On 27 July 2017, H.E. Mrs. Busaya Mathelin, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand, and Ms. Deirdre Boyd, United Nations Resident Coordinator (UNRC), along with the United Nations Country Team (UNCT) representatives, signed the United Nations Partnership Framework (UNPAF) 2017 – 2021 for Thailand. The signing ceremony was held at Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in the presence of representatives from government agencies, the private sector, civil society and academia.

          On this occasion, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs delivered the welcoming remarks emphasizing the need for the UNCT to coordinate with Thai agencies and the UN, as well as to engage in public outreach. She also invited the UNCT to work with Thailand in sharing the best practices in applying the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy (SEP) to help implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. She stressed the importance of transparency as vital in earning the trust of all stakeholders and encouraging their involvement. Subsequently, the Secretary-General of the NESDB also gave a statement on the achievements of UNPAF 2012 – 2016 and his expectations for UNPAF 2017 – 2021.

          The Royal Thai Government and the UNCT will collaborate closely to achieve the goals of the UNPAF by releasing annual progress report, a mid-term review after two years, and a final evaluation report. Key mechanisms include an annual high-level Tripartite Committee meeting between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the NESDB and the UNCT to monitor progress and give policy guidance. A technical-level Steering Committee meeting will also be held on an ad-hoc basis between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the NESDB and concerned UNCT agencies.

          UNPAF is a partnership framework comprising of objectives, strategies and time frame for operational activities of United Nations agencies with their host country. This UNPAF has four outcome strategies to (1) develop effective, inclusive and sustainable policymaking and implementation architecture,
(2) expand civic space and enables a strong civil society sector, especially inclusive of most marginalized (3) encourage active and collaborative roles of the private sector in national development agenda, and (4) expand the methodical exchange of expertise and technology available regionally/globally to support social, political and economic development.