1. Human development is the basis of UNDP’s work
2. UNDP is the largest UN agency operating in Bulgaria
3. UNDP supports meeting national priorities
4. UNDP supports the process of social inclusion and poverty reduction
5. UNDP advocates for broad civic participation in decision-making at all levels of governance
6. UNDP supports energy and environment conservation for sustainable development
7. UNDP builds capacity for good governance on the local level through implementation of pilot and demonstration projects
8. UNDP is an organization covering the full project management cycle
9. UNDP helped to build broadest partnership network on the local and regional level in Bulgaria
10. UNDP is reliable partner and advocate for the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals
1. Human development is the basis of UNDP’s work.
According to the concept of human development people are both the objective of development and the means to development. Human development is the prism through which UNDP Bulgaria implements all its projects and initiatives. The focus is on the most vulnerable groups and on the economically underdeveloped regions. A priority goal for UNDP Bulgaria is assistance in translating the opportunties from Bulgaria’s EU accession into better human development.
Human development is a lot more than economic growth, it is growth in choices. The objective of development is to create an enabling environment for people to realize fully their potential and to enjoy long, healthy and creative lives in accordance with their needs and interests.
Human development reports are UNDP’s main tool for public advocacy. The human development index (HDI) is a unique measure for stock taking and comparison used in the Global Human Development Reports. The HDI is a composite of measures of health, education and income. The first global human development report of UNDP was published in 1990. The first Bulgarian human development report was drafted in 1995. Human development reports encourage political dialogue and public debate on development and provide ideas on how to overcome development problems on the local and national level.
2. UNDP is the largest UN agency operating in Bulgaria.
The Bulgaria UNDP Country Office was opened in 1992. Since then over 70 projects have been implemented jointly with Bulgarian and international partners, with total budgets exceeding USD 150 million. In 2005 UNDP implemented activities valued at USD 29 million. Over the last three years, the value of the Bulgaria UNDP programme was the largest in the region of Central and Eastern Europe and the CIS. Contributions from the Bulgarian government and municipalities make up the largest share of the resources with which UNDP implements projects.
The document on which UNDP work is based is called the UNDP Country Programme. It is drafted in consultation with the government and is approved by the UNDP Executive Board consisting of more than 70 UN members. Presently UNDP Bulgaria is involved in the implementation of over 30 projects in the areas of poverty and social inclusion, employment generation, good governance, energy and environment, information technologies.
UNDP is the UN’s global development network, helping countries exchange knowledge, experience and resources to build a better life. As the largest UN development agency, UNDP is on the ground in 166 countries across the world and on an annual basis manages resources totaling over USD 4 billion.
3. UNDP supports meeting national priorities.
In the current Country Programme (2006 – 2009) UNDP is concentrating its work in three areas:
This work is linked to helping Bulgaria to be prepared for EU membership, and to use the opportunities of membership for Human Development. Among priority issues are 1) capacity-building, especially on the municipal and district level within administrations, and within the private sector and the civil society for more successful access and absorption of the various EU funds; 2) more focus on the needs of vulnerable and marginalized groups and underdeveloped regions; 3) and support for Bulgaria as an emerging donor and a source of official development aid.
4. UNDP supports the process of social inclusion and poverty reduction while encouraging local development through support for entrepreneurship and business, integration of minorities, and the creation of public private partnerships.
UNDP assists in the development of policy documents such as the National Strategy and Action Plan against poverty and social exclusion; the National Programme to Improve the Living Conditions of Disadvantaged Minorities in Urban Areas.
Some of the key projects grew into core components of the government’s employment promotion policies. Among them are: Beautiful Bulgaria, Social Assistance Against New Employment, Job Opportunities through Businesses Support, Urbanization of Areas with Predominant Minority Populations.
5. UNDP advocates for broad civic participation in decision-making at all levels of governance.
UNDP provided support in drafting and adoption of strategic national documents and laws and regulations: the new Administrative Procedure Code, the National E-Government Strategy and Action Plan; a new draft for a law on the decentralization and deconcentration of the executive; an evaluation of the municipal and district capacity, of the capacity of businesses and NGOs to work with the resources of the EU funds.
UNDP’s central projects and initiatives in democratic governance are Strengthening Partnerships for the Absorption of EU Funds, Sustainable Development of Rural Areas, Chitalishte Development Foundation, Establishment of a National Rural Network, Telecenters.
6. UNDP supports energy and environment conservation for sustainable development.
It provided support for the development and adoption of strategic national documents and laws and regulations such as: the Energy Efficiency Act, the Biodiversity Act, the Protected Areas Act; the National Self-assessment of Bulgaria’s capacity to meet commitments under the UN environmental conventions; an internet gateway on Bulgarian biodiversity.
Major projects in this field help in the implementation of Bulgaria’s international commitments in sustainable development planning: Conservation of the Globally Significant Biodiversity in the Rhodopes, Sustainable Land Management, Integration of the UN Rio Conventions in National and Regional Development Policies.
In 2005 Bulgaria joined the Small Grants Programme of the Global Environment Facility which extends grants to non-governmental organizations working on initiatives for sustainable development of the environment in several priority areas identified by the Strategy Group Programme.
7. UNDP builds capacity for good governance on the local level through implementation of pilot and demonstration projects.
UNDP often initiates and funds pilot projects which subsequently are expanded and applied on a nation-wide scale mobilizing additional funding or resources from other donors and involving new components and partners. Small demonstration initiatives were the start of the projects that today enjoy broad public support such as Beautiful Bulgaria, Job Opportunities through Business Support, Chitalishte, Social Services against New Employment. Building strategic partnerships and capacity, UNDP sets high standards in the implementation and evaluation of projects and ensures the sustainable use of their approaches and outcomes after project completion.
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UNDP Bulgaria is an exporter of know-how and best practices to other countries in the region. UNDP projects like Beautiful Bulgaria, JOBS, Early Warning System are implemented successfully, adapted to specific local needs, in Romania, Serbia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Azerbaijan, Egypt.
8. UNDP is an organization covering the full project management cycle.
Applying the Never Alone approach, the UNDP Country Office in Bulgaria works with its local and international partners from the time an idea is first conceived to the final reporting of results and the establishment of the project as a national programme or policy.
First, and frequently, UNDP helps to develop the original project proposal, then secondly supports its implementation in partnership and under continuous internal and external monitoring and control. Thirdly UNDP always audits and evaluates the project activities and the resulting outcomes and impacts. This leads to defining a model and how it can be replicated nationally or internationally. UNDP projects are managed by Steering Committees made up of representatives of national partners from government and civil society, project or local stakeholders, international partners and the UNDP Country Office.
UNDP is not an organization which primarily provides grant funding, nor which simply receives project proposals seeking financing. UNDP works under an agreement with the government on projects identified as priorities and which help meet a definite goal, build capacities and/or deliver a policy. For project implementation UNDP normally combines its own funds, with funds raised from the national budget, local authorities, bilateral and multilateral donors, the UN system or special trust funds.
9. UNDP helped to build broadest partnership network on the local and regional level in Bulgaria.
UNDP is implementing projects in all 28 districts and in over 170 Municipalities across the country. UNDP work is specifically concentrated in regions where incomes are below the average and focused on vulnerable groups and isolated rural regions. UNDP’s partnership network spans ministries, agencies, local authorities and district administrations, international institutions and donors, embassies and non-governmental organizations.
One more recent and increasingly reliable partner in development projects is the private sector. Thanks to the UN Global Compact Initiative and through its national network, nearly 120 Bulgarian companies have committed to applying socially responsible practices, including support to projects and programmes aimed at the development of young people, local communities and minorities.
10. UNDP is reliable partner and advocate for the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals.
In the Millennium Declaration of 2000 all 191 UN member states set their views on development, peace and human rights. They set for themselves the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) with concrete indicators which each country committed to meet by 2015. In Bulgaria in 2003 the country’s Millennium Development Goals Report was prepared. It adapted the global MDGs to Bulgaria’s context. The process, which UNDP coordinated, was implemented in partnership with the government and a series of national and international organizations and took into consideration the challenges of the country’s forthcoming EU membership.
The Bulgarian Millennium Development Goals:
1. Halve extreme poverty and malnutrition
2. Improve primary and secondary education
3. Promote gender equality and empower women
4. Reduce child mortality
5. Improve maternal health
6. Limit the spread of HIV/AIDS, syphilis and tuberculosis
7. Ensure environmental sustainability
8. Develop a partnership for development
The Global Human Development Report 2005 included for the first time Bulgaria among countries with high human development levels. Bulgaria ranked 55th among 177 countries evaluated in the report. In the future, as an EU member Bulgaria will as a donor country provide assistance, including participation in the global partnership for attaining the Millennium Development Goals.
Bi-lingual Brochure 10 Things to Know about UNDP Bulgaria (281 KB)
