RCAR 2008 - El Salvador

El Salvador: Presidential, legislative and municipal elections will be held in El Salvador in 2009. As such, 2008 has been marked by significant pre-electoral tension which has conditioned the actions of key national counterparts and consequently UN activities in the country. The year 2008 also saw El Salvador host the XVIII Ibero-American Summit, dedicated to "Youth and Development". The UN provided technical assistance for the organization of the Summit and assured the participation of high-level UN delegations. As in other developing nations, the culmination of global energy prices produced high importation costs and an increase in national commodities costs, leading to high food prices and producing a significant impact on the family economy. The UN System provided policy support and technical assistance to support the Government response to this crisis.

Belize: The political scenery in Belize was altered in February 2008 when the main opposition party gained the majority vote. The new government has had an eventful first term as the National Emergency Management Organization has had to respond to two major emergency events. The UN System supported the National response to both Tropical Storm Arthur and Tropical Depression 16, providing an immediate coordinated emergency response. Livelihoods in farming, commerce and tourism were affected by these weather systems due to severe losses in key crops. The financial crisis is also having an adverse affect on tourism in Belize (one of the country’s main industries). The industry reported a decline in 2008 with a 2.4% decrease of stay-over visitors, the first decrease in 12 years.

Summary on progress towards UNDAF outcomes

UNDAF Outcome 1: Democratic Governance - Total expenditure 2008: US$2.2milion

• Four of the Resident Agencies (PAHO, ILO, UNDP, UNFPA & UNICEF) are currently implementing a joint programme on Human Security, funded by the Human Security Trust Fund. • Together with UNFPA, these agencies participated in the elaboration of the joint programme “Building Social Capital and Reducing Violence: A New Transition in El Salvador”, which was recently approved by the MDG-F. • Human rights and justice issues have also been strongly supported, especially in the fields of women’s rights and education. • Much effort has been made to promote female participation and leadership in the political system and to position the issue of gender equality in the political agenda.

UNDAF Outcome 2: Economic Development & MDGs - Total expenditure 2008: US$2.5milion • The UN is working jointly to support the Government in its efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. • A National Ministerial Committee has been set up to guide the implementation of an MDG Monitoring System, the MDG National Report and Strategic Plan. • Technical assistance to improve quality of statistical data • Developing National Capacities to address migration • Support the National Cash Transfer programme “Red Solidaria”

UNDAF Outcome 3: Human & Social Capital - Total expenditure 2008: US$40million

• Technical assistance to improve national response to HIV/AIDS (with Global Fund) • Improve access to basic social services such as Health & Education • The UN has strengthened its support in the area of Food and Nutrition Security by developing national capacity to respond to the economic crisis and increasing advocacy

UNDAF Outcome 4: Environment and Disaster Management - Total expenditure 2008: US$3million

• Joint approach to Climate Change: Mitigation and adaption, support for the preparation Second Communication on Climate Change • Increase national capacities to improve governance and administration of drinking water • Establishment of pilots projects for Clean Development Market • UN technical team dedicated to disaster preparation and response have provided capacity development, leadership and support to national institutions

Belize:

UNDAF Outcome 1: Poverty Elimination by Investing in People

UN support to a number of policy development activities has been successful in strengthening policy and institutional frameworks to some extent. In particular, a number of studies have been undertaken to support evidence-based policy making in a number of areas such as Health, HIV/AIDS, Environment, Education and Local Governance. UN supported information systems, including DevInfo and the Belize Health Information System, have improved the foundation on which empirical decision-making can be made. In addition to traditional UN partners including ministries and civil society partners, 2008 has seen increased support to the academia sector for research on governance and policy issues, in an attempt to encourage a more vigorous public debate and greater understanding and ownership around good governance, participation and national development planning. While progress in development of this partnership has been slow, some significant achievements were made, such as the institutionalization of a National Consultation on the annual budget process – a UN introduced activity which today is demanded and expected by stakeholders. .

UNDAF Outcome 2: Reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS

The joint UN team has been instrumental in supporting the National AIDS Commission and other stakeholders for the implementation of the current Global Fund project as well as for the development of the Round 9 Global Fund project addressing HIV and TB co-infection. DevInfo has aided national partners to monitor a national strategic plan for HIV and AIDS, and support to development of guidelines (on VCT and TB treatment, for example) have helped to strengthen response. A great deal of emphasis has been placed on contributing to reduction of vulnerabilities through training and capacity development as well as provision of services to vulnerable groups including children and adolescents.

UNDAF Outcome 3: Improve sustainable development practices

The UNCT was heavily involved in responding to disasters in 2008, with three major events occurring. A total of US$183,091.76 was received from external sources to support the Government in its relief efforts. Improvements were made in promoting sustainable environmental practices, building on an already strong relationship with national partners in the government. The UNCT supported the Government of Belize in preparing its 2nd Climate Change Communication, and has achieved considerable success in helping Belize to position itself at the forefront of research and practices in this area.

Summary on progress in UN Reform

The major highlights of the progress in UN Reform include:

XVIII Ibero-American Summit: Under the leadership of the RC, the UN agencies supported the national counterparts in the various events in the lead up to the Summit providing technical support for the elaboration of the base document of the Summit and for the substantive discussions of the preparatory sector-based Ministerial meetings. During the Summit itself, the UNCT assumed the coordination of high-level delegations from 12 UN Agencies, and assured intensive media coverage of UN Officials assisting the Summit. As a result reference was made to the UN in several of the Final Declarations of the Summit.

National MDG Strategy: A National Ministerial Committee has been set up to guide the implementation of an MDG Monitoring System, the MDG National Report and a Strategic Plan to achieve the most difficult MDGs. Under the guidance of the RC, UNDP led this interagency initiative which (in coordination with other JPs) seeks to provide essential technical support for the planning and costing of the MDGs at the national and local level.

Capacity Development: The UN aims to incorporate capacity development components in all UNDAF - related activities. In particular, national capacities have been developed by working in close coordination with National authorities to produce statistical, educational and informative material about the development situation in the country. For example, UNFPA gave technical assistance to the national statistical division to carry out the latest population census with the support of CELADE while UNDP helped to provide reliable data on decent employment and put the issue on the political agenda by launching their 2007/08 HDR. In relation to the food crisis, the WFP produced an accurate account of the increase in cost of the basic family basket highlighting the serious implications for the poverty levels in the country, and has supported the establishment of innovative national nutritional and food security monitoring and surveillance systems, as well as the expansion of national social protection programmes in response to the crisis FAO has also helped the government with three proposals to increase the availability of basic grains in the short and medium term.

The development of national technical capacities has also been strongly supported by UN programmes. For example, UNICEF helped to build National legislative and judicial capacities by supporting the formulation of a Draft bill for the Children Protection Act. WHO/PAHO have supported the development of local health management capacities, assuring a more effective health care service at a municipal level. Through its Special Programme for Food Security (PESA) and other field projects, FAO has developed National capacities to address food security and nutritional needs of the population (including food security and nutrition education in primary schools (teachers, children and parents. ILO has continued to build national capacities to eliminate the worst forms of Child Labour. UNAIDS has helped to strengthen the National response to HIV/AIDS through the implementation of the three ones.

Joint Programming: In response to the 2007 Annual Review, this year the UN in El Salvador consolidated the UNDAF M&E theme group and produced a UNDAF monitoring tool which allowed us to do a stocktaking of all ongoing UN programmes. This tool will be systematically updated and improved to include SMART indicators. In terms of Joint Programmes, we are currently implementing 8 initiatives in areas such as Violence Prevention (2), MDGs (2), Gender (2), Disaster Management and Migration.

0ne80 UNCT Assessment: The UNCT El Salvador participated as a pilot country in the revised edition of the One80 Capacity Development tool. This involved the participation of 3 members of the UNCT in the task force workshop in NY. Belize:

Inter-Agency groups exist on HIV/AIDS, Emergency response, Health, and M&E/Policy. The former two of these have been the most active, primarily because their mandates have been clear and the need for UN Assistance in these areas has been explicit from GOB and civil society. The main obstacle in increasing inter-agency activity is the limited number of staff in each agency. As preparation for the 2009 UNDAF Mid-term review comes underway, the M/E group is expected to gain ground in its work.

The change in government has implied significant changes in institutional arrangements and staff at the technical as well as political levels. Nonetheless, it should be emphasized that the UN has maintained a positive relationship with national partners throughout this process and it is expected that further advances will be made in 2009.

The post of UN Coordination Officer, formerly held by a UNV, is now a national post. The officer will continue to provide support to coherence and coordination among UN Agencies at the country and sub-regional levels, as well as support capacity building of UN teams and essential support to the non-resident RC will continue.

Key aspects of the proposed 2009 workplan

Belize: •Conduct a mid-term review process of the UNDAF. With a new administration at the helm of government since February 2008, a review of the UNDAF progress is scheduled with the involvement of key sectors within the Government of Belize. The aim is to conduct an analysis of the national situation, identify gaps in the UNDAF, revise and validate the UNDAF, and sign a revised UNDAF with the Government of Belize

•Strengthen the Theme Groups which have now been re-structured as follows: Policy/M&E, SRH/HIV, and Disaster

•Continue to support the National Emergency Management Organization (NEMO) in the areas of advocacy and communications for increased public awareness and knowledge management