Albania SDG Fund II 

ObjectivesFund scope

The Albania SDG Acceleration Fund supports the integrated and coherent mobilization, allocation, and disbursement of resources to promote effective development and implementation of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) activities. To advance the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, stakeholders make national progress gains through the provision of ongoing support to projects that address priority SDG areas, creating an evidence-based understanding among policymakers and members of civil society on how Albania has progressed towards SDG and 2030 Agenda achievement. 

Fund stakeholders advance the 2030 Agenda by driving progress towards SDG achievement while also respecting human rights, promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment, and using these and similar intersectional issues to multiply sustainable and inclusive economic growth, poverty eradication, and social development. Between 2015 and 2021, stakeholders used blended forms of financing to heed 2030 Agenda calls for collective action and integrated approaches across multiple sectors and goals. Investments went towards projects implemented under SDG priority areas of the National Strategy for Development and Integration (2015-2020) and the Programme of Cooperation for Sustainable Development (2017-2021).  

In January 2022, the national government and United Nations country team in Albania will launch a second phase of the Acceleration Fund, using the financial vehicle to guide the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) for 2022-2027.  

Phase II of the fund 

To ensure no one is left behind, Phase II action will finance four outcome areas under the Cooperation Framework: fair investments in people; economic growth and resource management; governance, rule of law and human rights, and gender responsive governance. In doing so, fund stakeholders, led by the Government of Albania and United Nations, can continue advancing the 2030 Agenda through contributions that speed up progress, achieve national sustainable development goals, support SDG processes, and offer catalytic support in priority areas of SDG achievement set against the NSDI 2021-2030, UNSDCF 2022-2027, European Union integration, the 2021-2023 Economic Reform Programme, and other relevant development frameworks and standards. 

In January 2022, stakeholders will launch phase two of the Albania SDG Acceleration Fund with continued support to partners implementing multi-dimensional sustainable development activities that assist Albania in meeting its SDG and 2030 Agenda commitments. The overarching goal of stakeholders during this phase will be to support the implementation of the Government of Albania and UNSDCF 2022-2026 across four outcome areas: Equitable investment in people; economic growth and resource management; governance, rule of law and human rights, and gender responsive governance. These areas—together with intersecting themes—will form the basis for new fund windows. 

Theory of change 

Stakeholders designed the first phase of the Albania SDG Acceleration Fund according to the United Nations Programme of Cooperation for Sustainable Development, 2017-2021. Following consultations with the Government of Albania and other stakeholders, they agreed that under the One UN framework, impact and development effectiveness measures were central to addressing ongoing challenges in four areas: 

• Governance and rule of law 
• Social inclusion (e.g. health, education, and social protection, and gender-based violence) 
• Economic growth, labour, and agriculture 
• Environment and climate change. 

Enmeshed across all priorities are core principles of gender equality and development of national capacities. Because the 2030 Agenda requires collective action and integrated approaches, the Government of Albania and United Nations country team established the fund to support programming under these four areas and others.  

To support integrated and coherent resource mobilization in Phase II, the allocation and disbursement of government and donor resources will promote development and implementing integrated activities to meet the SDGs. Fund stakeholders will build on existing platforms and tools to strengthen coordination, evaluation, planning and communication; develop partner synergies; support the risk-savvy allocation of finances that support innovative and joint cooperation efforts focused on SDG achievement and EU accession; reduce political and fiduciary risks; enhance responsibility through a transparent result-based management system and broaden the financial base of emerging or non-resident donors.  

The Common Country Analysis (CCA) informs UNSDCF strategic priorities and outcomes, which country partners validated. They ranked identified priorities in such a way to ensure that cooperation will apply cross-sector and multi-stakeholder lenses and leverage the comparative advantages of the United Nations system. Inputs from a host of change makers—including government officials, young people, civil society representatives, business leaders, and more—form the theory of change for cooperation, which covers expected outcomes and outputs, implementation strategies, major assumptions and risks, and indicators of success.  

GovernanceGovernance arrangements

Joint Executive Committee  

Co-chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister and the United Nations Resident Coordinator, the Joint Executive Committee meets once a year with representatives from government ministries, the Office of the Prime Minister, and United Nations country team. The Executive Committee provides strategic guidance and assesses progress against planned outcomes and their contribution to national and SDG priorities; ensures alignment and coordination between national and UNSDCF results, plus ongoing alignment and coordination between country framework results and national and sector programmes; conducts comprehensive annual reviews and endorses major strategic changes; advises and assists the outcome results groups; explores opportunities for cost-sharing and partnership building with civil society and the private sector, domestic philanthropic actors, international donors, and international finance institutions. 

Working, Output, and Outcome Groups  

These groups contribute to specific outcomes through coordinated and collaborative planning, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation. Group responsibilities are aligned with the UNSDCF results matrix, and members (composed of representatives from the government and United Nations) advise the Executive Committee on opportunities and challenges linked to implementation, programme management issues, and training opportunities for staff and national partners. Representatives from implementing partners support each other by overseeing technical committees that include members of civil society and the United Nations.  

United Nations Resident Coordinator  

Manages and coordinates the second phase of Albania SDG Acceleration Fund in consultation with Participating United Nations Organizations. The Resident Coordinator provides strategic leadership to the United Nations country team on effectively delivering development outcomes at the country level; mobilizing resources for the SDG Acceleration Fund; overseeing programme coordination support allocations; and co-chairing the Joint Executive Committee with the Deputy Prime Minister. 

Secretariat  

With oversight provided by the Office of the Resident Coordinator, the Secretariat provides strategic support in all designated tasks of the Resident Coordinator, including the provision of operational and administrative support to the Fund Steering Committee. A liaison with the Administrative Agent on fund administration issues, members of the Secretariat report on fund disbursements, programme/fund extensions, and programme/fund closure tasks.  

Administrative Agent  

Funds are routed via a pass-through mechanism. Participating Organizations receive funds through the Administrative Agent, the Multi-Partner Trust Fund (MPTF) Office. The Administrative Agent handles the receipt, administration and management of contributions from donors, disbursement of funds to Participating Organizations, and consolidation and dissemination of progress reports to donors. 

Projects

Albania SDG Fund II

Albania SDG Fund II is currently supporting count_projects ongoing projectscount_globalInterregional and count_countries country-specific. This table shows the most recently approved ongoing projects.

All project financial information can be found in the Financials section, including delivery analysis by organization, theme and project; project financial status by country and by theme.

Albania SDG Fund II

Results

Programme stakeholders implement in close cooperation with national and international development leaders, and private sector partners, to build momentum and achieve sustainable results. Cross-cutting issues are streamlined across all programme initiatives. 

ContactsPoints of contact