The first year of the implementation of the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) 2013 – 2017 in Nepal was marked by the relatively peaceful conduct of the long anticipated second Constituent Assembly (CA) elections in November. Upon the announcement of the elections date in June, interest and energy of policy makers gradually became more focused on this landmark event, rather than on the development agenda.
As this UNDAF 2013 Annual Report attests, despite the challenging environment, the United Nations Country Team (UNCT) together with the Government of Nepal achieved impressive results under each of the three UNDAF components of: Advancing equality through equity; Protecting development gains; and Creating an enabling environment for enhanced international cooperation. In 2013, the UNCT delivered USD 130.4 million, of which USD 89.5 million was invested in development and USD 40.8 million was mobilized to meet humanitarian needs.
With only two years left to the 2015 deadline, Nepal is on track to meet most of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Nevertheless, persistent challenges remain in achieving some of them, namely those pertaining to full employment and climate change. Particular attention has been paid to meeting the goal on sanitation through the implementation of a MDG Acceleration Framework.