Bhutan

Learning from Bhutan experience on the MDGI

The Vice Minister of the Ministry of Planning and Investment from Lao PDR described their study visit to Bhutan as having provided “valuable lessons for the preparation of their country’s national five-year plan in conjunction with the MDG Initiative roll-out”. Dr. Bounthavy Sisouphanthong was leading a twelve-member delegation comprising of Government officials of the Lao PDR and representatives from UNDP Laos (27-31 July 2008) to exchange, share information, learn and discuss with the Government of Bhutan on the implementation of the MDG-based national plan and UN/UNDP support with the MDG Initiative (MDGI). Laos PDR has plans to roll out the MDGI in tandem to the country’s next five year plan starting 2011. Dr. Sisouphanthong added that the group noted the importance of a strong government ownership coupled with the commitment at all levels for the successful formulation and long term impact of such an initiative. Their discussions on the GNH Index that Bhutan is preparing provided additional lessons to the team on formulating plans and polices that address the overall wellbeing of the people with happiness at the centre of focus, he added.

Bhutan is amongst the first country to commit and successfully undertake the MDG Initiative in the Asia-pacific region. The MDG Needs Assessment (NA) and Costing exercise conducted with support from the UN agencies in Bhutan and the region, to help provide comprehensive and flexible financial models and policy options to consider development scenarios for achieving the MDGs and estimate critical resource needs to attain those goals.

The UN Resident Coordinator Nicholas Rosellini highlighted the importance of such exchange programmes to find the relevant tools and reiterated that customizing such global initiatives by balancing it to the needs of a country is essential for long term sustainability and development.

The Bhutan MDG NA and Costing Report (2006-2015) identify sectoral interventions and the total costs (human, institutional, financial) required to achieve the MDGs in Bhutan by 2015 under 4 broad thematic clusters: Poverty Reduction and Rural Development; Health; Education and Crosscutting (governance, gender, environment and capacity development) sectors. The Report estimates that Bhutan will need to increase public investment by about USD 2.5 billion between 2006-2015 if it is to implement prioritized activities identified under the broad thematic clusters for achieving the MDGs and the Tenth Five Year Plan.

The needs assessment and costing exercise was conducted almost in tandem with the preparation of the Tenth Plan, thereby helping to mainstream the MDGs into the Tenth Plan. The MDG NA and Costing Report is one of the key background documents of the Royal Government for the Tenth Plan Round Table Meeting held in February 2008. The SMF model development for Bhutan, which is in an advanced state of completion, has already been used by the GNH Commission with support from the RCC to make macro-economic projections for the 10th Plan.

The GNHC Secretary Mr. Karma Tshiteem said that the MDGs in Bhutan have been “internalized in the country’s five year planning cycle and therefore form an important driver in the national plans of the country”. The UN Resident Coordinator, Mr. Rosellini reiterated that the strong coordination and leadership provided by the GNH Commission as the lead government agency for the MDGI that has been instrumental in the national ownership and success of this initiative in Bhutan.

The Royal Government of Bhutan also shared their experiences in the successful roll-out of the MDGI components namely the completed MDG needs assessment and costing, and the ongoing development of the MDG consistent macro-economic framework and financing strategy preparation. Views and experiences in the area of GNH Index development, preparation of results based development plans especially with regard to monitoring and evaluation systems and the integration of planning, budgeting and expenditure processes were also the focus of discussions.

Lao PDR and Bhutan share a lot of commonalities: both are landlocked Least Developed Countries (LDC) that has been making steady progress in reducing poverty incidence with substantial growth in its economy.