Welcome to UNDP( United Nations Development Programme’ )Serbia

United Nations Development Programme’s focus in Serbia has shifted away from a post-conflict response and toward a development-oriented agenda. In line with the CCA/UNDAF, the Country Programme Document for Serbia and Montenegro 2005-2009 seeks to advance UNDP in public administration and judicial reform, foster better access to services and rights, and promote local development to work to achieve the Millennium Development Goals in the UN system.

Currently, UNDP programme in Serbia follows the same directions. UNDP in Serbia operates through the Country Office in Belgrade and the project office in Vranje, Southern Serbia.

UNDP Practice Areas and Programme Clusters in Serbia >>>>>UNDP globally links and coordinates international and national efforts in achieving a better life for all, through practices in five Practice Areas:

Democratic Governance
Poverty Reduction
Crisis Prevention and Recovery
Energy and Environment
HIV/AIDS

with special focuses on women’s empowerment and the use of Information and Communication Technologies for development .

In order to provide the best possible application of these Practice Areas to the citizens of Serbia, our initiatives are administered through five programme clusters, designed to be mutually supportive and regionally linked. Those are: Institutional Development, Judicial Reform and Rule of Law, Poverty Reduction and Economic Development, Human Security, and Policy Unit.

Institutional Development

Public Administration Reform (PAR) at the central level: UNDP has been defined as one the key partners of the Public Administration Reform Strategy in Serbia. UNDP provided technical assistance to the actual drafting of the Strategy and future assistance will be provided to the implementation of the Strategy. This will entail support to coordination between line ministries, development of a monitoring and evaluation mechanism for PAR, raising public awareness, support to public dialogue on PAR policy and functional, organizational and management reviews. At State Union level support to PAR efforts will entail institutional development of State Union institutions, reorganization of the overall administration and the development of a civil service system, capacitating HR and integrating ICT into the administration.

Decentralization and local governance: UNDP will provide support to the national association of local governments, the Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities (SCTM) and to the Municipal Training Centre (under the auspices of the SCTM). Support will be aimed at developing institutional capacity of the SCTM and the Municipal Training Centre, and assistance to the development of an appropriate training system for local administration and contributing to the development of a National Training Strategy for Local Governments in the Republic of Serbia.

Judicial Reform and Rule of Law

Judicial Reform/Rule of Law Cluster (JRROL) is supporting all efforts that provide equal access to justice for all. Our strategic focus in SCG is on the strengthening of the rule of law through professional advancement related to research and training in all key areas pertaining to the post-conflict society in need of reform.

JRROL projects work on supporting an independent and efficient judiciary, strengthening the rule of law, assisting in strengthening of the post-conflict social institutions, establishing effective and functional human rights mechanisms through:

• Judicial reform sub-portfolio continuing with its support to professional advancement and competency improvement of the legal professionals and providing the access to knowledge.
• Transitional Justice sub-portfolio working to strengthen the capacities of post-conflict social institutions to address interrelated development, conflict prevention and justice issues.
• Human Rights sub – portfolio focusing on the development of institutions, laws and innovative practices intended to creation of the sustainable frameworks for human rights protection, antidiscrimination and provision of free legal aid.

Poverty Reduction and Economic Development

Poverty Reduction and Economic Development (PRED) Cluster: UNDP is contributing to the socio-economic development of Serbia by providing services that will enable all stakeholders to maintain and improve their performance through the engagement of both the public and private sectors in this regard.

The key areas of the sustainable development cluster are the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), whose implementation is beginning in Serbia in March 2005, civil society inclusion, employment programmes such as Beautiful Serbia that aims to improve the living environment in cities and alleviate urban unemployment and the commencing Social Innovations Fund in cooperation with the European Agency for Reconstruction, as well as complementary job creation and local development programmes in Southern Serbia implemented through the Vranje project office.

The process of preparation of the DPRS (PRSP), at the request of the Government, was managed through UNDP, while the World Bank (WB) and the DFID provided leading financial support.

Sustainable Development

Sustainable Development: UNDP in Serbia supports formulation of the Sustainable Development Strategy through a wide participatory process in the areas of environment protection, social welfare and knowledge based economy.

Environmental Sustainability: UNDP will continue to provide assistance to Serbia to help ensuring environmental protection and sustainability through the implementation of a range of projects Facility addressing country specific issues of climate change, biodiversity, ecotourism and renewable energy.

Human Security

In this area UNDP enables human development, to create a society in which all can exercise their choices freely and safely, in both material and psychological dimensions. The HPVPI Secretariat implements a wide portfolio of project designed to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS and reduce its impact. A number of projects are designed to propose humanitarian transition solutions, especially relating to the situation of vulnerable persons such as refugees, internally displaced people and minorities. SACISCG works to stop the flow and availability of small arms and light weapons in Serbia and in Montenegro.

Policy Unit

The Policy Unit is designed to provide relevant policy services to decision makers, enhance public dialogue about reforms and promote knowledge management within the organization. It fulfills its aims through producing Human Development Reports (HDRs), strengthening the national stakeholders capacities for Millennium Development Goal (MDG) reporting, relaying national statistical data and analysis, and providing regular and ad hoc assessments of on-going reforms, with a special focus on their impact on gender issues and vulnerable groups.

http://www.undp.org.yu/

* NEW* the New Regional Director

Kori Udovicki will be taking up her new position as Director for the Regional Bureau for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States on 1 February 2007, at the UNDP Headquarters in New York.  This Regional Bureau serves 29 countries in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, and also operates a Regional Support Office in Bratislava, Slovakia.  

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IMPORTANT LINKS/SERBIA: http://www.undp.org.yu/newsroom/links.cfm