About UNDP in Nepal

UNDP has been supporting the Nepalese people in their struggle against poverty since it opened an in-country office in 1963. Much of this support has gone to building up the capacity of government agencies, civil society and community groups to fight poverty, and to bringing these groups and Nepal's donors together to design and implement successful poverty alleviation projects.

UNDP in Nepal concentrates its efforts for greater impact in the most remote, poor, and/or conflict-affected areas of the mid- and far-western development regions and the Terai, where its rights-based interventions are targeted towards the disadvantaged and vulnerable groups. The UNDP programmes seek opportunities for joint programming with other United Nations organizations and engage in joint planning and monitoring of development activities in selected districts. 

UNDP's actions and programmes are defined in its Country Programme Action Plan (CPAP) which is prepared between UNDP and the Government of Nepal. The CPAP is based on the broader United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF). UNDP's current CPAP (2013-2017) is based upon UNDAF 2012-2017.

The signing of a comprehensive peace agreement in November 2006 by the Government of Nepal and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) marked a historic step in ending the ten-year conflict. The Security Council, under Resolution 1740 of 23 January 2007, established the United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) to support the peace process through the monitoring of arms, armed personnel and the ceasefire, and to provide technical support for the elections to the Constituent Assembly. The tenure of UNMIN ended on 15 Jan 2011. Given the evolving political context, the Programme implementation strategies are made flexible for UNDP to adapt and address emerging needs through an iterative review process in consultation with the Government and donor partners.

Currently the overarching priority of our work in Nepal is to help the Government and its people build a lasting peace and achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by:

• Strengthening governance institutions from community to national Government levels;
• Improving incomes and generating employment;
• Improving the policy environment and planning capabilities;
• Protecting Nepal's development gains from the ill-effects of natural disasters and climate change; and
• Empowering women and disadvantaged people and fostering policies for equity and equality.

Within this framework, our Programmes address the following priority areas for Nepal's development:

• Transitional Democratic Governance
• Inclusive Growth & Sustainable Livelihood
• Peace Building and Recovery
• Energy, Environment and Natural Disaster Management

Gender and social inclusion is cross-cutting issues in these areas.

In 2011 UNDP directly contributed to improving the living conditions of people through programmes such as the United Nations Interagency Rehabilitation Programme, whereby Verified Minors and Late Recruits of the Maoist army have enrolled and completed various trainings and 60% of the graduates have been employed to date.

2011 also saw the roll-out of a new Conflict Prevention Programme. Both pillars of the programme, Collaborative Leadership and Dialogue, and Do No Harm/Conflict Sensitivity have developed a critical mass of capacity through targeted trainings of UN Staff, youth and women’s leaders, civil society, and government counterparts.

UNDP has supported the preparation of an MDG Progress Report and an MDG Needs Assessment Report that provided key policy interventions for the achievement of MDGs, such as the MDG Acceleration Framework to be rolled out in 2012.

In partnership with the UN Offce of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), UNDP supported the NHRC to develop and submit an Alternative Report—a Universal Periodic Review (UPR) to the UN Human Rights Council. The Human Rights Council made 135 recommendations of which Nepal accepted 56 recommendations. In order to monitor the implementation of UPR in 2012, a roadmap and plan of action has also been developed with UNDP support.

The Legislature Parliament of Nepal passed a long awaited Mediation Bill and the amendment Bill of Judicial Administration Act on 11 April 2011. This was a major breakthrough for the judicial system to institutionalize the informal justice system in Nepal with UNDP’s support to finalize the mediation bill. The amendment bill to judicial administration has brought signiQcant changes in decentralizing the judicial system.

The implementation of an Aid Management Platform in the Ministry of Finance has improved the quality, transparency and comprehensiveness of
data on foreign aid Rows, in particular for off-budget projects which were previously under reported. With UNDP’s technical assistance the database is now accessible online to key ministries and all 34 resident donors. The government is using this new system to improve the tracking of aid funded projects in the national budget, and to monitor key aid effectiveness commitments.

Similarly, on the environment front, an Economic Valuation Tool for Wetlands of Nepal was developed and launched in 2011. This tool can be used to put a monetary value on the economic, community service, irrigation, biodiversity and other values of wetlands, to help convince policy makers of the importance of wetland conservation and sustainable use.

The UNDP Comprehensive Disaster Risk Management Programme supported institutional capacity development through the establishment of disaster risk reduction focal points in government agencies which have been an important milestonefor mainstreaming risk reduction into national and sector planning. Work on disaster risk management is also being addressed by the Nepal Risk Reduction Consortium (NRRC), a collaborative group addressing several dimensions of disaster management in Nepal, which is widely viewed as a global example of best practice in showing ways and means of ensuring more predictable funding for disaster risk reduction through a multi-stakeholder approach.

In the area of HIV, one of the biggest achievements of UNDP has been to enable the government to undertake two new roles regarding HIV services; the undertaking of the new HIV programme under the Nepal Health Sector Programme 2 and secondly the management of logistics such as procuring HIV services from NGOs. UNDP has also supported the production of National HIV/AIDS Strategic Plan (2011-2016) in partnership with UNAIDS, launched in 2011.

The Resident Coordinator, Mr. Robert Piper, heads the UN System in Nepal and is the Resident Representative for UNDP in Nepal. UNDP’s Country Director, Ms. Shoko Noda, is responsible for the day-to-day operations of UNDP Nepal. Deputy Country Director (Programme), Mr. Jorn Sorensen, and Deputy Country Director (Operations), Mr. Barnaby Jones, are responsible for their respective departments.

UNDP Nepal works closely with the Government of Nepal. The UNDP programmes are prepared in consultation with the Government, civil society organizations, United Nations organizations and other development partners, and appraised at a joint strategy meeting. As the Government coordinating agency, the Ministry of Finance heads the Country Programme Board, which guides the implementation of the Programme and the cross-sectoral linkages are ensured through outcome boards. The implementation guidelines are revised in line with the results management guidelines, to support national ownership and accountability. UNDP and the Government exercise flexibility in implementing sensitive activities critical for the peace process.