the most vulnerable. The UN also became more nimble and creative in an environment of great need. With assistance from UNDP and involvement of all agencies, Government scored high points at years end by implementing a follow-up of the December 2005 Brussels Round Table, through 3 sectoral round tables focusing on Education Governance and Infrastructure with positive responses from the door community. It pledged to revamp partner coordination through the establishment of a Coordination Council in 2007 and called for improved AID effectiveness and coordination and management in 2007.

Summary on progress towards UNDAF outcomes

Summary on progress in UN Reform

In line with the UN Secretary-General’s Agenda for Reform, the UNCT has continued to improve coordination and efficiency. It enhanced participation and collaboration within the UN System through a series of orientation sessions on UN Reform and its implications for Joint Offices and harmonization of processes. It utilized its current core advantages of common premises and systems to improve collaboration between agencies as well as with government and other development partners, using a variety of coordination mechanisms and reform tools to advance common objectives.

It must be observed though, that many more opportunities need to be identified to ensure greater awareness and sharing of UN Reform information among UN staff given language constraints and pressure of work on limited staff. A public awareness strategy will also be required to keep Sao Tomese and other publics updated on new developments within the United Nations. Such actions will include sensitization sessions of Government on the Paris Declaration and AID Effectiveness, the new imperative for a roll-out plan for Joint Offices, a more intensive review of the UNDAF and its implications for linkages with other Government tools such as a potential 5 Year National Development Plan as against the current 2006 – 2008 Priority Action Plan.

i. Efforts to align national development efforts; 2006 was a remarkable year for all UN agencies, in particular the ExCom Agencies, as they jointly completed in close collaboration with the sectoral government counterparts the UNDAF, their Country Programme Documents (CPD’s), implemented a Joint Strategic Meeting and signed their CPAPs. The CPAP preparation process was initiated by UNFPA by bringing in a technical multi-disciplinary team to work closely with Government in developing initial documents. Later, technical teams worked and coordinated activities as in the case of the UNDP/ UNICEF and WFP. This intellectual and technical sharing between colleagues has laid the foundation for closer integration between the agencies in the future.

The UNCT has attempted to align its efforts with Government priorities and plans, harmonizing programme ideas in line with the 2005 Common Country Assessment (CCA) and a national 3 Year Development Plan 2006 – 2008. Sterling efforts were made to address Gender mainstreaming and HIV/AIDS through the collective technical development of a key document aimed at “Operationalising the National Gender and Equality Strategic Plan with a focus on the Education, Communication and Justice ministries." Government still has major ground to cover as there is a dearth of tools , key sectoral strategic policy documents and plans, the Medium Term Expenditure Framework, and clarity on actions required regarding National/sectoral planning-and evaluation cycles. Clearly, the challenge for ensuring better appreciation for long-term planning still exists.

Internally, a training session on Caring for Us was undertaken providing for greater clarity and sensitivity around the actions required in addressing HIV/AIDS in the Workplace. The 2006 UNCT retreat took place on 17 and 18 August 2006 in which members agreed on strategic priorities, national and regional planning assumptions, emergency planning and other cross-cutting issues for the rest of the year and 2007.

ii. Support to the national government in the preparation, implementation and/or revision of comprehensive MDG-based national development strategies; As noted above, the December 2006 Sectoral roundtables on Education, Governance and Infrastructure were all prepared based on the current Poverty Reduction Strategy and CCA with clear links to the MDGs, and other national strategic documents and goals. The sectoral tables were deemed a success by Government not only because of the amounts pledged by donors and partners but for the transparency and frankness that attended the discussions. The event also reinforced the role UN agencies can play as resource mobilization partners and highlighted the continued role of the UN as a relevant development partner. The low level of MDGs awareness especially at sectoral levels may explain low commitment and slow progress towards these internationally agreed goals. In order to raise awareness and reinvigorate the process of full commitment to the MDGs, the UNCT launched a major advocacy and communication campaign with the sole objective of creating national MDG consciousness and ownership. To do this, the country developed its own MDGs icons, taking as reference the MDGs icons from Brazil and a few African nations.. The launching of these icons coincided with the International Poverty Eradication Week and UN Day special events. These events had been preceded by the launch of the Millennium Campaign “Stand Up Against Poverty.” Stand up for MDGs”. These two events simultaneously implemented in all major cities of all 6 districts and autonomous region of Principe involved a wide cross section of partners and opinion leaders and other members of the local communities creating the needed awareness and commitment to the MDG’s. Capitalizing on the recent City/District Council elections and appointments, a capacity building initiative targeting mayors and their decentralised government structure was conducted UN through the Office of the RC. The initiative was developed to provide the local authorities with the basic concepts related to development planning and people’s participation; understanding the PRSP and MDGs as a people’s commitment among others. The training aimed also at building capacity for decentralised governance and ensuring the development of future plans of actions for implementation in 2007. The UNCT is supporting this preliminary investment with on-site technical assistance that will allow for a district focused on-site repetition of the information shared with other members of mayoral teams including an MDG indicator table. iii. Progress UNCT are making collectively in support of the national partner’s endeavours towards capacity development and aid effectiveness; The UN Country Team recognize this area as one of the biggest challenges in Sao Tome e Principe. President Menezes has signed the Paris Declaration but feedback on its implications to the nation and the responsibilities that arise both for the nation and donor countries have not been adequately communicated to a relatively new Government. The priority of holding elections in 2006 lad to little time available for significant sensitization work on issues such as of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness. Also, the existence of small UN teams with competing priorities has also meant little time dedicated to orientation sessions of key Government partners around the new discussion and its implications for doing business differently.

However, the collective development of the Country Programme Action Plans and the continued references made to adjusting our overall business processes has provided a springboard for further training and sensitization. The year 2007 will allow for the implementation of training sessions focusing on strategic planning and its implications for the new – CPAPs.

Efforts to improve planning and monitoring of MDGs were effected through close collaboration and technical assistance from the African Economic and Statistics Observatory. Their support has further strengthened Sao Tome’s Poverty Reduction Observatory and the National Institute of Statistics to apply and use the Devinfo system.

The holding of Sectoral Round Tables on Education & Training, Governance and Infrastructure & Energy from 4 – 7 December 2006 allowed for Government introspection especially around donor coordination. The proposal of an Aid Coordination and Management Council announced recently by the Minister of Foreign Affairs while welcome will require UN technical and financial assistance to ensure success. The Council will provide a framework for greater discussion and harmonization of ideas among the donor community in Sao Tome e Principe on how to address AID effectiveness in relation to national priorities of key sectors. Responding to the related survey and popularising the details of the Paris Declaration will invariably be a major responsibility of the UNCT and the Office of the RC in 2007.

iv. experience with joint programmes and HACT, as well as other highlights in coordination;

No joint programme was developed in 2006. However, agencies developed collaborative programme activities that avoided duplication, maximised human resources and ensured programme impact. UNICEF/WFP identified 79 school canteens that required training and orientation on “Best Practices in Nutritional Support and Food Management in the Sao Tome e Principe Schools” as one of such collaborative efforts. The programme aimed to retrain school feeding kitchen staff on the merits of proper diets and food management in schools. Similarly, over US$339,000 was approved from the newly created UNDEF Programme following a joint proposal by UNDP, UNICEF in partnership with International Alert to tackle the problem of information sharing and capacity building of marginalised communities on the future management of national institutions of oil revenue and issues that ensure the prevention of local conflicts and crisis. The programme which is funded for 2 years will establish 2 community radio, train local youth journalists, focus on NGO and community information sharing and exchange and allow for the free flow of information to rural communities on the implications of an oil economy nationwide. Two UN staff members received training in Tunisia on the new challenges posed by HACT. They in turn lead UN staff and local partner training following the training programme so as to prepare Government partners to face the realities of implementing HACT in the first quarter of 2007. A special UN task force facilitated the development of work towards the implementation of a Micro-Evaluation as part of the first steps in rolling out the implementation of HACT. The study now nearing completion will serve to further streamline the use of Government and NGO partners and allow for the strategic use of local and international partners. These activities now all lead the way for the eventual harmonization of processes and systems as agencies work towards the 2007 rollout plan for a Joint Office in 2008 emphasizing 1 programme, 1 team and 1 leader.

Key aspects of the proposed 2007 workplan

• UN Reform – Joint Office. 2007 will be a year of preparation in which Government is sensitized to the implications of working more harmoniously, where we meet the challenges posed in re-orienting staff and consolidating our varied mandates, processes and activities. • UNDAF rollout year and implementation of HACT. Initial investments in staff and partner training have been carried out to implement HACT. Training on the use of the FACE form and the related modalities of cash transfer will also be implemented early in 2007.The biggest challenge to Government will be in doing business differently and ensuring that human resource capacity building between Government and UN technical staff takes place as a commitment to ensure and maintain Government leadership. • UNDAF rollout and its M&E plan: It will be developed following the design and development of Annual Work Plans • Joint Programme : Agencies are all committed to joint programmes which will be developed after the UNCT Retreat scheduled for 7-8 February, 2007program. Government’s recent announcement for action around a specific geographic priority focus for Caue District will also require a response from the UN agencies. It is proposed that agencies will consider the involvement of some non resident agencies including the development or proposals for the utilization of the “MDG Achievement Fund” • Popularizing and integrating the MDG’s in the PRSP. Building on the gains of the MDG campaign of 2006 will provide new gains in working with Government partners in internalizing the MDG’s and PRSP’s • DevInfo – rollout . Implementing the commitment to evidence –based advocacy and reporting will start with more substantial investment in Government identified human resource and infrastructure for improved monitoring and evaluation. • National Emergency Preparedness and Response Unit. WFP, UNICEF and WHO are working on the development of a framework for a National Emergency Preparedness and Response Unit.. This year will allow the UNCT collectively to build on this ground work so as to ensure the establishment and operation of such a Unit. The UNCT collectively supported the development of a UN AHI Contingency Plan and National Plan. The latter has been re-developed and will be approved by the Council of Minister’s soon.

Recommendations

Appointment of UN RC

• UNDGO is urged to support current UNDP efforts to appoint a substantive UN Resident Coordinator. The continued state of ambivalence on such an appointment only undermines the current efforts of the UNCT notwithstanding the fact that a Resident Coordinator (ai) and UNCT have ensured a continued active and vibrant presence of the United Nations in Sao Tome since the departure of the substantive UNDP Resident representative in June, 2005.

Technical Assistance in Potential UN Joint Office Re-structuring

• Technical Assistance will be required in the attempts to harmonize and re-conceptualize the current structures of 4 existing Excom agencies all aimed at integrating in a single UN Joint Office structure. The role of specialized agencies like WHO and non resident agencies needs to be clarified with their headquarters even as they continue to work hand in hand with other UN agencies. Clearly the challenges confronted in Cape Verde need not be repeated in Sao Tome e Principe. • Technical Assistance to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Government will require technical assistance in the design and development of the proposed Donor Coordination Council. Efforts from all agencies in 2006 in this regard will be pooled so as to strengthen Government’s current programme and operational capacity.