UNEP AND UNDP SIGN AGREEMENT FOR COOPERATION IN CAPACITY-BUILDING
Press Release
HE/921
UNDP/818
UNEP AND UNDP SIGN AGREEMENT FOR COOPERATION IN CAPACITY-BUILDING
19951204 NAIROBI, 1 December (UNEP) -- The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) signed a partnership agreement in Washington this week to further strengthen collaboration between the two organizations in support of sustainable development efforts by their member countries.The "Framework Agreement For Cooperation In Capacity-Building", signed by Elizabeth Dowdeswell, UNEP Executive Director and James Gustave Speth, UNDP Administrator, is the latest step in following up the commitment made by the two agency heads in April 1994 that the their respective programmes work in closer collaboration.
The term "capacity-building" -- the processes and means for national governments and local communities to develop the skills and expertise needed to manage their environment and natural resources in a sustainable manner -- gained prominence at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro, in 1992.
In Rio, governments agreed on Agenda 21 -- an array of recommendations to provide a framework for global and national action to achieve sustainable development. However, it became evident that there were gaps -- human, financial and institutional -- in the capacity of countries to prepare and manage programmes that would translate the global agenda into national action.
UNCED affirmed UNEP's catalytic and coordinating functions in providing advice to developing countries and recommended that "UNEP provide technical, legal and institutional advice to Governments, upon request, in establishing and enhancing their national and institutional frameworks, in particular in cooperation with UNDP's capacity-building efforts". In response to UNCED, UNDP launched "Capacity 21" -- a programme intended to enhance countries' capacities to develop and implement national strategies for environmentally sustainable development.
In 1994, the project "Environmental Law and Institutions in Africa" was launched. The project takes into account UNEP expertise for environmental law and UNDP country coordinating capacity; all national level programmes are implemented under the supervision of the UNDP Resident Representative, UNEP acting as technical advisor.
Two partnership agreements were signed on 26 April by UNEP and UNDP. One is the UNEP/UNDP Partnership to Combat Desertification which is intended to ensure optimal use of resources and expertise in addressing desertification. The other is a memorandum of understanding between UNEP and UNDP that links, at the national level, their respective computer networking programmes (UNEP's Infoterra and UNDP's Sustainable Development Network).
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