The Steering Committee of the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) has convened to discuss the progress achieved, monitor its output and assess the challenges ahead for the implementation of the Framework. The Steering Committee was co-chaired by Foreign Secretary Ahmed Sareer on behalf of the government of Maldives and United Nations Resident Coordinator Shoko Noda.
During the meeting, Foreign Secretary Sareer reiterated government of Maldives commitment to working closely with the United Nations System in addressing the development challenges of the Maldives and expressed appreciation to the United Nations Country Team for their strong support and partnership in this journey.
The Resident Coordinator expressed her pleasure in extending support to all focal points within the Government of Maldives towards realizing the UNDAF outcomes are well on track. Both parties agreed to ensure that the Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are taken into account in the implementation of the UNDAF. The parties also agreed to meet more frequently to exchange ideas and to discuss progress.
The UNDAF for 2016-2020, was signed on August 24, 2015, and the agenda is developed by identifying key outcome areas based on national priorities and measuring progress against result-oriented outputs for each area. The priority outcome areas are: youth and children, gender, governance, environment and climate change. At the meeting, discussions were also held between the four Outcome Groups and the United Nations Country Team, on a way forward, which includes formulating and signing four Joint Work Plans by the end of the year 2018.
At the meeting government of Maldives was represented by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Gender and Family, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Environment and Energy, the Attorney-General’s Office and Ministry of Youth and Sports, while the United Nations was represented by the entire Country Team.