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Overview

The One UN initiative in Malawi was initiated in early 2006. It was in part based on the General Assembly’s: ‘Triennial comprehensive policy review (TCPR) of operational activities for development of the United Nations system’, A/RES/59/ 250 of 17 December 2004. This resolution ‘stresses that the purpose of reform is to make the United Nations development system more efficient and effective’ and ‘requests the funds and programmes and specialized agencies’ to implement ‘joint offices’. Prior to the release of the Secretary General’s Report of the High Level Panel on System Wide Coherence, the UN in Malawi was already addressing ways to strengthen the effectiveness and coherence of the UN at the country level, as reflected in the ‘UN in Malawi Position Paper,’ 2006. The One UN Initiative in Malawi comprises three of four elements: One Programme, One Budgetary Framework including One Fund and One Leader.

Following a study commissioned by the Overseas Development Institute, the UN in Malawi is ready to move forward with the introduction of a Single Budgetary Framework. The Single Budgetary Framework is the total estimated amount of resources (both regular and other) needed to implement the UNDAF 2008-2011 (hereinafter referred to as the One Programme), The One Fund for Malawi is a new common fund mechanism to mobilize and allocate additional resources at the country level in a simplified, coherent manner consistent with the overall purpose of the One UN Initiative. This arrangement in Malawi is subscribed to by all members of the UN Country team (hereafter referred to as the participating UN Organisations). Other UN Organisations may wish to join this funding arrangement in the future. The One UN Fund for Malawi’s Terms of Reference provides a more detailed description of the Fund.

The One UN Initiative in Malawi is being implemented in a collaborative manner under the strong leadership of the Government of Malawi. Notably, the Office of the President and Cabinet, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry for Economic Planning and Development.

The Malawi One Fund is administered by the Multi-Partner Trust Fund Office (MPTF Office) of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in accordance with its financial regulations and rules.

Assistance Strategy

The objective of the One Fund is to support the coherent resource mobilization, allocation and disbursement of donor resources to the One Programme under the direction of the UN Resident Coordinator as leader of the UN Country Team (UNCT).

The One Fund is one of the proposed vehicles for new resources pooled by donors to support the unfunded gap of the One Programme. The Fund, under the guidance of the UNDAF Clusters and the joint M&E Technical Working Group, and leadership of the Resident Coordinator and UNCT, is intended to facilitate the realization of One Programme outcomes by strengthening the planning and coordination process, and channelling consistent and predictable funds towards the highest priority needs.

The Fund will support partnership and communication between all stakeholders involved with Malawi’s development led by the Government of Malawi. Information given to the press, to the beneficiaries of the One Programme, all related promotion material, official notices, reports and publications, shall acknowledge the role of Government of Malawi, the United Nations and the donors.

Governance

The UNCT Special Session
The UNCT Special Session in Malawi is comprised of the Resident Coordinator as chair, and UN Heads of Agencies, or as otherwise delegated to Officer in Charge. The sitting members of the UNCT Special Session are UN Agencies that signed the UNDAF 2008-2011. The following stakeholders will attend upon invitation - one representative from the Office of the President and Cabinet, one representative from the Ministry of Finance, one representative from the Ministry for Economic Planning and Development and one donor representative. The UNCT Special Session guides and decides on the overall strategic orientation of all aspects of delivering the One Programme in Malawi. The UNCT Special Session requires a quorum of Four UN Agencies and the chair. The Administrative Agent participates in the UNCT Special Session as observer.

The Resident Coordinator
The overall management of the One UN Fund will be led and coordinated by the Resident Coordinator in consultation with the Participating UN Organisations. In line with the overall objective of the One UN in Malawi to deliver more effectively at the country level, the Resident Coordinator will be responsible for:

• Strategic leadership of the One UN Fund on the basis of the One Programme;
• Mobilizing resources for the One UN Fund in collaboration with Participating UN Organisations;
• Signing the Standard Administrative Agreement with Donors and the Memorandum of Understanding with Participating UN Organisations as a witness;

The UN Country Team/Allocation Committee
The UN Country Team will be responsible for prioritization and allocation decisions of the One Fund under the leadership of the UN Resident Coordinator, according to the agreed allocation criteria and process, as can be seen below:

The UN Country Team will be responsible for developing a joint resource mobilisation strategy, for approving prioritization of allocation of funds from the One UN Fund, and for providing oversight of the management and operations of the One UN Fund. The prioritisation for allocation will be guided by recommendations from the outcome of the Malawi Growth & Development Strategy 2007-2011 Annual Reviews, recommendations by the UNDAF bi-annual Review process, and the overall strategic orientation of the UNDAF joint M&E Technical Working Group independent validation of implementation.

In this prioritisation process, the Resident Coordinator and the UNCT can seek inputs from the Office of the President and Cabinet, Ministry of Finance and the Ministry for Economic Planning and Development.

Decisions of the UNCT are made by consensus. In the event that no consensus is reached, the Resident Coordinator can make ultimate decisions on fund allocation (with documented process and rationale for these decisions). Programme implementation will be the responsibility of the Country Directors/Head of Participating UN Organisations.

The UNDAF Programmatic Clusters
The UNDAF Programmatic Clusters are responsible for making recommendations on the allocation of the resources within each UNDAF Outcome on the basis of the criteria and process listed in this document.

The Administrative Agent
UNDPs responsibilities as Administrative Agent will include the following:

• Signing the Standard Administrative Agreement with Donors, as delegated by the Multi Partner Trust Fund Executive Coordinator, and the Memorandum of Understanding with Participating UN Organisations;
• Receipt, administration and management of contributions from Donors;
• Disbursement of such funds to the participating UN Organisations in accordance with the approved Annual Work Plans;
• Provide consolidated narrative and financial reports, in accordance with the MOU, on the One UN Fund Account to the Resident Coordinator based on reports of the participating UN Organisations.

Support services provided by the Resident Coordinator’s Office
The Office of the Resident Coordinator is responsible for support to the strategic leadership role of the Resident Coordinator for the One UN Fund. It will provide support in all the designated tasks for the Resident Coordinator. Drawing on the review report provided by each of the UNDAF Clusters, the Office of the Resident Coordinator shall make recommendations to the UNCT, on initial prioritisation and continued funding, based on the financial status of the One Fund for Malawi. The Office of the Resident Coordinator will provide strategic focus including analysis of progress and lessons to be learned for future programme implementation. It will circulate the finalised annual consolidated report on the One UN Fund to the UNCT Special Session for information. The Office of the Resident Coordinator will ensure that these reports are distributed to all donors contributing to the One Fund and maintain an appropriate level of fund information on the UN system websites for Malawi and the MPTF Office to ensure transparency.

The Office of the Resident Coordinator will i) provide coordination support to the Administrative Agent in consolidating the narrative and financial reports and ii) support UNDAF Programmatic Cluster Conveners to prepare and report on consultations with stakeholders regarding the One Programme and One Fund in Malawi.

The Office of the Resident Coordinator will serve as the secretariat to the Single Budgetary Framework Task Force that comprises of focal points from each Participating Organization. The Single Budgetary Framework Task Force provides information on the financial situation of Participating UN Agencies: Regular Resources and Other Resources.

Decision Making Process

1. The UNCT Special Session will approve the Total Funding gap
2. In line with the Malawi Development Assistance Strategy Aid coordination mechanisms supported by the joint M&E Technical Working Group, the UNCT Special Session will first propose allocation at the level of the 5 UNDAF Programmatic Clusters based on the funding gap as expressed in the budgetary framework. Allocation from the One Fund within the 5 UNDAF clusters will be made in accordance with national priorities.
3. Allocations within each UNDAF Outcome will be proposed by the Cluster Convener to the UNCT Special Session. Once approved by the UNCT Special Session they will be presented to the Government of Malawi for information.
   1. Outcome Leaders are responsible for ensuring that proposed activities and budgets meet minimum criteria for eligibility for One Fund Allocation.
   2. Cluster Conveners are responsible for submitting requests to receive One Fund allocations according to pre-defined performance criteria.
   3. The Resident Coordinator will have the final decision on allocations in the event of lack of agreement.
4. Resources from the One Fund will be disbursed in 2 tranches.
   1. Requests for receipt of funds will be presented to the UNCT
   2. Following UNDAF reviews the UNCT Special Session will propose reallocations as deemed necessary:
      1. Performance
      2. Disbursement rate
   3. The UNCT Special Session will decide on the threshold of receipt of resources for the annual work plan year at the beginning of the year before allocating funds to Clusters
   4. UN Agencies will provide the Resident Coordinators Office with quarterly updates on their financial status vis a vis other resources.
   5. The Resident Coordinators Office will provide a financial statement to the UNCT on a quarterly basis reflecting the status of funds in the One Fund.

ONE Fund Allocation Criteria

Criteria – Initial Allocation (to meet one or more criteria)

1. UNDAF and MDG Relevance
2. Unfunded gap at Outcome level
3. Implementation Capacity (Policy and Technical Capacity)
4. Comparative advantage in implementing the activities
5. Priorities which would otherwise not be funded
6. Realistic Outcome Budget

Subsequent allocations will include the following

1. Capacity of Agency to absorb

Previous track record:

1. Delivery
2. Results
3. Financial Management
4. Reporting

Decisions of the UNCT are made by consensus. In the event that no consensus is reached, the Resident Coordinator can make ultimate decisions on fund allocation (with documented process and rationale for these decisions). Programme implementation will be the responsibility of the Country Directors/Head of Participating UN Organisations.