Nigeria

UN System in Nigeria

The UN System in Nigeria which comprises 14 agencies works with the government of Nigeria to address development challenges and attain the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It also works closely with development partners and civil society organizations.

The agencies are: the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the United Nations Population Funds (UNFPA), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), the United Nations Joint Programme for HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the United Nations Fund for Women (UNIFEM), the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Labor Organization (ILO), International Organization for Migration (IOM).

The activities of the UN System in Nigeria are managed through a top level team – the United Nations Country Team (UNCT) composed of heads of all the resident UN agencies and led by the Resident Coordinator (RC). Affiliated to the UNCT are the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank (WB) and the International Financial Corporation (IFC). Other UN Habitat and IFAD without full representation in Nigeria are represented on the country team by the RC.

Common Country programming process
To support development priorities of Nigeria, the UN System uses the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF), a planning tool designed to enhance the coordination and effectiveness of the United Nations System contribution to development in Nigeria. The UNDAF focuses on realistic goals and objectives, achievable within the planned period and expected resource availability, while allowing some degree of flexibility in order to accommodate emerging development challenges. The first UNDAF commenced in May 2001 shortly after the completion of the Common Country Assessment (CCA). It created a good opportunity for different agencies to jointly streamline programs’ strategies and assessing impact. It therefore enforced collaboration and teamwork among UN agencies.

The thematic areas which were selected as priorities were:

• The promotion of Good Governance and Human Rights
• Reduction of Poverty
• Reduction of the Incidence and Impact of HIV/AIDS, Malaria, TB, and other infectious diseases.

The Mid term review of 2005 revised the current UNDAF outcomes which are now:
• Governance
• Productive sector
• Health services
• Education
• HIV/AIDS .

Over the last year the UNCT in Nigeria has concentrated upon the adoption of the key recommendations contained in the High Level Panel on UN Reform.  In this regard a number of important advances have been recorded, evidenced by both the increase in the quantity and quality of operational and programmatic activities now being undertaken jointly by different UN agencies.

As noted above, in aligning the preparation of our second UNDAF with that of NEEDS II, the UNCT sought to strategically position the weight of the UN’s developmental support to Nigeria.  On one hand, alignment enabled the UNCT to contribute ‘as ONE’ to the development of the NEEDS II document, including inter alia the provision of a consolidated UN review and assessment of the draft NEEDS II document.  On the other hand, closer alignment has enabled us to focus more of our development assistance from 2009, on Nigeria’s stated national priorities in which the UNCT’s has a demonstrated comparative advantage. 

In terms of implementation support, the UN provided technical assistance enabling a number of activities aimed at generating MDG related data.  The UN’s support enabled the government to, for example: complete Nigeria’s MDG Needs Assessment; set up a team of national experts to conduct Nigeria’s MDG costing exercise; and prepare the 2006 MDG report.    

Capacity development lies at the core of the UN’s program and policy support to Nigeria’s Federal and State level governments, instances of which are detailed in the Results and use of Funds tables in the next section.

Working through the National Planning Commission (NPC), Nigeria’s central body responsible for aid coordination, the UN has been providing support in initiatives aimed at significantly strengthening aid harmonization.  The UN has continued to lead the Donor Coordination efforts around Avian Influenza and HIV and AIDS and in so doing, has played a key role in both advocacy and resource mobilization, detailed in the next section. 

2007 saw the UN in Nigeria take an important step towards the goal of ONE Program, with the setting up of an inter-agency Program Management Team (PMT).  Reporting to the UNCT, the PMT serves as the central body of the UN in Nigeria for the planning and monitoring development policy and programmatic collaboration across resident and non-resident agencies.
 
Under the guidance of the UNCT, the PMT was tasked with preparing UNDAF II. 

As part of the UNDAF preparation process, and with support from UNDGO, the PMT trained over 80 senior UN program staff and government counterparts in Results Based Management and the Human Rights Based approach.  Recipients were drawn from the pool of personnel who would be responsible for both designing and implementing UNDAF II.

The draft UNDAF is set to be presented to the government for review at the beginning of 2008 and for the first time, UNDAF II is set to anchor the bulk of the UN’s programmatic work in Nigeria from 2009 to 2012.  Given the wide range of Federal and State level actors and the complexity of Nigeria’s policy environment, the UNCT committed to maintaining the highest standards of participation and inclusiveness in the preparation of the UNDAF. 

Process-wise, this resulted in the government and our development partners being periodically consulted and invited to make substantive contributions to the process.  No effort has been spared in ensuring that, as the UN’s collective response to Nigeria’s development challenges, our next UNDAF aligns with both Nigeria’s core developmental aspirations. 

The UNDAF Strategic Prioritization Retreat held in September, brought the UN system and the government together to discuss the principal thematic areas that UNDAF II should concentrate upon.  Four areas were agreed upon, namely: Governance and Accountability; Productivity and Employment; Social Service Delivery; and Conflict and Insecurity, reflecting the thematic areas covered in the UNDAF II Results Matrices.

>> United Nations Country Team (UNCT) in Nigeria website