Resilience and Sustainability

To build resilience and ensure greater sustainability whilst UNDP is an interim Principal Recipient (PR) or programme manager, the provision of services to the end users are delivered by national government, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and private sector entities where feasible. UNDP is not normally directly involved in implementation with the exception of procurement where international competitive bidding through long term agreements (LTAs) ensures value for money and a reduction in costs. However, in procurement and supply management (PSM) national entities normally have central roles in forecasting and quantification to allow orders to be placed, as well as the storage and distribution once the orders have been received. UNDP as interim PR supports national entities in strengthening warehouse facilities, Logistics Management Information Systems (LMIS), as well as transport and distribution. A summary of PSM capacity development can be found here.

This focus on sustainable systems for health and linkages to Health Systems Strengthening (HSS) programme, helps to ensure infrastructure, information systems, procedures and management are enhanced with the aim of both improving and sustaining the performance of the national programme, as well as donor and Global Fund grants. The comprehensive capacity development approach of enhancing national systems for health creates greater resilience. This comprehensive approach involves putting in place structures with appropriate roles and responsibilities to manage national programme and Global Fund grants. This is supported by performance-based terms of reference (TORs), merit based recruitment, orientation, professional development and on the job training and coaching and mentoring. This is enhanced by producing or updating manuals, standard operating procedures (SOPs), together with guidance and templates, together with hardware, internet connectivity and relevant software. This helps reduce the dependence on a small number of core staff and accelerates the recruitment and orientation of new staff. This strategic approach to capacity development is more comprehensive than the narrower traditional approach of capacity building of training and technical assistance (TA).

Where UNDP supports the implementation of health programmes and Global Fund grants in challenging operating environments, it uses diverse strategies to maximize resilience including; mobile payment systems; electronic tracking of patients; aiming to provide continuity of treatment and essential services; and supply chain management that is responsive to the impact of conflict.