Introductory Letter for the 2012 RCAR. 1. Introduction and major developments in Ethiopia in 2012

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1 Introductory Letter for the 2012 RCAR 1. Introduction and major developments in Ethiopia in 2012 I am pleased to share with you the 2012 Resident Coordinator s Annual Report for Ethiopia, which was prepared in full collaboration with the Country Team. The year 2012 marked a major leadership transition for the country after the passing away of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi in August The transitional period was peaceful and by mid-september the then-deputy Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn officially took over the post of Prime Minister. By the end of November Prime Minister Desalegn had appointed three ministers with the rank of Deputy Prime Minister and new foreign and trade ministers in the first cabinet reshuffle since he came into power. Overall socio-political risk remains low to medium, as the Government completes the transition process, in the run-up to local government election due mid Ethiopia s economy is officially estimated to have grown at double digits in the last ten years and the government expects this trend to continue. The Ministry of Finance and Economic Development estimated GDP growth rate for the fiscal year 2011/2012 (from July 2011 to June 2012) to be 11.1 percent amid declining inflationary pressure and in spite of the weak global economy. Owing to improved tax administration and robust resource mobilization efforts during the year, the Government succeeded in financing over 82 percent of its expenditure from domestic revenue. The annual inflation rate was 39.2 percent in October 2011, but steadily declined over the course of the year to reach 12.1 percent in December According to the African Economic Outlook 2012, Ethiopia s youth unemployment rate stands at 73 percent. Combating inflation and youth unemployment have been the major challenges in During 2012, external grants to Ethiopia declined by 22 percent compared to the last year due to the adverse effects of the global economic crisis. The social sector also demonstrated continuous improvement. According to the authorities preliminary estimate, poverty head count declined from 38.7 percent in 2004/2005 to 29.6 percent in 2010/11. The human development index (HDI) reached in 2011 witnessing a 32 percent increase over the last decade. This is mainly due to significant public investment targeting expanded education and health services as well as in physical infrastructure. Ethiopia is on track to achieve most of the 8 Millennium Development Goals. According to the national MDG report, among the three goals that are lagging behind (gender equality, maternal mortality and environmental sustainability), only the target on maternal mortality is at risk of not being achieved. In 2012, Ethiopia continued to face a number of humanitarian challenges, including the lingering impact of the La Niña-induced Horn of Africa drought, which primarily affected the pastoralist lowlands of southern and south-eastern Ethiopia and the central 1 P a g e

2 highlands. Support to build in the resilience of communities entering the recovery phase proved a critical point of convergence for humanitarian and development actors during the year. Meanwhile, renewed food and nutritional insecurity stemming from the poor minor seasonal rains and associated harvest, led to an increase in the number of people requiring food assistance during the year, from 3.2 million in January to 3.7 million by mid-year. Poor households remained vulnerable to high levels of malnutrition and disease outbreaks. Between January and October, nearly 260,000 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition were admitted to Therapeutic Feeding Programmes (TFP) across the country. Moreover, refugees continued to arrive in the country on multiple fronts - from Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan and Eritrea, among other countries - with 367,297 refugees registered in Ethiopia by the end of November. 2. Highlights on progress in UN reform The UNCT has made significant progress in taking forward the common programming process from the UNDAF and UNDAF Action Plan by producing two additional tools in 2012: the Programme Monitoring Framework (PMF) and the UNDAF Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Plan. The PMF was developed at the request of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development to have in place one document that could be used as an annual work plan for all UN agencies operating in the country. This was a major milestone for the UN- Government cooperation because even with the development of the UNDAF Action Plan, agencies could operate with separate annual work plans, making it difficult to have an overview of the entire UN system s operations. The PMF is aligned to the government s fiscal year (July to June), which also ensures that all agencies monitoring and reporting activities be aligned to the government fiscal cycle. The UNCT further developed the UNDAF M&E Plan to establish a robust M&E system for the UNDAF/UNDAF Action Plan. The online monitoring tool, utilizing the Di-Monitoring technology, will soon be implemented for internal use for UNDAF monitoring. It is the UNCT s aim to utilize the government s monitoring system (Aid Management Platform) for UNDAF monitoring as soon as the government s system is upgraded. In parallel with the above-mentioned common planning processes, the UNCT supported the government s capacity development efforts on a number of domains related to programme implementation, monitoring and evaluation. The first relates to HACT implementation. Three rounds of HACT training workshops were conducted for Government Implementing Partners and some new UN staff members in September. A further three rounds of training workshops on results-based management were organized for Government Implementing Partners by the Monitoring and Evaluation TWG from November to December Both training workshops were very well received by the participants. On-going efforts on joint resource mobilization bore fruit in In July, the Norwegian Government signed a multi-year agreement to make a second contribution to the UNCT s 2 P a g e

3 Delivering as One effort, totaling 1 million USD per year for three years. The contribution helped supplement the UNCT/RCO budget significantly and has enabled the RC Office to beef up its policy and analytic capacity and to pilot new innovative business processes. It is also envisaged that various inter-agency work, including strengthening the Operations Management Team (OMT) and reviewing on-going joint programmes, will be supported through Norwegian contribution. Furthermore, towards the end of the year the Governments of Norway and Sweden signed agreements to contribute 3.17 million USD and 1.5 million USD respectively to the One UN Fund, earmarked for the Gender Equality and Women s Empowerment Joint Programme for the next 3 years. The UNCT has commenced the formulation of a joint resource mobilization strategy as a means to help fill the funding gap within the UNDAF. The new resource mobilization strategy is scheduled to be completed during the first quarter of The Operations Management Team (OMT) was revitalized and it did commence new initiatives in 2012, such as the joint procurement of drivers uniforms and undertaking a banking survey. The HACT Working Group also commenced the HACT micro-assessment process for the new UNDAF cycle and the assessments of 192 Implementing Partners is currently ongoing. In December, the UNCT made a decision to join the UNDG s pilot project to implement the Business Operations Strategy (BOS). The BOS should help the OMT optimize its activities by introducing results-based planning and resource allocations. The One Voice component of the Delivering as One was also significantly enhanced, led by the UN Communication Group (UNCG), over the course of the year. A new UN brand was officially launched in June 2012 with high-level government and donor participation, and officiated by the then-deputy Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn. The UN website was also revamped in In addition, the UNCG developed an UNDAF Communication Strategy to drive the communication of development results in the context of the UNDAF s implementation. Another important initiative over the reporting period was the initiation of a post-2015 national consultation process in Ethiopia. The UNCT has been leading this effort. A national Task Team, which consists of Government representatives, CSO representatives, the private sector and UN agencies, was established in September Thereafter, the task team proceeded with preparation for a background paper to be a basis for the discussion at the consultations. The launch of the consultation process was held on 22 November 2012 in the northern city of Bahir Dar with over 250 participants. Three regional consultations and three interest group consultations with youth, women, and the private sector were successfully held by mid-december. The Task Team is now preparing for the final national consultation, scheduled to be held in Addis Ababa in February P a g e

4 3. Highlights on progress towards UNDAF outcomes The year 2012 was the first year of implementation of the new UNDAF ( ). As the government s fiscal year is from June to July, review meetings conducted in September 2012 covered the Ethiopian fiscal year, from June 2011 to July The following report is based on both the review meetings and the year-end reporting from the Pillar technicalworking groups and includes only selected results in each outcome area. The first UNDAF pillar is on sustainable economic growth and risk reduction. In the agricultural sector, the UN provided a range of policy and programmatic support to enhance agricultural production and productivity. For example, drought-tolerant, high yielding root and tuber crop varieties - cassava, Irish and sweet potatoes and taro and multiplication of rust tolerant wheat varieties were introduced with the objective of improving smallholder production and food security. The UN further invested in enhancing access to and efficiency in agriculltral markets as well as help farmers organizations to produce more and engage more profitably and sustainably in broader and open markets. As a result of part of the mix of capacity building interventions undertaken, key stakeholders in the Ethiopian maize sector have begun an integrated initiative that link maize producing smallholder farmers with secure markets that enables upfront investment in production and secure markets. In the area of disaster risk reduction (DRM), while the national DRM Policy has yet to be officially endorsed, the UN in Ethiopia continues to engage in government-led efforts to finalize the DRM Strategic Programme and Investment Framework in anticipation of the draft Policy s adoption. In terms of enhancing on-going disaster risk reduction work, support for enhanced early warning, contingency planning and risk profiling was undertaken. Rapid progress has been made in rolling out early warning system at the woreda (district) level, with 667 woredas covered (91 per cent of the overall UNDAF target), while disaster risk profiles for some 200 woredas have been completed to date. UN agencies provided support to regional officials in eight regions (Afar, Amhara, Beneshangul Gumuz, Gambella, Oromia, SNNPR, Somali and Tigray) on contingency planning through the multi-sectoral emergency preparedness and response planning (EPRP) process, and guidelines and training manuals for woreda-level Contingency Plans have been prepared and piloted in two woredas. In terms of humanitarian assistance, some 1.3 million households received livelihood support, while up to 3 million received support in accessing various water, sanitation and hygiene services during the year. Some 45,439 children were assisted with emergency education support and 15,150 households displaced or otherwise affected by disasters, including flood or conflict, received non-food items and/or shelter materials. Nearly 372,000 registered refugees in camps in Ethiopia were being supported by UN agencies by year's end. The second UNDAF pillar covers basic social services. Progress has been made in strengthening health systems and services for increased quality and coverage. Support was provided in strengthening health information systems, implementing national health 4 P a g e

5 accounts (NHA), developing social protection policy and establishing Regional Blood Banks as well as to institutionalize multi-sectoral regional coordination structures and media networks. In the area of HIV/AIDS, the UN system provided support to the government in the delivery of the Strategic Plan II for Intensifying Multi-sectoral HIV and AIDS Response in Ethiopia (SPM) 2010/ /15. The UN strengthened federal and regional capacity to coordinate, plan and programme for evidenced/informed prevention. Support was provided to expand PMTCT programmes and efforts to integrate them into sexual and reproductive health/maternal, neonatal and child health services. The UN supported the scaling up and integration of quality treatment, care and support services. The UN also supported efforts to ensure that up-to-date quality scientific epidemiological information on HIV is available and is being used to guide prioritization, programming and targeting of the HIV response. The UN provided support to key government sectors at Federal and regional levels to coordinate and manage the HIV response. The UN support to education was provided in line with the five year Education Sector Development Programme for the Federal Ministry of Education and 11 Regional Education Bureaus. Although the quality of the plans differ, 136 target woredas (96% of the target) have developed their sector plans. A case study on social norms and equity in education was carried out in order to understand the reasons that keep children out of school for evidence-based advocacy and action. In 2011/12, Ethiopia also developed an integrated early childhood care and education policy and strategy through a multi-sectoral approach, with the assistance of the UN. The third UNDAF pillar is governance and capacity development. The pillar aims at improving government legitimacy as well as wider popular participation, transparency and accountability through strengthened capacity of democratic institutions. The pillar also supports citizens empowerment so that they can contribute to decision making. As reported by the World Bank, in 2012, corruption has decreased as a result of efforts to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of integrity systems to prevent, detect, punish and eradicate corruption and related offences in the public sector. Asset registration and disclosure system for public officials and political leaders was fully implemented in 2012 with UN assistance and this is well perceived by the public at large. Guided by the Federal constitution, in 2012, Ethiopia registered smooth implementation of policies and strengthened protection of human and peoples rights. With coordinated support from the UN, substantial progress in the capacity of democratic institutions with the mandate to facilitate citizens participation, accountability of service providers and transparent and government responsiveness to the public was witnessed. Federal and Regional legislature performed their oversight mandate in the executive organ. The year 2012 also marked the standardization and alignment of government audits to international standards. In addition, Ethiopia joined the UN Human Rights Council and the Committee on 5 P a g e

6 Child Rights in Access to the justice system has been improved by 40% compared to The fourth pillar focuses on support to women, youth and children. With the support of the UN Gender Joint Programme, Federal and Regional gender machineries have demonstrated improved capacity to coordinate and monitor implementation of national gender policies, strategies and plans at federal and regional levels. This has enabled these machineries to align respective plans to the gender component of the GTP. More concretely, the Joint Programme brought about tangible results particularly in the areas of women s economic empowerment, girls education and reduction of harmful traditional practices. On women s economic empowerment, progress was made in strengthening the delivery of services of three key institutions providing business development services to women. The programme made some strides in the building of individual women entrepreneurs skills in business development services in all parts of the country where over 5000 women accessed training on business development combined with the provision of financial start-up capital. On Women s leadership and education, the programme commenced a process to support tutorial classes and peer learning services in Higher Learning Institutions that are expected to improve education achievement of female students and reduce the higher levels attrition that are currently witnessed. In an effort to further lower the drop-out rate, more than 1700 girls received some basic financial support to cover food and living expenses to maintain them in school. In the area of violence against women, the commitment put forward by the Dire Dawa City Administration and representatives of 38 rural and 9 urban kebeles (localities) to mobilize communities on abandonment of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and early marriage led to the training of 198 community dialogue facilitators at kebele level, while 235 women development group leaders and representatives were gathered to reach a consensus on a position leading to the abandonment of Harmful Traditional Practice in Tigray. The abandonment of FGM/C in self-declared districts in Ethiopia was confirmed through a validation study that assessed the impact of community declaration of FGM abandonment in 10 woredas in 3 regions. The study is being used to inform the development of a national strategy and action plan targeting FGM and other HTPs. In addition to specific work on GBV, the programme also contributed to enhance the institutional capacity and knowledge to protect the rights of girls and women. The Ethiopia Police University College adopted national guidelines on engendering institutional practices and strengthening GBV prevention and response in curricula both for new recruits and inservice training for law enforcement officers. The year 2012 also witnessed high levels of commitment to advance gender equality and women s empowerment in Ethiopia as reflected in the achievements of law reforms/legislative amendments, policies and action plans and the considerable number of activities and interventions developed and implemented, despite financial constraints faced. 6 P a g e

7 4. Key aspects of the proposed 2013 work plan The UNCT will continue to invest in the Delivering as One initiative in In terms of common programming process, the main focus will be effective implementation and monitoring of the current UNDAF. In this regard, the UNDAF M&E Plan will be fully implemented. The UNDAF annual review, which is scheduled to take place in June 2013, is the key milestone for the UNDAF implementation as it is the first major review in the current UNDAF cycle. Based on the Programme Monitoring Framework, which serves as a common work plan for all UN agencies, the UNCT will have an annual review which covers all UN agencies activities for the first time in the country (In the past, the annual review meetings mainly focused on the ex-excom agencies). In addition, the review of the existing joint programmes should guide the UNCT discussion on the possibility of developing new joint programmes. The resource mobilization effort for the One Fund will continue. The joint resource mobilization strategy is due to be completed by the first quarter of The majority of the funding which was received in the Ethiopia One Fund was for the gender joint programme, and enhanced efforts will be made to mobilize un-earmarked funding, which will be used to fill the funding gap in the UNDAF Action Plan in a more flexible and strategic manner. In the fields of common services and harmonized business practices, efforts to provide better support to UNCT s development and humanitarian assistance activities will continue through the work of the OMT. New joint procurement initiatives will be launched to improve the quality of business services in a cost-effective manner through a results-based common procurement framework as part of the BoS implementation. The OMT will also work to advance the working environment of the UNCT by approaching the government to negotiate on pending host country issues. Moreover, harmonization of policies and procedures will be furthered in various areas such as consultancy rates. HACT implementation, particularly micro-assessment of the IPs, will continue in New proposals will be tabled in the fields of knowledge management and business continuity to expand support services provided to the UNCT. As in the previous years, in 2012 the One Voice component of UN DaO agenda was supported by the UN Communication Group, which focused its efforts on joint communication activities and products to promote messaging around common development goals, celebrations of UN events and international days. These efforts will be further scaled up in 2013 to strengthen the visibility of the UN and its development and humanitarian work. 7 P a g e

8 5. Recommendations The issue of burden-sharing of the UN Coordination was discussed at the HQ level throughout 2012, but there is a need for an urgent conclusion of this discussion. While most of the UNCT member agencies managed to raise fund to contribute to the RC Office budget in 2012, many agencies are expressing difficulties in handling the contribution on an ad-hoc basis. There needs to be a corporate level guidance on this issue in 2013 as it is not fair to leave each UNCT to struggle with this issue. The One80 assessment process also needs further revisions or revamping. Many UNCT members view this exercise as too time-consuming without meaningful results. The competency assessment tool needs to be complemented by a competency development strategy. At the minimum, there needs to be a proper follow-up process that offers the UNCT the opportunity to collectively discuss and reflect on the assessments and agree on ways forward to improve team work. 8 P a g e