THE 2014-2019 UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE FRAMEWORK (UNDAF) IS SIGNED AT THE FOREIGN MINISTRY

The Mexican government and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) signed the 2014-2019 United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) in the Foreign Ministry. Foreign Secretary José Antonio Meade Kuribreña and UNDP Administrator Helen Clark signed the document as witnesses of honor.

The UNDAF will guide the UN’s development activities in Mexico over the next six years, in line with the priorities set by the Mexican government and reflected in public policy documents such as the Five Axes for Achieving a Democracy of Results, the Thirteen Presidential Decisions, the Pact for Mexico, etc. This time, the UNDAF will have an international component entitled the "Global Partnership for Development," whose implementation will help position Mexico as an actor with global responsibilities.

To achieve this while contributing to Mexico’s development, the UNDAF focuses on six areas: a) equality and social inclusion; b) economic development; c) the environment and green growth; d) security and justice; e) democratic governance; and f) the above-mentioned Global Partnership for Development.

The 2014-2019 UNDAF was signed by the Executive Director of the Mexican Agency for International Development Cooperation (AMEXCID), Juan Manuel Valle, and the Resident UN Coordinator, Marcia de Castro, as those directly responsible for its implementation, in addition to the Foreign Ministry’s Director General for the United Nations, Ambassador Arturo Hernandez Basave, and the Regional Director for the UNDP Office for Latin America and the Caribbean, Heraldo Munoz.

Foreign Secretary Meade said that the UNDAF "will mark an unprecedented turning point in the ties of middle-income countries by explicitly stating Mexico’s political will and desire to contribute according to its means to a more just and sustainable international order.”

Helen Clark said the UNDAF has evolved into a strategic agreement that reflects Mexico’s dual role as both a receiver and supplier of assistance and that it follows the guidelines of the UN General Assembly in that it establishes a new model of cooperation with middle-income countries.

Prior to the signing ceremony, the UNDP Administrator and the AMEXCID head held a meeting to agree on the work programme needed to implement the Development Assistance Framework between Mexico and the UNDP that was signed in 2011. The program includes a strategy to strengthen Mexico’s institutional capacities so that it can provide more effective international cooperation.

The 2014-2019 UNDAF and the Work Programme for the Mexico-UNDP Framework Agreement are substantive and tangible expressions of the excellent relationship between Mexico and the United Nations.