Bhutan

Bhutan and UNDP

Initial Years (1960s – 70s): Supporting up-gradation of human resource and infrastructure base in key sectors

Bhutan ended its self-imposed isolation in 1961 when the late King Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, the third monarch, launched the country on a path to modern development moving out of self-contained traditional rural society.

UNDP assistance to Bhutan began in the 1970s with an initial allocation of USD 2.5 million for the first country programme (1973-1976) coinciding with the 5th and 6th Five Year Plans.

In tandem with the development context of the country, assistance in the 1970s and 1980s focused on capacity building and upgrading the human resource base in all sectors.

Notable areas of UNDP assistance in the past (prior to 1996) also included assistance in the area of civil aviation, telecommunication, private sector, energy, tourism and media sectors. For instance launching the country’s national airline by providing partial funding for the purchase of the first Druk Air aircraft and developing the technical and professional service capability of the airline and civil aviation staff.

Key policy support in the past decades also included assisting the country in preparing the first ever Telecommunication Master Plan and the drafting of the Tourism and Power System Master Plan.

UNDP also helped establish the country’s first national newspaper Kuensel and supported the strengthening of the Bhutan Broadcasting Service Ltd.

1980s till 2008: supporting key challenges and attainment of the MDGs

To enhance national ownership and capacity, UNDP programmes were increasingly aligned with and in synchronicity with the five year development plans of the Royal Government e.g. recognizing and supporting the distinctly Bhutanese development philosophy of Gross National Happiness.

Macro-level support in terms of policy, institutional frameworks to promote pro-poor concerns, develop key infrastructure (such as ICT), promote environmental sustainability became major areas of support leading to acceptance and strengthened recognition of the concept of poverty in the political context.

UNDP assistance included providing catalytic support to the Royal Government’s efforts to improve the separation of the judicial, legislative and executive arms of the State, including restructuring of the civil service; further strengthening the legal system and the rule of law; supporting ICT, including the establishment of DrukNet, the only Internet service provider in Bhutan; and building capacity of the Royal Audit Authority.

UNDP’s key role in the development of Bhutan’s decentralization policy by strengthening policy analysis and implementation capacity of key institutions at the central and local levels has been well recognized. Continued support to decentralization and democratic governance facilitated the smooth transition of the country to a democratic constitutional monarchy through the successful conduct of parliamentary elections and adoption of the country’s first Constitution.

UNDP also advocated for and supported results-oriented approach to planning, monitoring and evaluation of development programmes and projects. Accordingly, UNDP supported the Royal Government in gathering more information and analyzing the various dimensions of poverty to provide a solid basis for monitoring progress and engaging in more empirically based policy and strategy consultations. To further strengthen results orientation, focus and synergy, the number of projects were also decreased.

UNDP concentrated its efforts during the period in creating an enabling environment for alleviation of human poverty and recently supported the mainstreaming of the MDGs and specifically poverty reduction in the government’s Five Year Development Plan (10 FYP – 2008 to 2012)

UNDP assistance was designed around five sub-objectives: (a) increasing social cohesion based on participatory local governance and stronger local communities and institutions; (b) improving the efficiency and accountability of the public sector; (c) expanding and protecting the asset base of the poor; (d) strengthening environmental management and energy development to improve the livelihoods and security of the poor; and (e) promoting gender equality in the decision-making process at all levels.

UNDP has successfully established a trusted partnership with Royal Government and has been effectively assisting the government in aid coordination.

2008-2012: Consolidating interventions, sharpening focus and “delivering as one”

Since 1980, the GDP growth rate has averaged 7% per annum, driven in recent years by exploitation of hydropower resources, a strong construction sector and a growing tourism industry. The rapid pace of economic growth and sustained levels of development assistance have enabled the Royal Government to continually increase investments in social sector, resulting in steady increase of Bhutan’s Human Development Index to 0.619 in 2007.

Despite the impressive overall progress at the national level, nearly 23.2 % of its population still remains below the poverty line as at 2007. In-depth analysis has pointed out that 38% of rural people are living under the national poverty line compared to only about 4% of urban population, which underlines importance of targeted interventions to reduce rural poverty.

Bhutan’s MDGs progress report reveals that Bhutan is on track to meet most targets by 2015, while some areas require enhanced targeting and efforts to succeed. While, availability and quality of data has improved significantly, monitoring and evaluation at the disaggregated level still remains a challenge.

Bhutan went through significant political developments with the successful transition of parliamentary democracy in 2008 and adoption of the Constitution. These developments are expected to further usher in an era of democratic political developments and greater political participation bringing about fundamental changes in the governance system and invariably posing numerous challenges.

An Assessment of Development Results conducted in 2006 recommended UNDP to increase partnership with the civil society organizations and the private sector; to develop into a knowledge centre by taking advantage of its linkage with regional and global networks as well as in introducing a culture of results-based management. Given the constraints of UNDP’s regular financial resources, in order to enhance effectiveness and efficiency of UNDP support, the ADR also recommended to further consolidate UNDP’s interventions in a few selected areas rather than spreading resources too thinly.

As a self-starter “delivering as one” country, Bhutan prepared the second UNDAF (2008-2012) in close consultation with the government and other partners. The UNDAF has identified five priority areas of cooperation based on national priorities: i) poverty reduction; ii) health; iii) education; iv) good governance; and v) environment and disaster management. This is now being implemented through a common CPAP signed by 14 UN agencies.

UNDP, in this UNDAF period will support the operationalisation of the national M&E system on poverty, MDGs and other national goals. With other UN agencies, UNDP will support RGOB in resource mobilization and in following up on the findings of the MDG Needs Assessment and Costing Report. Support in the area of employment and income generation will focus on the enabling environment for private sector growth, particularly of cottage and small rural enterprises.

UNDP will provide continued support to the ongoing nation-wide anti-corruption efforts and at the same time support efficient and effective public service delivery with sound financial management practices. UNDP will also partner with the media and civil society organizations in promoting people’s right to information and promote e-governance at both national and local levels. UNDP, together with UNCDF and other development partners, will continue support to the decentralisation process through capacity development of local governance systems and provision of block grants.

UNDP will focus on supporting cross sectoral approaches to mainstream environmental concerns into national policies, plans and programmes and provide technical support to enhance national capacities to meet reporting requirements for the Multilateral Environmental Agreement. UNDP will also partner with government and private sector to support unreached communities to access affordable renewable energy technologies while continuing to support efforts in conservation as well as sustainable utilization of bio-diversity and ecosystems.

To help the country reduce its vulnerability to climate induced and other natural disasters UNDP will support strengthening capacity of key stakeholders to operationalize the national disaster risk management framework, and mainstream disaster/climate risk reduction into national plans and polices and help build community capacity in successful disaster risk management initiatives, to strengthen local and national capacity for disaster preparedness and response.