UNDP's Work in Thailand
The objective of the UNDP-Thailand partnership is to help create the policy and institutional environment necessary for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In addition, the partnership supports Thailand's efforts to disseminate its development knowledge and expertise beyond its borders.
UNDP’s work in Thailand can be divided into five broad thematic areas.
Environmentally-Sustainable Development
The Environment programme is based on a partnership approach that brings in a number of stakeholders, including communities, NGOs, and local and national authorities. The Global Environment Facility (GEF) has allocated US$23.9 million to Thailand through 2010 in two critical focal areas: biodiversity and climate change. There are two on-going large GEF projects. UNDP also manages the GEF Small Grants Programme, through which over 200 small projects have been implemented in Thailand since 1998, including wetland conservation, integrated and organic farming, renewable energy, and use of agro-waste.
At the national level, UNDP helps foster democratic governance by providing support to civic education among the general public. At the local level, UNDP supports the government’s decentralisation process by building capacity for strategic planning and service delivery, particularly at the municipal and sub-district levels. One example is the introduction of a “People’s Audit”, an evidence-based planning tool that allows people to provide feedback on the delivery of public services.
International Partnership for Development
A key component of the UNDP-Thailand partnership focuses on promoting Thailand as an emerging donor and contributor to the global partnership for development called for in Millennium Development Goal 8. Areas of collaboration include: supporting new initiatives to enhance cooperation between Thailand and developing countries in the region and beyond, strengthening the effectiveness and coordination of Thailand’s development aid with that of other countries; and promoting Thai nationals serving abroad as volunteers
UNDP is helping to build a coalition in Thailand that promotes action on the MDGs. UNDP also supports Thailand in its MDG-plus targets and going beyond national achievements to focus on specific regions and groups. Initiatives include publication of national Human Development Reports; reports on Thailand’s progress on particular MDGs, such as MDG3 (women’s political empowerment), MDG 6 (HIV/AIDS), and MDG 8 (International Partnership for Development); and provincial-level MDG reports.
UNDP Thailand focuses on three priorities: promoting broad-based dialogue and analysis on HIV/AIDS; capacity building at the provincial and local levels to foster a more inclusive, rights-based and gender sensitive response to HIV/AIDS; and fighting stigma and discrimination.