Overview
The Government of Botswana (GoB) and the United Nations System in Botswana have developed the Government of Botswana-United Nations Programme Operational Plan 2010-2014 (GoB-UN POP) in a “Delivering as One” mode in an effort to coherently deliver on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and meet the national priorities as outlined in the National Development Plan 10 (NDP 10) and Vision 2016. The plan focuses on five UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) outcome areas established in line with the NDP 10 priorities over a five year period as follows:
- Governance and Human Rights Promotion
- Economic Diversification and Poverty Reduction
- Health and HIV-AIDS
- Environment and Climate Change
- Children, Youth and Women’s Empowerment
Assistance Strategy
The Multi-Partner Trust Fund (MPTF) for Botswana is intended to facilitate the realization of the GoB-UN POP outcomes by channeling consistent and predictable funds to priority areas through a joint funding window. It is also intended to facilitate and streamline the provision of donor resources in support of joint programming through the GoB-UN POP as well as to simplify narrative and financial reporting. It is a major vehicle for resource mobilization from donors to support existing funding gaps of the GoB-UN POP.
The objectives of the Botswana MPTF include:
- Enhance UN’s capability to partner with the Government and development partners to support the national development plans and priorities through the GoB-UN POP implementation.
- Support the GoB-UN POP through ensuring greater programme cohesion, harmonization and effectiveness.
- Provide a coherent and streamlined platform for the mobilization of additional donor resources, fund allocation and reporting on the GoB-UN POP.
- Ensure that funding and implementation are undertaken with special attention to transparency and accountability as well as to prompt delivery and efficient utilization of resources.
Governance Arrangements
Programme Steering Committee (PSC)
The Programme Steering Committee (PSC) will be responsible for the overall strategic oversight of the implementation of the programmes funded through the Botswana MPTF and for approving allocations to programmes and Participating UN Organizations within the context of the national priorities as set in the GoB-UN POP. The PSC will decide on the allocation of funds based on technical review and consultation recommendations from the Component Coordination Groups (CCGs) and will ensure alignment and synergies to programmes of other development partners and donors. The PSC will support the Administrative Agent (AA) in ensuring that the reporting requirements of the Botswana MPTF, as well as any periodic updates, are met in a timely manner, and will work closely with the AA to maintain an appropriate level of information on the AA’s Botswana website to ensure full transparency and accountability. The PSC will also support the UN Participating Organization on procedural aspects of the Botswana MPTF and prepare and report on consultations with stakeholders regarding the fund.
Component Coordination Groups (CCG)
The Component Coordination Groups of the five UNDAF Outcomes will technically review and provide PSC with recommendations on the allocation of resources.
UN Resident Coordinator (RC)
Further to the functions of PSC Co-chair, the RC will, in consultation with UNCT, be responsible for:
- Ensuring communications to Participating UN Organization, the Government and development partners of the PSC-approved resource allocations.
- Instructing the Administrative Agent to transfer the PSC-approved allocations of funds to Participating UN Organizations.
- Promoting synergies between the programmatic priorities of the GoB-UN POP to ensure coherence of the UN programmatic initiatives.
Administrative Agent (AA)
The Multi-Partner Trust Fund (MPTF Office) of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) serves as the Administrative Agent (AA). In accordance with the UNDG Protocol on the AA, the responsibilities of the AA will include:
- Receipt, administration and management of contributions from donors.
- Disbursement of funds to the Participating UN Organizations, in accordance with instructions received from the RC.
- Provision of support to the PSC in its reporting functions.
- Provision of consolidated narrative and financial reports to the PSC, UNCT, Donors and development partners, based on progress reports received from Participating UN Organizations, and in accordance with the reporting schedule set forth in the Botswana MPTF Terms of Reference.
Decision Making
Contributions to Botswana MPTF: Contributions to the Botswana MPTF may be accepted from governments of Member States of the UN, intergovernmental or non-governmental organizations or from private sources. Acceptance of fund from the private sector will be guided by criteria stipulated in the UN system-wide guidelines on cooperation between the UN and Business community.
To ensure maximum flexibility and adaptation to national priorities, donors are encouraged to contribute with multi-year, un-earmarked sources.
Eligibility: Eligibility for funding will be subject to the signing of the Botswana MPTF standard Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the AA under the GoB-UN POP. Implementing partners will have access to the Botswana MPTF through Participating UN Organizations.
Allocation Decision Making: The GoB-UN POP outcome level results will form the basis for funding requests and allocations. The allocation decision making will be guided by an agreed criteria based on the following:
- Programme Steering Committee prioritization.
- Quality of the funding proposal.
- Specific criteria by Government to address its needs.
- Performance based allocations.
A weighted assessment will be developed to guide the strength of the proposal for each criterion.
