The United Nations Development Programme in Romania

The activity of UNDP Romania is coordinated by the Regional Bureau for Europe and CIS (RBEC) at the UNDP Headquarters in New York. Currently, RBEC is led by Ms. Kori Udovicki, who also is UN Assistant Secretary-General. The area of operations of RBEC covers 31 countries. Simultaneously, all these countries are provided support by experts from the UNDP Regional Centre based in Bratislava.

Established in 1971, the UNDP Country Office in Bucharest was the first UNDP field office to function in a former Warsaw Pact member state. It wasn't until two decades later that other offices opened in the neighboring countries of the former Socialist bloc.

Based on more than three decades of experience in Romania, UNDP is currently implementing the 2005-2009 Country Programme. Anchored around Romania’s MDGs, it responds to the key challenges of reform and EU accession.

UNDP draws on its reputation for neutrality and integrity to help Romania grasp new opportunities, while alleviating some of the disruptions caused by the transition to the free market and the accession to the European Union in 2007. We are helping the country build a functional and participatory democratic government by developing a more accountable public administration. Since 2005, UNSP's activity has been based on theCountry Programme Document 2005-2009.

Sustainable development comes from helping people find strategies that work best within their societies. UNDP Romania’s focus has been to help the country build and share solutions to the following three challenges:

• Democratic governance, by strengthening the public sector capacity and management, and promoting political participation and accountability.
• Sustainable and balanced economic growth, by decreasing poverty, creating jobs and reducing the disparities between the various regions of Romania, in conjunction with an overall increase in the standard of living.
• Responsible management of environmental resources, by taking into account the impact of economic development on the ecosystem.

To address these challenges, UNDP’s work focuses on three areas of action: advocacy and policy dialogue; piloting new solutions; and partnership and alliance-building. Gender balance, as a crosscutting issue, is mainstreamed in all areas.

As a general practice, UNDP identifies disparities and areas of vulnerability in human development, demonstrates local-level solutions to these challenges, and follows-up by expanding the scale of these solutions and mainstreaming them into national government programmes.

UNDP Romania in the EU Environment

After Romania’s accession to EU on 1 January 2007 most bilateral donors have discontinued their development assistance to Romania and Romania upgraded its international status from receiver to provider of international help. UNDP is committed to demonstrate its continued relevance and value-added in an EU member state beyond the current UNDAF/CPD period ending in 2009. UN-GOR consultations have begun in earnest with MFA regarding the future presence of UN.

Working closely with MFA, UNDP assisted Romania in defining its role as an emerging donor. This led to a first ODA contribution by Romania ($500,000 to UNDP Lebanon in January 2007) and a second ODA contribution ($3,441,000 to UNDP Moldova, Georgia and Serbia-Kosovo), and capacity building in Romania. Romania has expressed interest in serving as a sub-regional hub to support UN and UNDP work in the region.

UNDP projects in Romania are financed from the organization's own resources, the Global Environment Facility, Romanian Government, and private sector. UNDP activity in Romania is based on a STANDARD BASIC AGREEMENT from 1991.

UNDP Romania

UNDP is the UN's global development network, advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. We are on the ground in 166 countries, working with them on their own solutions to global and national development challenges. As they develop local capacity, they draw on the people of UNDP and our wide range of partners.

About UNDP Romania - Making Things Happen

Vision

UNDP Romania is dedicated to helping Romania become a developed country, by providing high quality advisory services to the Government and capacity building projects. In this sense and working in strong partnerships with civil society, private sector and development partners, UNDP is committed to facilitating the country's transition to a well governed, democratic society, with a competitive market economy and a clean environment, thus contributing to improving the life of the Romanian people.

UNDP Romania achieves this by being an efficient and matrixed organisation, endowed with staff recruited amongst the best professionals in Romania and abroad and using the latest IT technology. UNDP Romania aims at becoming both a centre of excellence as well as a recognised trusted partner to the Government and people of Romania. Our core values are efficiency, integrity, neutrality, and commitment.

History

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Country Office Romania was first established in 1971. Early UNDP Romania dedicated itself to providing high-level technical assistance, training abroad for scientific and technical experts, and purchasing of equipment from the West.

After the 1989 Revolution, UNDP could assume a much more dynamic role and become a real partner for the Government in its new development programs. The new relationship between the Government and UNDP was established through a new agreement signed in 1991. Romania's new priorities and UNDP's areas of comparative advantage were reflected in the 1992 - 1996 fifth Country Program, with a major swing of attention from the industrial to the social sector. UNDP activities were now being implemented in cooperation with new partners in Romanian society, including local government, the private sector and NGOs.

From 1997 - 2004, UNDP activity in Romania had been based on Country Cooperation Frameworks (CCFs), which are developed through dialogue with the Government, UN agencies, and donors. The last  CCF covered the period of 2000-2004 and focuses on three program areas: Democratic Governance and Decentralized Development, Enabling Environment for Sustainable Livelihoods, and Support to Environmental Governance.