The United Nations Development Programme

Hassan Bokhari and Muhammad bin Majid

Topic 1: Democratic Governance and UNDP Aid

The United Nations Development Programme

INTRODUCTION

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the chief agency of the United Nations that is dedicated to promoting democratic governance. It believes that democratic governance is crucial to bringing about positive change in nations and communities, and supports governments to establish responsive and independent electoral, judicial and security institutions and methods that promote fair, inclusive elections and rule of law.
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Indeed, it is the belief of the UNDP that countries which adopt democratic values are best poised to achieve the Millennium Development Goals in an equitable and sustainable manner. This is why in the year 2010, UNDP helped over 130 countries and devoted US$1.36 billion in resources to democratic governance, making UNDP the world's largest provider of democratic governance assistance. Over on-third of the UNDPs budget, in fact, is further committed to furthering democratic governance initiatives in the field.
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1 UNDP Corporate Brochure 2 Bureau for Development Policy, Democratic Governance Group. A Guide to UNDP Democratic Governance Practice. New York: United Nations Development Programme, 2010. Print. Pg 5. 3 United Nations Development Programme. "Democratic Governance: Overview." Undp.org. United Nations Development Programme. Web. <http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/ourwork/democraticgovernance/overview.html>. 4 United Nations Development Programme. "Fast Facts: Democratic Governance." Undp.org. United Nations Development Programme. Web. <http://www.beta.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/librarypage/results/fast_facts/ff_democratic_governance.html>.

Topic 1: Democratic Governance and UNDP Aid

The United Nations Development Programme

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, ratified by the General Assembly in 1948, contains clauses which favour democracy as the ideal system of governance, most notably Articles 20 and 21. These articles affirm the right to peaceful assembly and voting leaders into power , which are the cornerstones of democracy. However, the universality of this declaration is contested, as evidenced from the Bangkok Declaration of 1993 made by ASEAN nations. While acknowledging the importance of safeguarding human rights, there is a clause reaffirming the principles of respect for national sovereignty, implying that countries that have ratified the Declaration should have room to interpret it based on their unique local contexts and signifying a rift in countries interpretation of democracy.
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With the above in mind, should aid by the UNDP be conditional on countries adherence to the formers goals and policies? If so, how can it be measured fairly, effectively, and most importantly, enforced? These are the issues that are to be discussed during the conference. Delegates must be aware that the above-mentioned issues discussed are not new; but have taken on greater importance and salience in light of the financial crisis and as 2015 approaches. The dedication of the UNDP towards democratic governance, unwavering though it may be, has been dogged with controversy. Whither democracy the lack of a silver bullet As the leading development agency of the United Nations, supporting countries in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is of utmost importance to the UNDP. It is the belief of the UNDP that democracy and democratic governance are critical requirements if the MDGs are to be achieved in an equitable and sustainable manner. Thus, not only is democratic governance to be regarded as an important end in itself, it is a key factor. Once again, this calls into question if aid is to be tied up with the compliance of countries to the UNDPs beliefs and policies. A key distinction must be made by delegates as to what democracy truly is. The UNDP holds that democracy is not just about the procedures in place (procedural democracy); it strives to help developing nations build a substantive, robust democracy, where there is an active civil society and public participation (substantive democracy). If people make use of their voting-rights in elections, but feel no improvement in their day-today lives, their trust in democratic processes is likely to erode, and this seems to be the case according to surveys in recent years in both Africa and Latin America. The UNDP must review just how democratic governance is to be implemented that will ensure a better and just life for all.

5 "The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, UDHR, Declaration of Human Rights, Human Rights Declaration, Human Rights Charter, The Un and Human Rights." UN News Center. UN. Web. 19 Mar. 2012. <http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/>. 6 "Final Declaration of the Regional Meeting for Asia of the World Conference on Human Rights." Web. <http://law.hku.hk/lawgovtsociety/Bangkok%20Declaration.htm>.

Topic 1: Democratic Governance and UNDP Aid

The United Nations Development Programme

In addition, a review of the literature does not indicate that democratic regimes will necessarily display a better aggregated, long-term economic performance. Numerous studies, at times, have countered the proposition that democracy will bring about prosperity; rather, they suggest that in countries with a weak rule of law, the implementation of democratic policies will undermine growth instead. Democracy is not a silver bullet; for it to be truly effective, strong political institutions and structures, such as the rule of law, must be in place. And many countries lack such institutions, and are thus not ready for the implementation of democratic practices. Delegates must therefore understand that democracy has in the past, failed to live up to its promises. Furthermore, it has been noted that in many societies where democratic elections have been held, economic and social problems continue to persist. High inequalities in income distribution, discrimination against minorities, and taxation and spending policies that favour the interests of the rich these are but some of the problems that fuel the charge that the UNDP's insistence on democratic governance favours the developed nations and undermines the very people that the UNDP is supposed to aid. In summary, democracy is not a panacea to the worlds woes; while the UNDPs stand is that it is a part of the solution, delegates must understand that the simple solution of tagging aid to democracy is a controversial issue that must be resolved.

Topic 1: Democratic Governance and UNDP Aid

The United Nations Development Programme

RELEVANCE OF ISSUES REGARDING DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE

Conditionality of aid and Ranking Controversy Governance has become an important element in the package of conditionalities applied by the developed world in granting financial aid, debt relief and trade concessions to the developing countries. The performance of countries by the UNDP indicators, therefore, may well have widespread implications in their political and economic relations with donor countries and trading partners. Given that there is no one-size-fits-all approach, should the UNDP insist on retaining its current methodology of measuring countries? Would doing so contravene the spirit of the United Nations itself? Should aid be unconditional in the interest of humanity, or would aid best serve countries by pegging it to the latters commitment to democratic governance? These are the questions that the delegates must answer, as 2015 looms. To track the level of democratic governance in countries, the UNDP naturally uses a series of scales and indicators to rank countries, as evidenced by its annual Human Development Report. This is not without controversy. The UNDP has been charged with accusations with regards to its stance on democratic governance. The first is that of cultural and political bias. There is an implicit assumption that western multi-party political systems are the ideal by which all countries should be measured a measure that is regarded as unfair and somewhat insensitive to contexts. The second accusation is related to the first. The subjective indicators of governance rely greatly on the so-called "In-house expert opinion" of two institutions: the US-based Freedom House and the World Bank's Governance Indicators Dataset. Supplementary data come from a dataset at the University of Maryland, from Transparency International and from the International Country Risk Guide. The question posed here is whether private or quasi-public institutions with limited or no accountability to a generally accepted system of international governance and whose procedures are not easily accessible to the global public, may legitimately be granted such huge powers of judgment over countries, populations and systems. As such an irony is present, for the procedure to measure and determine democratic governance may not meet the test of good governance itself.
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7 Norman, Girvan. "Problems with UNDP Governance Indicators." Association of Caribbean States. Association of Caribbean States. Web. 19 Mar. 2012. <http://www.acs-aec.org/column/index45.htm>. 8 Norman, Girvan. "Problems with UNDP Governance Indicators." Association of Caribbean States. Association of Caribbean States. Web. 19 Mar. 2012. <http://www.acs-aec.org/column/index45.htm>.

Topic 1: Democratic Governance and UNDP Aid

The United Nations Development Programme

The Limited Authority of the UNDP On the other hand, despite the aid that it can disburse, the UNDP has no authority to enforce its policies and decisions on sovereign states. At times, the UNDP can only operate under the whims of regimes, contrary to its own rules and despite the latters blatant disregard for all international law. The alternative would be to depart the country altogether. In 2007, it was discovered that the UNDP let the North Korean government set the terms of its involvement in the country. The government controlled who UNDP hired, how funds were spent and prohibited the organization from freely visiting the projects it funded.
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The Millennium Development Goals were designed to be met in 2015. In the interest of humanity, should the UNDP be given the authority over that of governments and take charge of its own programmes when doing so would be more efficient? If so, what are the implications for democratic governance? The delegates must consider these facets as they prepare the resolution.

9 Schaefer, Brett. "UNDP: Part of the Problem, Not the Solution | Fox News." Fox News. FOX News Network, 11 June 2007. Web. 19 Mar. 2012. <http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,279592,00.html>.

Topic 1: Democratic Governance and UNDP Aid

The United Nations Development Programme

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE ISSUES

Structure of UNDPs Democratic Governance With offices in more than 130 countries, and activities at country level are supported from six Regional Service Centres [RSCs] as well as from Headquarters [HQ] in New York, the UNDP is the major developmental programme of the UN. Democratic Governance is one of the largest areas of the UNDP, with over one third of UNDPs programmatic resources being allocated in this area globally. The Democratic Governance Group [DGG] is situated within the Bureau for Development Policy, whose role is to develop policy and content for advocacy and support on global development priorities and emerging issues.

About UNDPs initiatives UNDP's Governance Assessment The UNDP, through its Global Programme on Democratic Governance Assessments, helps 3rd world countries produce indicators to track their progress towards democratic governance reforms. It hopes that this scheme would help governments improve their capacity, and foster the creation of an inclusive, consultative framework for the assessment of its goals of democratic reforms which are stated in their national development plan .
10 United Nations Development Programme. "Governance Assessments." Undp.org. United Nations Development Programme. Web. <http://www.beta.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/ourwork/democraticgovernance/oslo_governance_centre/governance_assessments .html>. 10

Topic 1: Democratic Governance and UNDP Aid

The United Nations Development Programme

Right now, the UNDP provides such assistance to countries from various regions, including Angola, Mexico, Indonesia, Malawai, Egypt and Macedonia .
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Fostering the development of civil society Civic engagement and society is key, for not only does it support the development of democracy, but helps nations achieve other areas stated in the MDGs too, such as the empowerment of women, environment and energy, crisis prevention and recovery and its fight against HIV/AIDs . Since 2008, the UNDP has poured in over $100m to this cause through the funds it provides to local Non-Government Organisations (NGOs). In addition, the UNDP provides advice to governments on the regulatory and legal structures that are imperative to the development of a civil society. With the UNDP's support, in 2007, a community-level Performance Budgeting Programme was launched in Armenia. This allowed for greater public participation in government budget planning, and led to more transparent and efficient expenditures. In Ethiopia, a report card project was launched to systematically allow citizens to provide feedback on government services.
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11United Nations Development Programme. "Projects Supported by the Global Programme on Democratic Governance Assessments." Governance Assessment Portal. United Nations Development Programme. Web. <http://www.gaportal.org/sites/default/files/usi_20092010.pdf>. 12 United Nations Development Programme. "Fast Facts: UNDP and Civil Society." Undp.org. Web. <http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/documents/partners/civil_society/publications/UNDP_Civil_Society_Fast_Facts_2009.pdf>.

Topic 1: Democratic Governance and UNDP Aid

The United Nations Development Programme

Ensuring justice in developing nations The UNDP is of the view that justice is a key pillar to the development of a substantive democracy: it allows people to voice their views, exercise their rights and keep public officials accountable. It thus focuses on three key areas with regards to this issue - the access to justice, rule of law and security . UNDP's programmes to promote justice include the Programme on Governance in the Arab Region (POGAR), which, together with civil society organisations, and national legislative and judicial branches, find out about the needs and solutions to address problems related to public involvement in governance, transparency, accountability and rule of law.
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UNDP during the Arab Spring Democratic transition in Tunisia With former President Ben Ali out of the picture in 2011, an unprecedented opportunity for democratic transition came up for Tunisia. The UNDP responded by refocusing the approach it took in the country, to ensure that it could support important institutions, processes and stakeholders to ensure stability in democratic reforms. This covered areas such as support to constitutional procedures, political parties, and women's involvement in politics . Between April to July 2011, support was extended to over 50 political parties by the UNDP, through its Global Programme for Parliamentary Strengthening. Areas of help included enhancing the capacity, knowledge and skills and local technocrats and politicians, and providing them chances to cooperate and agree on a way to encourage a peaceful and inclusive democratic transition
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13 United Nations Development Programme. "Fast Facts: Justice and Security." Undp.org. Web. <http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/library/corporate/fast-facts/english/FF-Justice-and-Security.pdf> 14 United Nations Development Programme. "Fast Facts: Supporting Democratic Transition in Tunisia." Undp.org. Web. <http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/library/Democratic%20Governance/DG%20Fast%20Facts/Fast%20Facts%20UNDP%20Tuni sia.pdf>.

Topic 1: Democratic Governance and UNDP Aid

The United Nations Development Programme

Criticisms of UNDP's efforts Yet, the United Kingdom Mission to the United Nations criticised the UNDP for its failure to adequately act on the lack of political and economic reform in the Middle East prior to the Arab Spring, despite issuing reports that predicted a possible political uprising much like the Arab Spring . This is but one issue that serves to cast public doubts on the UNDPs true commitment and dedication to its mission. Delegates need to find ways to ensure that the response of the UNDP remains swift and determined, despite the restrictions that it faces.
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15 Ibid.

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Topic 1: Democratic Governance and UNDP Aid

The United Nations Development Programme

MAJOR MILESTONES
Democratic Governance Thematic Trust Fund In 2001, the UNDP established the Democratic Governance Thematic Trust Fund (DGTTF), which is the main means through which donor partners channel non-core contributions to UNDP's initiatives on democratic governance . The funds provide country offices with discretionary funds to look into innovative approaches in democratic governance in politically sensitive environments, including inclusive participation, responsive institutions or international principles. Since 2001, around US$113 million has been distributed across 750 country projects. Based on an independent 2007/2008 study, the DGTTF has been successful as a "venture capital fund". It allowed for innovation in democratic governance, an area where it is difficult to carry out but extremely important to do to pave the way for progress.
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UNDP Global Programme for Parliamentary Strengthening Launched in 1999, the Global Programme for Parliamentary Strengthening (GPSS) is one of the key tools the UNDP uses to support parliaments. It aims to enhance the institutional capacity of parliaments through initiatives carried out at a global, regional and national level . At a global level, thus far, the GPSS has supported initiatives of inter-parliamentary organisations in their efforts to come up with key, objective characteristics of a democratic parliament, regardless of the system of government it functions in. These organisations include the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), the Assemble Parlementaire de la Francophonie (APF) and the Southern African Development Community Parliamentary Forum (SADC PF). With the UNDP's support, the APA and CPA came up with a set of evaluative criteria and benchmarks respectively. The IPU, drawing on past good practices some of its member parliaments, managed to come up with a self-assessment toolkit. Under the GPSS, the UNDP is also supporting the development of a Parliamentary Development Web Portal, which would allow development practitioners, parliamentarians, parliamentary staff and other national actors to access information and seek advice with regards to the operation of an open and transparent parliament online.
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16 United Nations Development Programme. "Democratic Governance Thematic Trust Fund." Democratic Governance. United Nations Development Programme. Web. 19 Mar. 2012. <http://www.undp.org/governance/dgttf.shtml>. 17 United Nations Development Programme. "Strengthening Parliaments World Wide." The UN and UNDP in Brussels. United Nations Development Programme. Web. 19 Mar. 2012. <http://web.undp.org/eu/Global_Programme_for_Parliamentary_Strengthening.shtml>.

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Topic 1: Democratic Governance and UNDP Aid

The United Nations Development Programme

UNDP Global Programme for Electoral Cycle Support In 2009, the UNDP launched the Global Programme for Electoral Cycle Support (GPECs) to help countries make progress on their electoral laws, procedures and institutions, and to allow women to have greater participation in the voting. The initiative is to run for three years. On a global level, the GPECs aim to maintain global knowledge products and tools in up-and-coming areas, and the elections community of practice. It also hopes to facilitate the exchange of good practices, peer networking, knowledge creation and disseminate information in various regions of the world. In individual countries, it hopes to ensure that electoral management bodies have the means to play their role in ensuring professional, free and open administration of elections. It also aims to encourage women's participation in the election process. UNDP Global Programme on Democratic Governance Assessments The Global Programme on Democratic Governance Assessments is an initiative disaggregated and non-ranking governance indicators are produced, in order to help national stakeholders track their progress towards democratic reform . Currently, the UNDP is providing financial and technical support to 16 countries on governance assessments, including Bhutan, Egypt, Indonesia, Mexico and Angola.
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EC-UNDP Partnership on Electoral Assistance The European Commission-United Nations Development Programme Partnership - a partnership between what is now the European Union and the United Nations - aims to facilitate electoral assistance

18 United Nations Development Programme. "Governance Assessments." Undp.org. United Nations Development Programme. Web. <http://www.beta.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/ourwork/democraticgovernance/oslo_governance_centre/governance_assessments .html>.

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Topic 1: Democratic Governance and UNDP Aid

The United Nations Development Programme

operations in developing countries through the formulation, implementation and tracking of projects that are more effective and sustainable . Notably, through the UNDP, the EC made financial contributions to electoral assistance projects. It made a 60 million euro, 37 million euro and 86 million euro contribution in 2007, 2008 and 2009 respectively. These funds went to countries like Bangladesh, Iraq, Timor Leste, Gerogia, Haiti, Nigeria and Afghanistan.
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RELEVANT UN TREATIES AND RESOLUTIONS

Perhaps the most pertinent resolution for the UNDP is the Millennium Declaration of 2000, which outlined the Millennium Development Goals (MDG). Establishing democratic institutions in a developing nation is believed to be highly useful in bringing about the fulfilment of the MDG; therefore it is vigorously promoted by the UNDP as seen from its programmes in countries like Liberia to ensure that citizens in remote villages can vote. The issue at hand is the power and the rights to the UNDP to advocate this. Is the UNDP empowered to act if it deems the situation warrants it doing so? Currently, all UNDP programmes and initiatives in democratic governance and other areas, as well as the resources needed to implement them, are presented in a formal Country Programme document, approved by the government, and also approved by the UNDP Executive Board which draws its membership from UN Member States. This programme is finally translated into a Country Programme Action Plan. What if, as in the case of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK), the host country refuses to cooperate? Can the UN accomplish its MDG objectives if it only works with compliant states?
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19 United Nations Development Programme. "EC-UNDP Partnership on Electoral Assistance." The UN and UNDP in Brussels. United Nations Development Programme. Web. 19 Mar. 2012. <http://web.undp.org/eu/ecundp_electoral_assistance_joint_task_force.shtml>. 20 Bureau for Development Policy, Democratic Governance Group. A Guide to UNDP Democratic Governance Practice. New York: United Nations Development Programme, 2010. Print. Pg 9

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Topic 1: Democratic Governance and UNDP Aid

The United Nations Development Programme

CURRENT GAPS
Reviewing the ties between UNDP and its partners to achieve the MDGs The partnership has been strong in some areas; nonetheless, there remain gaps within and outside of the issues covered by MDGs. Enhanced policy coherence across the broad spectrum of development remains absolutely critical for the achievement of the MDGs. While developing countries have benefited from improvements in some areas of the international enabling environment, progress in others is being undermined by contradictory or poorly implemented policies (for example, on trade, migration, agricultural subsidies in developed countries, access to medicines, technology and climate change). In particular, the impact of the global financial and economic crisis represents an ongoing threat to sustainable development, which highlights the increased need for accountability and responsibility by UNDPs partners in order to minimize the risk of such crises unfolding in the future.

The shortfall of Official Developmental Assistance (ODA) The global financial and economic crisis is beginning to take its toll on country finances and consequently the share allocated to development assistance. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) estimates that ODA flows in 2010 will amount to $108.1 billion, which, while significant, falls $17.7 billion (in 2004 dollars and growth-adjusted) short of the commitments made by donors at the Gleneagles G8 Summit in 2005. Many donors have set targets to increase ODA over the medium term beyond 2010. If these are met, ODA could reach approximately $200 billion by 2015. If other donors contribute concomitantly according to the size of their economies, this level of aid could be surpassed. Given the short time left, maintaining the upwards trajectory of aid disbursement is crucial.

There is much scope for improving the distribution and allocation of ODA A recent UN study found that aid to least-developed countries (LDCs) has not been increasing at a favourable rate compared with non-LDCs. For the past two decades; the non-LDCs fared better than LDCs in terms of ODA allocation. Large allocations of ODA are still directed to middle-income countries with lower levels of poverty. LDCs received 0.09 percent of donor GNI in 2008, which is below the UN target of 0.15 percent. The top ten recipients still account for 38 percent of total ODA. Given its responsiveness to the underlying socio-economic conditions of LDCs, multilateral aid has the potential to increase the equity of aid by improving its distribution. But while donor preferences have also been influential, ultimately, the domestic allocation of aid should be the budgetary choice of the receiving country and its population.

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Topic 1: Democratic Governance and UNDP Aid

The United Nations Development Programme

Faster progress should be made under the Rome, Paris and Accra agendas on aid effectiveness The 2010 MDG Gap Task Force Report notes that aid effectiveness was improving, but only slowly: there remained a sizeable gap between the results achieved by 2008 and 12 numerical targets set for 2010. Evidence shows a recent trend towards increased aid fragmentation and higher transaction costs. This is the combined result of a proliferation of donors and the expansion of project portfolios.

The worlds largest economies are failing on their promise to put in place a trading environment conducive to the achievement of the MDGs. Eight years after its initiation, the failure to deliver a development-oriented Doha Round constitutes the most significant gap in formulating the Global Partnership for Development. Market access for developing countries is little improved and domestic agricultural subsidies by rich countries continue to overshadow policy coherence needed to accelerate MDG progress. Additional trade reform is needed if developing countries are to benefit adequately from globalization. The Global Partnership for Development can also be strengthened in the areas of access to technologies, migration and remittances, and foreign investment More effort is needed to increase the access by developing countries to appropriate technologies, including those for health, communications and climate change. This involves strengthening incentives that support innovation, improving access and financing research, intellectual property and context-specific technologies. Furthermore, according to recent estimates, about $6.2 trillion worth of developing countries wealth is held in offshore assets, sitting in clandestine financial accounts and tax havens in Northern countries. As a result, developing countries lose up to $124 billion in tax receipts. This amount is $17 billion more than what they will be receiving in ODA in 2010. Effective international cooperation is required to stem illicit transactions. Besides diverting resources towards the financing of MDG investments, an internationally coordinated enforcement of tax laws would tackle corrupt practices.

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Topic 1: Democratic Governance and UNDP Aid

The United Nations Development Programme

ISSUES TO BE ADDRESSED IN A RESOLUTION

The following section is a summary of the themes and the issues that delegates are expected to address over the conference.

(a) The authority of the UNDP The Millenium Development Goals are no doubt noble, but ultimately useless if the UNDP cannot check on progress in nations it is helping or is crippled by lack of funding. Discussion should thus focus on UNDP authority in countries it is assisting and contributions--should compulsory contributions be enforced?

(b) Conditions for UNDP assistance Should aid by the UNDP be no-strings-attached, or is it imperative that conditions be attached? If so, what are the conditions, and how is it to be measured and enforced? The reverse is relevant as well since the UNDP is focused on democratic governance, are there other methods to promote it other than through the use of aid?

(c) Method of ranking a countrys level of development What are the methods that the UNDP can adopt to ensure that aid is not misused? How can the UNDP ensure accountability and minimise corruption, without impinging on the sovereignty of states?

(d) Different paths to meeting the MDGs To reiterate once again, the UNDP holds that democracy is complementary to the goals of countries meeting the MDGs. If a country demonstrates its ability to meet the MDGs without implementing democratic governance, what is the position of the UNDP? Should it continue providing aid, or support the methods of the country?