United Nations Profile in Pakistan

The UN system in Pakistan comprises 21 UN Agencies, Funds and Programmes, as well as UN departments[1]. Under the leadership of the Resident Coordinator/ Humanitarian Coordinator(RC/HC), the UN is a trusted long-term partner to Pakistan, supporting the Government and the people to respond to complex humanitarian and development challenges. The UN’s work in Pakistan straddles the humanitarian –development continuum, with a total delivery of USD 644Million in 2012, of which USD 318 Million funded humanitarian interventions. The emphasis of much of the UN’s work since 2010 was on humanitarian assistance, 2013 has seen a shift towards supporting longer term national development goals and progress towards the Millennium Development Goals.

Summary of UN expenditure 2006 – 2012 (‘000 USD)
Expenditure / 2006 / 2007 / 2008 / 2009 / 2010 / 2011 / 2012
Total UN Programme expenditure / 224,946.38 / 238,864.93 / 231,241.08 / 691,141.07 / 1,813,136.68 / 613,390.1 / 644,575.1
UN Development Assistance / 144,229.77 / 185,650.26 / 168,919.05 / 188,329.04 / 284,889.68 / 302,040.80 / 326,000.00
UN Humanitarian Assistance / 80,716.61 / 53,214.67 / 62,322.03 / 502,812.03 / 1,528,247.00 / 311,349.30 / 318,574.1

DEVELOPMENT

  1. One Programme

One Programme I (2009-2012): Following the High Level Panel on UN System-wide Coherence in 2006, of which the then Prime Minister of Pakistan was a member, the Government of Pakistan volunteered to become a Delivering as One pilot country. The first One Programme (2009-2012) was signed on 4th February 2009 in the presence of the UN Secretary General and the Prime Minister of Pakistan. The OP I provided support to development initiatives of the Government of Pakistan through five Joint Programmes in the areas of (i) Agriculture, Rural Development and Poverty Reduction (ARP), (ii) Disaster Risk Management (DRM), (iii) Education, (iv) Environment, and (v) Health and Population. Gender Equality, Human Rights, Civil Society, and Refugees cut across all programmes. OP I concluded in December 2012.

One Programme II (2013-2017):The second One Programme (OP II) is aligned with national political processes and national and sub-national development priorities. National ownership was assured through the OP II being formulated in close collaboration with the federal, provincial and regional governments, key donors, and a wide spectrum of civil society actors. The OP II strongly focuses on implementation both at the federal and the provincial level.

Building upon lessons learnt from the first One Programme, OP II is results-orientated, with an increased emphasis on results-based monitoring and reporting. There is greater focus on capacity development at all levels, and management structures have been rationalized with the move away from joint programmes to joint programming.

The UN works in all eight provinces and administrative areas in Pakistan. The OPII is a national programme framework of the UN system in Pakistan, with a strong focus on implementing at the sub-national level in accordance with the 18th Constitutional Amendment of 2010, leading to the devolution of power to the administrative areas. In order to better provide provincial-specific support, joint Government-UN consultations on the implementation of OP II were held in all eight administrative areas and joint Government-UN Steering Committees were established for each administrative area. These provide oversight and strategic guidance to the UN programme and the administrative area level.

On the basis of extensive consultations, the Government of Pakistan and the United Nations Country Team(UNCT) identified six key Strategic Priority Areas (SPAs), or goals, in which the UN has a comparative advantage and can significantly contribute to supporting progress towards over the five year implementation period. The SPAs reflect priorities identified through national and provincial consultations and a review of key national frameworks and strategies. These include:

  • SPA 1: Vulnerable and marginalized populations have equitable access and use of quality services
  • SPA 2: Inclusive economic growth through the development of sustainable livelihoods.
  • SPA 3: Increased national resilience to disasters, crises and external shocks
  • SPA 4: Strengthened governance and social cohesion
  • SPA 5: Gender Equality and Social Justice
  • SPA 6: Food and nutrition security for the most vulnerable groups

Total resource requirements for the entire OPII over a period of five years are estimated at USD 1.87 billion.

In line with the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, nine OPII administrative area Steering Committees - one at the federal level, four in each of the provinces (Balochistan, Khyber PakhtunKhwa, Punjab, Sindh) , three in each of the regions (Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and Federally Administered Tribal Area - FATA), and one in the Islamabad Capital Territory –have been established. As a representative body, the SCs provide strategic guidance, monitoring oversight and review to the implementation of OP II in the respective province/ area.

Cross Cutting Issues: OP II is fully consistent with the key normative programming principles of human rights based approaches, gender equality and environmental sustainability, and as well as the operational strategies of UN Reform - results-based management and capacity development.

  • Human Rights-based approach and gender equality: OP II aims to address inequities and foster greater social justice in Pakistan, both of which continue to undermine development efforts including the achievement of the MDGs, poverty reduction, gender equality and women's empowerment, and the achievement of true social ownership of the fruits of development by all. The six SPAs and the 20 supporting outcomes reflect a broad range of priority development areas of strategic transformational potential where the UN can, with its technical and financial resources, work with Government and other development actors in support of the progressive realization of human rights for all people in Pakistan.
  • Focus on resilience and environmental sustainability: This priority area is of particular significance in Pakistan given the country's exposure to disasters, crises and external shocks. OP II is closely linked to ongoing humanitarian assistance in Pakistan, where a near-annual occurrence of large-scale natural disasters has been the norm. UNCT /HCT is simultaneously engaged in humanitarian and development work in-country, and in particular early recovery assistance as well as additional resources obtained through international humanitarian appeals have supported and complemented development initiatives and vice versa. Efforts are made to integrate resilience and risk mitigation across all SPAs.
  1. One Fund

The One Budgetary Framework has been a useful tool for planning and monitoring as well as a source of predictable UN assistance being channelled to a specific sector/sub sector along the UNDAF/One Programme timeline. The multi-year common budgetary framework is a source of UN coherence at the country level. The Pakistan One Fund has helped to allocate funds coherently and address budget shortfalls. Primarily formed to help mobilise resourcesand channel unearmarked funds via the steering mechanism, the Fund also caters for light donor earmarking, with joint UN - Government decision-making. So far USD 84.6 million has been mobilized and disbursed to the participating agencies of OPI, out of which 50% were unearmarked funds.

  1. One Voice

The UN Communications Group on Pakistan (UNCG-P) supports OP II through the communication and advocacy of ‘Delivering as One’ in Pakistan. A joint website was developed and media workshops held in some provinces. The UNCG will continue advocating for and communicating on “Delivering as One” with the Government, donors and partners, media and civil society; and raising awareness of the UN in Pakistan’s key interventions in the country among the youth, media, national institution and the general public.

  1. One Office

In alignment with Delivering as One operational procedures, great efforts have been made to harmonise and consolidate business practices between all agencies. The One Office approach has led to common recruitment procedures and procurement, including shared common contracts for security services, travel services and banking services, and a number of common operations databases have been developed, such as a vehicle database, staff contact database and a tracking system for submission of MoFA protocol documents.

UN HUMANITARIAN ACTION

Since 2005, Pakistan has faced a number of major emergencies with profound humanitarian impacts, an intensification of the Government of Pakistan operation against non-state armed actors in FATA, which has had consequences for the national development process, as these operations resulted in massive and prolonged population displacement. Since 2010, the Humanitarian Country Team has supported the Government in responding to the following emergencies:

  • In 2010, the prolonged monsoon rains, in conjunction with other contributing factors caused unprecedented destruction and displacement. Up to 20 million people, nearly 10 per cent of the country’s populations were affected by the flooding.
  • In 2011, torrential monsoons triggered severe flooding and water infrastructure breeches in Sindh and parts of Baluchistan. These floods affected nearly 5.4 million people.
  • In 2012, concentrated monsoon activities over the centre of the country impacted southern Punjab, northern Sindh, and eastern Balochistan, with 4.8 million people affected. For many, this was their third consecutive year to be impacted by the floods. Many had not recovered from the previous floods.
  • From 2011 to date, IDP crises have continued due to the military operations in FATA, and in-fighting between non-state armed actors, causing continuous displacement. As of July 2013, some 1.03 million IDPs are receiving support.

The UN in Pakistan continues to work with the Government to increase the ability to respond to the humanitarian crises and shift the focus towards long term interventions and building resilience, community level and within the governance structures, focusing on prevention and mitigation measures. Many UN agencies are continuously engaged in providing humanitarian and early recovery support to the people and Government of Pakistan: over 1.62 million Afghan refugees and 1.03 million displaced persons are assisted by the UN system in Pakistan; the UN Early Recovery Program has catered to the needs of 5.5 million people, assisting in community rehabilitation and building resilience.

Humanitarian Strategy

A Humanitarian Strategy (2013) and an accompanying Communications and Advocacy Strategy have been developed to provide a framework for focused, coherent action. The Strategy identifies three main areas of action:

  • Approaches with the Government to humanitarian assistance
  • Funding of humanitarian assistance
  • Advocacy on humanitarian principles and access

Humanitarian Funding

Limited donor funding for humanitarian interventions over the past years already led to the UN CERF and ERF funding mechanisms being particularly important. Pakistan has received US$13.9 from the CERF in 2013. The country-based ERF mechanism has disbursed a total of US$42.4 million since its inception in 2010.

The 2013 Humanitarian Operational Plan (HOP) for IDPs in KP/FATA requests $325 million and is currently 53 per cent funded. The 2012 HOP, requesting $289 million, was 76 per cent funded.

Funding for the floods has decreased significantly each year (70 per cent in 2010; 44 per cent in 2011; 33 per cent in 2012). Beyond political considerations (which attract funding for the complex emergency) and competing priorities, donors have cited the Government’s failure to engage in disaster risk reduction and infrastructure reform to recurrent floods as barriers to obtain more funding. Similarly, the Early Recovery Assistance Framework (ERAF) for IDPs returning to FATA remains unfunded.

KEY CHALLENGES

  • Post 2014 regional scenarios due to the drawdown of international troops in Afghanistan. Contingency planning at the national and regional levels is required.
  • Lack of funding, coupled with the unfavourable stance of Government towards humanitarian appeals are a constraint to achieve the goals outlined in the One Programme II and the Humanitarian Strategy.
  • Political devolution, the implementation of the 18th Amendment, remains challenging as the capacity of the eight provincial governments varies greatly, and tensions between the federal and provincial/administrative area governments remain high as reporting line and jurisdictions remain unclear.
  • Access remains a serious constraint for the delivery of (humanitarian) assistance in many areas of Pakistan. The situation is exacerbated by the requirement to attain Non-Objection Certificates (NOC) for many destinations.
  • The resilience of the population, structures and mechanisms against external shocks and disasters needs to be strengthened if the development gains made are to be retained and the vicious circle of humanitarian crises is to be broken.
  • There is a need to accelerate progress towards the MDGs and the post-2015 discourse, with Pakistan demonstrating poor progress towards the MDG on comparison to other countries.
  • Polio eradication remainschallenging due to limited access to the areas and populations most in need.

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[1] UNCT Pakistan comprises 20 Resident Agencies; FAO, IFAD, ILO, IOM, UNAIDS, UNDP, UNDSS, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNHABITAT, UNHCR, UNIC, UNICEF, OCHA, UNWOMEN, UNIDO, UNODC, UNV, WFP, WHO, and two non-resident UN Agencies; UNCTAD, UNOPS, Funds and Programmes as well as the UN-affiliate IOM.