On 25 April 2018, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand (MFA), the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) and the United Nations Country Team (UNCT) jointly organized a Tripartite Committee Meeting to review the works undertaken during the year 2017 under the United Nations Partnership Framework (UNPAF) 2017 – 2021. The Meeting took place at Vithes Samosorn, MFA, with participants from both the UNCT and Thai agencies.

The UNCT representatives highlighted key achievements of projects and activities conducted by the UN in Thailand in 2017 and identified future plans for 2018. The Thai counterpart agencies made constructive comments to encourage greater alignment of UN works with Thailand’s needs and priorities.  In this regard, Mrs. Kanchana Patarachoke, Director-General of the Department of International Organizations, MFA, and Mrs. Piyanuch Wuttisorn, Senior Advisor in Policy and Plan, NESDB, as co-chairs of the Thai side, welcomed the active engagement of the UNCT and Thai agencies in the preparation and implementation of the UNPAF, as well as in promoting multi-stakeholders’ inclusiveness involving the private sector, CSOs, academia and local communities.  The participatory nature of UNPAF was a positive contributing factor to advance Thailand towards achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and leaving no one behind. Ms. Deirdre Boyd, UN Resident Coordinator, reaffirmed UNCT’s commitment to continue working closely with the Thai agencies to enhance national capacities for sustainable development, particularly Thailand’s role in South-South and triangular cooperation through sharing of best practices including the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy (SEP) as a home-grown development approach for the SDGs.

UNPAF is a partnership framework comprising objectives, strategies, and timeframe for operational activities of the UNCT and relevant agencies of the host country. Key mechanisms include an annual high-level Tripartite Committee meeting between MFA, NESDB and UNCT to monitor progress and give policy guidance. A technical-level Steering Committee meeting will also be held on an ad-hoc basis between MFA, NESDB and concerned UNCT agencies to discuss specific issues. There will also be a Mid-Term Review in 2019 to evaluate progress, opportunities and challenges and plan for the way forward for the remaining cycle of the UNPAF.