DEVELOPMENT ACCOUNT PROJECT (ROA 105) aims to provide support to countries emerging from conflict in integrating sustainable development principles into comprehensive national strategies and development plans by utilizing established knowledge and experience in developing and implementing Conflict-Sensitive NSDS, while developing additional tools to address impediments, such as lack of appropriate institutional structures, lack of influence of central authorities over large parts of the country and society, scarcity of relevant and high-quality data and information necessary to support evidence-based policy making and prioritization, and mechanisms for monitoring strategy implementation

The main project objectives are to:

• Increase the capacity to utilize sustainable development principles in policy-making in countries emerging from conflict by creating guidelines for conflict-sensitive NSDS and testing them in pilot/selected countries; and
• Produce methodologies (scalable toolkit) that explain and illustrate ways to integrate sustainable development principles into national development strategies as part of peacebuilding processes.
• Create regional awareness, build capacity and facilitate networking regionally, with the intention of sensitizing countries to incorporate sustainable development principles into their own development planning.

Project activities are focused on adapting and developing methodologies related to the process, content, implementation and monitoring of sustainable development strategies, testing their applicability and making them available to all interested countries.

DSD has completed the following major activities under this project:

1. Development of three major studies and reports that lay the background and analytical foundation for the project implementation:

• Mapping of Sustainable Development Strategies in Countries Emerging from Conflict: Africa.
• Mapping of Sustainable Development Strategies in Countries Emerging from Conflict: Asia and the Pacific.
• Analysis of the challenges unique to countries emerging from conflict and the critical gaps in the area of comprehensive development planning in the post-conflict context.

Held Expert Group Meeting (EGM) for project in UNON-Nairobi, Kenya in November 2009, which provided important recommendations on project implementation. EGM Report was prepared which outlined a series of capacity gaps in implementing NSDS in countries emerging from conflict, and recommended mitigating methods that are associated with the unique challenges of these country contexts and recommended to proceed (Note: all EGM documents are listed under the current link: http://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/index.php?page=view&type=13&nr=333&menu=976

Development of conflict-sensitive methodologies (scalable toolkits) and NSDS Guidance Note package to assist key government officials and policy makers in countries emerging from conflict.

• Developed Guidance Notes on NSDS in Post-conflict countries.
• NSDS Training Manual in Post-conflict countries.

1. Liberia from Africa
2. Lebanon from West Asia
3. Zimbabwe from Southern Africa

Anticipated activities in the pilot countries:

1. Hold national intervention such as working group meetings with the national planners, stakeholder consultations or other strategically targeted activities to brainstorm ways to integrate sustainable development principles into national development strategies as part of peacebuilding.
2. Conduct a training workshop focused at applying conflict-sensitive methodologies and NSDS guidelines to develop National Sustainable Development Strategies.
3. Participate in a regional meeting to facilitate networking, demonstrate the national experience and sensitize neighbouring and regional countries to further incorporate sustainable development principles into their development planning.

Sami Areikat, Sustainable Development Officer

Water, Energy and Capacity Development Branch
Division for Sustainable Development
United Nations, Room S-2651
405 42nd Street New York, NY 10017
Tel. +1 212-963-7844
Fax. 917-367-3391
E-mail: areikat@un.org