Delivering as One UN

TIRANA, April 14 – Eleven UN agencies, funds and programs have come together under the Delivering as One UN initiative in Albania. Maintaining their separate mandates, UN agencies work together under the One Program, contributing their specific expertise to achieve results.
It is just over a year since Albania volunteered to pilot the Delivering as One UN and life has been eventful and busy for the UN team – working together with partners to design and start implementation of the One UN Program. The leadership and commitment of Government of Albania towards the Delivering as One UN pilot has been invaluable.
Response from donors has also been positive. To date, Spain, Norway and Switzerland have provided funding for the One UN Coherence Fund in support of the Program and other donors are expected to join this year.
Changes in the way UN agencies work together and with national partners are noted. Priorities this year are to ensure quality delivery of development assistance to Albania and to take on the challenge of reducing transaction costs.
A joint program to promote, preserve and protect Albania’s cultural heritage will soon begin in partnership with the Ministry of Tourism, Culture, Youth and Sports, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, local governments and NGOs. Partners will cooperate to increase awareness in the importance of Albania’s cultural heritage and its role in Albania’s economic development.
The program involves safeguarding the country’s archaeological heritage and providing support to Albania’s participation in the Alliance of Civilizations. A key feature of the program is rehabilitation of the National History Museum in Tirana, transforming it into a modern cultural institution. The project will be implemented by UNESCO as the lead agency and UNDP.
As part of the One UN Program, UNICEF, UNDP, UNV, UNHCR, UNFPA will support vulnerable communities in the regions of Durres, Tirana, Elbasan and Fier.
The joint program will support the implementation of the national strategy on Roma as well as the national strategy on social inclusion. To respond to the multidimensional situation of Roma and Egyptian minorities, a specific focus of the program ensures access to social services in the areas of health, police, labor, education, child protection and civic registration.
At the national level, the project will develop the capacities of institutions and public administration to ensure minority rights. At the local level, Regional Minority Committees will be formed to assist stakeholders in developing local action plans for implementation of the Roma strategy. A 2006 UNDP Study on the social vulnerability of Roma showed that 55 percent of Roma aged 15 years and younger were illiterate, compared to only two percent of the non-Roma population. It is estimated that life expectancy for Roma is ten years lower than the rest of the population in Albania.
These figures demonstrate poverty is multi-dimensional and extreme for Roma. Eighty percent of the Roma community in Albania lives under the poverty line.
Albania, in cooperation with the United Nations, has taken a number of steps to advance gender equality.
The joint UN program on gender equality will work to achieve objectives outlined in the National Strategy on Gender Equality and Domestic Violence such as the strengthening of legal and institutional frameworks on gender equality. Focus will be placed on the implementation of legislation on domestic violence and gender equality.
The Government of Spain has committed $1 million a year for three years to the One UN Coherence Fund in support of the One UN Program in Albania.
Norway and Switzerland have contributed funding to support the One UN Program in Albania with Six Million NOK (approx. US$1.1 million) and CHF 325,000 (approximately US$ 300,000) respectively. In addition, Switzerland has provided US $240,000 in support of change management in the context of the One UN.
Engelbert Ruoss, Director, UNESCO BRESCE-Venice Office said that involvement in the One UN process is a challenging issue. UNESCO has been asked to contribute to joint programs in the fields of key activities – not just to implement patchwork actions. It is expected to see more impact through joint action, more efficient implementation of the UN mandate, transparency and visibility, he said.
Christine Arab, UNIFEM Country Program Manager, said the global UN reform agenda has emphasized that the UN must look critically at how it has worked to advance gender equality and how effectively the system has integrated gender into broader development programs. The UN team in Albania has prioritized gender issues for over five years now, and the Delivering as One UN pilot provides it with the political imperative often necessary to strengthen inter-agency coordination on gender equality, she said.
Permanent Representatives of Ireland and Tanzania to the United Nations, who are currently serving as Co-Chairs to UN General Assembly consultations on system-wide coherence, are expected to visit Albania at the end of April to discuss progress with UN reform at the country level with the government, the UN team and other partners.