As prepared for delivery

Mr. Chair, Members of the Executive Board, esteemed Colleagues,

It is my pleasure to introduce the session on country programmes and related matters. 

Today, UNDP is honored to present for your consideration the Country Programme Documents of Kenya, Tanzania, and the Syrian Arab Republic.

These programmes are aligned with the respective national development priorities and, in the case of Syria, with the country’s humanitarian and early recovery needs.  
All programmes have been developed through a transparent and consultative process with relevant government ministries and departments, the UN Country Teams, and a wide range of stakeholders.

They benefit from evaluation findings and lessons learned from the previous programme cycles and are well aligned to our new Strategic Plan.

Our Regional Directors will soon take the floor to provide you with more detailed information on the programmes themselves, but I would like to stress that new UNDP Country Programmes presented to this Board are aligned with their respective United Nations Cooperation Frameworks.

Together with UNFPA, UNICEF, UN Women, and in close collaboration with UNDCO, UNDP firmly upholds the vision of a reformed development system.

When it comes to programming, we go through every step to ensure the derivation from - and alignment with - the Cooperation Framework:

First, our Country Programme Documents – CPDs - are formulated from the onset in a sequenced manner from the respective Cooperation Frameworks. Upholding our role as provider of integrated development solutions, we conduct joint analysis on the integration between development issues with tailored analytical tools and approaches to produce quality Common Country Analysis.

Second, our CPDs articulate how UNDP will contribute to them, together with our partners, based on our comparative advantage. In addition, the adoption of common and complementary indicators allows us to track progress more effectively against our shared development results.

Third, in strict compliance with the QCPR, we present our CPDs alongside their respective Cooperation Frameworks on the dedicated webpage of the UNDCO. In doing so, we also make sure that we proceed in lockstep with our close partners, UNFPA, UNICEF, and UN Women.

Fourth, in line with the Management and Accountability Framework, all CPDs presented to this Board have been duly reviewed and endorsed by the respective UN Resident Coordinator.

Finally, I would also like to take the opportunity to welcome the approval of the new UNDCO’s guidance on the ‘UN Cooperation Framework in exceptional circumstances’, a much-needed policy instrument to maintain business continuity where the necessary conditions may not be in place to develop a full-fledged framework and/or secure the approval of the host government.

 Before we turn to the new country programmes that are being presented for your approval today, you may wish to take note of the first, one-year, extension of the country programme of Angola.

As per established procedure, the extension has been granted by the UNDP Administrator to guarantee the alignment with the UN Cooperation Framework and ensure harmonization with the National Development Plan.

To conclude, I would like to personally thank all members of the Board for the feedback received on the draft CPDs during the formal commenting period, and for your productive engagement at the informal sessions.  
As always, we look forward to your deliberations.