UNDP in the Russian Federation

General Overview

The UNDP Country Office began activities in the Russian Federation in Moscow in 1997, though UNDP has been present in Russia since 1993, when a framework Agreement was signed with the Government of the Russian Federation. UNDP implements programmes both at the federal level and in a number of regions of the Russian Federation, providing policy advice, technical assistance, and capacity development to the government and the civil society.

The number of UNDP staff in the Russian Federation for January 2010 totals 31 people. The head of the UNDP office is UNDP Resident Representative.

UNDP priorities, in Russia are defined in the Country Programme for the Russian Federation (2008-2010), which is based on extensive consultations with the Government, United Nations organizations, civil society groups and other partners. It builds on experiences gained from the implementation of the previous Country Programme (2004-2007), as well as earlier Country Cooperation Frameworks (1998-2000 and 2001-2003).

The same as earlier programmes, the plan of action as based  on five Focus Areas, which UNDP addresses globally, including Democratic Governance, Poverty Reduction, Crisis Prevention and Recovery, Energy and Environment, and HIV/AIDS

The Country Programme was developed in collaboration with the Russian government and aimed at bringing about concrete positive changes for people and the improvement of living standards in the Russian Federation. The uniqueness of its approach is in putting people and their needs at the core of policy. UNDP does so by using mainly national capacity and by strictly monitoring and evaluating the impact of its work.

Despite the global economic crisis, which seriously affected the Russian economy in 2009, Russia’s growing economic strength, increasing global role as a G-8 member and re-emerging donor continues to affect the nature of its relationship with UNDP.

Currently, UNDP programme priorities include the following:

Energy and Environment
Official development Assistance
Human Development
Private Sector Partnership

Total funds disbursed in implementing UNDP projects from 1997 through 2009 amount to over US $149 million.

Programme Resources Delivery 2006-2009 in US$ Thousands Dollars

As result of this strong partnership approach UNDP Russia can rely on several categories of donors: bilateral and multilateral, government, corporate, the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and other trust-funds, as well UN agencies (pls.see Joint Projects Documents). This is especially important in a situation when UNDP Russia’s access to the organisation’s global funds composed of contributions of UN member-countries is limited because Russia has rich resources and potential. The country office depends on funds generated within the country, traditional donors and the Russian federal and regional governments.

Bilateral donors consist of developed countries that provide assistance to developing countries or countries in transition, multilateral donors are those comprising several governments, such as EU. Corporate donors consist of private and state-owned commercial companies. Trust funds offer a mechanism to receive contributions to receive contributions from governmental or non-governmental donors.

Donor Contributions by Category in 2009 in US Dollars

UNDP Country Office serves as coordinator of all UN development activities in the country. UN work is focused on supporting countries in achieving the so called Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – a set of concrete goals and targets in priority areas of poverty reduction, health, education, environment, human rights and partnership, adopted by the world leaders at the UN Millennium Summit in 2000. In Russia, as in some other middle-income countries, internationally accepted MDGs need to be customized to better fit the country-specific context.

UNDP Resident Representative serves as the Resident Coordinator (RC) for the entire United Nations system in Russia as typically is in other country offices. RCs are the designated representatives of the UN Secretary General for development operations in a country. The Resident Coordinator system aims to bring together different UN agencies to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of operational activities at the country level. It encompasses all organizations of the UN system dealing with development, regardless of their formal presence in the country. The RC system is funded and managed by UNDP. The RC leads the UN country team, supported in the everyday function by a secretariat, RC Office. The RC Office was established in the RF in accordance with a relevant Agreement with the Government. The RC and country team advocate the interests and mandates of the UN drawing on the support and guidance of the entire UN family.

Apart from supporting the Resident Coordinator system, UNDP provides central administrative support to other UN agencies in Russia, including in processing of payments, reporting, logistics, procurement, contracting, recruitment, etc. In 2009, UN agencies expenditures through UNDP CO equaled to US$ 17,373,469 vis-a-vis US$ 17,578,784 in 2008. The Resident Coordinator function supports UN joint efforts in areas of high relevance and added-value undertaken by UN theme/working groups, such as the ones on Gender, HIV/AIDS, North Caucasus, Youth, Human Trafficking and Arctic, where UNDP plays an active part or leads, such as Arctic theme groups. In addition, UNDP is a regular contributor to joint advocacy and communications initiatives, carrying the bulk of responsibility and expenses for the production of the joint UN in Russia bulletin and maintenance of the UN in Russia website.

You can learn more about the composition of the country team and its priorities in the Russian Federation on UN in Russia site at http://www.unrussia.ru/en/Default.asp

The 2006 Resident Coordinator’s Annual Report
The Resident Coordinator’s Report-Workplan 2007-2008
The Resident Coordinator’s Report-Workplan 2008-2009