UNDP Oslo Governance Centre

Relocation of the Oslo Governance Centre!

I would like to inform you about some important changes taking place at OGC during the month of September due to our relocation.

Starting on 14 September, the addresses of OGC will be as follows:

Visitors address:
Inkognitogt. 37
0256 Oslo

Mailing address:
Postboks 2847, Solli
0204 Oslo

To be able to operate in the new premises from 14 September, staff will be busy with the logistics of moving during the week of 7-11 September, and it will therefore be difficult for us to respond to requests as we normally do.

During the period of 14 September – 2 October [both days included] OGC will be without telephone lines and internet connection. Staff will therefore be telecommuting during most of this 3 week period. Attached you will find a list of cell phone numbers and skype addresses that you can use to get in touch.

Assuming that everything works according to plan, we should be fully operational in our new premises on 5 October.
Contact Details

Regards from

Welcome to the Oslo Governance Centre!

The Oslo Governance Centre [OGC] was established in 2002 as part of UNDP's global policy network for democratic governance. The overarching purpose of the work of the OGC is to position UNDP as a champion of democratic governance, both as an end in itself, and as a means to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. This is done through knowledge networking and multi-disciplinary team work, to provide policy guidance and technical support to the more than 130 UNDP Country Offices around the world. It also involves close partnerships with leading policy and research institutions in different parts of the world. Read more

What's new

1 October 2009
Introductory Primer on the Role of Legal Reform in Supporting Civil Society
This Introductory Primer on the Role of Legal Reform in Supporting Civil Society was commissioned by UNDP from the International Centre for Not-for-Profit Law to respond to the increasing demand on UNDP to engage with or advise governments to develop civil society legal frameworks. The primer will guide UNDP in facilitating state-citizen relations through a better understanding of the normative and practical aspects of the often sensitive issue of legal and regulatory framework allowing and governing the establishment of civil society organizations, and their space and scope to function in public life.
Download PDF

25 September 2009:
Users’ Guide on Measuring Fragility
The Users’ Guide on Measuring Fragility, jointly produced by UNDP Oslo Governance Centre and the German Development Institute, provides a comparative analysis of cross-country fragility indices - their conceptual premises, methodologies and possible use.
Download PDF

7 August 2009:
Elections and Conflict Prevention. A Guide to Analysis, Planning and Programming.
The Guide provides UNDP practitioners in the field of governance and electoral assistance with practical options and tools for programming design, early warning and conflict tracking. It sets out valuable lessons learned from the previous, extensive experience of UNDP and its partner organizations in the field. Download PDF

Now Online - UN Practitioners Portal on HRBA! www.hrbaportal.org The Practitioners Portal brings together a wide range of resources on integrating human rights-based approaches (HRBA) into development programming, making them accessible to users through a single entry point (www.hrbaportal.org).

During the last decade, the UN and other actors including donors and civil society have accumulated a wide range of knowledge and experience in mainstreaming HRBA into development. The Practitioners' Portal pools together this knowledge and practical experience into a single environment, providing users with a convenient ‘one-stop shop’ on HRBA. The aim of the portal is to support and encourage practitioners working to apply a HRBA in their work by providing them with easily accessible experience and resources in this area.

What the Portal Offers:

HRBA in the UN System: Information on the UN Common Understanding on HRBA, the Common Learning Package on HRBA and 2009 Guidelines for programming HRBA into the CCA/UNDAF;

Resource Database: Browse or search for resources according to topic, region, resource type or programming tool. Access how-to guides, manuals, case-studies & learning materials. The thematic pages also provide access to relevant human rights instruments, mechanisms and organizations within a given topic area.

Huritalk Corner: examples of practical experience and lessons-learned shared by members on the UN Human Rights Policy Network. The consolidated replies and E-Discussions in this area are accessible only by registering your UN email address.

Noticeboard: Information on upcoming events, trainings, job vacancies and announcements.

Interactive Features: Users can comment on and rate resources, send documents to colleagues via email and bookmark or share resources, including through facebook, twitter, Digg.

Take a look ...

Mapping of Democratic Governance Projects that Support the MDGs:
A mapping of democratic governance projects in support of the MDGs was undertaken in May 2009. The project mapping illustrates and presents a wide range of democratic governance projects that support MDG achievement. The mapping provides a brief description of 78 projects with hyperlinks, where possible, to additional project information. The mapping is meant to be illustrative rather than exhaustive. It is based on desk research and focused on UNDP’s principal democratic governance databases. The mapping took place in phases and can be seen through three grouping methods. One follows the pillars of democratic governance in UNDP’s strategic plan. Another follows the MDG clusters. A third method groups democratic governance interventions in support of the MDGs in conflict contexts. In the final section, some lessons are distilled from example projects which have been evaluated. Read more...

10-12 June 2009 :
The Leadership and Innovations in the Democratic Governance (LEADING) Seminar-Bangkok, Thailand
The seminar was jointly organized by Regional Centre in Bangkok, Oslo Governance Centre and Learning Resources Centre. During the two and a half days participants benefitted from recent academic research and exchanged practical experiences on democracy and state building. One day of the seminar was dedicated as peer-to-peer clinic, which allowed participants to share lessons learned on democratic governance issues. Participants included five resource persons and seventeen UNDP senior management staff (Resident Coordinators, Country Directors, and Deputy Resident Representatives) from Asia Pacific region. Read more

28 May 2009:
GOVERNANCE ASSESSMENT PORTAL NOW ONLINE!
www.gaportal.org

The Portal is the first global hub and one-stop shop in the area of democratic governance assessments. It will provide UNDP staff, national counterparts and the wider community of stakeholders easy access to a variety of sources of information for planning and implementing country-led governance assessments. It also provides important guidance on UNDP’s niche, principles and approach in assisting developing countries to produce disaggregated and non-ranking governance indicators. The Portal will ultimately be an important resource for national stakeholders to better monitor performance in democratic governance reforms. Read more

23 March 2009:
A User’s Guide to Measuring Gender-Sensitive Basic Service Delivery
The Guide is produced as part of a UNIFEM, UNDP, and Gender at Work initiative called Gender and Democratic Governance in Development, which aims to improve the governance of basic services provision to women.   English , French , Spanish

‘I have read with pleasure the Guide. It is amazing, I thought I might be a little bored or something but the minute I started I couldn't let it go. The way it is divided and the information provided are neat, attractive and comprehensive. I have loved the case study so much and really it can be used for so many training courses on negotiation, communication, Gender. It is written in a very interesting way that for a moment I felt that I am reading a best seller.’

Aida Abu-Ras, Regional Gender Advisor, UN-ESCWA

 

05 May 2009:
The sixth issue of HuriTalk Insight Series is now online
The Global Economic Crisis through a Human Rights Lens.
Read more

 

19 February 2009:
The fifth issue of HuriTalk Insight Series is now online
The Contribution of Human Rights to Overcoming the Global Water and Sanitation Crisis
Read more

 

01 December 2008:
24-25 November 2008 - Oslo, Norway - Workshop on: Land Governance and Emerging Development Agendas: Legal Empowerment, Climate Change and Food Security.
The Workshop brought together academic and policy experts, UNDP practitioners from selected country offices, and BDP policy advisors to deepen understandings of how emerging development agendas relate to land governance and how country level engagements could be strengthened to provide a meaningful response.
Read more

 

18 November 2008:
Regional Training: Developing Capacities for Accountability and Voice
The Oslo Governance Centre and the Bratislava Regional Centre organized a joint training event on accountability and voice mechanisms for public service delivery at the local level. The training was attended by UNDP country offices in the Europe and CIS region and focused on the practical application of voice and accountability mechanisms such such as citizen report cards, public expenditure tracking, performance based budgets, and public hearings.
Read more

 

6 October 2008:
The third issue of HuriTalk Insight Series is now online
October 2008- The Universal Periodic Revew of the Human Rights Council: What is it and How can UNCTs engage?
Read more

 

29 August 2008:
A Users’ Guide to Measuring Corruption
A Users' Guide to Measuring Corruption, jointly produced by UNDP and Global Integrity, is one of the first attempts to explore how best to use existing tools to measure what is increasingly viewed as one of the major impediments to development: corruption.
Read more

 

28 August 2008:
The second issue of HuriTalk Insight Series is now online
Issue 2 - August 08 - The Challenge of Rising Food Prices and Food Insecurity: What do Human Rights have to do with it?
Read more

 

16 June 2008:
The first issue of HuriTalk Insight Series is now online
Issue 1 - June 08 - The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Read more

 

28 May 2008:
The 2008 Fellows have now been selected
Read more

 

13-15 May 2008:
Chinese delegation visits Oslo
A delegation from the China Center for Comparative Politics and Economics (CCCPE) visited the UNDP Oslo Governance Centre in support of the development of a governance assessment framework in china. The study tour was organized as part of a project funded by the UNDP Democratic Governance Thematic Trust Fund. Read more

 

Web-based guide on How to Engage with the International Human Rights Machinery.
The Guide - written primarily for the non-human rights expert- provides guidance on how to strengthen engagement with the international human rights machinery, specifically with UN Treaty Bodies and UN Special Procedures. It is based on the views and experience of development practitioners and includes case studies from their work around the world.

 

OGC supports community assessments in Africa
In late 2007, assessments of the information and communication needs of communities in Madagascar and Mozambique have been undertaken with the support of OGC, through its Communication for Empowerment pilot project.

 

The Oslo Governance Centre Training Referral Service is now available online.
The Service includes a database containing detailed information on institutions and training providers from across the world that offer training services for governance and development practitioners. To access the database, click here.

 

The workshop on Local Government in Post-Conflict Situations: Challenges for Improving Local Decision Making and Service Delivery Capacities was held in Oslo, Norway on 28-29 November 2007. For more information click here

 

The 10th JPO Workshop on Governance and Conflict Prevention and Recovery was held in Bangkok, Thailand, on 19-23 November 2007. The workshop was organised by the JPO Service Centre in cooperation with the Oslo Governance Centre. Find more here

 

Two New Tools on Human Rights and the MDGs: The Primer- Human Rights and the Millennium Development Goals- Making the Link and the WebPortal- HuRiLink. These tools have been designed to support development practitioners effectively link human rights and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Find out more.

 

The 2007 Bergen Seminar, Governance Assessments and the Paris Declaration: Opportunities for Inclusive Participation and National Ownership, was held in Bergen, Norway on 23-25 September. The Seminar was organised in partnership with the Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI). For more information, click here