Following the reforms repositioning the UN development system, the UN Maldives’ Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) is the most important planning and implementation instrument of the UN system in support of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2030 Agenda) in the country with a commitment to leave no one behind and in line with human rights and other international standards and obligations. It will outline the UN’s collective response to national development priorities and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the period of 2022-2026 and prepared and implemented in full consultation with the Government and other stakeholders, including development partners, international financial institutions, civil society, trade unions, private sector and beneficiaries. The UN Maldives’ new UNSDCF is expected to be a vehicle for supporting economic transformation, peaceful societies through sustainable development strategies specific to Maldives’s country contexts, and leveraging funding for financing for achieving the SDGs. The full UNSDCF roll-out process and timelines is outlined in the UNSDCF Roadmap. The United Nations Country Team (UNCT) in Maldives launched the process of preparation and formulation of the UNSDCF 2022 – 2026 with the final independent evaluation of the UNDAF 2016-2020. The second stage of the process is the Common Country Analysis (CCA), which is the UN system’s independent, impartial and collective assessment and analysis of a country situation that lays grounds for developing the UNSDCF. This analysis for the UN in Maldives was completed and published on 6 March 2020, in a participatory manner with stakeholders from the Government and civil society. The analysis benefited from strategic multi-stakeholder dialogue and identification of vulnerable groups. While the original UNSDCF timeline earmarked the formulation of new UNSDCF in May 2020 the process was delayed due to COVID-19. Focusing on the economic and social response to the COVID-19 Government of Maldives requested for extension of the current UNDAF for an additional year, ending in December 2021, hence the new UNSDCF will be implemented starting from 2022 instead of the originally as 2021. An SDG Mainstreaming, Acceleration and Policy Support (MAPS) exercise will take place in the last quarter of 2020 to support the development of the new UNSDCF, and national development planning in line with the 2030 Agenda. The MAPS support will identify critical pathways and levers for the country to build back better from the pandemic while bringing the transformation for achieving the broader SDGs. A UNCT Gender Scorecard exercise and Business Operations Strategy (BOS 2.0) formulation process will feed into the new UNSDCF process. The UNSDCF will be centered around a set of priority areas where the UN will contribute to Maldives’ development process over the next five years. These priority areas will be identified, in consultation with the Government, civil society and other stakeholders based upon the findings of the CCA, the UN’s cooperative advantages vis-à-vis the Government and other development actors, and be aligned with the Governments updated Strategic Action Plan (SAP) 2019-2023 and sectoral master plans and policies. All UN entities that implement programmes in the Maldives, will participate in training on the theory of change, gender, results based management, human rights-based approach, leave no one behind and climate change. A strategic planning and prioritization retreat with government and bilateral counterparts between January-March 2021 to collectively define strategic priorities, outcomes and intended development results for the upcoming program cycle. The UNSDCF will be drafted based upon the priority areas and development results identified and agreed during this process, informed by the MAPS engagement The final draft of the UNSDCF is expected to be finalized by March 2021 and signing of the document is expected to take place before June 2021. The formulation of the UNSDCF should be as inclusive as possible, and with a special focus on vulnerable groups including youth, children, women, persons with disabilities, together with partners for the 2030 Agenda including civil society, private sector, and academia. The UNSDCF should also clarify, based on available analyses, how the UN could play some catalytic roles to increase the flow of much broader public and private sector funding towards supporting SDGs (SDG Financing), while also determining how the work of UNSDCF itself could be funded and supported to enable the UNCT to collectively respond to the needs and priorities of the country in support of the 2030 Agenda and realization of SDGs. The UNCT will launch the UNINFO platform for Maldives with the new UNSDCF and the related Joint Work Plans. To support the development of a quality inclusive UNSDCF, on behalf of the UN Country Team (UNCT), the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office is recruiting an international consultant to facilitate the process of formulating UNSDCF 2021-2025 in line with the new UNSDCF guidance and its consolidated annexes and companion pieces. |
