How has the international development community changed in recent times? How do United Nations reforms address these changes? How is the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) going to structure responses to crises and post-conflict situations in the future? Increasingly, it is acknowledged that emphasis must be placed on development co- operation as a tool of crisis prevention as well as a means to sustainable recovery and social and economic progress in the aftermath of crisis.
This paper, written for a meeting of the Executive Board of the UNDP and United Nations Population Fund, addresses the problems faced when responding to crises and post-conflict situations. Reforms at the United Nations, universal calls for a shift to a global ‘culture of prevention’, a new system-wide approach to peace missions, and a growing body of experience in the shortcomings of today’s handling of transition processes are some of the primary forces behind this update of the UNDP crisis and post-conflict strategy.
The way in which the organisation operates in these environments must evolve as a failure to deal with the realities of individual situations in the past has led to an uneven performance, and to perceptions of institutional unpredictability by some key partners. Greater coherence is seen as key to an improved strategy. Coherence within the portfolio, coherence between crisis and post-conflict programmes and other UNDP interventions, and coherence between the UNDP and other actors are important. Other key findings include:
- Predictability of UNDP responses is critical
- The right skill set must be in place at the country level
- Sufficient financial resources must be maintained at the country level
- Programming flexibility is key to success when working where crises or post-conflict situations may arise
- Improved organisational culture and integration of country operations is imperative to success.
The UNDP will significantly strengthen its post-conflict operations in response to the changing global environment and the nature of modern crisis and post-conflict situations. Core business areas include: Support to democratic governance institutions, and an approach whereby UNDP programmes provide an essential bridge between relief and development operations. Key policy directions identified by the UNDP include:
- Continuing the programme of close collaboration with local governments and communities to help enhance national capacities to prevent conflicts, to minimise the damage caused by natural and man-made disasters, and to manage recovery and peace-building processes effectively
- Strengthening its role as a key partner within the United Nations system and beyond, and as a mobiliser and co-ordinator of international assistance in post-conflict situations
- Upgrading staff capacities and organisational reform to create a more streamlined organisation with improved capacities at country-office level
- Developing rapid response and specialist deployment capacities to enable the organisation to respond quickly to requests for assistance
