THE UNITED Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) was signed last week by Fayza Abul-Naga, minister of international cooperation and Antonio Vigilanti, the UN resident coordinator in Cairo. Mona El-Fiqi reports. The UNDAF, which is a legal agreement between the UN and the Egyptian government, will cover a third phase of cooperation extending from 2007 to 2011. It is the United Nations' strategic planning tool for development assistance to Egypt. Abul-Naga said in a press conference last week that the UNDAF is based on five national development priority areas "designed locally", and collectively agreed upon and formulated by UN agencies operating in Egypt in addition to government and civil society organisations. Vigilanti explained that the aim of UNDAF is to assist in minimising the burden on limited income groups while maximising the programme's results. He added that UNDAF will require approximately $300 to $400 million of which $90 million will be provided by the UN, and the rest by the other partners. He said that the UN is satisfied with the results of the previous programme of 2002-2005, especially in areas of social assistance such as education and child labour in the governorates "which are areas where the poorest and less educated people live". The emphasis on human resource development, according to Abul-Naga, is "because there can be no economic improvement without well-educated and healthy individuals". The UNDAF also purports to improve the government's ability to deliver programmes supporting vulnerable groups and overcoming gender disparities. UNDAF also seeks to tackle the unemployment problem and has set 2011 as a target year for its reduction, in addition to eliminating child labour. The widening of women's participation in the workforce and in political and public life are also amongst the targeted objectives set by the UNDAF programme. Other objectives include the consolidation of democratic institutions and practices as well as "a culture of human rights through active citizenship". Abul-Naga said that the UNDAF strategy "elaborates on concrete development objectives that are planned under each priority area, in addition to providing a tool for monitoring and evaluating the development process and its envisaged results."
