United Nations Environment Programme

Quality assurance is at UNEP’s core operational management approach. Improving quality and the performance of the programme, UNEP aims to achieve effective and efficient delivery of its mandate. The Quality Assurance Section (QAS) was established in 2008 with the aim of improving the quality of UNEP’s programmatic work within the broad context of environment for development. QAS is one of the key pillars driving the internal reform of UNEP

UNEP's Internal Reform In 2008, UNEP embarked on a new strategic and transformational direction by designing a Medium-Term Strategy (MTS) 2010-2013 across six priority areas. To enable a successful transition, UNEP put in place a set of complementary actions as part of its change management. The policies and plans approved in UNEP as part of the reform process are available below:

PoW 2010-2011: Designing the activities to deliver the results UNEP Programme Accountability Framework Moving Forward with UNEP’s strategic presence UNEP Policy on Partnerships and Guidelines for Implementation UNEP Monitoring Policy and Plan UNEP Evaluation Policy and Plan Approaches to realignment of staff skills against programmatic priorities Fast-track communication and capacity development strategy UNEP external communications strategy 2010-2013 UNEP Policy and Guidelines on Resource Mobilization UNEP science strategy 2011-2013

QAS leads UNEP's efforts to strengthen strategic planning and results based management in the organization. QAS establishes quality standards for programme and project planning, implementation, monitoring and reporting. QAS is responsible for building capacity within UNEP for project management. In monitoring performance, QAS produces the management information to enable managers in UNEP to adjust progress and take corrective action should this be necessary. QAS also supports senior management’s review of the implementation of the organization’s accountability framework.