UNDP Pakistan Governance Programme
| UNDP and Governance | Programme Synopsis | Donor Coordination | Governance Team | Projects |Press Releases | Links |

UNDP and Governance

"UNDP, at the request of governments and in support of its areas of focus, assists in building capacity for good governance, popular participation, public and private sector development and growth with equity, stressing that national plans and priorities constitute the only viable frame of reference for the national programming of operational activities for development within the United Nations system"

                                                                              UNDP Mission Statement

Governance, as defined by UNDP, is the exercise of political, economic and administrative authority in the management of a country's affairs. Good governance involves the constructive interaction of state, market and civil society. It is also characterized by several important values: effectiveness and efficiency, accountability, the rule of law, participation, consensus orientation, responsiveness, equity, and strategic vision.

Good governance and social development for sustainable human development are indivisible and developing the capacity for good governance is a primary means of eradicating poverty. It ensures the establishment of right policies and strategies to support the activities of people to enable them to earn a decent livelihood, ensure access for all to state resources and opportunities, and help people achieve a minimum set of capabilities to lead a long and productive life.

Governance encompasses the mechanisms, processes, and institutions through which citizens and groups articulate their interests, exercise their legal rights, meet their obligations, and resolve their differences. Good governance depends on public participation, ensuring that political, social and economic priorities are based on broad consensus in society and that the poorest and most vulnerable populations can directly influence and participate in policy decision-making, particularly with respect to allocation of development resources.

Country Cooperation Framework (CCF) 1998-2003

The Governance Programme serves as the "lynch-pin" for the Country Cooperation Framework in Pakistan. This position is supported by the presentation of the UNDP Administrator to the Executive Board on 12 June 1995 in which he stated that "poverty eradication should be UNDP's primary end....(and) capacity building for effective, sound governance should be UNDP's primary means. None of the priority goals for UNDP support will be possible without sound, competent and capable governance, and capacity building for this type of governance - governance that can achieve sustainable human development - should be central to all UNDP's work."

The CCF 1998-2003 contains the goals and strategies of the Government of Pakistan for its development cooperation with UNDP. The main goal of CCF is poverty eradication and Sustainable Human Development (SHD). Governance is one of three programme areas under the CCF.
 
 


 



Governance Programme Synopsis

Governance is one of the three areas of programme intervention through which the issues of poverty eradication and sustainable human development are to be addressed under the UNDP Country Cooperation Framework (CCF) for the period 1998-2003. The overall objective of the Governance Programme is " to create an enabling environment within which the people of Pakistan can influence the direction and conduct of their governing institutions." The present structure of the programme includes four major components: policy development, governing institutions, decentralization, and information and communications technology. Several policy and strategic initiatives of the Government of Pakistan justify this focus.

Governance reform is high on the national policy agenda. To achieve efficient, transparent and responsive administrative system capable of delivering high quality public services to common people, the Government of Pakistan has initiated the following seven points agenda:

1) Rebuild National confidence and morale

2) Strengthen federation, remove inter-provincial disharmony

3) Revive and restore investors' confidence

4) Ensure law and order and dispense speedy justice

5) Depoliticise state institutions

6) Devolution of powers to the grass roots level

7) Ensure swift and across the board accountability

The Government of Pakistan has already announced a framework for devolution under the Local Government Plan 2000 and plans to strengthen the Election Commission of Pakistan electoral reforms have been announced. These initiatives are seen as step towards the revival of democratic process in Pakistan. UNDP Pakistan Governance Programme is providing institutional, policy and implementation support to the national reform initiatives. Thus the thrust of the Programme is to support the revival of the democratic process in Pakistan through the implementation of the proposed Local Government Plan 2000 announced on 14 August 2000 and to support the electoral process. The Programme is well positioned to support the emerging priorities of governance reforms in Pakistan in the following areas, as well as others that could be added at government request, subject to congruence with UNDP priorities and available resources.

GOVERNANCE POLICY SUPPORT

Support for the identification, formulation, and initial implementation of governance reforms; consultative and participatory processes in relation to them; and, the redefinition of the missions and objectives of government ministries and departments (preferably as part of reform implementation). Seed money and technical assistance may also be provided for the initial implementation of governance reforms. Think Tank national consultants, studies, and directly related equipment are being financed.

A project to support the Good Governance Group (G3 Project: US$830,700) has been approved. The project is based at the National Reconstruction Bureau (NRB) and is providing national consultants for policy think tanks in strategic areas, as well as a UNDP/UNOPS international governance expert, short-term international consultants, and other inputs. The NRB has asked UNDP to coordinate support to the reform process from other UNDP Pakistan Governance Programme (PGP) projects, as well as from other multi and bilateral partners. Assistance in linkages to reform processes in other countries, especially in Asia, has also been requested. The UNDP PARAGON Regional Governance Programme and the South Asia Sub-Regional Resource Facility (SURF), both based in Islamabad, will serve as vehicles for networking regional reform processes. The Participatory Action Research for Development in Governance and Management (PARADIGM project: budget of US$1.6 million) has been approved and its implementation has been initiated recently. This umbrella programme would provide seed money for the initiation of a new generation of governance reform and support innovative governance initiatives.
ELECTORAL PROCESS

The reconstruction of democracy has been announced as a top priority by the Government of Pakistan and UNDP is supporting electoral reform process through assistance to Election Commission of Pakistan. There are two elements of support to the democratic electoral process in Pakistan. The first relates to the long term capacity building of electoral institutions such as the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). The second relates to the immediate requirement for coordinated donor support to the democratic electoral process starting with the local government elections in December 2000 and leading to the provincial and national level elections. Certainly the two elements are complementary but they relate to different time frames and focus.

Areas of long-term support through the Support to Democratic Electoral Process project include the production of transparent, accurate electoral roles; the professionalization of electoral administration in an electoral commission independent of political influence; and, the mobilization of greater levels of electoral participation both by the electoral commission and NGOs. Particularly targeted for greater participation are women, the poor, and minorities. This project can form the basis for coordinated international donor community support for the preparation of truly democratic elections, whenever they may occur.

The full scale project "Support to Democratic Electoral Processes in Pakistan " (SDEPP: US$4.7 million) has been approved. Norway is providing cost-sharing contribution to the project and in addition to that country, United Kingdom, European Union and the Canadians have expressed interest in the full-scale project phase.
TRANSPARENCY, OPEN ACCESS, AND FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

Geographical Information System support (consultancy, training equipment, and software) is being provided to the Survey of Pakistan (SOP)-Survey Training Institute (STI); the government of Balochistan; the Karachi Citizen Police Liaison Committee (CPLC), and it is planned for the government of NWFP. Participatory information and planning systems are being undertaken in trial districts in Balochistan. Intensive community-based information about social problems, services, integrity, and levels of citizen satisfaction is being developed. A pilot land records management system is being developed for Islamabad linked with the work of SOP-STI, the Capital Development Authority (CDA), and the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT). The results of this pilot project will be available for demonstration to the provincial governments for possible adoption by them. It should be noted that an improvement in the transparency of land records could reduce the level of land conflicts that constitute a large percentage of the cases in lower courts as well as a large percentage of the blood cases. Preparations have also been made for more open access and easier flows of information within governmental entities, between them, and between governmental entities and the public. This is to be accomplished through a computerized Governance Information System (GIS) in which the initial participating ministries are Commerce, Industry and Information. This system would eventually be extended to other federal entities with the provinces being invited to join if they so wish. Citizen access to the system for public information , as well as communications between government and the citizenry, can be facilitated by the internet and Citizen's Information Service Centers which may be created for this purpose.

The preparatory assistance phase of the Support for SOP-STI project (US$333,600) is being finalized and a full-scale project will soon be formulated. The Balochistan and NWFP projects are presented below in the section "Decentralization and Local Empowerment".
ACCOUNTABILITY

Of course transparency can contribute to accountability through greater public access to information. Additionally, the PGP has sponsored a mission by UNDP's Programme on Accountability and Transparency (PACT) in New York on proposed reform actions to make more effective the work of the Auditor's General Office. A workshop is programmed to debate these findings. On the basis of the report and the workshop results a proposal for UNDP assistance to Auditor General's Office Reform will be prepared. Within this same framework or separately, it is also proposed to offer support on making more transparent and accountable contracting and procurement procedures.

All of the accountability actions are contemplated under the previously described PARADIGM project.
DECENTRALIZATION AND LOCAL EMPOWERMENT

A Balochistan Trial District Management Project (BTDMP) is being undertaken in Balochistan and a similar Institutional Reform Project is being prepared in NWFP. These projects involve community empowerment through community information on social problems and participatory information and planning systems (as previously described). They also involve the interface between the community and the local authorities, as well as the interface between the districts and the line ministries and other entities of the provincial governments. In the case of NWFP the project also includes institutional and policy analysis of the provincial government in general. The NWFP project has been designed to support the implementation of the LGP 2000 at the provincial level. Finally, the UNDP PGP has supported the Karachi Citizen Police Liaison Committee with state of the art crime analysis systems and is willing to support the expansion of this concept to other cities. Through the CPLC an international mission on "Sustainable Peace in Karachi" was also sponsored and support would also be forthcoming for the implementation of the recommendations of that mission: police reform, community-based development, and municipal government.

The BTDMP (US$ 1.3 million) initiated full-scale implementation in 1998. The NWFP Institutional Reform Project is now completing a preparatory assistance (US$ 650,000 ) and the first draft of a full scale project has been prepared. Formulation could be completed and the project initiated in the 4th quarter of 2000. Support to the CPLC has been undertaken on the MDP project, while the continuation and expansion of support to CPLC, as well as the proposed work on local level finance, would be undertaken through the PARADIGM project.
Strategic Results Framework

The SRF 2000-2003 has been prepared by UNDP for Pakistan in consultation with national counterparts. The goals of the SRF, formulated specifically in the area of Governance, are as follows:

 
Goal 1:  "To promote people-centred governance for sustainable human development"

Sub Goal 1 : Strengthen capacity of key governance institutions for people-centred development; and foster social cohesion.

Sub Goal 2 : Promote decentralization that supports participatory local governance, strengthens local organizations and empowers communities.

Sub Goal 3 : Promote an efficient and accountable public sector that serves all citizens.

Donor Coordination

UNDP Governance Unit has been commited to maintianing close ties with its government and nongovernment partners,  providing a key link to coordination between government agencies and bilateral/multilateral donor agencies.  It serves as a secretariat for the Institutional Development Task Force.

The Institutional Development Task Force ( IDTF) was established in 1994 in order to facilitate capacity building for the Social Action Programme. It also aimed to combine the experience and expertise of the donor agencies in developing concrete capacity building measures for SAP. The various member agencies of IDTF include UNDP, World Bank, CIDA, Aus Aid, DFID, NORAD, MSU, SAC, EC, ADB, as well as the embassies of Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Sweden, Belgium, Denmark, Japan, Norway and Switzerland in addition to the British and Canadian High Commissions.
 

Governance Unit Team

 Tel : 92  51  2279165-74                                       Ext         Direct

Mr. Farhan Sabih   Governance Unit Chief     2232      2277410
e-mail : farhan.sabih@undp.org

Mr. M. Zaheer      Governance Adviser             2234      2822315
e-mail : m.zaheer@undp.org

Ms. Akiko Fujii    Programme Officer                2204
e-mail : akiko.fujii@undp.org

Mr. Asif Bhattee   Programme Associate        2233
e-mail : asif.bhattee@undp.org

Mr. M. Nasir        Programme Assistant           2230      2277410
e-mail : muhammad.nasir@undp.org

Contact:

Governance Unit,
UNDP Pakistan
9th Floor, Saudi Pak Tower,
Jinnah Avenue,Blue Area,
Islamabad

Tel :  92   51  2279165- 74
Fax:  92   51  2279080- 83
 
 


PROFILE OF UNDP GOVERNANCE PROJECTS

        Approved Projects:
 

Besides these projects there are other regional and national projects of UNDP which have strong governance aspects (for example, rural support and gender projects)


 


LINKS TO UNDP GOVERNANCE WEB SITES :
 


UNDP Management Development & Governance Division (MAGNET)

 UNDP Democratization & Governance

 PARAGON Regional Governance Programme

South Asia Sub-Regional Resource Facility (SURF)


              LINKS TO PAKISTAN GOVERNANCE WEB SITES:

National Reconstuction Bureau (NRB)