A fundamental feature of UNDP's approach to development co-operation is partnership. Between 1997 and 2002 14 donors, including the government of Egypt, bilateral donors, UN agencies and NGOs have contributed funds to UNDP’s development work in Egypt. Such partnerships form the fabric of the development and knowledge network, for which UNDP has become renowned. UNDP and the Egyptian government have forged a solid partnership over 40 years of co-operation, reflected in the large Government cost-sharing contribution to UNDP’s programmes. A large proportion of UNDP Egypt’s resources come from the government of Egypt.
Apart from the success of our partnership with the Government, the UNDP Country Office in Egypt has managed to forge close links with the private sector. We plan to further reinforce this partnership with the business community especially in the IT sector (the recently established ICT Trust Fund will be instrumental to this effect) and environmental programmes. In addition UNDP intends to establish a new partnership with research institutes to set-up an Internet portal on the economic empowerment of women, which will be linked to the website of the National Council for Women (NCW).
We have also developed a number of key partnerships with civil society organizations, especially in our environmental activities. One example is the involvement of 7 NGOs (funding their activities from the GEF small grants programmes) in the implementation of a full sized energy efficiency project.
UNDP is the deputy chair of the Donor Assistance Group in Egypt (the DAG is chaired by Embassy of the Netherlands) which meets once a month. In addition to acting as the secretariat to the main DAG meeting, UNDP also provides secretarial support to three of the eight thematic sub-groups (Governance, Private Sector and Environment and Energy), as well as co-chairing the sub-groups on Environment and Energy and SME development. In addition we often co-chair DAG meetings with the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, while a recent innovation has seen UNDP and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs lay down plans to establish a database for development assistance to Egypt. We have also forged a partnership with the government and international donors, including NGOs, to address sensitive issues, such as human rights and mine action programmes. In recent years co-ordination with the World Bank has been enhanced while co-financing partnerships with bilateral donors have been established.
UNDP has also actively sought to develop partnerships with other members of the UN Family in Egypt. UN co-ordination has been strengthened and the UN Country Team has been involved in a number of joint inter-agency exercises such as the production of the Common Country Assessment and the UN Development Assistance Framework. In one example of UN collaboration, UNDP has teamed up with UNICEF, UNESCO, UNFPA, ILO, UNIFEM and the World Bank to support a national Programme on Girls Education. This work has been done with the National Council for Women (NCW) and the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM). In addition UNDP is working with the UN Country Team and national institutions to put in place a system to monitor progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals at the country level.
UNDP Partners on the Ground