New York: Consultant for New Deal Implementation Support

Nov 24, 2014 | UNDP, Peace and Collaborative Development Network

The International Dialogue on Peacebuilding and Statebuilding (IDPS) began in 2009 after the 3rd High Level Forum in Accra that provided the mandate. It brings together the International Network on Conflict and Fragility (INCAF) under OECD/DAC and the g7+. INCAF convenes international aid agencies and is co-chaired by UNDP. The g7+ was created in 2010 and now includes a group of 20 countries who self-identify as fragile states. The g7+ has received much positive international attention among donor agencies and in the international debate, as it represents an authentic voice of fragile states. It can help establish a basis for more focus on capacity development and a gradual and realistic movement towards greater use of country systems and long-term sustainable development.

The key achievement of the IDPS has been to launch the New Deal at the Busan High Level forum in November 2011 after an intensive process of negotiation between the g7+ and INCAF. It represents a new and improved approach to planning and assessment in fragile states with a strong focus on 5 Peacebuilding and Statebuilding Goals (PSGs). The New Deal recognizes the need for simple and streamlined planning processes, building on compacts agreed upon between governments and donors to ensure joint prioritization and mutual accountability. New Deal implementation typically includes a government-led fragility assessment organized around the 5 PSGs, a compact and a continuous monitoring and dialogue process.

A number of countries have carried out fragility assessments, including DRC, Comoros, Liberia, Timor Leste, South Sudan, and Sierra Leone; Afghanistan is now undertaking one. Somalia and Sierra Leone have established compacts and Liberia and DRC have decided to establish one. The Ebola crisis is currently preventing active progress in Liberia and Sierra Leone, but their governments remain strongly committed. Afghanistan and Yemen have established mutual accountability frameworks that are very close to New Deal standards for compacts, and Yemen recently joined the g7+. CAR and Guinea Bissau have both made their intention to use the New Deal as transition frameworks clear.

The New Deal expires in 2015, and the Steering Group meeting of the IDPS in Washington on 13 October agreed to conduct an independent review of the New Deal as part of the background to renew its mandate. The review will build on in-depth country cases and country discussions. In the remaining time under the current mandate, there is agreement to focus on achieving progress in a few countries and overcoming the obstacles to this, including through high joint level visits.

UNDP launched a donor funded New Deal implementation support facility in early 2014 with a two-year budget of USD 5.3 million, and this has allowed UNDP to step up our engagement in New Deal processes and provide support to work in Sierra Leone, Liberia, DRC and Guinea Bissau. At the same time, UNDP Country Offices continue their existing engagement in other countries, including in Afghanistan and Somalia. Beginning in April, UNDP has circulated quarterly updates with financial and results based information. Through the support facility, UNDP aims to effectively connect the country level with the global policy debate and learning process at the heart of the New Deal. In addition to the country level support, the facility provides capacity support to the g7+ and enables g7+ participation in international meetings on the New Deal.

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