malaysia, singapore and brunei darussalam - undp

2012 PROJECT SNAPSHOTS

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MALAYSIA, SINGAPORE AND BRUNEI DARUSSALAM

The current country programme for UNDP Malaysia was approved by the UNDP Executive Board in September 2007 covering the period 2008-2012. The Country Programme Action Plan (CPAP) was approved by the Malaysian government in December 2007. Programme priorities were designed to take into account Malaysia’s progress and growth and focus on themes that constitute both national priorities and UNDP’s focus areas. The approved CPAP is broadly divided in three main pillars: Fostering Inclusive Globalization and Promoting Inclusive Growth; Improved Quality of Life through Sustainable Environmental Management and Promoting the Global Partnership for Development. In addition, gender equality and women’s empowerment is incorporated as a cross-cutting issue. The Country Programme Action Plan was developed through a broad multi-stakeholder consultative process to support and complement the 5 Thrusts in the National Mission. a) To move the economy up the value chain; b) To raise capacity for knowledge and innovation and nurture a "first class mentality"; c) To address persistent socio-economic inequalities constructively and productively; d) To improve the standard and sustainability of quality of life; and e) To strengthen institutional and implementation capacity.

In 2009, the CO undertook a repositioning exercise after completing a Country Programme Evaluation (2003-2007) and high-level discussions with EPU. It was agreed with the government that for 2009-2012, the focus will be on 5 priority areas which are as follows: a. National responses to both the short-term and longer term structural implications of the global economic and financial crisis; In the short term, support will be provided to strengthen analytical and empirical research capacities to understand the transmission belts of the crisis in the Malaysian economy while the medium and long term support through UNDP will prioritize areas of structural change likely to be necessary if Malaysia is to make the transition to a high value-added, globally competitive knowledge-based economy and achieve its Vision 2020. b. Addressing poverty, inequality and exclusion Support will be provided for the eradication of hardcore poverty and the improvement of equity. Priority will be placed on addressing the challenges faced in the rural areas, particularly in Sabah and Sarawak. Initiatives to improve equity between states, population groups and the rural-urban divide will also be prioritized with a focus on indigenous communities and other population groups which exhibit widespread and deep-rooted poverty incidence. Initiatives which empower women to progress within the social, economic and political spheres will be emphasized. c. Towards an improved quality of life through sustainable environmental management and energy security Support that contributes towards improved environmental management will be prioritized in three strategic areas: (a) enhancing environmental management of biodiversity and natural resources, including water resource management; (b) climate change mitigation and adaptation initiatives in partnership with the Global Environment Facility and the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol; and (c) incorporating environmental considerations into the planning of non-environmental agencies. In addition, support will also be provided to assist and strengthen the analysis and planning of national policy responses that seek to strengthen medium to long-term energy security.

COUNTRY OFFICE PROFILE

2012 Project Snapshots

Country Programme (2008-2012)

Implementing the Repositioning Strategy in 2010 and Beyond

d. Promoting good governance with a focus on anti-corruption, human rights and the results orientation of the public sector Support the work of the Malaysian government and CSOs in areas related to strengthening anti-corruption and transparency measures and human rights and development initiatives. e. Promoting South-South Cooperation Initiatives for Development Malaysia is increasingly looking toward playing a leading role among middle income countries in supporting the development of Africa, of poorer countries within the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), the Non-Aligned Movement and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as well as in sub-regional growth triangles. As the UN’s global development network, UNDP thus supports South-South Cooperation efforts in a wider context to include the promotion of good governance, gender, poverty reduction and crisis prevention and recovery.

In 2009-2012, following the repositioning exercise, UNDP is fully engaged in supporting Malaysia’s national priorities and the implementation of national medium and long-term development plans such as the 10th Malaysia Plan and other sectoral development policies and strategies. The Country Programme consciously attempts to link strategic policy initiatives with downstream pilot projects so that our work is informed by ground realities and that our projects support national development objectives and remain consistent with the national development plans. Through local community based initiatives, we have piloted new and innovative development methodologies that can be adopted and scaled up throughout the country. Today, all of UNDP projects in Malaysia are nationally executed, involving more than ten federal ministries and agencies and located in more than 6 states.

UNDP manages financial resources from various sources in support of its development efforts in Malaysia. These resources include UNDP core funding, resources (cost sharing) mobilized from the Malaysian Government, and from global trust funds such as the Global Environment Facility, Montreal Protocol, Democratic Governance Thematic Trust Fund, UNDP-Japan Partnership Fund, and the International Development Research Centre.

The Kuala Lumpur office is the focal point for programmes and operations in both Singapore and Brunei Darussalam. However, engagement between UNDP and the two countries have been minimal over the last few decades. In Brunei, UNDP supported the Government with its Millennium Development Goals report “Brunei Darussalam: Millennium Development Goals and Beyond "in 2010. In addition, UNDP is assisting Brunei Darussalam to meet its Montreal Protocol obligations to phase out chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), an initiative which will be completed by 2012. Beginning in 2009, UNDP re-established substantive engagement and as a result, a joint UNDP-Government of Singapore publication analyzing, codifying and distilling the lessons and best practices from Singapore’s public service experience was published for the benefit of policy makers and practitioners across the region and world. Building upon this recent substantive re-engagement, discussions are currently ongoing between Singapore and UNDP to establish a Global Centre on Public Service Excellence. There has also been recent agreement between UNDP and the Singapore Government to have a more systematic and holistic approach to collaboration around the SCP with a greater emphasis on the Pacific Islands.


Scope of Support from UNDP Malaysia

Funding

Singapore and Brunei Darussalam

Malaysia’s National Human Development Report (NHDR) is an 18-21 month project (April 2012 – Decem-ber 2013) focusing on national policy formulation and consensus building among national stakeholders on the issue of inclusive growth with clear linkages to priorities outlined in the 10th Malaysia Plan (10MP) and the New Economic Model (NEM). It emphasizes on multidimensionality in bringing clarity to the concepts revolving around inclusive growth and employs a participatory research methodology in its analysis. Through active stakeholder consultation, a full report capturing key findings, consensus-based targets and implementable policy recommendations will be put forward in a clear and user-friendly manner, accessible to stakeholders and the wider public. A series of more technical background papers will be commissioned to provide in-depth analytical work on selected areas to be determined by the Technical Working Group.

National Human Development Report: Inclusive Growth

Study to Support the Development of National Policies and Programmes to

Increase and Retain the Participation of Women in the Malaysian Labour

Workforce

Malaysia has achieved gender parity at the primary, secondary and post-secondary levels of education and better than parity at the university level yet women in Malaysia only make up 36.2% of the labor force, significantly less than the near 50% found in most developed economies. This includes only 46.4% of women aged 15-64 in the workforce. In the 10th Malaysia Plan (10MP) the government set forth a plan to increase women’s participation in the workforce to 55% by 2015. The objective of this project will be to ascertain in detail what factors, both direct and indirect, contribute to women’s low participation rates for the purpose of proposing policies and programmes to address these factors in order to achieve the target set in the 10MP.

NATIONAL RESPONSES TO BOTH THE SHORT-TERM AND LONGER TERM

STRUCTURAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL

CRISIS


Malaysia’s

1st National

Human

Development

Report

ADDRESSING POVERTY, INEQUALITY AND EXCLUSION

In the first stage, a study is commissioned to capture the best practices and limitations of PLI applications in comparable countries to be followed by an independent review of the current Malaysian PLI. In the second stage, necessary revisions will be made to the PLI based on the findings of the reports in the first stage.

Review and Develop the National Poverty Line

MPI to be developed using the latest HIS data (2009) and next year, when the HIS 2012 data is available, EPU will develop the next MPI based on this new set of data for comparisons. The development of Malaysia’s MPI moving forward will need to review the indicators relevant to local context and the suggested outputs are (i) Malaysia’s MPI to be based on the latest Basic Amenities Survey and (ii) Re-port on the MPI construction, choice of indicators and analysis to form a chapter in the NHDR.

(Note: In collaboration with WHO) In-depth studies will be conducted to analyse and define the organisational and institutional reforms required in the delivery system and the financial mechanism to support the proposed reform of the health sector. The necessary building blocks for the reforms and mitigating measures to address any associated risks and impacts that the transformation may have on the Malaysian society, especially on vulnerable communities will also be undertaken. The in-depth studies will directly be utilised as input for the 1Care for 1Malaysia Blueprint.

1Care for 1Malaysia - Support for Blueprint Development of the Health Sector Reform and Transformation

Study on the Socio-Economic Status of Aborigines (Orang Asli) in Peninsular Malaysia a National Development Plan

(Note: Joint project with UNICEF) This joint UNDP-UNICEF project seeks to assist the EPU of the Prime Minister’s Department to assess the success of the poverty eradication and welfare programmes for the Orang Asli that have been undertaken under the 9th Malaysian Plan (2006-2010) and to developing a National Development Plan for the Orang Asli.

Develop the Malaysian Multidimensional Poverty Index


The project will complement efforts to promote sustainable forest management. Although the tools it generates will be developed in a Malaysian context, they will be applicable to forests throughout Southeast Asia and in other tropical countries.

BD Diversity -conservation of Biological Diversity through Improved Forests

Enhanced conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in Malaysia

and sustainable island development

To ensure the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in Malaysia and sustainable

island development. The project will strengthen the system of marine protected areas in Malaysia and

thereby contribute to the conservation of globally significant biodiversity. The project targets 164,534.2

hectares of sea, under improved management, for the conservation of marine biodiversity. The project

will build upon significant nationally driven initiatives to conserve the marine biodiversity of east coast

Peninsular Malaysia. Project activities will be carried out in three marine parks, chosen as the pilot

locations - Pulau Tioman Pahang, Pulau Redang Terengganu and Pulau Sibu-Tinggi Johor.


Assisting the Government

of Malaysia in preparing

and contribute effectively

to the United Nations

Conference on

Sustainable Development

(UNCSD)

TOWARDS AN IMPROVED QUALITY OF LIFE THROUGH SUSTAINABLE

ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT AND ENERGY SECURITY

To assist the Government of Malaysia in preparing and contribute effectively to the United Nations

Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) via preparation of technical inputs such as responses

to questionnaires, policy input from national stakeholders, and identification of strategies and policy

options for national action. A review on the progress towards internationally agreed commitments,

including success stories, challenges / gaps and opportunities in the implementation of sustainable

development decisions since 1992 and 2002 (Rio+10) and identify and discuss the new and emerging

challenges especially in the context of two themes, which are the green economy and institutional

framework for sustainable development, will also be explored.

National Assessment of RIO + 20 Progress in Preparation of UNCSD 2012

The initiative is to conduct a scoping study for current state of art on the understanding and use of PES

or PES-like mechanism in Malaysia. Documented evidence and experiences of other countries globally

and in South East Asian countries will be prepared including the gaps in existing policy (national /

international), legal framework and capacity and indentifying best practices available. This proposed

scoping exercise, in effect, will lead to further full project to develop strategy and policy on PES

implementation in Malaysia.

Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES)

This project extends institutional strengthening support to the National Ozone Office. The project will

allow the National Ozone Office to continue to plan, organize, direct and coordinate all activities

required for the implementation of Malaysia’s strategy in all areas related to the Phase-out of Ozone

Depleting Substances under the Montreal Protocol.

Institutional Strengthening Phase 8

Access and Benefit Sharing

The project is to promote the implementation of the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD) at the

national level, in fulfillment of Malaysia’s international obligations as a Contracting Party to the CBD;

and implement the National Policy in Biological Diversity.

Developing a

national

framework that

includes the

policy, legal and

institutional

components for

REDD+

The aim of the project is to undertake a detailed analysis on the economic costs and benefits of climate

change adaptation and mitigation measures with the view of enabling policy and decision makers in

Malaysia to institute targeted interventions to address climate change impacts.

Economics of Climate Change

This project aims at developing a national framework that includes the policy, legal and institutional

components for REDD+, exploring and providing recommendations on sustainable funding mechanism

for REDD+ implementation, as well as improving capacity and stakeholder participation in REDD+

management. These outputs will be essential in the formulation of the National REDD+ Strategy, which

will aim at enhancing conservation of natural forest and reduce forest degradation.

Strategic Planning and Development of GEF 5 Projects

The objective of this project is to provide support to Government of Malaysia to plan and prepare

project proposals under GEF Phase 5, under the new operation system, “System for Transparent

Resources (STAR)” which requires consultation dialogues and submission of Project Proposals for 2010

-2014.

National REDD+ Readiness in Malaysia


TOWARDS AN IMPROVED QUALITY OF LIFE THROUGH SUSTAINABLE

ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT AND ENERGY SECURITY

Development of evaluation mechanism for in-service training

The expenditure for the various in-service training programmes of

the Malaysian government’s public sector for the last five years was

USD116 million. This initiative aims to improve the implementation of

the Government’s in-service training programmes by ensuring a

stronger, transparent and coordinated selection process and

establish a systematic and effective mechanism that will help

measure the improvements in the competency and performance of

the public service staff members trained.


The potential

policy introduced

by this project is

expected to

impact the

Government’s

Operating

Expenditures (OE).

PROMOTING GOOD GOVERNANCE WITH A FOCUS ON ANTI-CORRUPTION,

HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE RESULTS ORIENTATION OF THE PUBLIC SECTOR

The project aims to strengthen the institutional capacity of selected Anti-Corruption Agencies (ACA) based in the 57 member states of the OIC in their understanding and appreciation of relevant international anti corruption instruments and conventions. It is also aims to strengthen these countries’ technical know-how and skills in corruption prevention, detection, investigation, and prosecution. Emphasis will also be placed on deepening and broadening the understanding of the participating ACAs’ on the causes and effects of corruption and its negative consequences on national human development.

Strengthening the institutional capacity of Anti-Corruption Agencies from the

Organisation of Islamic Conference countries to ensure and efficient public

delivery system

National Pension Reform: Developing a sustainable retirement benefit

package

The project will review the various areas for improvement in the national pension scheme. The potential policy introduced by this pro-ject is expected to impact the Government’s Operating Expenditures (OE). The policy introduced will also cover for the benefits of The Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) and Pension Fund Incorporated’s contributors.

This initiative aims

to improve the

implementation of

the Government’s

in-service training

programmes

The project objective is to support the strengthening of SME policy formulation and institutional reform as well as institutional support for training, technological exchanges and market access in the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and other countries in the region through South-South Cooperation. The project will utilize the experience of Technonet Asia as well as the facilities of the South-South Global Assets and Technical Exchanges (SS-GATE) in supporting SMEs and for SME technology development.

South-South and Triangular Cooperation for SME Development in Asia

Capacity Building Support for Malaysia’s role in Peacekeeping Training

This project aims to support the role of the Malaysian Peacekeeping Training Center in providing multidimensional peacekeeping training as well as build the capacity of trainers and personnel from Africa and Asia in multidimensional peacekeeping training and operations respectively. Focus will be on civil-military coordination and gender based violence in conflict countries.

PROMOTING SOUTH SOUTH COOPERATION INITIATIVES FOR DEVELOPMENT


The project

objective is to

support the

strengthening of

SME policy

formulation and

institutional

reform

Focus is on civil-

military

coordination and

gender based

violence in

conflict

countries.

malaysia, singapore and brunei darussalam - undp

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