{"id":3216,"date":"2023-11-30T21:54:28","date_gmt":"2023-11-30T20:54:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/publicfinance.undp.sk\/2023\/11\/30\/undp-mfsr-boost-alumni-report-copy\/"},"modified":"2024-12-11T20:32:20","modified_gmt":"2024-12-11T19:32:20","slug":"undp-mfsr-slovakaid-anniversary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/publicfinance.undp.sk\/en\/2023\/11\/30\/undp-mfsr-slovakaid-anniversary\/","title":{"rendered":"UNDP AND SLOVAKIA: 20 YEARS, AND COUNTING\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

2023 marks the 20<\/span><\/span>th<\/span><\/span> anniversary of <\/span>SlovakAid<\/span> and <\/span>Slovak<\/span>ia\u2019s<\/span> development cooperation <\/span>as a donor\u2014a history in which<\/span> UNDP<\/span> has played <\/span>an important role<\/span>. <\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

Regardless of size, all countries have development cooperation contributions to make and footprints to leave. Slovakia\u2019s know-how, readiness to share its experience, and long-lasting cooperation with UNDP have resulted in several reforms and projects that are now changing the lives of millions. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

UNDP\u2019s partnership with Slovakia has been a remarkable one, being one of the first of its partnerships with the new donor countries, which it now defines as \u2018New Strategic Partners\u2019. UNDP was involved in the birth of Slovak ODA from its beginning, even before the creation of SlovakAid itself in 2003. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

From recipient to donor<\/span><\/h4>\n

Interest in working with UNDP arose as soon as the realities of the EU accession and supporting Brussels-based development cooperation became apparent. According to Ben Slay, then director of UNDP’s Regional Centre in\u202fBratislava, thinks that the Slovak interest focused on UNDP \u201cnot as a donor or supporter of Slovakia\u2019s domestic development, but rather as a platform to support Slovakia\u2019s own donor aspirations\u201d.\u00a0 <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Slovakia has moved from being a recipient of official development assistance (ODA) to a donor and has established itself as such on the international development cooperation scene now as a member of the OECD-DAC<\/span>1<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Through its cooperation with UNDP, Slovakia now supports other partner countries going through similar development paths, while also contributing to UNDP\u2019s core resources strengthening its capability to address global issues in an agile manner. \u201cOur experience with Slovakia clearly shows how a small donor country with limited ODA budgets can create strategic development impact,\u201d said Steliana Nedera, Manager of the UNDP\u2019s Istanbul Regional Hub.<\/span><\/p>\n

Expertise leads it all<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n

For small country donors like Slovakia, developing a strategic ODA approach with proper identification of partner countries and thematic areas of expertise to be shared is critical. Slovakia\u2019s development cooperation offer builds on the expertise the country has accumulated in the governance and market reforms needed to join the European Union, and then to make good use of the opportunities afforded by EU membership. <\/span><\/p>\n

This expertise is particularly valuable for partners in the Western Balkans and Eastern Partnership countries, who have embarked on similar development and reform pathways\u2014including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Ukraine. Slovakia\u2019s orientation \u201chas helped to avoid mistakes made by some other countries, whose assistance has been spread too broadly and thinly to have much impact,\u201d believes Ben Slay.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Nowadays, partnersh<\/span>ips are becoming the core of ODA. “UNDP\u2019s presence in the Western Balkans is priceless for us as a\u202fdonor. We have a\u202ffirst-hand knowledge on the countries\u2019 needs, professional steering in topics related to public financial management, and links to governments that are key for smaller countries to implement their programmes and deliver results,” said Martin Pol\u00f3nyi, Director of International Relations Section at Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Flexibility and innovations are way to go<\/span><\/h4>\n

UNDP\u2019s partnership with the Slovak Republic as a donor is one of the oldest and most effective in the Europe and Central Asia region. Led by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs and the Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic, the partnership features such flagship initiatives as the Public Finance for Development programme, the Alternative Finance Lab, and the City Experiment Fund. Slovakia\u2019s long-term strategic approach, flexibility, and willingness to innovate, experiment, and test new approaches are key strengths of the partnership. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>In time, our partnership with Slovakia evolved from generic aid delivery topics to strategic and well-targeted interventions building on Slovakia\u2019s expertise in its transformative journey. Slovakia\u2019s agility, innovative approach and flexibility are key to its success. Going forward, our focus should be on new solutions for interconnected and multilayered problems-we look forward to accompanying Slovakia in the next 10 years of cooperation. Future of development is not on quantity but rather quality solutions,\u201d Steliana Nedera concluded.<\/span> This is a space for Slovak ODA.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

More about Public Finance for Development programme here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

More about the partnership here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

2023 marks the 20th anniversary of SlovakAid and Slovakia\u2019s development cooperation as a donor\u2014a history in which UNDP has played an important role. \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3218,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54,53,66],"tags":[97],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/publicfinance.undp.sk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/IMG-20231109-WA0011-e1701378640261.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/publicfinance.undp.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3216"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/publicfinance.undp.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/publicfinance.undp.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publicfinance.undp.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publicfinance.undp.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3216"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/publicfinance.undp.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3216\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3345,"href":"https:\/\/publicfinance.undp.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3216\/revisions\/3345"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publicfinance.undp.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/publicfinance.undp.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publicfinance.undp.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publicfinance.undp.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}