The National Planning Commission and the United Nations Country Team in Nepal published the approved United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) for 2013 -2017 today on 11 September 2012.

The UNDAF lays out a common development strategy for the UN Country Team in Nepal for the next five years. The US$ 685 million package involving 24 individual UN agencies spans interventions aimed at assisting vulnerable groups better access development progress, activities aimed at protecting Nepal’s development gains to date, and support aimed at facilitating Nepal’s international cooperation. The strategy has been under preparation for over one year, in a process involving hundreds of local and international subject-experts and officials.

According to a press release, at a signing ceremony on September 6, the Honorable Vice Chairperson of the National Planning Commission, Deependra Bahadur Kshetry, noted that “UN agencies’ assistance to Nepal, especially in the area of the social upliftment of backward communities remains important. The UNDAF outlines various measures to uplift communities through UN agencies' activities. Let us work together to materialize government policies and UN ideals”. 

At the event the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, Robert Piper, noted that the UNDAF “addresses the right issues with a clear sense of purpose, ambition and urgency, setting the stage for an exciting period of renewed collaboration between the United Nations Development Group and the Government of Nepal”. “Now it is time to roll up our sleeves and get to work on bringing it to life,” he added.