Mr Gregoir Nimbtik, Director General Prime Minister’s Office

Mr Yvon Basil, Director of Foreign Affairs

Mr Jerryson Lapi, Director, Department of Strategic Planning and Aid Coordination Unit

Colleagues

Ladies and Gentlemen

Gud morning Ol Big man mo Women, Ni Sa Bula Vinaka, Halo and Greetings to you.

It is my honour to welcome you today to this very important dialogue between UNDP and representatives of the Government of Vanuatu. It is not every day we get to sit down with our clients especially during this changing world but in our pursuit of the new normal, allow me at the outset, to thank you Director General and your team for accepting this invitation to engage with you.

UNDP in Vanuatu

UNDP holds high regard to development in the Pacific and Vanuatu is one country where we have enjoyed longstanding relationship since 1985. For over 36 years, UNDP has supported development, inclusive and sustainable growth, climate change and early warning systems, health education and awareness, women and gender-based violence, resilience and markets for change - among others. I am pleased that despite the unprecedented challenges of 2020, our partnership with your good Government has continued to grow from strength to strength, resulting in positive outcomes for the country and the people of Vanuatu.

UNDP Review Exercise

The reason for our meeting today is clear. We have a mutual role in development partnership, and we want to deliver on this to enhance understanding, awareness, and responsibility in shaping a future that is prosperous and sustainable for all.

The Pacific Office is conducting country-based programme reviews to ensure that we are engaging in strategic and programmatic discussions. We believe that it is important to take stock of progress, success, good practices and lessons to track the performance of our development offer. 

This Annual Programme Review is designed to assess the attainment of intended and achieved results as well as UNDP contributions to national development strategies, including COVID-19 response.

UNDP is committed through this monitoring review exercise, to ensuring strategic programmatic discussions to take stock of results, risks and mitigation measures and lessons learned. This not only tracks the performance of our programme cycle but improves on our approach to work and engagement with Government. We are optimistic that going forward with a strengthened partnership, our joint work will continue to deliver results in the three thematic areas of inclusive growth, effective governance and resilience and sustainable development for the people of Vanuatu.

DGs and Directors as you are aware, over the past few years, UNDP has supported Vanuatu in a number of programs. Since 2011, UNDP supported the Vanuatu Parliament’s capacity and development program to strengthen oversight, legislation/regulatory processes, budget scrutiny and approval and representation. In 2020 during the height of the Coronavirus, UNDP supported the Vanuatu Electoral Office to become the first country in the world to hold national elections during the pandemic. As we are all aware, UNDP is the largest implementer of parliamentary development projects in the Pacific and globally and I am encouraged to note that this was a huge (and an ongoing) success for Vanuatu.

Past and ongoing UNDP Support

UNDP is committed to supporting Vanuatu’s recovery efforts (as it has in the past) and will continue to coordinate with government and other partners in the development of key recovery initiatives, be it in the area of governance, environment or disaster risk reduction.  These collective efforts are geared towards enhancing resilient recovery capacities of both the government and the Vanuatu community at large. 

UNDP’s support is consistent with the objectives of your government, which includes meeting key priority recovery needs for water and sanitation, shelter, livelihoods, disaster risk reduction, resilience as well as knowledge and capacity building, and we are grateful to the support given through this PDNA assessment.

UNDP recognizes Vanuatu’s vulnerability to disasters and reaffirms its continued support to your Government in supporting recovery efforts to loss and destruction such as the impacts caused by TC Harold in early 2020.

The enhancement of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) through the National Energy Roadmap with the installation of various renewable energy systems was another area of support as part of climate change mitigation.

UNDP’s market vendors’ training on financial literacy is another one of our support that has increased access to financial services for small businesses and market vendors in the country with the aim to facilitate the process of moving local market vendors into the informal sector economy. This possible through our partnership with the private sector and financial institutions throughout the pacific.

Through our Pacific Early Recovery Fund mechanism, Vanuatu was one of the countries to receive early recovery funds by the Russian Federation and the UNDP core funding. We coordinated with other development partners to add value to the PDNA and Recovery Strategy exercise by providing remote coordination and technical support. Our continuous technical support to your government and other PICs in tackling climate change issues is critical for a sustainable future. UNDP will be committed to support the government to turn its climate goals into actions.

We acknowledge your efforts to improve service delivery, accountability, transparency and responsiveness in government and we are committed to working with you to explore options for strengthening the machinery of government.

Concluding Note

These are success stories in our engagement which no doubt will impact largely on the Government of Vanuatu’s development and that of the Ni-Vanuatu people at large.  To conclude, I wish to acknowledge once more the Government of Vanuatu, our valued partner for the continued leadership. Let me assure you that UNDP is committed to align its programmatic support to your Government’s (NSDP) National Strategic Development Plan (“People’s Plan 2030”) in support of our broad partnership and the development aspirations of your good government. I am optimistic that this review process will mark the start of a series of strengthened and ongoing engagements and dialogue between us, moving forward.

Tagio tumas!