Montenegro SDG Acceleration Fund

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About the Montenegro SDG Acceleration Fund

Montenegro SDG Acceleration Fund is a pooled fund mechanism that aims to accelerate implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and imminent achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Montenegro, as well as to support the country’s EU accession process.

The fund will provide catalytic support to priority areas in line with the National Strategy for Sustainable Development, Programme of Accession of Montenegro to the European Union and the forthcoming UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework 2023-2027. Additional benefits that the Acceleration Fund will yield are related to achieving synergies of participating UN Organisations and thus support in country implementation of the UN Reform.

There is only seven years left to achieve SDGs, and even less for fulfilling EU accession criteria, and Montenegro needs support to be successful. This is the main rationale for establishing the Montenegro SDG Acceleration Fund.

Objective and purpose of the Fund

The Fund will support integrated and coherent resource mobilization, centralised and transparent allocation and disbursement of resources to promote development and implementation of integrated activities to meet the SDGs, advance EU accession process and support implementation.

Thematic focus of the Fund

The strategic and thematic focus of the Fund will revolve around the new UN Sustainable Development Cooperation 2023-2027.

This document will define three strategic priority areas of UN work in Montenegro:

• inclusive economic development and environmental sustainability;
• human capital development, reducing vulnerability, social inclusion; and
• social cohesion, people-centred governance, rule of law and human rights.

Furthermore, the Fund will also aim to support acceleration of the EU accession process through the 2030 Agenda framework. UN Montenegro conducted an analysis of synergies and interlinkages between the EU accession process and the 2030 Agenda. The findings show that EU accession process addresses 2/3rds of the 2030 Agenda (105 out of 169 SDG targets). The Acceleration Fund will seek to propel synergetic moments between these two transformational agendas so the public administration, as the primary duty bearer, yields on efficiency gains when tackling these two processes in synergy. Beyond the policy cohesion element and the support towards Cooperation Framework implementation, the Fund will produce benefits of triggering more joint UN action as one of the major calls of the UN Reform.

Management of the Fund

The Fund will be managed by the Joint Country Steering Committee. This body also provides an oversight role for the implementation of the UN Cooperation Framework 2023-2027. It is co-chaired by the UN Resident Coordinator and the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Joint Country Steering Committee is the best-placed entity to manage the Fund because it ensures that interventions are in line with national priorities, and strategic areas of the Cooperation Framework and ensures national ownership that, further, contributes to the sustainability of the interventions financed by the Fund.

Administration of the Fund

The Fund will be administered by the Multi-Purpose Trust Fund (MPTF). MPTF is a well-known UN pooled funding mechanism that enables global standards for transparency in reporting. The Fund will welcome contributions from a broad range of partners – public, private, multilateral and bilateral funding sources. The Fund will have a preference in fundraising non-earmarked or lightly earmarked contributions that will help UN System to ensure effectiveness.