First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign affairs Ivica Dacic signed today, on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, with United Nations Resident Coordinator Karla Robin Hershey the Development Partnership Framework 2016-2020 between the Government of the Republic of Serbia and the United Nations Country Team.

This document constitutes a comprehensive basis for UN System cooperation and assistance, including 18 UN agencies, funds and programmes, aimed at encouraging and promoting overall economic, social and environmental development of the Republic of Serbia.

The Development Partnership Framework is fully aligned with national development priorities of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, as well as with the process of pre-accession negotiations between the Republic of Serbia and the European Union, and the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The value of programme activities under the Development Partnership Framework, for the said five-year period, is estimated at USD 170 million.

The Development Partnership Framework – with its five pillars and nine outcomes expected from its implementation by 2020, is a sort of roadmap for further enhancement of good governance and rule of law, development of social and human resources, economic development, growth and employment, environmental protection, fight against climate change, and building of resilient communities, as well as cultural integration in the overall sustainable development process.

At the signing ceremony, both sides expressed their expectation that the five-year Development Partnership Framework will be a fresh generator of joint efforts aimed at promoting cooperation between the Republic of Serbia and the UN system.

Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic expressed his gratitude to the UN Country Team, headed by Resident Coordinator Karla Robin Hershey for its persistent and devoted work on the Development |Partnership Programme, along with his expectation that the Framework will be successfully implemented through joint efforts of the Ministry, and the offices and agencies of the UN system, in the interest of the prosperity of the people of the Republic of Serbia.