UNDP Oslo Governance Centre

Events

The 10th UN Inter-agency Round Table on Communication for Development

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, February 12-14, 2007

Held on a biennial basis since 1988, the UN Inter-Agency Round Table on Communication for Development seeks to address cooperation issues among the UN agencies regarding the implementation of programmes and projects in this domain.

The theme chosen for the 10th UN Inter-Agency Round Table is 'Developing a UN system-wide common approach to communication for development in view of achieving the Millennium Development Goals'. The theme was selected because of the unprecedented political support for the MDGs, which provide a strong unifying basis for inter-agency collaboration, and the recognition of Communication for Development’s potential to help deliver the MDGs.

The main objective of the round table is to ensure understanding among the UN agencies regarding the implementation of programmes and projects that contribute to communication for development or use that specific approach to resolve development related issues.  Under this overall objective, each round table develops its agenda and specific objectives with due consideration to current trends and practices including the influence of the rapidly evolving new information and communication technologies on communication for development.

The importance of communication in the development process has been acknowledged for many years by the development community.  In the past decade alone, communication for development has been widely discussed in relation to specific development challenges such as HIV and AIDS but also in the broad sense often revisiting the difficulties of communicating sustainable development. 

• Agenda for the 10th Inter-agency Round Table
  
• UNDP-UNESCO background paper Towards a Common UN System Approach: Harnessing Communication to achieve the MDGs
  
• Report from the 9th Inter-agency Round Table on Communication for Development

Workshop on: Pro-poor Land Governance: Opportunities for Concerted Action

17-19 January 2007 Oslo, Norway

The workshop will gather experts from multilateral agencies, bilateral development agencies, academic institutions and civil society organizations to discuss and identify the characteristics of pro-poor and gender-sensitive land governance and what inter-agency cooperation modalities may work at country level.

The objectives of the workshop are:

• To obtain an overview of perspectives on land governance activities from the participating agencies and organizations;
• To achieve a common understanding among participants on pro-poor and gender-sensitive land governance principles;
• To debate and identify how agencies can enhance their collective potential at country level to effectively assist countries –not only state institutions but also civil society and grass root groups- in developing pro-poor and gender-sensitive land governance policies;
• To disseminate the results of the discussions to relevant stakeholders.

Land governance lies at the heart of many development questions. It may be defined as the formal and informal rules which govern who gets to use which land resources, when, for how long and under what conditions. It is really about the governance of the access to and management of natural resources which directly affect the livelihoods of the poor in rural and urban areas.

Harmonization and coordination to improve efficiency and effectiveness of UN agencies is at the heart of the UN reform process and is in line with the Paris Declaration, the outcome document of the 2005 UN Summit and the report of the SG High-Level Panel. Due to its intrinsic cross-cutting and also complex nature, land governance requires joint efforts and synergies among the multiple agencies and organizations that work on land governance issues. It also requires a shared understanding of what are pro-poor and gender sensitive land governance policies.

While there is a perception of insufficient cooperation which places a burden on the limited capacities of the development partners, land governance, by its very nature, offers unique opportunities to practically apply systems and mechanisms for coordination among agencies, complementing each others’ strengths and overcoming individual weaknesses while avoiding unnecessary competition and overlapping.

Workshop on Openness in Government, Access to Information and Public Information Strategies and Techniques For a Delegation from the Afghan National Assembly

12-13 November 2006 Oslo, Norway

This event gathered 19 representatives from the Afghan National Assembly for a two day workshop on “Openness in Government, Access to Information and Public Information Strategies and Techniques” at the UNDP Oslo Governance Centre. The workshop was part of a larger study tour to Norway and Denmark with the aim of building capacity within the Afghan National Assembly on the issue of Access and Right to Information. In addition to five Senators from the Assembly’s Upper House, 14 staff members from the Departments of Information and Public Relations participated in the workshop.

The workshop was moderated by Andrew Puddephatt, Director of Global Partners, and included such topics as how UNDP uses the Right to Information as a key development tool, the role of media in information management and the role of Parliament and civil society in creating awareness of citizens' right to information, empowering people and how to apply and monitor use of right to information legislation.

A number of specialists working with media and the right to information acted as key resource people for the seminar. Following the workshop, the delegation visited the Norwegian Parliament, met with Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials - including the State Secretary for Development, the Ombudsmand and Norwegian Broadcasting.

First Global Governance and Conflict Prevention Community of Practice Workshop Convened in Kathmandu, Nepal as historic peace agreement is signed.

UNDP Governance and Conflict Prevention practitioners from all over the world met in Kathmandu last week to discuss the linkages between governance and conflict prevention, identify existing challenges and gaps and to share experiences from their country offices in this area. The workshop which took place from 7-9 November was organised by the UNDP Oslo Governance Centre (OGC), in collaboration with UNDP Nepal, BCPR and International IDEA brought together 31 UNDP programme staff working at the intersection of governance and conflict prevention from 15 UNDP Programme countries (Afghanistan, Burundi, Eritrea, Guatemala, Guyana, Indonesia, Iraq, Kosovo, Nepal, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Timor-Leste, Ukraine, Uganda), BDP staff and BCPR staff from New York, Regional Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean and the Regional Service Centre Bangkok.

Working Group Meeting for publication “Linking Millennium Development Goals and Human Rights: Theoretical and Practical Implications”

18-19 September 2006

This Working Group Meeting at the UNDP Oslo Governance Centre will play a central part in the process of drafting the publication “Linking Millennium Development Goals and Human Rights: Theoretical and Practical Implications.”

This publication is being prepared by UNDP, together with the International Council on Human Rights Policy, Geneva. It is a follow-up to the UN-wide e-discussion on “Linking Human Rights and the Millennium Development Goals”, held earlier this year (April- June) on the UN knowledge networks – HuriTalk and MDG Net. The e-discussion addressed the added value of linking Millennium Development Goals and human rights in development. The purpose of this publication is to assist in closing this gap by summarizing the state of the debate on this subject in an attractive and simple way, and addressing the most pressing practical issues.

Through a consultative process with contributors from the e-discussion and moderators from a mix of UN agencies, academic institutions and NGOs, we are identifying the critical questions that need to be addressed in the publication and that will form the basis of the Working Group Meeting.