The Member Secretary of the Planning Commission Sudha Pillai from the Indian side and the UN Resident Coordinator, Patrice Coeur-Bizot signed the UNDAF. The foreword to the document has been signed by the Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia.

Twenty UN entities – APCTT, FAO, IFAD, ILO, UNAIDS, UNDP, UNEP, UNESCAP, UNESCO, UNFPA, UN-HABITAT, UNHCR, UNIC, UNICEF, UNIDO, UNODC, UNOPS, UN Women, WFP and WHO were signatories to the document.

The signing of the document is the culmination of the formulation of the UNDAF – an eight month long exercise co-led by the Planning Commission of India and the UN, in partnership with the ministries of the Indian Government, international development partners, civil society and other key development partners.

The UNDAF is the overarching framework that articulates the UN system’s vision, strategy and plan of action in support of the national development efforts over a five year period. UNDAF 2013-2017 is the third Development Framework between the Indian Government and the United Nations in India.

At the signing ceremony Dr. Pronab Sen, Principal Adviser, who led the formulation process on behalf of the Planning Commission, said, “This UNDAF Document which is the third of its kind represents the evolution that has taken place in development cooperation between India and the UN System.”

The Member Secretary, Planning Commission Sudha Pillai said: “the document articulates the right values and intentions, and it would be desirable to ensure that all actions of the UN System were measured against the intention of the document through annual reviews.”

Patrice Coeur-Bizot, who led the exercise on behalf of the UN Country Team in India, thanked the Planning Commission for the excellent collaboration. He further stated that “the UNDAF 2013-2017 marks a strategic shift vis-à-vis the previous two UNDAFs. The new UNDAF will be the UN Development Action Framework rather than the assistance framework as with the previous UNDAFs. This recognizes India’s increasing global role and reflects the evolving partnership between the UN and the Indian Government”

The UNDAF 2013-2017 is harmonized with the XII Plan objectives of faster, sustainable and more inclusive growth, and will work towards the achievement of the following six development outcomes: inclusive growth, food and nutrition security, gender equality, equitable access to quality basic services, governance and sustainable development.

The new UNDAF will focus the efforts of the UN in nine states of India, namely: Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh. The selection of these states is based on the analysis of key statistical indicators related to poverty, inequality, human development, literacy and gender with disaggregation for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. In addition, the UN system will also consider selected programme interventions in the North-East, including HIV/AIDS, Human Development Index/Child Development Index, human and child rights.

The new UNDAF focuses on joint work in areas where the UN has a collective comparative advantage in adding value to national development efforts. A key aspect of the new UNDAF implementation will be annual progress reviews that will be jointly undertaken by the Government of India and the UN entities.

The signing of the UNDAF will also pave the way for the UN entities operating in India to finalize their respective Country Programme Documents and work plans with their respective Line Ministries.