The Minister/Deputy Chairman, National Planning Commission, Dr. Shamsuddeen Usman has said that the overarching goal of the United Nations Development Assistance Framework III (UNDAF III), is to assist the Government to meet the commitments made in its 1st Implementation Plan, the Transformation Agenda, and more specifically to work towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The Minister stated this in Abuja, Tuesday, 30th July, 2013 during the signing ceremony of UNDAF III and the inauguration of the Steering Committee for the Framework.
The agreement was jointly signed by the Minister, National Planning on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria and the United Nations Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Nigeria, Mr. Daouda Toure.
According to Dr. Usman, the UNDAF III document is not only closely aligned with the country's national priorities, but has also assisted greatly in the reduction in the duplication of UN activities in the country, leading to a reduction in transaction costs, for both the Nigeria Government and the UN System.
He added that the framework, apart from being crafted as a strategic process for forging higher levels of critical partnerships and promoting public action for achieving key human development goals in the country, intends to further improve the UN systems implementation coherence in the country, within four key result areas of: good governance, social capital development, sustainable and equitable economic growth and human security and risk management.
"With these structures in place, I am certain that there will be a deepening of the coherence and result oriented implementation regime that became evident during the UNDAF II with life changing impact on the most vulnerable parts of our society"; the Minister, said.
Highlighting the notable achievements, outputs and outcomes of UNDAF II implementation covering the period 2009 - 2013, the Minister said the programme was a most beneficial intervention for the country in many ways. These include assisting NPC, both financially and by providing technical expertise during the process of the articulation of Nigeria's Vision 20:2020 and 1st National Implementation Plan (2010 - 2013)
Other interventions also, were in the areas of support given to two states (Benue and Niger) in the development of the States' vision document; assisting Ministry of Health in conducting the National Health Accounts and Public Expenditure Reviews (PERs) in the health sector; and also supported the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) to create awareness on the use of Development Information Software, as a tool for storing, retrieving and presenting evidence in charts, table and maps.
Accordingly, it had also assisted 20 States' Planning Commissions/Statistical Agencies to develop States' specific databases; supported EFCC on the development of a tool to assist Civil Society in budget tracking and also supported Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on the 2011 elections, as well as in the strengthening of electoral and political institutions.
In response, the UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Nigeria, Mr. Daouda Toure said, the UN Nigeria which has piloted the UN 'Delivering as One' (DAO) initiative in some selected States, is aimed at unifying and aligning the work of the UN Systems in Nigeria to efficiently and effectively deliver results in support of national priorities, as well as serve as a preparation for a full-fledged self-starter DAO country in the near future.
He assured that the UN Agencies and Organizations will bring in the necessary synergy with greater impact support to the country's efforts on the development and action against humanitarian challenges and provide quality policy advice and technical assistance to Nigeria.
Meanwhile, setting up the Steering Committee is to provide oversight and strategic direction for the implementation of the UNDAF III and the overall DAO agenda in Nigeria which will take effect in 2004, Mr. Toure, said.
The UNDAF III is the third in the series of Common Country Programme Documents produced by the United Nations System in Nigeria. It differs essentially from the previous ones because of its adoption of the principle of DAO in its implementation.
The UNDAF III which has 52 outputs and 18 outcomes has the sum of $920million as total indicative amount of financial resources to be mobilized in support of the framework. The results framework will therefore constitute the contribution of UNDAF III to national priorities for 2014 - 2017, coinciding with the period of the 2nd National Implementation Plan of Vision 20:2020.
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