Annual Work Plan 2017

INTRODUCTION

The 2017 Annual Workplan is the last for the current Country Programme Document (CPD) 2013-2017, and it has been officially extended to 2018 to align with the government planning cycle. The plan is informed by the Country Office progress to date on the implementation of the CPD informed by the United Nations Strategic Cooperation Framework 2013-2017; Lessons learned from the implementation of the 2016 Annual Workplan; Increasing high-end policy development and programme implementation requests from government; and the launch of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) late in 2015.

The programmatic lessons learned in 2016 include;

Programmatic lessons learned

The strengthened engagement in 2016 with both DIRCO and National Treasury revealed insufficient knowledge by government of UNDP's operating frameworks, instruments, processes and procedures. This is partly due to the relative newness of the CO which has been in existence for only 22 years compared to other countries where UNDP were in existence for over 50 years. CO needs to continue to invest in informing partners and bridging that knowledge gap. Operating in the upper MIC like SA necessitates stronger partnership with the private sector. While such partnerships come with certain risks to the organisation, the CO has observed that generally UNDP adopts a risk averse posture, and may not have the requisite tools that are applicable for effective engagement. This has required the CO to develop an innovative public-private partnership model through its SDP which provides other COs with the possible model from which to learn.

Organizational lessons learned

The 2016 CO retreat identified capacity as a key area of investment, especially in the areas of RBM, M&E and specific programme areas. About a third of the country office staff have been recruited over the past 18 months. The majority are in middle and senior programme staff categories. While the staff are equipped with the relevant technical skills to match the needs and demands of South Africa, further investment in improving their organisational knowledge and requirements is necessary. The small budget has forced the CO to constantly strive for cost-effective and flexible modalities in order to maximise management and deliver high impact policy support to the government.

This has included partnerships with key Think Tanks and research institutions in the country given the comparative advantage of SA. Globally, SA ranks 13th in the number of Think-Tanks. 18 of the top 91 in Africa are based in SA. The CO has recognised the need to better map Think Tanks and their relevance to the CPD and for the wider UNDP.
Some of the key lessons learned in 2015, which the Country Office will continue to prioritise in 2017 include:

Coordination with Government: Closer and improved engagement with the department of National Treasury and DIRCO is key to improve government/UNDP programme quality, coordination, monitoring, reporting and delivery.

Reinforcing Country Office (CO) Capacity: Finding ways to optimise use of nationally available capacities/expertise through partnership with key stakeholders including research institutions, institutes of higher learning and think tanks have been critical in enabling the CO to deliver upstream policy advice in various areas of the programme including land reform, industrial research, and social protection.

UN Joint Collaboration: South Africa as an Upper Middle Income Country (MIC) requires the UN system, led by the UNDP, to strategically position itself to provide upstream policy and advisory services by undertaking policy influencing joint programming initiatives.

Resource Mobilization: The CO recognizes the importance of diversifying the resource base especially from government cost-sharing and private sector sources.

Repositioning the Public Sector: There is a need to continue to commit the Country Office to reposition the public sector to support government’s developmental agenda; support national processes and institutions in their efforts towards inclusive growth; support the building of institutional capacities and expand local knowledge base for sustainable development and South Africa’s strategic objective of building a better Africa, and better World.

Following on the lessons learned and the commitments above, the Country Office programmatic priorities for 2017 will include:

UNDP South Africa CO’s priorities are premised on:

• South Africa’s uniqueness in terms of its history, operating environment, development trajectory and the role the country plays in the political and socio-economic context of the African continent;

• A clear understanding of the underlying challenges confronting the CO since 2014;

• The need and importance of designing programmes which take into account the comparative advantages of the CO and the UN system in general;

• Capitalising on lessons learnt to effect improvement; and

• Taking relevant UN-wide recommendations on board, in particular recommendations from the Regional United Nations Development Group workshop during which the UN strategy to engage with middle-income countries (MICs).

Overall Priorities

• Continue to provide high-end policy support to the Government of South Africa with a particular focus moving forward on the domestication of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Building on SDG initiatives undertaken in 2016, Government (both the Executive and Legislature) and the private sector have requested further UNDP support in the domestication of SDGs. The CO will build on this comparative advantage of the UN system and ensure provision of relevant strategic, technical and advisory support to partners. The requests received illustrate the kind of resources, both technical and managerial, that the CO as lead agency on the SDGs, requires to sufficiently assist the Government, civil society, private sector and other partners to deliver on this ambitious global agenda locally.

• Resource mobilisation strategy implementation: The UN faces a number of challenges in MICs, including constrained financial and human resources due to lower funding for offices in MIC contexts; reduced opportunities for resource mobilization due to limited donor presence and cuts in official development assistance (ODA). In addition, there is fragmented resource mobilization efforts amongst the UN agencies in South Africa. In this context, the CO has developed a Partnership and Resource Mobilization Strategy (PRMS) that aims to pursue smart resource mobilization actions and leverage strategies to include non- traditional donor engagement, public–private partnerships, innovative financing, and engagement with the private sector. The CO will pay attention to nurturing relationships with key government departments, specifically the Department of Planning Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME); National Treasury (NT) and the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) as an entry point to access resources – both from Government and other Development Partners. For example, UNDP has already been engaging the NT with regards to the funding of the Supplier Development Programme (SDP) with EU funding as the likely source. The PRMS sets the requisite direction for mobilizing resources. In addition, the strategy is meant to focus CO efforts to deliver on the CPD 2013-17 targets and beyond and to transform soft pipelines into hard projects. The implementation of the strategy will require staffing the CO with specialised skill sets to engage the private sector and these non-traditional funding sources which could have wider benefits for UNDP regionally and globally and the UNCT. The CO has recruited a Private Sector Advisor in 2015 which has positioned UNDP in various business formations and is expected to yield further benefits in 2017 and beyond.

• Strengthen/improve CO Programme Delivery: The COs top priority remains accelerating programme delivery despite the challenges in the environment in which the CO operates which have been previously communicated with RBA (currency depreciation, transition in key counterparts, on-boarding of new staff, long gestation periods for new programmes, to name a few). Several measures to enhance delivery have been put in place which include better monitoring and application of corrective action to address delivery bottlenecks, early budget planning and monitoring, closer interaction with implementing partners, escalating challenges to more senior levels of government, more equitable portfolio distribution among staff, and boosting staff capacity both in recruitment of programme and project staff as well as training. The upward trend in delivery and more substantial boost will be observable in 2017. Furthermore, a comparative analysis of core to non-core programme delivery conducted by the CO of 10 comparator countries in RBA, reveals the following:

- Active pipeline management and conversion: The CO continues to make good progress in converting its extensive pipeline portfolio. Between 2017 and 2020 the CO is expected to convert and deliver more than $62 million of pipleline programmes, more than $27 million of which has already been secured as hard pipeline.

• Pursue Gender Seal Certification: The Country Office has prioritized the mainstreaming of gender equality and women’s empowerment in its programmes and operations, and has embraced the use of the gender seal as a tool that will help it achieve this priority, and has in this regard, put in motion the process of working towards the Gender Seal Certification in the 2017/2018 cycle. A Gender Focal Team has been established, baseline assessment has been completed and a Gender Equality Strategy has been developed. The CO is currently implementing its improvement plan in preparation for the next seal certification cycle. All programme and operations staff have been sensitized on the need to mainstream gender and women empowerment in their programmes and key operations areas. The CO proposes that this momentum and the gender awareness that has already been created be maintained and that further capacity be built in gender analysis so that gender concerns are considered in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes in to deliver on new pipeline projects and a CPD that are gender responsive and gender transformative.

Programme Priorities: The Country Programme 2013-2017 is guided by key national priorities and was strategically designed to address some of key challenges facing South Africa taking into account the COs capabilities and UNDP’s comparative advantage. Notable progress has been achieved in implementing the programme which resulted in 89.5% of programme budget delivered in 2016. The internal re-organisation and increased capacity strategically positioned the CO to be able to deliver on the current programme, but most importantly to be ready for the new CPD starting in 2018. The development of both the new CPD and the UN Strategic Cooperation Framework will require leadership and substantive capacity on the part of the CO as 2017 is a critical year in the lifetime of the current and next CPD.

The CO Programme Areas priorities for 2017 include:

I. INCLUSIVE GROWTH

• Implementation of the NDP: Creating policy discourse to promote smooth implementation of the National Development Plan. The CO partnered with the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation in the Presidency and others to establish a multi-stakeholder policy dialogue platform which convened several policy debates, including a debate on aligning the National Development Plan Goals with Sustainable Development Goals. These high profile and multi-faceted debates, which are positioning the CO at an upstream policy level, will require significant technical and managerial staff involvement as well as participation of experts from other countries and the UNDP Regional Service Centre.

• Rural development and land reform advisory support: The partnership between the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform (DRDLR) and CO has been critical in addressing land reform and rural development. UNDP has provided advisory support on key land reform legislation among other areas of support. In 2016, UNDP mobilized more than $600,000 in government cost-sharing for the implementation of the Programme with further funding expected in future years. It is important to emphasise that it is the hard work and trust established by the CO staff recruited over the past two years, and who are involved in this very strategic and sensitive programme, that this was possible. Other UN agencies who have tried to establish bilateral relations with this Department have been directed to coordinate their efforts through UNDP. UNDP’s role as the gateway to the wider UN system in this space has been cemented and needs to be sustained.

• Institutionalization and full roll out of the Supplier Development Programme (SDP): An agreement was reached with the Department of Small Business Development to institutionalize the SDP within the Department and consensus was reached on the main areas outlined in the draft project document. The CO held several consultations with the EU and National Treasury to discuss how to tap into EU funding and prospects are promising, thus requiring the strengthening of the capacity to implement the programme.

• Develop a Centre for Trade and Integration - The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and UNDP have agreed on the establishment of a Trade and Integration Centre, with an initial focus on South Africa and the SADC region. The Centre will provide a platform for capacity development, policy research, knowledge sharing, information exchange and international collaboration in the areas of international trade and regional integration. High level experts are needed to develop the project document and guide establishment and operationalisation of the centre.

• Youth employment programme developed– To contribute to addressing youth unemployment, in 2016 the CO in partnership with the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) conducted a baseline study on the situation of youth unemployment in South Africa which has identified strategic areas of intervention. A comprehensive programme to respond to these gaps is now being developed to address this core challenge. The programme will be operational in 2017.

II. CLIMATE CHANGE AND GREENING SOUTH AFRICA’S ECONOMY

The overall profile of the portfolio can be summarised as follows - A total of 14 climate change and greening economy projects in total for 2017, with more than 90% GEF originated (see Figure below). All the projects are implemented through a National Implementation Modality (NIM). There is considerable scope for a GCF project(s), and to this end, UNDP has been approached by DEA having an interest in natural resource management and rehabilitation*. UNDP South Africa is responsible for the largest UNDP-GEF portfolio in Africa, with a budget of $33,246 million (Source: GEF Annual Report 2015). However, the CO project volume size to staff ratio remains the lowest in Africa (two dedicated full time staff only: programme manager + programme associate).

There has been an increasingly unfulfilled in-kind government co-finance, though it is critical to note that it is not monitored nor tracked in South Africa and indeed elsewhere in the world. This is due to the onerous nature of the exercise (this is not a GEF requirement), but more importantly, left up to the sovereign discretion of the project custodian (government). Furthermore, exchange rate gains mitigate the need to report in detail on co-finance inputs.

More than 80% Project Terminal Evaluations and Quality Assurance Assessments are rated Satisfactory which is highly appreciable.

Usually a 3-5 year project cycle is not enough time for the implementation of the some of the GEF projects, typically, this has necessitate a need for a 1 year no-cost extension to compensate for the time taken by the implementing partners to contract project personnel and service providers, and establish MOUs with co-implementers. Increasingly, UNDP is building in longer time-frames in project design to guard against delayed project activities that create perception of low absorption capacity and lack of project need/relevance.

Cross-sectoral issues inadequately addressed (Gender and South-South Cooperation) in project design of earlier projects. This is now addressed by designing projects that mainstream cross-sectoral issues in project outputs and activities (commissioning specific experts in project design stage against UNDP-GEF guidelines now mandatory, and requiring recommendations in project mid-term and terminal evaluations).

With this growing portfolio, the CO has upgraded the position and recruited a new Environment and Energy Programme Manager (appointed November 2016) brining in additional capacity to provide the needed support and high level engagement. The new team will be expected to create more synergy and integration across the portfolio and will work with government to leverage resources from other funding channels. Despite this, the CO still has an urgent challenge to provide CTAs as requested by DEA and DoE. The purpose of the CTAs is to provide high-level oversight on issues relating to transformation, beneficiations, equity and livelihoods.

* UNDP is accredited to receive only grants from the GCF for project management; UNDP is not accredited for on-granting or loans. As such, it would require a clearance letter from DEA in the form of a Letter of No Objection.

Two key areas of work are as follows:

• Biodiversity & Ecosystems: The CO is implementing 3 GEF full scale programmes (FSP) in the area of biodiversity management to expand protected areas, enhance land use and address resource mobilization (from GEF-5 round). Despite some operational challenges in 2016, and appropriate interventions by the CO, these programmes are now expected to deliver effectively for the remainder of their life span. Two FSP pipelines are also under formulation (GEF-6 round), one on Access and Benefit Sharing and the other on Sustainable Land Management which will be operational in 2017.

• Renewable energy and energy efficiency: The CO is implementing 2 GEF FSPs one on wind energy and the other on energy efficiency through household appliances standards and labelling. A third programme, is also being developed (with DBSA, GEF-6 Round) to accelerate South Africa’s efforts to transition the economy to energy-efficient products, by (i) developing South Africa’s market for LEDs on the electricity demand-side; and (ii) developing South Africa’s market for high-efficiency distribution transformers on the electricity supply-side, ultimately resulting in climate change mitigation, stable power supply, economic development and improved energy access.
III. SERVICE DELIVERY AND DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE

This programme area supports Government in strengthening service delivery and democratic governance through programmatic interventions that address the medium term strategic priorities and national development outcomes.

• Assess key legislation and the Acceleration of Change and Transformation: The Speaker of the National Assembly and the Speakers Forum (nine provincial legislatures) established a Parliamentary High Level Panel to assess the impact of key legislations related to socio-economic development since 1994. The CO is required to continue providing both technical and financial support to the work of this high level panel which is led by the former Deputy President, which will lead to recommendations to inform policy and NDP implementation.

• Revitalize partnership with Independent Electoral Commission (IEC): To strengthen the institutional capacity of the IEC to manage and coordinate national as well as contribute to regional electoral processes, a programme of support has been developed. The CO will focus on providing high-level technical support on voter and civic education, building a domestic observer accreditation programme, building the capacity of the electoral research unit and regional hub on electoral capacity building and knowledge exchange.

• Innovation in the public sector: UNDP is working with the Center for Public Service Innovation (CPSI) to mainstream and build the capacity for innovation in the SA public sector and the region as a whole. Over the last two years, the CO supported the hosting of the UN Public Administration Network (UNPAN) Regional Capacity Development Workshop and two regional workshops on knowledge management and fore sighting. These have set the stage for requests on innovation sector workshops in three additional provinces and regionally.

IV SA’s Regional and Global Role

South Africa’s interest and role in promoting South-South & Triangular Cooperation (SSTC) is founded on its overarching strategic objective of “Building a better South Africa, a better Africa and a better World”. South Africa has significant interests in the SADC region and in regional integration. South Africa as a member of BRICS and other mini-lateral groupings and is a promoter of South-South Cooperation. Since 2013, UNDP CO has supported activities to promote SSTC, including: sharing knowledge and tools with Mexico to build local capacity of small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) to address unemployment and poverty; sharing experiences on land reform by SADC countries; electoral information exchange with Egypt and electoral logistical support to CAR; sharing health and gender information within the SADC countries are among the areas supported. Institutionalized SSTC coordination arrangements both within government and the UN system, remain nascent. The CO continues to engage systemically with Government and the UN to improve coordination and build capacity of the country’s outward oriented development cooperation efforts. In 2016, the CO saw increased demand for facilitation of exchanges of experiences between South Africa and Nepal, Fiji, and Bhutan to name but a few of the requests received, in a wide range of thematic areas. The high transaction costs involved in terms of CO staff time at both management, operational and technical levels to ensure optimal outcomes accrue from such visits and broader development cooperation efforts, mean that the CO would need to maintain adequate presence to respond to what will be a recurring and increasing requests.

Organizational priorities

Enhancing CO effectiveness: In 2014, the CO introduced a new Organogram which created the Programme Support Team (PST) and boosted key leadership positions in 3 programme areas. In 2015 and 2016, the CO has invested a considerable amount of time and money in putting together a structure that is fit for purpose and one that will boost the CO capacity in order to deliver on the current CPD and the current pipeline projects. The CO has made commitments to the government through the CDP (2013-2017) - it is important that the current structure, capacity and momentum be maintained in order to drive the CPD to its completion in 2017, to deliver on the pipeline projects and be ready for the implementation of the new CPD.

• Sub-Regional Operations Service Centre: The unique strategic positioning of South Africa in the region underpin the need to consider transforming the CO as a sub-regional Operational Service Centre to provide operational and administrative support to UN agencies and other entities within the country as well as UNDP COs in the region. The CO is already offering operational support to other UN agencies and with the right capacity, would be better placed to offer this support to neighbouring countries (e.g. Lesotho, Botswana, Namibia and Swaziland). The CO therefore, proposes that it be transformed into a sub-regional operations service centre, and its operational capacity boosted in order to respond to these requests. This will greatly increase the country’s General Management Service (GMS)., thereby boosting its XB. With the establishment of the sub-regional operational service centre, the CO also proposes that the position of the DCD-O be included in the basic structure of a policy and partnership office in order to oversee the operations of the centre.

• Communication: Increasing CO’s visibility has been prioritised. A Communications Officer was recruited for the first time, resulting in increased visibility of CO efforts through the enhanced CO website, preparation and dissemination of more stories, the production of the first CO newsletter, an enhanced social media footprint, among others. It is expected that continuous communication will increase visibility about UNDP, its mandate its key focus areas and results thereby improving the credibility of UNDP and increasing the prospects for resource mobilization. The Communications Officer is therefore a key position that the CO needs to retain, which may require consideration of moving the funding source from the current programme budgets to the CO management budget.

• The 2016 staff retreat identified staff capacity as a key area of investment, especially in the areas of RBM, M&E and specific thematic and programme areas. About a third of the country office staff have been recruited over the past 18 months. It is worth noting that the large majority of these are in the middle and senior programme staff categories. While the staff are equipped with the relevant technical skills to match the needs and demands of South Africa, further investment in improving their organisational knowledge and requirements is necessary. To respond to this need, the CO has come up with a plan to boost the organisational skills and knowledge of staff through collaboration with the Regional Service Centre (RSC) and the UN Staff College, some of these learning opportunities will require one time investments for travel, twinning arrangements and training courses for relevant staff.

Priorities to contribute to a strong and coherent UNCT in 2017

• Support to the implementation of the current SCF (2013-2017) and the development of the next SCF 2018-22. UNDP’s role in the implementation of the SCF 2013-2017 is significant to the UN’s cooperation with the Government of South Africa. UNDP participates in joint programmes across the four pillars of cooperation outlined in the SCF 2013-2017. Joint programmes initiated under the current cooperation framework are at different levels of implementation, many of these will continue until the conclusion of the current SCF in December 2017. To date, UNDP is leading in five joint programmes. In 2016 the UNCT initiated the process of the development of the next strategic cooperation framework (SCF), as part of that process an evaluation of the SCF is being undertaken concurrently with the CPD of UNDP. The CO will be supporting the development of the next SCF, through its various leadership roles in the coordination mechanisms of the UNCT.

• Sustain UNDPs leadership role within the coordination mechanisms of the UNCT UNDP, represented by the CD, Chairs the Programme Management Team, while the DCD (O) Chairs the Operations Management Team. The CD also chairs the Governance and Participation Results Group, and the M&E Officer is the Deputy Chairperson for the Monitoring and Evaluation Group and the Senior Economist directly supports a thinly staffed RCO for a UNCT made up of 17 agencies. In all these structures, UNDP draws heavily on its staff to provide meaningful secretariat and other support and oversight functions. UNDP also participates in all other UN coordination structures. Given the large UN system presence and its seniority, UNDP must ensure that it is sufficiently staffed both in terms of seniority and technical profiles.

• Move towards DaO Substantial progress is being made within the UNCT towards delivering as one (DaO). The UNDP has supported the UN System in South Africa in working towards a coherent and coordinated UN approach in the country. Successes in the UNCT operational activities include the signing of the business operation strategy (BOS), which was achieved under UNDP’s leadership in the OMT. In 2016, the OMT also signed the MoU for common services amongst UN agencies. UNDP continues to be a significant contributor to the harmonization of UN operational modalities in the UNCT.

• Leverage existing global platforms to engage the private sector as technical partners and funders. In 2016, UNDP was nominated to lead the UNCT’s engagement in the South African chapter of the UN Global Compact. The platform provides UNDP with a significant opportunity to engage the private sector to support UN joint programmes. UNDP’s capacity to successfully undertake this role will be significant to resource mobilization for the next SCF and failure to adequately represent the UN system could create significant reputational risks. Furthermore, this capacity is crucial for UNDP to continue championing the UNCT’s implementation of the UNDG MICs strategy.