|
During the year under review, the country saw a relatively calm
period, notwithstanding moderate political tension before and
after the general elections held in February 2007. As in the
past years, the election results were contested by the main
opposition political parties, resulting in a series of lawsuits
and protests against the government.
The UN system played the role
of a neutral and honest broker, and promoted a cause for peace
and security in the country. Led by the Office of the Resident
Coordinator, and with assistance from DPA and BCPR, the Country
Team responded to the Government’s requests to facilitate
dialogue among the parties. With our support, the SADC mediation
missions to Lesotho were funded, and capacity building
activities for the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC),
political parties and NGOs were also implemented. Our efforts
have helped bring the government, the IEC and the opposition
parties to the negotiating table to discuss their disagreements.
However, the issues have not
yet been fully resolved, but the UN system remains on call for
any further steps to maintain peace and security in the country.
Summary on progress towards
UNDAF outcomes
Lesotho UNDAF will start in 2008 and end in 2012.
Summary on progress in UN
Reform
i. Alignment with the National Development Process
The Country Team embraced the
call to accelerate reform at country level. The UN Development
Assistance Framework (UNDAF) (2008-2012), Country Programme
Documents (CPDs) and Country Programme Action Plans (CPAPs) were
prepared and signed as essential elements of the Common Country
Programming Process (CCPP). Efforts were made to engage the
Government and development partners in strategic discussions to
plan and prioritise UN Lesotho’s support to the national
development goals within the next five-year programme cycle. The
UNDAF, CPDs and CPAPs will serve a useful purpose of enhancing
greater impact of the UN system’s operations on the lives of the
people of Lesotho.
ii. Support to the Preparation
of MDG-based National Development Strategies
The UN system made efforts to
fulfil its mandate to support operational activities for
development, and to support the country’s progress towards the
attainment of the MDGs. During the year under review, technical
and financial resources were mobilised to help the Government
formulate national policies, strategic plans and legislative
frameworks in the areas of: AIDS, Child Protection, Food
Security, Gender Equality, and Orphans and other Vulnerable
Children (OVCs). The UN system rallied behind the enactment
and/or operationalisation of key legislative frameworks,
including: the “Child Protection and Welfare Bill”, the “Legal
Capacity of Married Persons” Act and the AIDS Bill.
We also took part in the
education and health sector development and review processes.
The UN system co-chaired the Education Partners’ Forum, and, in
the process, helped the Government mobilise funding in the
amount of $7.2 million from the Fast Track Initiative. The UN’s
contribution to the Free Primary Education policy was made
through, inter alia, provision of primary school meals,
take-home rations for OVCs and school gardens.
In addition, the UN proposed
innovative options to accelerate progress towards the attainment
of health-related MDGs, as well as implementation of various
other health sector interventions. This included advocacy for
resource mobilisation for the national health strategic plan.
Worthy of note, Your Excellency, is the national “Know Your
[HIV] Status” Campaign and the first national “Roadmap to Reduce
Maternal and Neo-Natal Morbidity and Mortality”.
Through these efforts, the UN
system highlighted scenarios regarding the country’s progress in
various MDG areas. However, there is still need to encourage a
more rigorous action by all relevant role players to urgently
scale-up their collective actions, and by so doing, make a
greater contribution to the country’s development agenda.
iii. Other Major Highlights in
UN Coordination
Increased Efforts against HIV
HIV and AIDS continue to be the
number one cause of all illnesses and deaths in Lesotho, and the
most serious threat to the country’s socioeconomic development.
At 23.2 percent infection rate, Lesotho is ranked third among
the countries most severely hit by the pandemic (UNAIDS 2006
Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic).
In light of this, and with a
view to promoting a coherent and effective UN action in support
to the national response to HIV, the Joint UN Team on AIDS was
formed in July 2007. The structure and functioning of the Team
was guided by the 2005 recommendations of the Global Task Team
on AIDS. With support from the South Africa-based Regional
Support Team (RST), the Team developed a unified work plan and
prepared a management framework, drawing on the comparative
strengths of the UN personnel available in the country.
Through this Team, the UN
system was able to work with the Government and sections of
national leadership to strengthen the national capacity to
respond to the pandemic. Specific activities were implemented to
strengthen governance mechanisms and scale up advocacy,
prevention, and care and support to People Living with HIV and
AIDS (PLWHA). Among other things, the Team supported: (1) joint
review of the national response to HIV and AIDS; (2) development
of the National AIDS Policy and Strategic Plan, and; (3)
establishment of a unified HIV and AIDS Monitoring and
Evaluation System.
It is worth noting that the
Government demonstrated unparalleled determination to turn the
tide against the pandemic. During the year 2007, the “Know Your
[HIV] Status” (KYS) campaign was intensified. Through UN
system’s support to campaign, approximately 3, 600 community
health workers and people living with HIV & AIDS were trained on
HIV Testing and Counselling. By the end of the year, 271,927
people, constituting 21% of the population, knew their HIV
status. A study, piloted in two districts, resulted in over 100%
of the targeted people testing for HIV.
A lesson learned from this
initiative is that, when the UN pools its resources and works as
one, the results are phenomenal. The challenge that remains,
though, is mobilization of additional resources to make
everybody in the population get an HIV test.
HIV and AIDS in the UN
Workplace
In a bid to increase staff
awareness on UN policy dimensions of HIV and AIDS in the
workplace, the Country Team supported implementation of the UN
HIV and AIDS Learning Strategy. The “HIV and AIDS Learning Team”
was reconstituted to implement the workplace activities.
Information, education and communication materials were prepared
and shared with staff.
Response to the Drought and
Food Crisis
Following the Government’s
“Declaration on the Drought Crisis”, announced on 9th July 2007,
the UN system launched an appeal for assistance to Lesotho for
approximately US$ 22.8 million. We were able to mobilise a total
of $21 million from CERF and the following donors: AfDB,
Austria, DfID, ECHO, France, Germany, Japan, Turkey and USA.
In addition, the UN is
providing life-saving emergency assistance to about 260,000
affected households (65% of households requiring food aid) until
the next harvest in April/May 2008. Livelihood support was also
provided to the drought-affected farming households, in the form
of relief food assistance, supplementary feeding to pregnant and
nursing mothers, undernourished children under the age of five
(including other vulnerable groups), and therapeutic and school
feeding. In a bid to facilitate more sustained food security,
the UN ensured that over 35,000 vulnerable farming households
received quality seeds, fertiliser, agricultural tools and
tillage services worth over $3.6 million through input trade
fairs.
The UN system response to the
health aspects of the crisis, focused on: prevention and
treatment of malnutrition, clinical management of water related
diseases, provision of primary health care services, and;
provision of delivery kits and training in Emergency Obstetric
Care.
In our response, we noted the
crucial interplay between malnutrition and disease, and between
malnutrition and infant/child mortality in Lesotho. Emergency
health kits were procured and distributed in respect of
approximately 400,000 people in the southern districts of the
country. Countrywide training of health workers was also
conducted in several areas, including: Integrated Disease
Surveillance and Response, Management of Severe Malnutrition,
Provision of Primary Health Care Package and on Severe, Moderate
and Mild Malnutrition. Lastly, Emergency Obstetric Care
equipment was provided to facilitate safe and clean delivery in
26 health facilities.
UN’s Preparedness and Response
to Emergencies and Disasters
During the year 2007, the UN
system embraced the significance of preparedness and response to
natural and man-made disasters. Support was, therefore, provided
to the Government to build national capacity for Disaster Risk
Reduction (DRR) and for Avian and Human Influenza (AHI). The
Office of the Resident Coordinator used the Disaster Management
Authority as a conduit to facilitate preparation of a Capacity
Needs Assessment and a National Action Plan for DRR.
In tandem with this, support
was provided to the strengthening of the Government’s capacity
to plan and prepare for an AHI outbreak. With UN system’s
support, the first National Contingency Plan on AHI was
prepared. Financial resources were provided through the UN’s own
funds and the Government of Japan to intensify information,
education and communication activities. Materials and supplies
were also provided to survey and diagnose infection with the
H5N1 virus.
In August 2007, the UN system
conducted a simulation to test the UN’s preparedness for an AHI
outbreak. The UN’s Contingency Plan was updated in order to
prioritise measures to be taken using the current staffing
resources, to minimise the impact of the emergency on the UN’s
day-to-day operations.
Joint Programming and the
Harmonised Approach to Cash Transfers
The Resident Coordinator system
promoted the notion of “One UN” and made every effort to
discourage individual and disjointed agency-based programme
operations. I am delighted to inform you that several joint
programmes and projects were developed between and among the
various UN agencies. These include:
•A joint FAO-UNICEF-WFP
Programme on Orphans and other Vulnerable Children; •A joint
UNDP-ILO Programme on Youth Employment; •A joint FAO-WFP
Programme to Implement the Food Security Policy & Action Plan;
•A joint UN Programme on Greater Involvement and empowerment of
PLWHA; and, •A joint UNDP-GEF-World Bank-Government of Lesotho
Renewable Energy Programme;
Advocacy and training on
“Harmonised Approach to Cash Transfers” (HACT) was conducted for
the UN’s operations managers and staff alongside the UNDAF
orientation sessions. As part of advocacy for the implementation
of HACT, the in-house training team (led by UNDP and UNICEF) is
planning joint training sessions for UN and Government staff
which will be conducted during the first quarter of 2008.
Involvement of Non-Resident UN
Agencies
In all UN system’s
undertakings, the Resident Coordinator system promoted the
notion of “One UN” and made an effort to discourage individual
and disjointed programme operations. Several joint programmes
and projects were developed between and among the agencies.
Strategic partnerships were formed with non-resident UN Agencies
(NRAs), including: ILO, OCHA, UNAIDS, UNESCO and UNODC, to
identify areas for joint programming, and explore more
opportunities for resource mobilisation. Some Agencies
collaborated with ILO and UNESCO on programmes and projects on:
Youth and Employment, and AIDS and Education, respectively.
Currently, the Country Team is exploring ways to collaborate
more strongly with the UNESCO Regional Office in other key
areas, including: Communication, Culture Education, HIV and
AIDS, and Tourism.
Key aspects of the proposed
2008 workplan
The Country Team looks to the year 2008 with a reinvigorated
sense to help the country take aim at its main development
challenges. The Team will, thus, work through its interagency
coordination mechanisms to make even greater progress in 2008.
The Office of the Resident
Coordinator will engage the Government and development partners
in dialogue to explore ways of strengthening the Government’s
institutional capacity for aid coordination. Plans will be made
to encourage the Government live up to the principles of the
Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness. Alongside this, the UN
will rally behind implementation of (and reporting on) other
treaties and conventions that Lesotho is party to, including
those on AIDS and Human Rights.
The UN’s role in the fight
against the triple threat (of HIV, food insecurity and weak
capacity for governance) remains relevant in 2008. The Country
Team will, therefore, continue to rally behind multi-sector
efforts towards HIV Testing and Counselling within the context
of the Know Your Status campaign. Coordination mechanisms and
policy dimensions of the response to the pandemic will also be
considered. Furthermore, support will be provided to other
thematic areas, including: Gender Equality, Maternal and
Neo-natal Morbidity and Mortality, Conflict Prevention and Food
Security.
In a bid to facilitate new and
improved management of cash transfers, and, in the process,
enhance greater accountability in the use of funds, the Country
Team will accelerate implementation of the Work Plan on
“Harmonised Approach to Cash Transfers” (HACT) in 2008. Among
other things, macro and micro assessments will be conducted, and
advocacy and training sessions will be held for UN staff,
Government and NGO partners. In the process, efforts will be
made to ensure increased ownership and utilisation of the new
approach by the Government and other partners.
The Country Team will continue
to strengthen the country’s capacity to coordinate and manage
disasters, based on the principles of the 2005 Hyogo Framework
for Action. Plans are underway to mobilise support to finalise
the National Action Plan for Disaster Risk Reduction.
Recommendations
In order for the UN Country Team to realise the principles
enshrined in the Delivering as One Report, plans ought to be
made at headquarter level to harmonise operations and systems
used by the ExCom and Specialised Agencies. This will facilitate
full implementation of the joint office initiative, as well as
the HACT processes.
|
