What is the project about?

In the Sustainable Development Report 2021, IMF estimates that the global need for additional spending on the SDGs is about 14 percent of global GDP a year by 2030. The program implemented by UNDP, UNICEF, UNFPA, UN Women and the Resident Coordinator Office in Belarus will allow to find new approaches to solving this challenge in Belarus. The goal of the program is to promote new financing tools for sustainable development with a focus on vulnerable populations. 

Participating UN Organizations (PUNO):

• RCO
• United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
• United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
• United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
• UN Women

The UN agencies will implement their parts across various thematic areas with UNDP playing the coordinating role and working with other UN agencies on specific components to ensure continuity across SDGs.

UNDP is also partnering with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection to conduct a finance assessment in the area of environmental protection and sustainable use of natural resources (SDGs 12-15). A team of international and national experts will work together to analyze the existing costs and future financial needs to address environmental challenges in Belarus. Using the BioFin methodology, UNDP will analyze the financial resources allocated for issues related to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, develop optimal options for reallocating existing and attracting new sources of funding. Based on the findings of the assessment, it will be possible to introduce innovative methods of budgeting in the management of natural resources and environmental protection in Belarus and thereby contribute to the improvement of national environmental programs and practices. 

Expected results 

During the two years, capacity building will be rolled out to introduce new budget planning tools, through a division of work between each of the PUNOs. In total, after the programme is finalized, Belarus will be equipped with technical capacity and tools to continue its transition to performance-based budgeting in the areas of health care, social services and natural resources, with a focus on the development of gender-sensitive and child-focused normative budgeting methodology. In addition, the Programme envisages testing the methodology of normative budgeting. Its implementation is expected to help increase the efficiency of public services provision by improving budget planning and spending. In addition, the proposed tools will have several positive effects – promoting economic growth, expanding social inclusion, improving environmental performance and management methods.

Project Details:

Status: Ongoing

Project Start Date: 1 January 2021

Estimated End Date: 30 September 2022 

Focus area: SDG finance

Donor name: Joint SDG Fund

Joint SDG Fund contribution: USD 993’104.00

Project News:

UN agencies in Belarus join efforts to promote new budgeting tools for sustainable development