3. PROGRAMME STRATEGY AND MANAGEMENT Finding 13. The UNDP country programme is closely aligned with national priorities and has adapted to respond to the emerging needs of the country. However, it is heavily skewed towards the environment portfolio. The UNDP country programme addresses the Critical Success Factors (CSF) of Belize’s Growth and Sustainable Development Strategy 2016-2019, developed with UNDP support during the previous programme cycle. UNDP’s health, environment and governance portfolios correspond respectively to CSF 2 (enhanced social cohesion and resilience), CSF 3 (sustained or improved health of natural, environmental, historical, and cultural assets) and CSF 4 (enhanced governance and citizen security), in addition to initiatives on crosscutting topics (e.g. gender-based violence, human rights, etc.).44 UNDP has supported the Government in addressing emerging priorities, including watershed management, banning of single-use plastic, UNCAC implementation and the referendum outreach campaign and technical implementation. Most of UNDP’s interventions, particularly in environment and citizen security, have built national capacity and stimulated national ownership. This work has promoted sustainability and scaling up, including through subsequent initiatives supported by Government or other funding sources (e.g. construction of additional waste management transfer stations replicating the pilot transfer station built by the chemicals and waste management project, continuous support to sugarcane farmers by the Sugarcane Industry Research and Development Institute, sustained rehabilitation facility Standard Operating Procedures and counsellor service for youth in conflict with law, etc.). UNDP facilitated South-South technical cooperation to adapt technology and knowledge products to the Belizean context, thus improving its continued utility, such as the downscaling of climate models by GAMMA Cuba, the adaption of climate-smart agriculture curriculum from Costa Rica, and training materials on gender analysis in crime information management from Honduras. These interventions have been appreciated by the stakeholders. Notwithstanding, innovation has not been introduced across all programmatic areas of the country programme. UNDP Belize does not yet have an Accelerator Lab but expects to learn from the experiences of other labs. Overall, stakeholders do not consider bringing in innovative development solutions as a top value of UNDP in Belize.45 UNDP has longstanding and productive experience in environment, climate change and natural resources management issues in Belize, which has been well recognized by stakeholders. The environment portfolio has built stronger partnerships with the national counterparts than the other portfolios. In this programme area, UNDP benefits from the knowledge and experience of seasoned staff and established relationship with Government counterparts both at CEO – the chief public servant in each ministry – and technical levels, which brought in the needed social capital for initiatives to succeed and better address the country’s priorities. The environment portfolio has established a portfolio-level steering committee and provided training to national implementation partners on the procedures for NIM projects for effective programme management. UNDP’s communication with national counterparts in other programme areas such as human and economic development is weak. Finding 14. Despite low expenditures on gender-specific interventions, UNDP has made notable efforts in integrating the promotion of Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women (GEWE) and social inclusion in its programming.
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Government of Belize, Growth and Sustainable Development Strategy (GSDS) 2016-2019. UNDP, Partnership Survey - Country Report (Belize), 2020.
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