Canada and UNDP

Overview

Canada made a contribution of Can$56.5 million in 2005 for regular resources (which fund UNDP's programmes around the world) and its contribution to supplementary funds (which finance specific activities) grew tenfold from 2000 to 2004, increasing from US$5 million to more than US$50 million.

Priority sectors

CIDA's priority sectors in partnering with UNDP include:

• democratic governance,
• crisis prevention and recovery,
• energy and environment,
• HIV/AIDS.

CIDA and UNDP have also developed a strong engagement on the private sector issue, mainly around UNDP's "Growing sustainable business initiative" and the possible establishment of a high level Task Force of CEOs for PSD.

The donor has also been a strong advocate of gender mainstreaming.

Click here to read more about the development policy of the Canadian International Development Agency.

A strong commitment to UN reform

As a strong advocate of multilateral cooperation, Canada has been highly supportive of UN reform. The country has most notably been in favour of simplifying the structure of the UN Secretariat departments involved in development, promoting coordination of the activities of UN specialized agencies in the field, and streamlining the UN machinery in the economic and social realms so that the UN’s development activities can become more efficient.

Canada has been in a unique position to promote these objectives. In February 2006, Robert Greenhill, President of the Canadian International Development Agency, was appointed as a member of the 15-member high-level panel commissionned by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to brainstorm on UN reform.

The High Level Panel on UN Reform and System-Wide Coherence is intended to lay the groundwork for a fundamental restructuring of the UN's operational work. Its recommendations will enable the UN to increase its contribution to achieving the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals.

Enhancing UNDP's performance

As part of the efforts to enhance the efficiency of the UN system, CIDA has been a strong supporter of improving UNDP’s performance in country coordination. It also focuses on organizational effectiveness and is looking for tools to assess the performance of multilateral partners. In 2004 CIDA hosted the secretariat of the MOPAN (Multilateral Organizations Performance Assessment Network), as the group conducted a review of three multilateral agencies, including UNDP, based on perceptions of partners on the ground. Canada also liaises closely with UNDP’s Evaluation Office on results in gender mainstreaming, and strives to establish mechanisms to assess UNDP’s delivery and results at the country level.

CIDA supports development programs based on the principle of strengthening aid effectiveness. These principles include: