UNOPS Strategic Plan 2010-2013 focuses UNOPS work where it can be of maximum value and aims to develop stronger strategic partnerships with UN organizations and international financial institutions. UNOPS is fully committed to the Paris Agenda on national ownership and capacity development and will support national implementation capacity in developing countries.

UNOPS procurement policy allows the organization to follow World Bank procurement rules and procedures.

Physical Infrastructure

Afghanistan

With funding of $112 million managed by the World Bank through its International Development Association Trust Fund, the current three-year phase of the National Emergency Rural Access Programme (NERAP) aims to improve 2,000 km of secondary and tertiary roads nationwide and build the capacity of the line ministries to further expand management and works delivery. In addition, the World Bank administered Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund has recently contributed $30 million as complementary resources to the NERAP project.

The programme, which has already seen a total of 9,632 km of roads constructed or rehabilitated, connects rural Afghanistan in all 34 provinces enhancing year-round access to basic services, especially in rural Afghanistan. The program has also constructed or rehabilitated 66 bridges, 14 airfields and tens of thousands of meters of related drainage structures, such as culverts and protection walls.

This work has generated 12.4 million labour days through its focus on labour-based construction methods. Moreover it has helped create the conditions for longer-term employment with the construction essential community infrastructure, including irrigation schemes, water and sanitation facilities, and schools and clinics.

Haiti

Haitian engineer marking an inspected building

In the aftermath of the January 2010 earthquake, hundreds of thousands of buildings are being assessed for structural damage by 280 Haitian engineers engaged by the Ministry of Public Works, Transportation and Communication. The engineers physically inspect the buildings before tagging them with green, yellow or red paint depending on the extent of damage. Priority is given to schools and homes in areas with the most crowded makeshift camps.

Financed jointly by the World Bank and the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery, the project’s main objective is to gather structural information to plan the city’s reconstruction and to enable displaced people to return to their homes. UNOPS is working within the Ministry to build capacity and help deliver the project, along with seismic engineering contractors Miyamoto International.

Lane 23, an important access route in Port-au-Prince which was rehabilitated with UNOPS assistance in 2009, has also proved useful to the relief effort. The road, which was largely undamaged during the earthquake, has now become a key route for delivering aid in the capital.

The road was initially reconstructed in order to facilitate economic opportunities, reduce crime and violence by allowing the increase of patrols, improve sanitary conditions and create short term employment for local residents. The project partnership included the World Bank, MINUSTAH, the UN System in Haiti and the Government of Haiti.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

New classroom supported by the World Bank in the DRC

Situated some 1,800 kilometres from the capital city of Kinshasa, the provinces of North and South Kivu are in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a region where armed conflict, poverty and natural disasters have undermined efforts to deliver basic services such as education.

To address this need, the World Bank provided funds from its Multisectoral Program for Urgent Rehabilitation and Reconstruction (PMURR) to the Congolese Office for Central Coordination (BCECO). BCECO used this money to build 18 schools and rehabilitate two others in Kivu, providing educational opportunities to some 20,000 students. UNOPS, active in DRC since 1995, implemented the project.

Major construction work began in July 2008 and the project delivered the 20 school buildings to the Government in only seven months, despite the highly unstable security situation in the area. The schools are located in the cities of Goma, Beni, Butembo, Bukavu and Uvira.

The works, carried out by local companies, included the construction of 11 administrative buildings and 10 sanitary blocks and the rehabilitation of an additional five sanitary blocks. All buildings have been fully equipped with 3,690 school desks, 4,000 seats, 200 teachers’ desks and 200 racks and bookshelves which were manufactured in local workshops using local materials.

Health

India

Established in 2007, the UNOPS India Procurement Office has procured goods on behalf of the Government of India’s Ministry of Health for a number of programmes assisted by the World Bank and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. These programmes include the Third National HIV/AIDS control project, the Second Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) project, the Revised National Tuberculosis programme and the National Vector Borne Diseases programme.

In support of these programmes, the India Procurement Office has procured and delivered medical goods worth $240 million, ranging from syringes and HIV-related testing equipment to drugs, HIV rapid test kits, blood transportation vans, and many other pharmaceutical items. In 2009, the delivery of goods was approximately $90 million.

The India Procurement Office has successfully delivered goods to some of the remotest areas of this vast country. The procurement of medicines in kit form for the World Bank-assisted Reproductive & Child Health Programme of the Government of India has contributed towards the reduction of infant mortality, and has improved maternal health. UNOPS services in India have also reduced the procurement cycle which has resulted in savings for the Government.

Iraq

With funding provided through the World Bank’s Iraq Trust Fund to the Kurdistan Regional Government’s Ministry of Health, UNOPS is working to improve the emergency health response capacity of this region’s Ministry. Activities include the design and construction of a new blood bank in Erbil, the rehabilitation of existing blood banks in Sulaymaniyah and Dohuk, and the design and construction of new Emergency Response Centres in all three cities, including the establishment of communication system, provision of 12 ambulances, and capacity building of medical and paramedical staff providing emergency services.

Procurement

Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Urgent Project for Urban and Social Rehabilitation (PURUS), funded by the World Bank since 2007, is designed to assist the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in addressing post-elections challenges by providing resources to maintain economic, political and social stability. The project budget is $180 million dollars and will conclude in 2011.

Motorcycles in Kinshasa procured for the PURUS project

The project has five components; $45 million funding for the education sector’s operating costs, $50 million for the clearance of domestic public debt, $42 million for the rehabilitation of urban roads, $25 million to improve access to drinking water and $13 million to combat malaria. The project management fees are $5 million.

UNOPS has provided services to three of the components including the rehabilitation of urban roads, the water supply and the fight against malaria in the capital city, Kinshasa. The Ministry of Planning of the DRC through its implementing agency, the Projects Coordination Unit (UCOP), is UNOPS partner on these components. On behalf of UCOP, UNOPS is managing the PURUS procurement programme which has a total budget of approximately $80 million. This budget includes materials for the rehabilitation of 17 kilometres of roads and the water supply as well as the acquisition and distribution of two million long-lasting insecticidal bed nets (LLIN) throughout the capital city, Kinshasa. Approximately two nets were distributed per household.

UNOPS provided services for the technical survey of priority urban roads and the water supply in Kinshasa targeted for rehabilitation. UNOPS also procured services for the financial audit of PURUS annual accounts and human resources services for a payments system consultant, an accounting and administrative officer and an administrative and financial director at UCOP.

Other services provided by UNOPS to the project include the procurement of 14 pick-up trucks and 35 motorcycles for UCOP and other government agencies as well as office furniture, IT equipment and generators for UCOP.

Justice and Security Sector Reform

Afghanistan

The headquarters of the Afghanistan Customs Department constructed on behalf of the World Bank

Under the World Bank-funded Emergency Customs Modernization and Trade Facilitation Project, UNOPS also assists the Afghan Customs Department (ACD) with the improvement of customs administration, construction or rehabilitation of physical infrastructure and the establishment of the Afghanistan National Standards Authority (ANSA).

In particular, UNOPS constructed the multi-story ACD Headquarters on Jalalabad Road in Kabul. In addition, UNOPS has supported the development and phased implementation of Automated System for Custom Data (ASYCUDA), and installed necessary ICT equipment at border and inland customs facilities.