United Nations Bhutan Country Fund

Overview

Bhutan became the world’s youngest democracy following the successful elections to the country’s first democratically elected Parliament in March 2008. This major political transition requires support over the long term. Challenges remain to build a firm foundation for the smooth functioning of a democratically elected government, through further strengthening of the constitutional bodies, enhanced capacity development of local governments, expanding the role of civil society, an independent media and continued progress in the socio-economic arena. The credibility of democratic governance, central to the achievement of human development, is dependent on the success of the newly established democratic institutions and their ability to effectively address the overarching national goal of poverty eradication.

The UNDAF Action Plan for Bhutan (common Country Programme Action Plan: cCPAP 2008-2012) was developed in response to the challenges and opportunities associated with this transition to democracy as well as the significant capacity constraints in most sectors to adequately support the country’s socio-economic development. It is the result of a highly consultative and participatory process involving the Royal Government of Bhutan, key national implementing partners, all resident and non-resident UN agencies supporting Bhutan and other international partners. The cCPAP is fully aligned with national development priorities laid out in the 10th Five-Year Plan of the Royal Government, and encompasses the activities of 15 UN agencies supporting Bhutan (UNCTAD joined the cCPAP signatories on 30 June 2009) within the five UNDAF outcome areas of support, namely: poverty reduction; health; education; good governance and environment conservation & disaster risk management, with gender and ICT as cross cutting areas for support. Click here for more information on these five thematic areas.

The objective of the UN Bhutan Country Fund (Terms of Reference) is to channel additional donors’ funding to support the un(der)funded portions of the UNDAF/cCPAP and new initiatives responding to emerging needs. This will enhance the flexibility and responsiveness of the UN system through the UNDAF/cCPAP to adapt to national priorities. The UN Bhutan Country Fund will support allocation and disbursement of donor resources and coherent resource mobilization and will contribute to realizing the UNDAF/cCPAP outcomes by strengthening the planning and coordination process, and channeling consistent and predictable funds towards the highest programme priorities.

The UN Bhutan Country Fund is administered by the Multi-Donor Trust Fund Office (MDTF Office) of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in accordance with its financial regulations and rules.