The country programme for 2008-2012 focuses on national human development issues going beyond the MDGs, especially improving equity, HIV/AIDs, on environmental management, and climate change mitigation and adaptive initiatives and on promoting the global partnership for development through South-South Cooperation. Gender, Information Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D) and partnerships with the private sector are integrated as cross-cutting issues.
Today, all of UNDP projects in Malaysia are nationally executed, involving more than ten federal ministries and agencies as well as NGOs and the private sector. In recent years, UNDP has prioritized results-based management and broadened strategic partnerships with key development actors to improve the outcomes of our work. Now, in addition to community-based interventions, UNDP increasingly works towards advocacy, policy advice, dialogue and facilitation, as well as brokerage for innovative solutions and partnerships.
For 2010, UNDP's work on the ground is framed within the following thematic areas:
1) National responses to both the short-term and longer term structural implications of the global economic and financial crisis
In the short term, support will be provided to strengthen analytical and empirical research capabilities to understand the transmission belts of the crisis in the Malaysian economy. Medium and long term support will prioritize areas of structural change likely to be necessary if Malaysia is to make the transition to a high, value-added, globally competitive knowledge-based economy and achieve its Vision 2020.
2) Addressing poverty, inequality and exclusion
Support will be provided for the eradication of hardcore poverty and the improvement of equity, with priority placed of rural areas, particularly in Sabah, Sarawak, Kelantan and Terengganu. also prioritized are initiatives to improve equity between states, population groups, and the rural-urban divide, with a focus on indigenous communities and other population groups that show widespread and deep rooted poverty incidence. Initiatives that empower women to progress within the social, economic and political spheres will also be emphasized.
3) Towards an improved quality of life through sustainable environmental management and energy security
Support that contributes towards improved environmental management is prioritized in three strategic areas, namely (a) Enhancing environmental management of biodiversity and natural resources, including water resource management; (b) Climate change mitigation and adaptation initiatives in partnership with the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol; and (c) Incorporating environmental considerations into the planning of non-environmental agencies. Support will also be provided to assist and strengthen the analysis and planning of national policy responses that seek to strengthen medium and long-term energy security
4) Promoting good governance with a focus on anti-corruption, human rights and the results orientation of the public sector
Support the work of the Malaysian government and Civil Society Organizations (CSO) in areas related to strengthening anti-corruption and transparency measures and human rights and development initiatives.
5) Promoting South South cooperation initiatives for development
Malaysia is increasingly looking towards playing a leading role amongst middle income countries in supporting the development of Africa, the development of countries within the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), as well as the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), as well as in sub-regional growth triangles. As the UN's global development network, UNDP thus supports South-South Cooperation efforts in a wider context to include the promotion of good governance, gender, poverty reduction, and crisis prevention and recovery.
UNDP manages financial resources from various sources in support of its development efforts in Malaysia. These resources include UNDP Core funding, resources mobilized from the Malaysian Government, resources from global trust funds such as the Global Environment Facility and the Montreal Protocol, and funds from the private sector.
The UNDP Resident Representative also serves as the Resident Coordinator of development activities for the United Nations system as a whole in Malaysia. Through such coordination, UNDP seeks to ensure the most effective use of UN and international aid resources. As part of the UN Country Team, UNDP continues to assist Malaysia to meet the targets and commitments adopted at global meetings and conventions.
The programmatic priorities of UNDP Malaysia are currently framed within the following key pillars:
