WHO WE ARE
OUR APPROACH
OUR IMPACT
Overview
UNDP's commitment to addressing HIV and other major health and development challenges is based on the principles that health is a driver for and an indicator and outcome of development.
Strategy
As outlined in the UNDP Strategic Plan 2022-2025, UNDP’s support to countries aims to eradicate poverty in all its forms and dimensions, accelerating structural transformation for sustainable development and supporting governments to build resilience to shocks and crises.
Capacity Development role
UNDP defines capacity development as the process through which individuals, organizations and societies obtain, strengthen and maintain the capabilities to set and achieve their own development objectives over time.
Partners
Strong partnerships are the cornerstone of UNDP's work to strengthen systems for health. In its support to countries UNDP works closely with other United Nations entities, development organizations, civil society organizations, the private sector, academia and key populations to develop resilient and sustainable systems for health.
UNDP-Global Fund partnership
The effectiveness of UNDP's model of health programme support, with its emphasis on end-to-end capacity development, is evident in the results of its long-standing partnership with the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (the Global Fund).
Overview
UNDP works with governments and partners to support the implementation and management of health programmes in challenging operating contexts.
Capacity Development of key partners
Implementing partners of health programmes require support and oversight to execute, manage and monitor their assigned roles effectively.
The Capacity Development plan
Whether in its role as an implementing partner managing large-scale HIV, TB, and malaria programmes funded by the Global Fund or as a technical assistance
Transitioning programmes to government
External donors have historically contributed a significant amount of financing for health programmes in low- and middle-income countries.
Health system components
Investments in resilient and sustainable systems for health lay the foundation for the effective and equitable delivery of HIV, tuberculosis (TB) and malaria.
Human rights
Human rights barriers include stigma and discrimination, punitive laws, policies and practices, violence, harassment, gender, and social and economic inequalities.
Key populations
People most affected by HIV, tuberculosis (TB) and malaria are often the same people who are marginalised and have limited or no access to health care.
Gender
Gender equality is essential to achieving health and well-being for all, accelerate progress towards the health-related Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets and ensuring that no one is left behind.
Planning
Planning
Purpose
Effective planning is key to ensuring clear, relevant organizational goals are established and achieved in the process of building resilient financial management systems.
Planning involves understanding and documenting the expected role of the finance function in contributing to the achievement of a government’s or organization’s goals. This includes appreciating the strategic role that the finance function can play in achieving broader health and development goals, as well as ensuring the recording and reporting of day-to-day transactions.
Having recognized the role of the finance function, planning involves ensuring that the expected outputs are reflected in the structure of the finance department and identifying the number of people and the skills needed to perform this function.
UNDP’s approach
Through a good understanding of countries’ national priorities, UNDP is able to work closely with governments and stakeholders to document clear goals that contribute to implementing and monitoring improvements in financial systems for health.
To facilitate the planning process, UNDP assists stakeholders of health programmes to conduct financial analyses. This process has helped to identify the optimal financial management structure for health programmes in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean.
Within this approach, UNDP:
- leverages its experiences assisting countries and projects to plan health programmes and systems. It provides access to experiential knowledge, technical guidance and innovative tools/methodologies for financial management
- utilizes existing capacity assessment tools that help to identify areas for capacity development in planning for health systems, in addition to the United Nations Harmonized Approach to Cash Transfers (HACT) framework described below.
- works with government health systems as well as civil society organizations to establish development milestones and indicators, including training needs to measure improvements in financial planning.
Harmonized Approach to Cash Transfers
United Nations agencies have developed the risk-based, harmonized approach to cash transfers (HACT). This framework identifies implementing partner capacity needs and develops capacity with assistance from UNDP and other development partners, as core to managing risk.
Identification of and planning to address implementing partner capacity gaps is an important element of the HACT. The results of a HACT assessment help focus future capacity development activities on key thematic and mandated areas of development, and on developing the financial management capacity necessary for any implementing partner. The capacity development initiatives identified during the implementing partners microassessment process can be incorporated into the existing standard UNDP capacity development framework.
Suggested capacity development indicators
Suggested indicators to monitor improvements in financial planning include:
- The approved organogram reflects the current and expected human resource needs of the finance department.
- An approved strategic plan is available, and all staff are aware of its contents.
- The percentage of staff required is in place.
- There is a certain percentage of increase or decrease in financial management staff turnover per year.
Key Resources
