1) Poverty Reduction & Millennium Development Goals

Millennium Development Goals Support in Vanuatu
The project envisages support to Vanuatu in the country’s achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) through MDG-based planning and costing and targeted capacity building and updating of their National MDG Report in 2010.
The project will be carried out in 3 stages, namely: scoping, initiating and maturing; and focus on the review/development of national development planning and budgetary processes and the links to sector strategies; prioritisation of activities and budget allocation; better linking of aid coordination and management with national priorities; and strengthening information system for monitoring the effectiveness of national planning and budget implementation at the national, sectoral and local levels; as well as monitoring and reporting.
The proposed programme of support would be led by the Government and facilitated by UNDP in coordination with other organizations of the United Nations system and development partners.

Download: Vanuatu MDG Assessment Summary

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Vanuatu Trade Integration and Capacity Building
This project is to facilitate institutional reform, address appropriate policy and national capacity needs in context of evolving trade reforms and poverty/human development needs in Vanuatu and to strengthen the delivery mechanisms of services and functions of the Cooperatives Department in the six provinces in particular those of microfinance and entrepreneurship development. The project also aims to facilitate and improve the trade facilitation role of the Customs department through legislative reforms and enhanced space capabilities.

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2) Good Governance & Human Rights

Building Resilient Communities Towards Effective Governance
This project is to assist Vanuatu in having an effective and inclusive governance system, creating accountability to communities for performance by  government, with particular focus on the provision of  essential  services, including Disaster Risk Management (DRM) strengthened/established; local participation in decision making, involving traditional leaders/chiefs, church, women, youth, indigenous communities facilitated; access  to ICT by communities to enable civil society, particularly the poor and disadvantaged to participate fully in discussions that affect their lives, promote better understanding, peace and stability provided and coordination and central-provincial-community linkages for better service delivery to populations in greatest hardship particularly isolated rural/island communities improved.

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3) Environment & Sustainable Management

Biodiversity Project
The programme focuses on strengthening local resource management initiatives by traditional landholders, chiefs and their communities and to strengthen local, provincial and national capacity to support local biodiversity conservation activities. This work will refine strategies to enable Vanuatu to achieve biodiversity conservation objectives given traditional land and resource ownership.

Second National Communications
All signatories to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) are required to prepare a National Communication comprising three major elements: a national greenhouse gas inventory, abatement analysis, and vulnerability and adaptation assessments.

Sustainable Land Management
This project will strengthen local and national capacity for Sustainable Land Management (SLM), including completion of a CCD National Action Plan (NAP) for combating land degradation; capacity building and strengthening legislative and policy frameworks; mainstreaming into national development strategies and policies; and the development of a Medium Term Investment Plan and its Resource Mobilization. The project will collect, acquire and generate good quality land resources information (including Gender & Land Management) and raise awareness of land administrators and users of better land use management technologies through research, technology transfer, training, generation and compilation of reliable data. In so doing, it will strengthen and reinforce institutional capability providing a basis for comprehensive national land use planning and initiate practical on-farm sustainable land management technologies.

Sustainable Energy Interventions
The project places great emphasis on improving cooking and lighting conditions, health, financial savings and community participation.      
Key activities of this project include site survey and awareness raising (quantity of livestock, current cooking and lighting conditions, health related cases, household income, promotion of renewable resources, project benefits) and the purchase of equipment and materials, construction (installation of at least one bio-gas digester, animal shed, piping methane gas distributor) and commissioning (testing of system).

Vanuatu Solid Waste Management
This project aims to establish a sustainable recycling system in Vanuatu and raise the environmental awareness of ni-Vanuatu.  The objective of the Preparatory Assistance (PA) Phase of the Project is to evaluate the logistics, costs and feasibility of establishing solid waste management facilities in Port Vila, the capital of Vanuatu, and Luganville, another main centre in Vanuatu.

Click here to view the National Adaptation Programmes of Action Snapshot