The Lesotho Cooperation Framework Strategic Prioritisation Exercise

The United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF), also known as the Cooperation Framework (CF), is a core instrument for providing a coherent, strategic direction for all UN development activities in Lesotho. It guides the UN system in planning and implementing UN development activities and in mobilizing a spectrum of development partners beyond the United Nations.  The CF is nationally owned and anchored in national development priorities, the 2030 Agenda, and the principles of the United Nations Charter.

Lesotho’s existing five-year United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) expires in 2023.  Therefore, the United Nations Country Team (UNCT) in Lesotho comprising Resident and Non-Resident Agencies, in consultation with the Government of Lesotho, has launched the process to develop a new CF.

Strategic priority setting exercise

The UN development system cannot and should not attempt to address all development issues in Lesotho. In consultation with national partners, it must choose strategic priorities and related development results (outcomes and outputs) in which to invest its collective efforts, capacities and resources.

The strategic prioritization held in Maseru from 8- 10 February 2023 brought representatives from UN, government, businesses, youth and women groups, academia, civil society, people living with disabilities, and religious groups.  The prioritization drew from the following key strategic documents  - the National Strategic Development Plan II (2023/4-2027/8) and the 2022 Common Country Analysis.

“The next five years for the UN in Lesotho have to leave a mark, we no longer want to speak about small projects, but about changed lives and lasting solutions for the Basotho”, remarked the UN Resident Coordinator Amanda Khozi Mukwashi at the opening of the workshop, re-assuring  participants that the UN in Lesotho will work to ensure that the new CF is transformational, with lasting and sustainable solutions in support of Lesotho’s development aspirations.

The Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Dr Retsilisitsoe Matlanyane highlighted that the government’s focus for the next five years, among other priorities, will be on climate change including climate-smart technologies, agricultural production to address the food insecurity, growing the economy including industrialization and improving value chains, governance and accountability and the national reforms. “Without stability, we cannot transform Lesotho, for us to achieve sustainable development and see tangible results in all the areas we will work on as the government and with support from the UN, we need peace”, she said.

The exercise extensively discussed on the key macro-development challenges facing Lesotho based on magnitude, severity, persistence, criticality for prevention agenda, economic transformation, regional/cross border, transformational effect, alignment to NSDPII and UN mandate and substantial collective value-add. The process came up with an initial 15 challenges that were further analyzed and the top five challenges selected. These five were further prioritized to the top three that are most critical based on convergence with national/ government priorities and UN Value Add.

The Strategic Prioritization Exercise will be followed by the "Theory of Change" workshop to further articulate desired outcomes to address the identified top challenges, leading to the final document expected to be signed by the Government of Lesotho and the UN by June 2023.