UNDP Europe and Central Asia

Slovak - UNDP Partnerships

Slovak-UNDP Partnerships

The partnership between UNDP and the Slovak Republic was established at the beginning of the 21st century with the aim of advising on development policy and helping with effective management of development projects. Gradually, specific topics that the partnership has been addressing for a long time have been identified. In particular, support for public finance management, private sector involvement, innovation or security policy in the Western Balkans. The partnership is the oldest initiative of the kind in the region.

The Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic (MFEA SR) and the Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic (MF SR) are the main partners.


UNDP and MF SR Partnership

Public and Private Finance for Development – responds to the global need to mobilize resources for the SDGs and to support the development of transparent systems, approaches and capacities for planning, mobilizing and implementing public and private investments in partner countries. The Project is based on an almost 20-year-long programmatic partnership between the Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic and UNDP. 

  • Its main goal was and still is to support partners in setting up effective and transparent management of public finances while implementing the rules required by the European Union.
  • The project also activates the involvement of the private sector in development cooperation by supporting the building of an ecosystem for the mobilization of external financing with a specific focus on the use of private financial resources, knowledge, expertise and technologies that have the potential to support the achievement of sustainable development goals. So far, a number of projects have been supported through Resource Mobilization Facility in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro and North Macedonia especially in the fields of energy efficiency, waste management and others.
     

partnership

The current phase of the project was launched in May 2024 for a period of five years, until 2029. It is based on the results of the previous project phase as well as the new requirements of the partners. The project is implemented in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Moldova and Uzbekistan. Ukraine was part of the programme until 2017.

The Slovak Transformation Fund, a project serving as a catalyst regionally to create local level urban transformation models, supporting ecosystems of innovators and identifying pathways for leveraging innovative financial mechanisms. Its predecessor, Transformative Governance and Finance Facility, was introduced in 2015 and has engaged UNDP Country Offices and governments in the region in experimentation, sensemaking and knowledge sharing. It has piloted and implemented new projects, initiatives and ideas, inter alia Ministry of Data - an open data challenge in the Western Balkans and Black Sea regions which offers a platform for citizens to present creative data-driven tools and solutions to community issues, Alternative Finance Lab - a mechanism for exploring and tapping into new financial technologies and mechanisms to leverage investments for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, BOOST Impact Accelerator – an online acceleration program that amplifies, bridges and connects innovators across the region, and City Experiment Fund – a fund that accelerates urban system transformation through deployment of a portfolio approach at the city level.


UNDP and the MFEA SR Partnership

The partnership project of UNDP and the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic, Effective Development Cooperation Solutions for the SDGs, was launched in 2018. Its second phase, implemented from 2021, aims to create an environment enabling Slovak private companies to contribute to international development cooperation and strengthening the position of Slovakia in security sector, mainly in the Western Balkan region.

Project has two main components:

  1. The Slovak Challenge Fund (SCF) supports the transfer of Slovak know-how and innovative solutions that solve development challenges in the context of sustainable development in Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Moldova and Serbia in following areas:
  • Natural Resources and Nature-Based Solutions
  • Energy Transition
  • Agriculture
  • Good Governance
  • Resilient Society

Since 2020, four SCF calls have been announced and a total of 17 projects supported, of which eight in Moldova, three in North Macedonia, four in Serbia and two in Bosnia and Herzegovina. 

Detailed information about the projects is available on SCF web site: https://slovakchallengefund.org/

  1. Strengthening Slovakia’s positioning as development cooperation provider in the field of security sector reform that is implemented trough the project Strengthening Regional Cooperation on Gender Mainstreaming in Security Sector Reform in the Western Balkans aiming to strengthen the regional cooperation on gender equality in the military and to increase effectiveness and sustainability of gender mainstreaming in security sector.

This initiative is implemented by The South Eastern and Eastern Europe Clearinghouse for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SEESAC). 

Project supports knowledge and experience exchange on integrating gender equality in the military. In the framework of the project, the regional cooperation platform as the project's backbone, was created. Since 2019, 16 regional meetings of the Gender Equality Mechanisms in the Ministries of Defense have been organized, resulting in the exchange of information and experience and the creation of joint activities in the field of policy research and promotion of gender equality. Furthermore, SEESAC actively participates on various professional forums dealing is similar topics, like 48th South East Europe Defense Ministerial Coordination (SEDM-CC) Meeting, preparing a specialized trainings and coaching programmes or supporting partners with preparation of documents or guidelines e.g. Ministry of Defense of Montenegro with the preparation of Guide on Combating Discrimination, Sexual Harassment, and Abuse. 

This is a multi-Donor initiative, financed by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Slovak MFEA, with a higher percentage of funding from Norway.

More information about Gender in Security Sector Reform is available on:
https://www.seesac.org/Gender-in-Security-Sector-Reform