UNDP
Areas of support:
- Elections
- Support to Parliament
- Strengthening participatory federalism and decentralization
- Justice/rule of law
- Community resilience
- Peace building, governance
and economic recovery - Environment and climate change
Elections: UNDP helps establish responsive and independent electoral, judicial and security institutions that represent and serve all Pakistanis, including those from traditionally marginalised groups. UNDP strengthens the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) through an electoral cycle approach supporting the periods before, during and after elections. Activities include support to the ECP to prepare and conduct the general elections in May 2013, long-term institutional strengthening of the ECP, lessons learned, further improvements to the electoral process, civic education and local government elections.
Support to Parliament: UNDP assists the Parliament of Pakistan to strengthen its role within national governance, enhance its administration, and provide appropriate support for parliamentarians to discharge their core tasks of executive oversight and law-making.
Strengthening participatory federalism and decentralization: UNDP helps the Government strengthen democratic processes and institutions at the federal, provincial and local levels to be responsive and accountable to citizens and effective in equitable service delivery.
Justice/rule of law: UNDP promotes the rule of law by supporting the justice and security sectors in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The programme improves and deepens ongoing efforts to secure peace and stability by enhancing justice and security processes.
Community resilience: UNDP helps communities across Pakistan improve their resilience to the hazards they confront. We help those affected by conflict and displacement rebuild stronger communities, and ensure that those vulnerable to natural disaster and climate change plan for and mitigate their effects. The programme improves livelihoods, rehabilitates the environment and enhances social cohesion among the displaced people and the hosting communities.
Peace building, governance and economic recovery: UNDP promotes peace building and social cohesion in crisis affected areas by rehabilitating basic community infrastructure and improving affected communities’ access to basic services and facilities by restoring and rehabilitating community physical infrastructure.
Environment and climate change: As the earth’s climate shifts, we help Pakistani communities, including the poorest, prepare and adapt to the impacts of this change. We laid the foundations of sustainable land use, including the development of comprehensive village land use plans. To increase resilience in the face of natural calamities, UNDP initiated the first in-depth analysis of climate public expenditure in Pakistan, as part of an international initiative on climate-related public finance.
Mr. Ignacio Artaza Zuriarrain, UNDP Country Director
Ignacio has more than 20 years of experience in development cooperation and humanitarian aid. He has been UNDP Country Director in Egypt since January 2013 and prior to that he held various positions in UNDP since 1999 in the field and headquarters (Management Advisor in NY, Deputy Resident Representative in Moldova, Programme Specialist in Sudan, Programme Officer in the occupied Palestinian territories).
He is also an experienced SURGE Advisor. Before joining UNDP, Ignacio worked with Medecins San Froentieres in emergency relief operations in Ecuador, Iran and Mozambique. He holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the Institut Superieur de Gestion (Paris) and a Bachelor’s in International Affairs. Ignacio is fluent in Spanish, French, English and Portuguese.