United Nations DP/FPA/2008/5 (Part I)
Executive Board of the
Distr.: General United Nations Development
14 May 2008 Programme and of the United Nations Population Fund Original: English
Annual session 2008
16 to 27 June 2008, Geneva
Item 2 of the provisional agenda
UNFPA – Annual report of the Executive Director
UNITED NATIONS POPULATION FUND
REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR 2007: ACCELERATING PROGRESS AND * NATIONAL OWNERSHIP OF THE ICPD PROGRAMME OF ACTION
Summary
This report focuses on the major initiatives undertaken by UNFPA in 2007, the results and progress achieved and the challenges encountered in assisting countries in implementing the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), under the overarching goal of supporting nationally led and nationally owned efforts to eradicate poverty and achieve sustainable development. In addition to reporting on UNFPA performance during 2007, the last year of the 2004-2007 multi-year funding framework (MYFF), the present report is also envisaged to serve as baseline data for the Fund’s new strategic plan, 2008-2011, and facilitate setting targets for the four-year period.
Following the introduction, section II of the report describes the context in which UNFPA works. Section III focuses on progress in working towards attaining the 13 development outcomes under the Fund’s three
focus areas of population and development, reproductive health and rights, and gender equality. Contributions towards achieving the nine UNFPA management outputs are detailed in section IV of the report. Section V provides an update on the operationalization of the Fund’s new organizational
structure. The integrated resources framework is presented in section VI. Section VII of the report contains a recommendation. The annex provides a matrix on UNFPA country office involvement in key capacity development areas.
_____________ *The compilation of data required to provide the Executive Board with the most current information has delayed the submission of the present report.
DP/FPA/2008/5 (Part I)
CONTENTS
Page
I. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................... 3
II. CONTEXT .............................................................................................................................. 3
III. DEVELOPMENT RESULTS FRAMEWORK .......................................................................... 5
IV. MANAGEMENT RESULTS FRAMEWORK ......................................................................... 26
V. OPERATIONALIZING THE NEW ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE ............................ 33
VI. INTEGRATED FINANCIAL RESOURCES FRAMEWORK ................................................ 34
VII. RECOMMENDATION ............................................................................................................ 34
ANNEX ………………………………………………………………………………………………35
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I. INTRODUCTION
1. This report focuses on the major initiatives undertaken by UNFPA in 2007, the results and progress achieved and the challenges encountered in assisting countries in implementing the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), under the overarching goal of supporting nationally led and nationally owned efforts to eradicate poverty and achieve sustainable development. In addition to reporting on UNFPA performance during 2007, the last year of the 2004-2007 multi-year funding framework (MYFF), the present report is also envisaged to serve as baseline data for the Fund’s new strategic plan, 2008-2011 (DP/FPA/2007/17), and facilitate setting
targets for the four-year period. Following approval of the strategic plan by the Executive Board (decision 2007/40), UNFPA country programmes have been aligned with the plan. The analysis in the present report focuses on the two central results frameworks of the strategic plan, namely, the development results framework and the management results framework, and reflects the Fund’s
strengthened emphasis on national ownership and capacity development, and on the strategic plan’s 13
development outcomes and nine management outputs.
2. Section II of the present report describes the context in which UNFPA works. Section III focuses on progress achieved and challenges encountered in working towards attaining the 13 development outcomes under the three focus areas of population and development, reproductive health and rights, and gender equality. Contributions towards achieving the Fund’s nine management outputs are detailed in section IV of the report. Section V provides an update on the operationalization of the Fund’s new organizational structure. The integrated resources framework is presented in section VI. The Statistical and financial review 2007 (DP//FPA/2008/5 (Part I, Add.1)), an addendum to the present report, elaborates on UNFPA income and expenditures by programme areas, region and country classification group and also details UNFPA assistance in terms of the MYFF outcomes. Section VII of the present report contains a recommendation. The annex provides a matrix on UNFPA country office involvement in key capacity development areas.
3. This present report has used data and information gathered from internal reporting instruments of UNFPA, notably the 2007 annual reports from all UNFPA divisions and units, including 120 country offices. Overall, there has been an improvement of data and a 100 per cent submission rate of UNFPA annual reports in 2007, although there are some gaps in data availability and quality that are being addressed.
II. CONTEXT
4. The United Nations General Assembly resolution 62/208 on the triennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations system (TCPR) underscores that the provision of development assistance by the United Nations system should respond to the diverse needs of developing countries and be in accordance with their national development plans and strategies. The UNFPA strategic plan, 2008-2011, is aligned with the TCPR. UNFPA initiated implementation of its new organizational structure, which is consistent with and responds to the TCPR. Furthermore, to advance UNFPA contribution to the implementation of the TCPR, UNFPA issued an operational guidance note to all staff on the Fund’s role in a changing aid environment, taking into account the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness, and emphasizing UNFPA commitment to and role in supporting nationally led development through capacity-building, policy dialogue, advocacy and the provision of technical and financial assistance.
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5. During 2007, there was increased emphasis on new aid modalities such as poverty reduction strategy papers (PRSPs), sector-wide approaches (SWAps), direct budget support, and the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) for humanitarian response and recovery. UNFPA made significant contributions to support national partners in incorporating population, reproductive health and gender issues in national development strategies. In line with the Fund’s resource allocation system, approved by
the Executive Board in September 2007 (decision 2007/42), UNFPA continued to give the highest priority and the largest share of its programme resources to group A countries (countries most in need of assistance to realize ICPD goals), including all the least developed countries (see also DP/FPA/2008/5 (Part I, Add.1)).
6. The year 2007 was marked by significant interventions in the three focus areas of population and development, reproductive health and rights, and gender equality. An increase was reported in the number of national policies promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women. Also, population factors were integrated in an increasing number of national development plans and frameworks. A notable achievement was the inclusion of the target on universal access to reproductive health by 2015 in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) monitoring framework, under MDG 5 to improve maternal health. In the area of population and development, there were increased efforts to provide support to countries for the 2010 round of censuses.
7. UNFPA was active in several partnerships for the promotion of global health and achievement of the health MDGs established in 2007, such as the International Health Partnership, the Global Campaign on Health MDGs, and the Secretary-General's MDG initiative for Africa. The year was marked by the renewed global attention to addressing the high rates of maternal mortality. The Women Deliver Conference, where UNFPA played a leadership role, generated new commitment to women’s health. In
2007, UNFPA established the thematic fund for maternal health to mobilize additional resources in this key area. The year 2007 saw the prioritization of climate change by the United Nations Secretary-General and the international community, and emphasis on the role of the United Nations system in responding to the challenges.
8. As a follow-up to the first Global Forum on International Migration and Development held in July 2007, a framework for operational collaboration has been drawn up between the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and UNFPA focusing on, among other issues, strengthening the knowledge base for informed policy dialogue, incorporating sexual and reproductive health into health activities for migrants and prevention of gender-based violence. During 2007, UNFPA continued to emphasize gender, human rights and culturally sensitive approaches and established partnerships with key local stakeholders and institutions, including traditional leaders and faith-based and religious organizations. UNFPA also continued its efforts to support the integration of the ICPD agenda into emergency preparedness, humanitarian crisis response and transition and recovery processes. Conflicts in some countries created a need for protection against sexual violence, which UNFPA country programmes addressed through advocacy and the provision of technical and financial support to national counterparts.
9. UNFPA fully engaged in the implementation of the United Nations “Delivering as One” initiative in the eight pilot countries. An initial stocktaking by the joint meeting of the Executive Boards of UNDP/UNFPA, UNICEF and WFP in January 2008, indicated that the United Nations was better positioned to deliver more tangible development results in programme countries as a result of the initiative. UNFPA offices in the eight pilot countries reported success in integrating the ICPD agenda in the “One
Programme”.
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10. In 2007, UNFPA increased its donor base to a record high of 182 donors, including all countries in sub-Saharan Africa. UNFPA total regular resources rose to $457.1 million (the highest total ever in the history of UNFPA), up from $389.3 million in 2006. In 2007, UNFPA total income increased to $752.2 million, the fourth sequential year in which UNFPA resources surpassed the $500 million mark (see also documents DP/FPA/2008/5 (Part I, Add.1) and DP/FPA/2008/9). The Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, United Kingdom and Japan were the Fund’s five largest donors (to regular resources) in dollar terms in
2007. Also, in 2007, the largest co-financing contribution from an intergovernmental organization was received from the European Commission.
11. Following the Executive Board approval of the Fund’s reorganization (decision 2007/43), UNFPA
developed an implementation master plan to operationalize the new organizational structure. Through the establishment of regional offices and strengthening of country offices, UNFPA will enhance support to national programming and increase programme efficiency and effectiveness. The reorganization will further strengthen UNFPA commitment to South-South cooperation within the framework of capacity development. UNFPA continues to emphasize the use of national, regional and interregional resources and partnerships, as well as South-South knowledge-sharing systems to support national development and country programmes.
III. DEVELOPMENT RESULTS FRAMEWORK
12. The development results framework sets out the goals and outcomes for UNFPA in three focus areas: (a) population and development; (b) reproductive health and rights; and (c) gender equality. Following a brief subsection on support to capacity development by UNFPA country programmes, this section of the report presents analysis on progress in working towards the 13 development outcomes under the three above-mentioned focus areas.
A. Capacity development
13. The fundamental importance of national capacity development has been articulated in General Assembly resolution 62/208 as a central goal of development cooperation of the United Nations system. In 2007, capacity development continued to be at the core of UNFPA programming. A summary of the support provided by UNFPA country offices to capacity development in the areas of population and development, reproductive health and gender is provided in the annex, which aggregates data from the 2007 annual reporting. As seen in the annex, UNFPA support ranged from 94 per cent country offices contributing to capacity development for maternal health to 24 per cent of offices contributing in the area of young people in emergency situations. UNFPA offices and units reported support to South-South initiatives in 55 recipient and 57 provider countries. An example of South-South cooperation for capacity development is seen in the assistance UNFPA provided to the Demographic Institute of Indonesia and the Department of Statistics of Laos in data collection and analysis of reproductive health and population issues. In subsequent sections, the present report provides several examples of UNFPA capacity development contributions in each of the three focus areas of its work. UNFPA recognizes that developing an integrated approach to capacity development based on systematic capacity assessments and measurement of the effectiveness of support remains a major challenge to be addressed in the broader context of the United Nations efforts in this key area.
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B. Population and development
Goal 1: Systematic use of population dynamics analyses to guide increased investments in gender equality, youth development, reproductive health and HIV/AIDS for improved quality of life and sustainable development and poverty reduction.
14. UNFPA work on population is central to the international community’s goals of eradicating poverty and achieving sustainable development. UNFPA has Population dynamics, reproductive health, been assisting countries in implementing the ICPD HIV/AIDS and gender equality incorporated in %PRSPsProgramme of Action through strengthening national capacity 100to address the incorporation of population dynamics and 90population and poverty linkages, including the links between 8093poverty and reproductive health and gender equality, in the 7092
60formulation and implementation of national policies. In 2007, 866450UNFPA programme assistance in the area of population and 8440development totalled $ 108.9 million. 3044 20 10 0PopulationReproductiveGender DynamicsHealth, including HIV/AIDS 2000-20062007
Figure 1
Outcome 1: Population dynamics and its interlinkages with gender equality, sexual and
reproductive health and HIV/AIDS incorporated in public policies, poverty reduction plans
and expenditure frameworks.
15. Incorporation of population and poverty linkages in national development strategies. UNFPA
expertise in analysis of population dynamics, as well as its partnership with governments in integrating population dynamics into development planning and using data for development have been valuable assets to support national development strategies. There has been an increase in incorporation of population dynamics, reproductive health and gender issues in the situation analysis, policy documents and monitoring and evaluation plans in national development strategies. Of 33 key national development plans (NDPs), including PRSPs, completed in 2007, 76 per cent of NDPs included population dynamics, 77 per cent included reproductive health/HIV, and 64 per cent included gender equality. In the 75 NDPs, including PRSPs, developed during 2000-2006, gender equality was included in 45 per cent; population dynamics and its linkages with poverty was included in 71 per cent; and reproductive health/HIV in 67 per cent. Similar trends were observed in the analysis of PRSPs (see figure 1).
16. Eighty-six per cent of UNFPA country programmes contributed to promoting policy dialogues, developing and using innovative models for programming, building capacity of and partnering with civil society groups and providing technical support for the incorporation of population dynamics, reproductive health, HIV/AIDS and gender issues. Several innovative examples of good practices were reported, some of which could be scaled up. In Nigeria, UNFPA provided inputs to the poverty reduction strategy process to ensure that ICPD issues were reflected in the strategy. One innovative approach was to 6
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mobilize and support the participation of trained young people to contribute inputs into the drafting of the national poverty reduction strategy. In Sierra Leone, UNFPA supported the training of traditional leaders to advocate for the incorporation of population dynamics, reproductive health and gender priorities in government policy documents. The population situation analyses supported by UNFPA in Bolivia, Ecuador, Haiti and Venezuela, using a tool developed by UNFPA, became key instruments for policy dialogue to facilitate the inclusion of population-related issues in NDPs.
17. Several intercountry initiatives were also pursued. These included developing better understanding within countries on the interlinkages between poverty and population, reproductive health and gender through a series of regional meetings.
An MDG toolkit was developed and disseminated
for use by countries in their engagement in MDG-
based poverty reduction processes. UNFPA
partnered with WHO to develop training modules
for building staff capacity to better support
governments in including sexual and reproductive
health in national development plans and poverty
reduction strategies. UNFPA provided support to
intergovernmental organizations, including to
Partners in Population and Development for an
assessment of the institutional capacities of 17
regional/national population institutions that have
been conducting training and research programmes.
In middle-income countries in Eastern Europe,
UNFPA worked closely with regional institutions
to define data and policies to address population Figure 2: Expenditures for population activities as a issues such as declining fertility and increased percentage of total population assistance, 1995-2006 labour migration.
18. It is evident that population dynamics and
reproductive health have been relatively well factored into the situation analysis segment of poverty reduction strategies and national development planning processes. However, the challenge remains for these elements to be better incorporated in the monitoring and evaluation components. Advocacy efforts to mobilize parliamentarians, youth groups and community leaders have been successful and need to be scaled up. Overall, stronger efforts will be needed to support implementation of the development plans and frameworks.
19. Resource flows to ICPD activities. UNFPA has been monitoring the flow of resources allocated
for ICPD since 1995 and has supported reporting in this area, including the recent report (E/CN.9/2008/5) submitted to the Commission on Population and Development. UNFPA has worked with governments and other development partners to marshall a broader base of resources. UNFPA country offices have reported advocacy initiatives for increased investments in reproductive health, HIV/AIDS and gender issues. However, as seen in figure 2, funding for family planning has decreased in absolute dollar amounts since 1995 when UNFPA first began monitoring resource flows. Though funding for reproductive health and basic research activities has shown an increase, HIV/AIDS activities continued to receive by far the largest proportion of population assistance. Also, the growing trend toward integration of services and the increasing use of sector-wide approaches in development assistance are making it
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difficult for countries to readily distinguish between expenditures for population and other health-related activities.
Outcome 2: Young people’s rights and multisectoral needs incorporated into public policies,
poverty reduction plans and expenditure frameworks, capitalizing on the demographic dividend.
20. Addressing young people’s multisectoral needs in poverty reduction strategies. The proportion of
NDPs, including PRSPs, incorporating young people’s multisectoral needs increased during 2007. UNFPA supported national counterparts in the formulation, implementation and the review of national policies for youth. Some examples include UNFPA assistance in Ethiopia to develop the adolescent reproductive health policy, the first that recognizes the diversity of adolescent needs, including the need to focus on the youngest age group of 10-14 as a strategic way to impact gender norms. UNFPA, in collaboration with the World Bank, organized an expert consultation on young people and poverty reduction strategies that led to the development of an inter-agency UNFPA-World Bank resource guide on how to include multisectoral youth issues in the poverty reduction strategy process and in other development policies. This initiative will be piloted in Honduras, Liberia and Malawi in collaboration with the World Bank in 2008. However, additional work is required in programme countries to ensure that multisectoral linkages are made at the policy level and in programme development and implementation.
21. For strengthening young people’s participation in policy dialogue, programme development, implementation and monitoring, UNFPA has been working with other United Nations agencies to establish United Nations youth advisory panels at country level, bringing youth voices not only to UNFPA, but to the United Nations country team as a whole. For example, Cambodia has launched the United Nations youth advisory panel. In 2007, UNFPA continued to facilitate capacity-building of international, regional, national and local youth networks and organizations to advocate for young people's needs and rights and their participation in decision-making processes. UNFPA recruited the fifth group of youth fellows from developing countries, to join the UNFPA Special Youth Programme for a nine-month fellowship. One challenge is that adults do not necessarily welcome the participation of youth in policymaking and programming. UNFPA is addressing this by promoting intergenerational dialogue amongst policymakers, programme managers and young people.
22. Young people’s needs incorporated in emergency preparedness, crisis response and recovery
programmes. Young people’s specific vulnerabilities as well as their capabilities have long been overlooked in humanitarian and crisis settings. Out of 87 UNFPA country offices that reported on emergency preparedness, crisis response and recovery, 22 offices promoted effective programme design and development to incorporate young people’s needs into emergency preparedness, crisis response and recovery. Fifteen offices partnered with youth groups/networks in the development and implementation phases of national emergency preparedness plans/documents. Twenty-one offices engaged in building the capacity of international and national partners to address young people’s sexual and reproductive health needs in humanitarian/crisis settings. A six-year UNFPA initiative, which ended in 2007, built local and national capacities to provide reproductive health services and information to displaced adolescents in Burundi, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Occupied Palestinian Territory, Rwanda, and Sierra Leone. A key challenge is to address young people's needs in humanitarian settings holistically. Sexual and reproductive health services and information need to be part of broader inter-agency and multisectoral programmes addressing education, vocational training, livelihoods and other needs of youth. In addition, programmes targeting displaced adolescents should aim at scaling up and 8
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building national capacities, in order to move from limited initiatives to sustainable and comprehensive programming.
Outcome 3: Data on population dynamics, gender equality, young people, sexual and
reproductive health and HIV/AIDS available, analysed and used at national and subnational
levels to develop and monitor policies and programme implementation.
23. 2010 round of censuses. UNFPA spearheaded efforts to mobilize financial and technical support for the 2010 round of censuses and other demographic and household surveys. Many countries reported important progress in planning for the 2010 round of population and housing censuses. Of the 90 countries (out of 120) that had conducted or were planning to conduct a census during the next few years, 79 per cent were reported to be on schedule. Of these, 13 per cent had completed the census and were at the stage of data compilation/dissemination. Table 1 shows the distribution of countries at different stages of the 2010 round of censuses.
Table 1. Countries at different stages of the 2010 round of censuses
Census stage Number of countries
Pre-preparation 47
Preparing for census 26
In process: conducting field operations 5
Completed: compiling data 8
Completed: disseminating/utilizing data 4
Total number of countries 90
24. UNFPA mobilized resources for the 2010 round of censuses for 63 countries and directly provided financial support in 47 countries. Donors that contributed included Denmark, European Commission, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Norway, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. In 78 countries, UNFPA provided support to strengthen national statistical capacities, including developing capacity in the technical aspects of the process, such as cartography, data collection and processing. UNFPA support has also facilitated the exchange of experiences on mobilizing resources and strengthening advocacy efforts for the successful implementation of the 2010 round of population and housing censuses in developing countries.
25. UNFPA support for censuses included assistance provided to Iraq, the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Sudan. In Afghanistan, UNFPA supported preparatory census activities, including design of the questionnaire, enumeration area mapping and capacity-building to conduct the pilot census. In Liberia, technical support was provided for preparatory activities of the 2008 National Population and Housing Census, including cartographic mapping and the pilot census. UNFPA supported the Governments of Mauritania, Mozambique and the United Republic of Tanzania to launch the process of mobilizing funds for the 2010 census. UNFPA has supported national counterparts for the preparatory activities for the 2010 census in Bolivia and contributed to the updating of national information sources, including through a cost-sharing agreement to conduct the 2007 population and household census. The main challenges in the area of censuses include the need to ensure adequate financial resources, technical
t, and international quality standards. suppor
26. Thematic surveys as sources of data on gender, sexual and reproductive health and HIV/AIDS.
UNFPA played an important role in supporting surveys on population, gender and reproductive health
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issues though mobilizing resources for ICPD-related surveys and providing technical support to strengthen national statistical capacities. The following examples are noteworthy: in Armenia, UNFPA provided support to two national surveys, namely, the family survey and the migration survey; in the Islamic Republic of Iran, UNFPA contributed to the engendering of both the 2006 primary health care data and income-expenditure and labour force surveys; and in Sri Lanka, UNFPA supported critical surveys on reproductive health issues that paved the way to gather and analyse data on information gaps related to reproductive morbidities. One of the main challenges encountered is the limited inclusion of gender in the demographic and health surveys (DHS) as well as a lack of agreement on the measurement of gender issues, such as violence against women.
Table 2. UNFPA contributions to improving the availability of data during 2007
Number of
country
offices * % Type of contribution
77.6
Promoting the 2010 round of censuses and ICPD-related surveys 83 %
89.7
Providing technical support to strengthen national statistical capacities 96 %
81.3
Advocating for resource allocation/expenditure for data collection 87 %
Mobilizing resources for the 2010 round of censuses and ICPD-related 60.7
surveys 65 %
90.7
Promoting and improving data dissemination and usage in policy making 97 %
Source: UNFPA country office annual report (COAR) 2007.* Sample of 107 programme countries.
.
27. Availability of disaggregated data and integrated databases. One hundred and five countries have
reported having in place or being in the process of developing a national database with disaggregated population-related data. Regarding time-bound indicators and targets, approximately 84 per cent of national development plans in 2007 included time-bound indicators and targets compared to 47 per cent between 2000 and 2006.
28. Ninety-four per cent of UNFPA country offices reported contributing to building the technical capacities of national counterparts to use data, indicators and targets in decision-making and monitoring (see annex). In the Lao People’s Democratic Republic and Togo, UNFPA, in collaboration with other
United Nations agencies, supported the development and updating of Lao Info and Togo Info, respectively. In the Central African Republic, UNFPA helped mobilize resources from the African Development Bank to develop an integrated indicator database. In Turkey, UNFPA is supporting national counterparts to further improve TURKSTAT, the online population and development/MDG indicators database. One of the main challenges in the area of data analysis and usage is the need to increase the availability of information for planning. Clearly, it is important to increase country capacities to create integrated databases and to analyse, disseminate and use sociodemographic data for policymaking.
Outcome 4: Emerging population issues -- especially migration, urbanization, changing age
structures (transition to adulthood, ageing) and population and the environment -- incorporated
in global, regional and national development agendas.
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