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About UN Thailand
Q&A
As Bangkok is the UN's regional centre for Asia and the Pacific, the UN System in Thailand is unusually large and complex. The UN community of agencies extends well beyond those that serve Thailand alone. Indeed, UN programmes for Thailand are quite modest in financial terms, since it is a relatively successful middle income country. However, UN programmes with Thailand as a significant partner are extensive. The UN System in Thailand now comprises 32 agency offices, a figure which includes both the Asian Development Bank and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), neither of which are technically UN agencies but both of which have so much in common with it, that they are treated as if they were UN agencies for most operational purposes. 24 of these agencies have an exclusive or partial focus on Thailand, while the remaining have only a regional mandate. The system of the Resident Co-ordinator came into effect as an integral part of the restructuring of the economic and social sectors of the United Nations system initiated by the General Assembly (GA) resolution 32/197 of 20 December 1977. In that resolution, the General Assembly decided that, on behalf of the UN system, overall responsibility for, and co-ordination of, operational activities for development carried out at the country level should be entrusted to a single official, who would exercise team leadership and ensure a multidisciplinary dimension in sectoral development programmes. The Resident Co-ordinator is the designated representative of the Secretary-General for development operations and leader of the United Nations Country Team. Resident Co-ordinators report to the Secretary-General through the UNDP Administrator, who is accountable to the Secretary-General for the efficient performance of the resident co-ordinator system and to the UNDP Executive Board for UNDP expenditures in support of the resident co-ordinator system. The UNDP Administrator is responsible for recommending the appointment of resident co-ordinators to the Secretary-General. The Office of the UN Resident Co-ordinator in Thailand comprises a full time Chief and support staff, provides the secretariat the support needed to manage the inter-agency collaboration of the United Nations System. UNRCO is funded by contributions from the participating UN agencies, and is accountable to these agencies as a whole. Together the 24 UN agencies in Thailand work to follow up to global conferences and declarations. The agencies also collaborate in several Inter-agency projects. Other activities by the UN system in Thailand as a whole include publications such as the Common Country Assessment (CCA) and the UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF). In Thailand it was decided to refer to the UNDAF as the United Nations Partnership Framework (UNPAF), to reflect the mutually beneficial relationship between the UN and Thailand. These common achievements are made possible by collaborative fora such as UN Heads of Agencies and UN country team meetings, as well as a number of Thematic Working Groups. They are further facilitated by the Office of the UN Resident Coordinator. Click here for an overview of UN Coordination Mechanism in Thailand In July 1997 the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan introduced a wide-ranging reform programme for the UN. It called for a new leadership culture and management structure at the UN. The Common Country Assessment (CCA) and the UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) were introduced to strengthen the coherence and effectiveness of the UN system's contribution to a country's development efforts.The Common Country Assessment (CCA) is an integral part of the Secretary General's UN Reform Agenda. It represents an independent assessment by the United Nations system of the development situation and critical issues facing a country, particularly in light of the declarations, goals, and plans of action agreed upon at the series of global conferences convened by the UN in the 1990s. The CCA of Thailand therefore was preceded by a review of the extent to which the country has achieved the goals specified in the UN Global Agenda. In July 1997 the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan introduced a wide-ranging reform programme for the UN. It called for a new leadership culture and management structure at the UN. The Common Country Assessment (CCA) and the UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) were introduced to strengthen the coherence and effectiveness of the UN system's contribution to a country's development efforts. The UNDAF is a planning framework for the development operations of the UN system at the country level. It identifies the common objectives, the common strategies of development assistance and a common timeframe for follow-up activities shared by all resident UN agencies. The UNDAF thus enables a holistic UN approach to country challenges. Moving beyond the traditional donor-recipient relationship, the UN Country Team in Thailand is engaged in a two-way exchange of knowledge and expertise. To reflect this new strategic approach, this document is referred to as the United Nations Partnership Framework instead of the traditional United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF). There are population groups in Thailand that are not benefiting from rapid economic growth and whose livelihoods, safety and health are generally more vulnerable. These include ethnic minorities living in the highlands, migrants, displaced persons, as well as the elderly and people with disabilities. Selected geographical areas are also currently underserved, such as the north, northeast, the southernmost provinces and other border provinces. Reaching out to them is identified as key by the UN for Thailand.
Under the motto of “Well-being, sufficiency and equity”, the UN Partnership Framework with Thailand for 2007-2011 will focus on five areas of cooperation: access to quality social services, and protection; decentralization and provincial/local governance; access to comprehensive HIV prevention, treatment, care and support; environment and natural resources management; and the global partnership for development-Thailand’s contribution. Refer to the current CCA/UNPAF UN programmes for Thailand are quite modest in financial and operational terms, since it is a relatively successful middle income country. However, UN programmes with Thailand, as a significant partner, are extensive. There are several UN inter-country programmes with Thailand as a significant partner in areas such as trafficking, child labour, HIV/AIDS and environment. In recent years, Thailand has expanded its partnership with the UN through its participation in peace keeping and development efforts in the region such as East Timor. As a middle-income country, Thailand is engaged in South-South development cooperation and in providing technical and financial cooperation to countries in the region and beyond. To view the PDF documents, Adobe Acrobat Reader will need to be installed on your computer. To download a copy of this software, please click below. 
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