United Nations Development Programme

PROJECT DOCUMENT
SERBIA

Project Title: Open Data for Open Societies

Project Number: 01002333
Implementing Partner:
Start Date: 8 April 2024 End Date: 31 March 2025 PAC Meeting date: XX July 2024

Brief Description
This project focuses on promoting the use of open data as a tool for transparency, anticorruption and
democracy in Serbia. The government of Serbia is committed to investing in data infrastructure and
strengthening public institutions’ data capabilities, creating an enabling environment to leverage open data
as a strategic resource and engagement tool. The project seeks to advance capabilities around open data
and policy design, amplifying previous work on open data. To achieve this, the project will support the
State Audit Institution (SAI) to enhance its data capabilities and conduct a performance audit on the use
of open data by public institutions and the open data legal framework. Additionally, the project will
support the Serbian Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) to standardize its data and improve the
quality and accessibility of “green data” in Serbia (also proposed as a commitment in the Open
Government Partnership Action Plan 2023 – 2027). Overall, the project seeks to broaden and deepen the
achievements of previous interventions in Serbia by investing more in improvement of the key open data
ecosystem dimensions and diversifying the playfield to include previously "invisible" stakeholders.

Contributing outcome from CPD:

Total resources USD 506,970.85
All people benefit from effective governance and required:
meaningful civic engagement

UNDP TRAC:
Indicative CPD outputs:
Output 1.1: National and local mechanisms and USD
capacities for good governance improved Donor (UK):
Total resources 506,970.85
allocated:
Output 1.3: Digital transformation of public Government:
administration accelerated
Project outputs with gender marker:
In-Kind:

Unfunded:

Agreed by:
Office for IT and eGovernment UNDP Serbia

Print Name: Milan Latinovic, Acting Director Print Name: Yakup Beris, Resident Representative
Date: August 2024 Date: August 2024

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United Nations Development Programme • Project Document

I. DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGE

Open data has been recognized worldwide as a vital component of "democracy 2.0," providing
transparency, civic engagement, and innovation in service of anticorruption and democracy in the digital
age. It is a valuable resource for democracy movements such as the Open Government Partnership and the
Open Science movement. Open data has the potential to democratize access to knowledge, promote
grassroots innovation, and facilitate a process that feeds innovation back into policymaking. While the
Covid-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of open data, its impact goes beyond healthcare, and it can
be an effective tool for addressing public challenges.
In Serbia, the work on open data remains somewhat disconnected from policy design, and in there is a
perception in civil society that it is closer to "open washing" than a genuine attempt to engage, especially
in the area of anticorruption (public procurement, budget data, etc). This has hindered the realization of
the full potential of open data and limited civil society's capacity.
However, the government is now committed1 to investing in data infrastructure and strengthening public
institutions' data capabilities (in part, driven by the prerogative of adapting to the age of Artificial
Intelligence), creating a significant opportunity to leverage open data as an engagement tool and
important ingredient for democracy and accountability. This would involve enhancing transparency,
building bridges to civil society, strengthening trust, and leveraging good examples set with the work on
open data in the area of air quality, public transport, address registry, and other high value datasets,
praised by the open data community.
Previous interventions in Serbia focused on establishing the basic preconditions for deriving value from
open data, such as creating the legal and institutional framework, releasing data, and generating public
demand. The current intervention seeks to create an enabling environment by building capabilities
around open data (particularly in areas that ensure greater public sector accountability), amplifying
previous work on open data related to capacity building for open data release and reuse within public
administration, and supporting advocacy and capacity building in the area of gender open data.
This systemic change will broaden and deepen the achievements of previous interventions by investing
more in strategic policy linkages and diversifying the playfield to include previously "invisible" stakeholders,
such as women.

II. STRATEGY

The overall goal of this project is to benefit from opening, sharing and collaborating around data to make
better decisions, improve transparency and help tackle some of the most pressing societal challenges.

Specifically, project objectives are to:

1. Strengthen the public open data ecosystem, so that:
a) public sector entities use data in everyday work for policy and decision-making and improved design and
delivery of public goods and services; specifically, independent bodies overseeing public funds, rely on data
in their primary tasks,

1
Demonstrated in the Strategy for the Development of the Information Society and Information Security
(2021-2026), Programme for the Development of e-Government for the period 2023-2025 and the Artificial
Intelligence Strategy for the period 2020-2025.

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United Nations Development Programme • Project Document

b) open data is more accessible, through stronger legal protection of the right to open data and technical
aspects improved to international standards2, and
c) public institutions know how to use open data to improve citizen participation.

SAI will conduct a performance audit of open data policy, resulting in recommendations for ensuring high
quality open data that contribute to transparency and accountability.

2. Establish a network and capacity building programme for women (entrepreneurs, gender equality
advocates and women data science beginners) to use open data and improve their competitiveness in the
labour market and entrepreneurship. In addition, the project will work with women’s organizations to
create greater demand for gender open data and assess gender bias in data. This will lead to:
a) inclusion of data-driven decision making and data science into their professional work and development;
and
b) development of a more enabling environment for their equal participation in the tech industry, data
science, and data community.

Theory of Change
Putting it all together, the project strategy will be based on the following theory of change (depicted
below):

2
https://standards.theodi.org/

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United Nations Development Programme

PROJECT DOCUMENT
SERBIA

Figure 1 – Theory of Change diagram

Page 4
Strategic alignment
This project is grounded in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development3 and Principles for Digital
Development.4 It is also grounded in UNDP’s Strategic Plan 2022–2025 5 and Digital Strategy6 , as well as
UNDP Gender Equality Strategy.7 The project builds on UNDP’s ongoing work addressing digital governance
and innovation in Serbia.

The project is multi-faceted and cuts across all Sustainable Development Goals, but is most strongly rooted
in SDGs 5, 9, 11 and 16:
 Resilience: Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and
foster innovation (particularly target 9.b – support domestic technology creation, research, and
innovation in developing countries, including by ensuring a conducive policy environment for, inter
alia, industrial diversification and value addition to commodities).
 Innovation: Fostering innovation (SDG 9) is foreseen throughout this project, leading to an increase
in access to information and communications technology (target 9.c).
 Inclusiveness: Inclusiveness is an issue in many areas. There is still much to be done to ensure
digital literacy and access to digital tools, so these tools can help overcome social, economic, and
political barriers to foster inclusion of all, irrespective of their economic status, age, sex, disability,
race, ethnicity, origin, and religion (SDG 10, 10.2). The project will pay special attention to
mapping, leveraging and scaling solutions to achieve gender equality and empower women and
girls (SDG 5) and work towards to enhance the use of enabling technology, in particular
information and communications technology, to promote the empowerment of women
 Accountability: Develop effective, accountable and transparent institutions at all levels (target
16.6.)

The project is aligned with, and will build on, the ongoing ambitious digital agenda of the Serbian
Government, embodied in the following strategic documents:

 Programme for Development of e-Government 2023-2025.8

 Strategy for the Development of Artificial Intelligence in the Republic of Serbia for the period 2020-
2025.9

III. RESULTS AND PARTNERSHIPS

Expected Results
The overall goal of this project is to benefit from opening, sharing and collaborating around data to make
better decisions, improve transparency and help tackle some of the most pressing societal challenges.

3
The Sustainable Development Agenda, United Nations.
4
Principles for Digital Development.
5
The Strategic Plan 2022-2025, UNDP.
6
Digital Strategy, UNDP.
7
https://www.undp.org/publications/gender-equality-strategy-2022-2025
8
http://mduls.gov.rs/wp-content/uploads/Program-razvoja-eUprave-u-RS-2020-2022.pdf?script=lat

9
http://www.mpn.gov.rs/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/1-Nacrt-strategije-razvoja-ve%C5%A1ta%C4%8Dke-
inteligencije-u-Republici-Srbiji-za-period-2020.-2025.-godine.pdf

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United Nations Development Programme • Project Document

Outcome 1: Open data becomes a strategic tool for achieving public goals in a participatory and
transparent manner

The project will enable more effective use of open data as a powerful tool in public policy and service
delivery. Targeted support for extracting meaningful value from open data in specific spheres significant for
good governance and impact on individuals (state audit and environmental protection), along with broader
enabling actions for the wider range of data holders and the open data community in Serbia.
Comprehensive guide for public institutions working with open data will be developed, establishing
pathways for prioritizing data release based on policy goals, ensuring responsible and effective data
governance, and laying out clear and practical recommendations for engagement of citizens, tracking
needs and feedback, as well as data protection and management in cooperation with the relevant public
institutions and the Data privacy/Rule of Law adviser. Recommendations for improving Serbia’s score in the
Open Data Maturity Assessment will be provided.
SAI will be supported in conducting a performance audit on the use of open data by public institutions and
the open data legal framework, which will provide a detailed set of recommendations giving additional
strength to the abovementioned guide. The legal framework for open data will be significantly improved to
implement changes in open data policy on the level of the EU, concerning prioritization of high value
datasets (geospatial, earth observation and environment, meteorological, statistics, companies and
mobility), and concerning complaint procedure when open data is requested by the citizens (similar to the
existing complaints procedure available for the traditional Freedom of Information Act requests). Data on
environment will be selected as a pilot for introduction of the high value datasets regulation, significantly
increasing accessibility and quality of these datasets. This will significantly improve open data availability
and encourage open data users to be more proactive in demand for open data.

SAI’s capability to use data analytics in its financial and performance audits of public sector institutions will
be strengthened, resulting in a more accountable public sector and reduced space for corruption.
ITE’s capacity to coordinate and ensure quality of open data will be improved and the surrounding data
ecosystem will be strengthened.

Output 1.1. Open data ecosystem strengthened across key dimensions (policy, portal and quality):

1.1.1. Capacity building for data management in public administration for improving data quality

1.1.2. Improving Open Data portal based on recommendations from the Open Data Maturity assessment
(from Q2 2024)
1.1.3. Ensuring policy impact of open data: support to critical priority institutions over the project period
(SAI, SEPA), establishment and support to a working group gathering the wider open data community for
peer learning and support (two meetings in Q2 and Q4, and ongoing expert support)
1.1.4. Amendment of the Law on eGovernment and related bylaws, in line with relevant EU regulations (PSI
Directive and Regulation on high-value datasets), and support for implementation (Q4 2024)
1.1.5. Development of comprehensive guide for data holders (Q4 2024, Q1 2025)

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United Nations Development Programme • Project Document

Key achievements:
a) Better quality and accessibility of published open data in all sectors, enabling more and better
data-based products (services, analysis, etc)
b) SAI and SEPA embed open data in their everyday work
c) SAI creates a framework for monitoring progress of open data policy and practise in Government
d) Legislative framework aligned with EU regulations; a comprehensive practical guide facilitates the
effective implementation of policies and practises using open data to promote innovation and
economic development.

Outcome 2: Advanced digital inclusion and empowerment of women in Serbia

The project seeks to promote digital inclusion and empower women through open data by creating
gender-responsive tools and content, developing women's data science skills, and promoting their
participation in the open data community. This will be implemented through meetups and capacity
building programs, under the Open Data Hub umbrella (developed under the previous open data project,
hub.data.gov.rs), as a resource centre for networking, learning, mentoring, financing, and advisory
activities. Through this outcome, the project will support mapping of gender data in selected thematical
areas, with a goal to create map of existing data which can be published in open data form, and non-
existing data which should be collected by the relevant public sector bodies, in order to be able to perform
decision and policy making process more beneficial and suitable for gender-sensitive policy and decision
making. This mapping will engage relevant CSOs, data practitioners and relevant institutions, which will
benefit from data manual and recommendations for collecting, standardizing, using and publishing these
datasets as open data. The project will partner up with the Data Science Conference 10, bringing together
more than 3,000 participants around the world (including local and international decision-makers) for
special track of the programme devoted to women in data science.

This data-driven approach will contribute to closing the digital and data gap and result in increased digital
inclusion and awareness on gender issues.
Output 2.1. Digital skills and empowerment of women around data science:

2.1.1. Data literacy sessions for women advocates for gender equality, resulting in data stories which put a
light on social vulnerabilities and gender issues, gender data mapping and increased demand for gender
data (Q1 2024 and onwards)
2.1.2. Organization of skills development and mentoring program for women to apply data in their
professional work and bring solutions that make gender and social impact (Q1 2024 and onwards)
2.1.3. Organization of networking, mentorship and capacity building activities to unlock the full potential
and power of women and girls to fully participate in STEM (quarterly)
2.1.4. Women in data science track in the scope of the Data Science Conference (Q4 2024)

10
https://datasciconference.com/

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Key achievements:
a) Government is aware of importance of gender data and bias-free data, and shows responsiveness
to demands by women advocates for higher accessibility to gender data and data based decision
making
b) Participants of the programme experience progress in their professional life by applying data
science in their work and benefiting from the network and mentorship provided by women data
science proffesionals
c) Incresed awareness about importance of more women in data science and gender data within the
IT community and the public overall

Impact

The expected long-term impact of this project is significant. It will contribute to a more robust open data
policy framework, improve access to data, especially high value datasets, and indirectly contribute to
Serbia’s EU integration process as well as further development of data-driven technologies. Moreover, it
will increase demand for open data as a result of developed institutional capacities around open data,
standardization of open data release process, and advanced cooperation with the civil society and other
community stakeholders.
With the specific targeting of women, the project will contribute to closing the gender digital divide and
bring the benefits of the data revolution to more women in Serbia. Through coordination of wide group of
stakeholders, the project will bring attention to important challenge for women in our society and show
how the power of data can be harnessed to bring necessary changes in policy and practice.
Overall, the long-term impact of this project will be a more open, transparent, and inclusive society in
Serbia, with improved decision-making processes, and better use of public resources. The project will
contribute to building a strong and innovative data ecosystem that can support economic growth, job
creation, and social progress in Serbia.

Resources Required to Achieve the Expected Results

Resources required to achieve the expected results will include:

 Project staff salaries

 Equipment (laptops, phones)
 Miscellaneous expenses (communications, local transportation, sitting costs)
 Travel (workshop/conference attendance, global outreach/knowledge sharing)
 Trainings, workshops and conferences (project workshops and conferences).
 Media, printing and translation (for content production)
 Individual national and international consultants (expert support)
 Company contracts (business and legal consulting)
 UNDP administrative and project management support

Partnerships

The national counterpart for project implementation is the Office for Information Technologies and
Electronic Government (ITE), under the direct jurisdiction of the Government of Serbia (the Prime

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Minister’s Office). ITE has been established in 2017 to support development of eGovernment and drive
digital transformation including infrastructure, services and standards. ITE complements the role of the
Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government with joint focus on developing the
eGovernment policies and improving the public services. Open Data is within the ITE’s mandate and one of
its core priorities. ITE will provide strategic project direction, facilitate collaboration within other
government institutions and with other stakeholders. ITE’s engagement will be important for maximizing
project efficiency and effectiveness and provide sustainability of key project results. Apart from ITE, key
government stakeholders are stewards of high-value data (e.g. Serbian Environmental Protection Agency,
Republic Geodetic Authority, Public Health Institute “dr Milan Jovanovic Batut”, Serbian Statistical Office),
the Commissioner for Free Access to information and Personal Data Protection (as the enforcement
authority for open data requests by the citizens, as well as for its oversight role in personal data
protection), and the State Audit Institution.
When it comes to collaboration with CSOs, companies, and other non-governmental stakeholders, the
project will harness the capabilities within a wider open data community, such as Data Science Serbia,
Digital Serbia Initiative, Petlja Foundation, Share Foundation, Sister Analyst, Observatory of Social
Innovations, and partners working around gender equality and data science. These stakeholders are
recognized as data users, capable of extracting value from data for commercial or non-commercial
purposes, enriching official data through citizen science projects and data crowdsourcing, and serving as
channels of communication and engagement with the citizens (general public), as well as advocates for
digital rights, ethical use of data, and personal data protection.

Risks and Assumptions

Assumptions have been mapped under ToC diagram.

Risks have been identified and discussed in the attached Risk Log.

Stakeholder Engagement

Main target groups and stakeholders for engagement will include:

- Data team of the Office for IT and eGovernment

- State Audit Institution and data stewards participating in the performance audit
- Serbian Environmental Protection Agency
- Civil society organisations
- Women and women organizations benefitting from support to integrate data skills in their
professional development (representatives of NGO sector, female entrepreneurs, women data
scientists (academia, tech community), and media are targeted through output 2, while women
civil servants are targeted through output 1)
- Public administration institutions working with open data (data stewards)
- Commissioner for Free Access to Information and Personal Data Protection (the authority in charge
of acting upon complaints on requests for opening data)
- Non-governmental stakeholders working around data (start-ups, private companies, civil society
organizations which are leveraging tech for advocacy, media doing data journalism, academic and
research institutions in STEM area)

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South-South and Triangular Cooperation (SSC/TrC)

Digital Solutions

The project includes development of open data based digital solutions, and it will be implemented in
accordance with the UNDP Digital Standards.

Knowledge

Knowledge products, such as studies, reports, presentations, draft policy documents and legislation,
datasets, interactive visualizations and multimedia materials will be produced within the project. Insights
and learnings will be shared with the public in the form of publications and social media/blog posts.

Some of the channels for highlighting project achievements and sharing knowledge will include:

 ITE and UNDP media and knowledge-sharing networks (ITE and UNDP media lists, UNDP’s global
network of Accelerator Labs etc.)
 Participation at conferences and industry events at local, regional and international levels
 Media appearances and collaborations (appearances in local, regional and international media,
collaborations with independent productions and influential podcasters etc.)
 Project and partner Internet channels (web sites, social media etc.)
 Training materials (leaflets, guidebooks)

All deliverables produced during the project term, will bear the logos of ITE, UNDP and UK, and, where
appropriate, the standard UNDP/UK disclaimers.

Sustainability and Scaling Up

Sustainability is built into the institutional, legal, and infrastructure frameworks that have been built in
previous projects and will be further improved in this project. Data is a component of several strategies,
including the Programme for Development of e-Government 2023-2025, the Strategy for the Development
of Artificial Intelligence in the Republic of Serbia for the period 2020-2025, and the Law on eGovernment.
ITE is a government-funded office with strong backing from the Prime Minister's cabinet, which prioritizes
data capabilities and digital transformation on the political agenda. Even if personnel turnover occurs after
the elections, the activities implemented thus far will ensure a sustained focus on digital transformation.
When fully built, the multi-creative community centre “Lozionica Hub” will host the Open Data Hub in a
physical place, with doors open to all community initiatives. The Project has positioned itself as a strategic
resource for national partners in the area of open data.

Gender
Timely, accurate, disaggregated, and available data on gender issues are preconditions for informed and
equitable policies. Despite significant government efforts, inconsistent and uneven incorporation of the
gender perspective into public policies in a variety of areas critical to achieving gender equality, remains a
challenge, according to the National Strategy on Gender Equality (2021-2030). Many data relevant to
assessing gender equality are either missing or not available. This affects understanding of different

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positions of men and women and results in insufficient integration of their needs in the public policies and
services.
The Fourth Industrial Revolution and digital transformation provide an opportunity for Serbia to further
improve equality, economic power and quality of life of women and men, reduce economic inequalities
and strengthen its economy. Majority of highly educated citizens in Serbia are women, and a significant
advantage lies in the fact that the percentage of women graduates in STEM fields (science, technology,
engineering, mathematics) in Serbia is larger than the EU average (women who graduated in STEM - RS:
42.6%, EU: 33.2%, women who graduated in ICT - RS: 28.6%, EU: 20.5%). Serbia records the highest
average annual growth of female ICT experts in Europe. It’s especially encouraging that in the last seven
years the participation of women in ICT workforce has been continuously increasing. Participation of
women in the ICT workforce in Serbia has been increasing by 14% annually on average, while in EU this
growth has been slower (6% average annual growth). At the same time, participation of men in the ICT
workforce in Serbia has increased by 8% annually on average, versus 4% in the EU. Nevertheless, women
are predominantly represented in lower positions, such as juniors, and encounter numerous obstacles in
career development. This poses a threat of biases in data-based systems when teams lack diversity 11.
Comprehensive digitization and modernization of public administration, services and the economy, in
addition to infrastructure, requires the digitally literate citizens. The digital skills of Serbian citizens are still
lower compared to the average in the European Union, where 34% of women and 42% of men in Serbia
have above-basic digital skills, compared to 54% of women and 60% of men in the EU-27.
Low utilization of women potentials in data science combined with a persistent digital gap in basic skills,
threaten to exacerbate pre-existing inequalities in business, education, economy, and social life.
The project will use a collaborative approach that includes civil society, women's groups, and the
technology/data community to map gender-specific problems that would otherwise go unrecognized and
unaddressed. To ensure that open data are accessible, useful, and have a transformative impact on
gender-sensitive policies, better access to opportunities, and services for women, the project will work
towards improving data science skills and increase digital literacy of women advocating for gender equality.
It will empower women professionals to benefit from data science and tech industry and increase the
visibility of problems affecting women’s well-being and empowerment.
All stages of the gender mainstreaming process (gender analysis, gendered actions, and gender-sensitive
monitoring and evaluation) will be implemented with the following tools: setting the base for gender-
sensitive open data availability that can shed light on important gender issues; consultations with gender
stakeholders for a gender-sensitive transformation of data practices; consultations with the data
community to identify, adopt and scale solutions to fill persistent gender data gaps; development of
gender-sensitive workshops and meetups to increase the visibility of importance of gender-sensitive data
science and women’s active involvement indata science. Through all stages of implementation, gender-
relevant data will be collected and analysed (not only in terms of the number of women participating, but
also on the quality of their participation).
The project is marked as GEN212, as it promotes gender equality in a significant and consistent way. Gender
equality has been integrated as a cross-cutting issue in the rationale, activities, indicators, and budget
associated with Outcomes 1-3, while the empowerment of women is an explicit objective of Outcome 4,
whose main aim is the narrowing of the gender gap and empowerment of women.

11
https://lab.undp.org.rs/women-in-stem-in-serbia/
12
UNDP GESI Score

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IV. PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Cost Efficiency and Effectiveness

In terms of equity, the project will work towards ensuring equal participation of diverse groups in all
project activities. Gender equality is mainstreamed throughout the project, but moreover the whole
Outcome 2 is focused on empowering women. In terms of economy, the project budget is developed in
detail, and provides an overview of cost per input, which has been estimated according to the UNDP
experience of purchasing similar products and services at the Serbian market. When it comes to efficiency,
the project will benefit from the portoflio approach practiced by UNDP.
Effectiveness of the project and sustainability of results are premised on the existing strong partnership
with Government and the wide range of national stakeholders involved in execution, which have been
nurtured in prior joint interventions by the UK and UNDP. During implementation of the previous project
phases we benefited from the ability to reuse contacts with a diverse range of partners and stakeholders
(from various government levels to the academic or technical community) established on other projects
within the portfolio. Also, some of the activities from the prior projects within the portfolio, like big
conference “Data and eGovernence – Spark for the future”, were funded by two UK-funded projects within
the same portfolio, which provided higher quality of the conference. Previous projects also benefited from
related activities that were funded entirely by other UNDP projects (for example – public hearing about
open data at the National Assembly). Finally, shared support functions within the portfolio, such as travel,
procurement, vendor/contract management, and financial reporting, are another advantage, providing for
a streamlined project execution.
The Value for money coefficient in both previous open data projects was estimated as high by the
independent evaluator. This project will perform an intervention on a deeper and wider level, ensuring
long-lasting impact. Each of the proposed activities is part of a wider program, constructed to create
engagement of all relevant stakeholders, using a tailor-made approach. The project is implemented based
on a portfolio management logic, as part of UNDP’s Digital Innovation work, and will benefit from the range
of partnerships, learnings, and opportunities created in other projects.
The project recognizes the following major assumptions: political stability in the country, institutional
strength of the implementing partner, support of the government for digital agenda, and moderately
developed community of open data users. In terms of political stability, elections are frequent, but the
digital agenda keeps its high place on the list of priorities. Turnover of personnel is possible, but the
previous projects have already successfully faced similar challenges, due to strong and already established
partnerships. The Covid-19 pandemic has generated a greater awareness and a need for better digital tools
and services, fed by good quality data. The adopted Programme for the Development of e-Government for
the period 2023-2025 and the Artificial Intelligence Strategy for the period 2020-2025 both include open
data as a specific priority area. Implementation of previous projects has also secured that the community
of users goes beyond those supported by this project.

Project Management
The project will be implemented from the Digital Innovation portfolio in UNDP’s Governence team,
enabling higher-level partnerships, learning across diverse interventions, strategic monitoring of policy

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context and developments, and optimization of operational processes. Portfolio management involves
gathering insights from different interventions on a wider digital ecosystem in Serbia, allowing for early
identification of potential opportunities or risks.

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V. RESULTS FRAMEWORK

Applicable Output(s) from the UNDP Strategic Plan:

2.1 Open, agile, accountable and future-ready governance systems in place to co-create and deliver solutions to accelerate SDG achievement
2.4 Democratic institutions and processes strengthened for an inclusive and open public sphere with expanded public engagement
EXPECTED OUTCOME INDICATORS DATA SOURCE BASELINE TARGETS DATA
OUTCOME (by frequency of data collection) COLLECTION
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 METHODS &
RISKS
Outcome 1: Open On-line services index13 UN E-Government 0.7941 Citizen survey have The work on The pilot 0.85 Observation
data becomes a Survey been conducted to Service Design services have
strategic tool for map the Hub have been been
achieving public opportunities for incited to build identified and
goals in a improvements the capacities of both
participatory and ITE for user quantitative
transparent centric service and
manner design qualitative
user resech
comenced
EU Open Data Maturity Open Data ODM 2023 Open Data Maturity Measures for ODM Open Data Observation
Report – Policy, Portals, and Maturity Report score is as Report 2023 improvement of assessment is Maturity Report
Quality14 follows: recommendations the ODM score underway score for Serbia is

13
On-line services index (OSI) is part of the United Nations E-Government Survey, implemented by UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs. The UN e-Government Survey presents a systematic
assessment of the use and potential of information and communication technologies to transform the public sector by enhancing efficiency, effectiveness, transparency, accountability, access to public
services and citizen participation in the 193 Member States of the United Nations, and at all levels of development. composite indicator measuring the use of information and communications technology
(ICT) by Governments for the delivery of public services at the national level. The index values are calculated on a scale of 0 to 1, with 1 corresponding to the highest-rated online services provision and 0 to
the lowest. More info at: https://publicadministration.un.org/egovkb/en-us/
14
The open data maturity study serves as a benchmark to gain insights into the development achieved in the field of open data in Europe. It is implemented by the European Data Portal, funded by the
European Union. It assesses the level of maturity against four dimensions: policy, portal, impact, and quality. Each dimension can score up to 650 points. Open Data Policy focuses on the presence of specific
policies and strategies to foster open data at national level. Open Data Portal focuses on advanced portal functions that enable both versed and less versed users to access open data via
the national portal and features that enhance the interaction between publishers and re-users. Open Data Quality focuses on the measures adopted by portal managers to ensure the systematic
harvesting of metadata from sources across the country, as well as the currency of the available metadata and where possible the actual data, the monitoring of the compliance with the DCAT-AP metadata
standard as well as the quality of deployment of the published data. More info at: https://data.europa.eu/sites/default/files/method-paper_insights-report_n7_2021.pdf

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Policy: 470 and best practices are defined and increased,

Portal:549 are analyzed in the process of meaning that the
implementation open data
Quality: 455
ecosystem is
more mature and
developed,
especially in
terms of data
quality –
standardization,
metadata
improvement,
leading to better
usability and
accessibility
Policy: 500
Portals: 580
Quality:480
Comprehensive regulatory EC Progress report Analysis for Consultative Consultative Draft Regulatory Observation
framework is ready to be and other relevant amendments workshops with workshops with regulatory framework is
adopted (laws, bylaws, third-party reports created, based relevant relevant framework is ready to be
guides, ethical guidance, (e.g. Open Data on stakeholders stakeholders are finalized and adopted
institutional structures), Maturity Report) recommendati initiated underway and presented to
which ensures that right to ons from draft is being stakeholders
open data is being enforced Roadmaps prepared
and more high value ready to
datasets are available to implement
citizens
Open Government Data UN E-Government 0.8479 0.90 Observation
Index (OGDI)15 Survey

Outcome 2: Initiated supportive Success stories, Women are Training and Gender data is Women in STEM Established Observation
Advanced digital ecosystem for the digital media pieces, negatively mentorship for being mapped community is partnerships
15
Open Government Data Index (OGDI) is a part of the United Nations E-Government Survey. Please see reference number 1.

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United Nations Development Programme • Project Document

inclusion and inclusion and empowerment training influenced by data science is and advocated gathering, between
empowerment of of women in Serbia evaluations and the digital gap initiated for building government,
women in Serbia reports stimulating NGOs, and
environment for media (women
women to thrive advocates) to
in IT related jobs provide training,
and academic mentorship
background programs, and
networking
opportunities
tailored to the
needs of the
target
population, to
ensure better
access to IT job
market and
gender data for
decision making
EXPECTED OUTPUT INDICATORS DATA SOURCE TARGETS DATA
OUTPUTS (by frequency of data collection) COLLECTION
METHODS &
BASELINE RISKS

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4

Output 1.1. Open · Selected civil Training programs, 305 (70% Civil servants from 3 institutions 3 institutions 3 institutions Observation
data ecocystem servants (from SAI, mentorship women) civil SAI, SEPA and ITE whose civil whose civil engaging more Survey
improved in terms SEPA, ITE and programs, peer-to- servants with trained to publish servants were servants were deeply with open
of key dimensions peer learning capability to and use open data trained trained have data and
ODWG) are able to
(policy, portal and programs, travel analyze data and ODWG prepared new published and stimulate open
quality) publish and programs and and publish members’ open data sets promoted data reuse
analyze open data, materials, open data in a capacities for open for publishing new open
enabling better participation high-quality data enhanced (standardization data sets of
foundations for sheets, reports standard.* through peer- , data cleaning, good quality
data-based learning with EU etc.) and value
services and data stewards (40%
female)
decisions and Satisfaction Survey results
are being Inputs from
making improved survey will be
analyzed, and survey are shared

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United Nations Development Programme • Project Document

services for conducted Satisfaction survey Satisfaction are used as with data
citizens upon drafted by ITE in survey finalized inputs for publishers, whose
publishing of cooperation with and published improving capacities are
· Open Data users the data sets data publishers datasets improved to raise
2 use cases quality of their
report their
are being datasets
satisfaction with
developed in
value and quality Identified cooperation Use cases are
of new open data 7 use cases Datasets datasets are with data published, and
sets published on produced by particularly relevant prepared for publishers citizens’
civil servants for citizens will be reuse
the Open Data and experts engagement is
are available identified
Portal on the Open underway
Data Portal
· Open Data use (data.gov.rs)
cases produced by
civil servants are
widely used by the
targeted audience
· Open Data Portal Open Data Portal Open Data Upgrade plan for Upgrade plan Upgrade plan Upgrade plan is Observation
upgraded in line website Portal is the Open Data for the Open is 70% 100% complete,
with the Open (data.gov.rs), insufficiently Portal agreed in line Data Portal complete and ODMA 2025
ODMA mature to with ODMA initiated, and score increased
Data Maturity
recommendations, deliver its underway concerning the
Assessment ODMA 2025 function, with Open Data Portal,
(ODMA) results insufficient leading to more
recommendations, governance user-friendly
in order to deliver Open Data Portal,
its function, taking better
into consideration accessibility of
open datasets,
needs and
portal
behavior of users
sustainability
and long-term
sustainability of
the portal
· Government Government ODWG ODWG is ODWG is ODWG is ODWG delivered Observation
coordination body document on mandate has established and functioning / functioning / 5 open data
in charge for open establishment еxpired and initial meeting is scoping of the second initiatives
Agendas of the ODWG held possible open meeting is (release and
data established in
meetings, members are data initiatives held promotion of

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United Nations Development Programme • Project Document

a form of the Open participation meeting on to be open data,

Data Working sheets informal basis implemented organization of
Group (ODWG), Open Data Portal with data open data events
webpage publishers is and similar)
and used as a
(data.gov.rs) underway
proxy for
institutional
accountability
concerning open
data release
 Law on Law on Law on Initial meeting with Development of Development Amendments to Observation
eGovernment and eGovernment and eGovernment stakeholders held draft of draft the Law and
belonging bylaws belonging bylaws is not in line amendments is amendments bylaws are
with PSI underway is finalized agreed with
ready for
Directive, thus and stakeholders, and
amendment to a not providing presented to are scheduled for
good standard, enabling stakeholders amendment,
transposing high- framework for providing more
value datasets high-value enabling
definition, datasets framework for
following the publication high value and
high-quality open
changes of the PSI
data
Directive
 Institutions are Comprehensive Institutions are Consultation Guide is being Guide is being Collection of Observation
equipped with Guide and success in need for process for drafted, based finalized and success stories on
knowledge on stories on Open additional development of the on input by distributed to application of
Data Hub support and Guide is started stakeholders data Guide by data
protocols for data
(hub.data.gov.rs) knowledge with relevant and expert publishers publishers is
standards, data source, apart stakeholders (initial community underway and at
ethics, legal from meeting held with least 5 success
framework, users occasional Working group for stories are
feedback capacity Data within AI published on
mechanisms, etc., building Strategy and Action Open Data Hub
through Guide for programs and Plan) blog
one-on-one
data publishers
support by ITE
 SAI embedded SAI performance SAI is currently Outline and plan for Outline and plan Training for SAI publishes
open data in audit audit on open not able to implementation of for SAI capacity SAI is their reports in
processes data, SAI data hold public capacity building building and implemented, open data form,

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United Nations Development Programme • Project Document

(analytics, reports and institutions to program and open open data providing SAI and use open
reporting and analysis improved account on data performance performance employees data to optimize
communication of their consistent audit is agreed with audit is with skills for their work
use of Open ITE and SAI underway embedding
audit outcomes)
Data and SAI is (experts finalize open data in
not open data the scope for audit
publisher the training processes
concerning SAI
skills and needs)
Output 2.1. Digital  Gender specific Participation Traditional 20 women Data literacy Participants Success story on Observation
skills and issues (such as sheets, developed media advocates are sessions are map gender responsiveness of
empowerment women stories and reports journalists are selected to implemented, data and the relevant
programs for on public mostly not participate in data followed by create 2 data institutions to
employability, job
women around data presentation skilled in data literacy sessions to selection of stories, which increased
science market gain knowledge on gender specific are picked up demand for more
(media articles) analysis and
implemented positioning, data analysis issues to be by media gender data is
reporting on
women health, analyzed produced and
gender specific
etc.) gain more issues through through data, published
traction in public together with
data, while
through data the group
there is a lack
Journalists
stories of gender data
Against Violence
among publicly
available
(open)
datasets
 Women in capacity Participation Women often 40 working Capacity At least 20% At least 50% of Observation
building program sheets, feel women/entreprene building and of participants feel
are better survey/focus disadvantaged urs are selected to mentoring participants empowered to
groups report on job market take part in capacity program is feel use data science
positioned in job
due to mostly building and implemented empowered in their careers,
market and feel mentoring program to use data and success
man
progress in their for application of science in stories are
dominated
career due to data in their their careers, published on
data science
better data science job field, while careers, and due to their Open Data Hub
skills capacity building recently blog
some of them
program is being acquired data
would like to
scoped based on science skills
apply data
their needs (through
science in their survey/focus
work, but don’t

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United Nations Development Programme • Project Document

possess groups)
necessary skills
 Women are given Participation Women are 40 women are Second meetup Third meetup Forth meetup is Observation
more space in sheets, Agendas of not selected to is being is being held; being held, and
public data important data represented participate in established women in STEM
science events enough in data networking cooperation community is
science/tech
science events meetups around with Data established
agenda (women as key data science, Science within the Open
are more speakers; they gender, STEM, Conference Data Hub
represented in don’t have giving them more team
speaking roles, enough opportunities to resulting in at
they have more opportunities connect and raise least 2
opportunities to to discuss awareness on panels/key
gender and importance of equal speeches
engage around
data women focused on
data science presentation in gender and
events, gender and STEM fields; first data
data are more meetup is held
present as
discussion topics,
etc.)

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VI. MONITORING AND EVALUATION

In accordance with UNDP’s programming policies and procedures, the project will be monitored through the following monitoring and evaluation plans:

Monitoring Plan

Partners Cost
Monitoring Activity Purpose Frequency Expected Action
(if joint) (if any)
A detailed M&E plan will be developed in the Quarterly, or in the Slower than expected progress will
inception phase, defining who will collect data, frequency required be addressed by project
how, and when. Monitoring and evaluation for each indicator management.
plan will include tracking of the project impact (when defined in
Track results progress based on Impact Assessment Study developed the M&E plan).
within the first open data project. Progress data
against the results indicators in the RRF will be
analysed to assess the progress of the project in
achieving the agreed outputs.
Monitoring risk management actions using the Risks are identified by project
developed risk log, including measures and management and actions are
Monitor and Manage plans as per UNDP’s Social and Environmental taken to manage risk. The risk log
Quarterly
Risk Standards. Audits will be conducted in is actively maintained to keep
accordance with UNDP’s audit policy to manage track of identified risks and actions
financial risk. taken.
Knowledge, good practices and lessons will be
Relevant lessons are captured by
captured regularly, as well as actively sourced
Learn At least annually the project team and used to
from other projects and partners and
inform management decisions.
integrated back into the project.
The quality of the last open data project has
been assessed in 2022. Initial quality Areas of strength and weakness
assessment for this phase will be conducted in will be reviewed by project
Annual Project Quality
the inception period against UNDP’s quality Every two years management and used to inform
Assurance
standards to identify project strengths and decisions to improve project
weaknesses and to inform management performance.
decision making to improve the project.

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United Nations Development Programme • Project Document

Performance data, risks, lessons

Internal semi-annual project review and review
Review and Make and quality will be discussed by
of data and evidence from all monitoring At least annually
Course Corrections the project board and used to
actions to inform decision making.
make course corrections.
A progress report will be presented to the
Project Board and key stakeholders, consisting
of progress data showing the results achieved
Biannually and at
against pre-defined annual targets at the
Project Report the end of the
output level, the biannual project quality rating
project (final report)
summary, an updated risk long with mitigation
measures, and any evaluation or review reports
prepared over the period.
The project’s governance mechanism (i.e.,
project board) will hold regular project reviews
to assess the performance of the project and Any quality concerns or slower
review the Multi-Year Work Plan to ensure than expected progress should be
Project Review realistic budgeting over the life of the project. discussed by the project board and
At least biannually
(Project Board) In the project’s final year, the Project Board management actions agreed to
shall hold an end-of project review to capture address the issues identified.
lessons learned and discuss opportunities for
scaling up and to socialize project results and
lessons learned with relevant audiences.

Evaluation Plan

Planned
Partners (if Related Strategic Plan UNSDCF/CPD Key Evaluation Cost and Source of
Evaluation Title Completion
joint) Output Outcome Stakeholders Funding
Date
Final Project Evaluation 31 March 2025 $10,000.00 (UK)

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VII. MULTI-YEAR WORK PLAN 16,17

PLANNED BUDGET
PLANNED BUDGET
EXPECTED by Year RESPONSIBLE
PLANNED ACTIVITIES
OUTPUTS PARTY Funding
2024 2025 Budget Description Amount
Source

Contractual Services
Output 1.1. Open data ecocystem improved in 45,000.00 15,000.00 UNDP UK 60,000.00
(Individuals)
terms of key dimensions (policy, portal and
quality)
12,000.00 0.00 UNDP UK Company contracts 12,000.00
1.1.1. Capacity building for data management
in public administration for improving data
quality Training, workshops and
1.1.2. Improving Open Data portal based on 13,300.00 200.00 UNDP UK 13,500.00
Outcome 1: Open conferences
recommendations from the Open Data
data becomes a
Maturity assessment
strategic tool for
1.1.3. Ensuring policy impact of open data:
achieving public 10,000.00 0.00 UNDP UK Travel 10,000.00
support to critical priority institutions over the
goals in a
project period (SAI, SEPA), establishment and
participatory and
support to a working group gathering the
transparent
wider open data community for peer learning
manner 15,000.00 5,000.00 UNDP UK Miscellaneous 20,000.00
and support
1.1.4. Amendment of the Law on eGovernment
and related bylaws, in line with relevant EU
regulations (PSI Directive and Regulation on
high-value datasets), and support for 87,400.00 10,200.00 UNDP UK National Consultants 97,600.00
implementation
1.1.5. Development of comprehensive guide
for data holders Policy Advice,
4,950.00 1,650.00 UNDP UK 6,600.00
Backstopping and
16
Cost definitions and classifications for programme and development effectiveness costs to be charged to the project are defined in the Executive Board decision DP/2010/32.
17
Changes to a project budget affecting the scope (outputs), completion date, or total estimated project costs require a formal budget revision that must be signed by the project board. In other cases, the
UNDP programme manager alone may sign the revision provided the other signatories have no objection. This procedure may be applied for example when the purpose of the revision is only to re-phase
activities among years.

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United Nations Development Programme • Project Document

Coordination

219,700.00
Sub-Total for Output 1:
78,004.76 9,000.00 UNDP UK National consultants 87,004.76

Output 2.1. Digital skills and empowerment 37,000.00 0.00 UNDP UK Company contracts 37,000.00
programs for women around data science
implemented 6,000.00 0.00 UNDP UK Printing and translation 6,000.00
operational Contractual Services
2.1.1. Data literacy sessions for women 4,950.00 1,650.00 UNDP UK 6,600.00
(Individuals)
advocates for gender equality, resulting in data
stories which put a light on social 3,000.00 0.00 UNDP UK IT equipment 3,000.00
Outcome 2: vulnerabilities and gender issues, gender data
35,900.00 0.00 UNDP UK Travel 35,900.00
Advanced digital mapping and increased demand for gender
inclusion and data
empowerment of 2.1.2. Organization of skills development and Training, workshops and
13,500.00 0.00 UNDP UK 13,500.00
women in Serbia mentoring program for women to apply data in conferences
their professional work and bring solutions that
make gender and social impact
Gender marker:
2.1.3. Organization of networking, mentorship 4,110.00 3,555.00 UNDP UK Miscellaneous 7,665.00
and capacity building activities to unlock the
full potential and power of women and girls to
fully participate in STEM
2.1.4. Women in data science track in the
Policy Advice,
scope of the Data Science Conference
28.800,00 9,600.00 UNDP UK Backstopping and 38,400.00
Coordination

235,069.76
Sub-Total for Output 2:
Evaluation (as
EVALUATION 0.00 10.000,00 UNDP UK 10,000.00
relevant)

General Management Services (8%): 31,913.18 5,268.40 37,181.58

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United Nations Development Programme • Project Document

TOTAL PROJECT COSTS 501,951.34

Coordination Levy (1%): 5,019.51 0.00 5,019.51

TOTAL PROJECT COSTS WITH COORDINATION LEVY 506,970.85

Page 25
VIII. GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT ARRANGEMENTS

The Project Board will be formed with representatives of the key beneficiaries and partner organizations,
as illustrated in the following diagram:

Project Organization Structure

Project Board (Governance Mechanism)
Senior Beneficiary Executive Senior Supplier
[Office for IT and e- [Office for IT and [UK GGF, UNDP]
Government] e-Government]

Project Assurance
[UNDP Project Manager Project Support
Programme
Officer]

Page 26
The Project Board will be responsible for making management decisions by consensus, when guidance is
sought by the Project Manager, including recommendation for approval of project plans and revisions. This
group will also be consulted by the Project Manager for decisions when tolerances (normally in terms of
time, budget and quality) have been exceeded and in the event of any necessary revisions to the objectives
of the project, as well as the budget. It will also ensure that required resources are committed and will
arbitrate on any conflicts within the project or negotiate a solution to any problems between the project
and external bodies. Project Board decisions will be made in accordance with standards that ensure best
value in terms of money, fairness, integrity, transparency and effective international competition. Project
reviews by this group will be made at designated decision points during the running of a project, or as
necessary when requested by the Project Manager. In any case, the Project Board shall meet at least
annually to review the project progress and discuss other issues relevant for the project implementation.

Project Assurance is the responsibility of each Project Board member. However, this role will be delegated
to the UNDP Program Specialist to perform on behalf of the Project Board. The Project Assurance role
supports the Project Board by carrying out objective and independent project oversight and monitoring
functions. This role ensures appropriate project management milestones are managed and completed.

The Project Manager role has the authority to run the project on a day-to-day basis on behalf of the
Project Board within the constraints laid down by the Board. The Project Manager is responsible for day-to-
day management and decision-making for the project. His/her prime responsibility is to ensure that the
project produces the results specified in the Project Document, to the required standard of quality and
within the specified constraints of time and cost.

The Project Support role provides project administration, management and technical support to the
Project Manager, as required by the needs of the individual project or the Project Manager.

IX. LEGAL CONTEXT

This project document shall be the instrument referred to as such in Article 1 of the Standard Basic
Framework Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Serbia (Yugoslavia) and UNDP (SBFA),
signed on 24 March 1988.18 All references in the SBFA to “Executing Agency” shall be deemed to refer to
“Implementing Partner”.

This project will be implemented by the Office for IT and eGovernemnt (“Implementing Partner”) in
accordance with its financial regulations, rules, practices and procedures only to the extent that they do
not contravene the principles of the Financial Regulations and Rules of UNDP. Where the financial
governance of an Implementing Partner does not provide the required guidance to ensure best value for
money, fairness, integrity, transparency, and effective international competition, the financial governance
of UNDP shall apply.

X. RISK MANAGEMENT

Government Entity (NIM)

18
The agreement applicable to UNDP activities in Serbia was initially signed by the Government (Federal Executive Council) of
the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) in 1988. The Government of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY), as the
legal successor state of SFRY reaffirmed the validity and applicability of this Agreement in 1992. Equally, legal successor states
of FRY, namely State Union of Serbia and Montenegro, and the Republic of Serbia have also reaffirmed the validity and
applicability of the SBFA originally signed in 1988.

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United Nations Development Programme • Project Document

1. Consistent with SBFA, the responsibility for the safety and security of the Implementing Partner and its
personnel and property, and of UNDP’s property in the Implementing Partner’s custody, rests with the
Implementing Partner. To this end, the Implementing Partner shall:
a) put in place an appropriate security plan and maintain the security plan, taking into account the
security situation in the country where the project is being carried;
b) assume all risks and liabilities related to the Implementing Partner’s security, and the full
implementation of the security plan.
2. UNDP reserves the right to verify whether such a plan is in place, and to suggest modifications to the
plan when necessary. Failure to maintain and implement an appropriate security plan as required
hereunder shall be deemed a breach of the Implementing Partner’s obligations under this Project
Document.
3. The Implementing Partner agrees to undertake all reasonable efforts to ensure that no UNDP funds
received pursuant to the Project Document are used to provide support to individuals or entities
associated with terrorism, that the recipients of any amounts provided by UNDP hereunder do not
appear on the United Nations Security Council Consolidated Sanctions List, and that no UNDP funds
received pursuant to the Project Document are used for money laundering activities. The United
Nations Security Council Consolidated Sanctions List can be accessed via
https://www.un.org/securitycouncil/content/un-sc-consolidated-list.
4. The Implementing Partner acknowledges and agrees that UNDP will not tolerate sexual harassment and
sexual exploitation and abuse of anyone by the Implementing Partner, and each of its responsible
parties, their respective sub-recipients and other entities involved in Project implementation, either as
contractors or subcontractors and their personnel, and any individuals performing services for them
under the Project Document.
a) In the implementation of the activities under this Project Document, the Implementing Partner,
and each of its sub-parties referred to above, shall comply with the standards of conduct set
forth in the Secretary General’s Bulletin ST/SGB/2003/13 of 9 October 2003, concerning
“Special measures for protection from sexual exploitation and sexual abuse” (“SEA”).
b) Moreover, and without limitation to the application of other regulations, rules, policies and
procedures bearing upon the performance of the activities under this Project Document, in the
implementation of activities, the Implementing Partner, and each of its sub-parties referred to
above, shall not engage in any form of sexual harassment (“SH”). SH is defined as any
unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature that might reasonably be expected or be perceived to
cause offense or humiliation, when such conduct interferes with work, is made a condition of
employment or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment. SH may occur in
the workplace or in connection with work. While typically involving a pattern of conduct, SH
may take the form of a single incident. In assessing the reasonableness of expectations or
perceptions, the perspective of the person who is the target of the conduct shall be considered.
5. a) In the performance of the activities under this Project Document, the Implementing Partner shall
(with respect to its own activities), and shall require from its sub-parties referred to in paragraph 4
(with respect to their activities) that they, have minimum standards and procedures in place, or a plan
to develop and/or improve such standards and procedures in order to be able to take effective
preventive and investigative action. These should include: policies on sexual harassment and sexual
exploitation and abuse; policies on whistleblowing/protection against retaliation; and complaints,
disciplinary and investigative mechanisms. In line with this, the Implementing Partner will and will
require that such sub-parties will take all appropriate measures to:

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United Nations Development Programme • Project Document

i. Prevent its employees, agents or any other persons engaged to perform any services under this
Project Document, from engaging in SH or SEA;
ii. Offer employees and associated personnel training on prevention and response to SH and SEA,
where the Implementing Partner and its sub-parties referred to in paragraph 4 have not put in
place its own training regarding the prevention of SH and SEA, the Implementing Partner and its
sub-parties may use the training material available at UNDP;
iii. Report and monitor allegations of SH and SEA of which the Implementing Partner and its sub-
parties referred to in paragraph 4 have been informed or have otherwise become aware, and
status thereof;
iv. Refer victims/survivors of SH and SEA to safe and confidential victim assistance; and
v. Promptly and confidentially record and investigate any allegations credible enough to warrant
an investigation of SH or SEA. The Implementing Partner shall advise UNDP of any such
allegations received and investigations being conducted by itself or any of its sub-parties
referred to in paragraph 4 with respect to their activities under the Project Document, and shall
keep UNDP informed during the investigation by it or any of such sub-parties, to the extent that
such notification (i) does not jeopardize the conduct of the investigation, including but not
limited to the safety or security of persons, and/or (ii) is not in contravention of any laws
applicable to it. Following the investigation, the Implementing Partner shall advise UNDP of any
actions taken by it or any of the other entities further to the investigation.
b) The Implementing Partner shall establish that it has complied with the foregoing, to the satisfaction
of UNDP, when requested by UNDP or any party acting on its behalf to provide such confirmation.
Failure of the Implementing Partner, and each of its sub-parties referred to in paragraph 4, to comply
of the foregoing, as determined by UNDP, shall be considered grounds for suspension or termination
of the Project.
6. Social and environmental sustainability will be enhanced through application of the UNDP Social and
Environmental Standards (https://www.undp.org/ses) and related Accountability Mechanism
(https://www.undp.org/secu-srm).
7. The Implementing Partner shall: (a) conduct project and programme-related activities in a manner
consistent with the UNDP Social and Environmental Standards, (b) implement any management or
mitigation plan prepared for the project or programme to comply with such standards, and (c) engage
in a constructive and timely manner to address any concerns and complaints raised through the
Accountability Mechanism. UNDP will seek to ensure that communities and other project stakeholders
are informed of and have access to the Accountability Mechanism.
8. All signatories to the Project Document shall cooperate in good faith with any exercise to evaluate any
programme or project-related commitments or compliance with the UNDP Social and Environmental
Standards. This includes providing access to project sites, relevant personnel, information, and
documentation.
9. The Implementing Partner will take appropriate steps to prevent misuse of funds, fraud or corruption,
by its officials, consultants, responsible parties, subcontractors and sub-recipients in implementing the
project or using UNDP funds.
10. In the implementation of the activities under this Project Document, UNDP places reasonable reliance
upon the Implementing Partner for it to apply its laws, regulations and processes, and applicable
international laws regarding anti money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism, to
ensure consistency with the principles of then in force the UNDP Anti-Money Laundering and
Countering the Financing of Terrorism Policy.

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United Nations Development Programme • Project Document

11. The Implementing Partner will ensure that its financial management, anti-corruption, anti-fraud and
anti money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism policies are in place and enforced for
all funding received from or through UNDP.
12. The requirements of the following documents, then in force at the time of signature of the Project
Document, apply to the Implementing Partner: (a) UNDP Policy on Fraud and other Corrupt Practices
and (b) UNDP Office of Audit and Investigations Investigation Guidelines. The Implementing Partner
agrees to the requirements of the above documents, which are an integral part of this Project
Document and are available online at www.undp.org.
13. In the event that an investigation is required, UNDP has the obligation to conduct investigations
relating to any aspect of UNDP projects and programmes in accordance with UNDP’s regulations,
rules, policies and procedures. The Implementing Partner shall provide its full cooperation, including
making available personnel, relevant documentation, and granting access to the Implementing
Partner’s (and its consultants’, responsible parties’, subcontractors’ and sub-recipients’) premises, for
such purposes at reasonable times and on reasonable conditions as may be required for the purpose
of an investigation. Should there be a limitation in meeting this obligation, UNDP shall consult with the
Implementing Partner to find a solution.
14. The signatories to this Project Document will promptly inform one another in case of any incidence of
inappropriate use of funds, credible allegation of fraud or corruption or other financial irregularities
with due confidentiality.
Where the Implementing Partner becomes aware that a UNDP project or activity, in whole or in part,
is the focus of investigation for alleged fraud/corruption, the Implementing Partner will inform the
UNDP Resident Representative/Head of Office, who will promptly inform UNDP’s Office of Audit and
Investigations (OAI). The Implementing Partner shall provide regular updates to the head of UNDP in
the country and OAI of the status of, and actions relating to, such investigation.
15. UNDP shall be entitled to a refund from the Implementing Partner of any funds provided that have
been used inappropriately, including through fraud, corruption or other financial irregularity, or
otherwise paid other than in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Project Document. Such
amount may be deducted by UNDP from any payment due to the Implementing Partner under this or
any other agreement.
Where such funds have not been refunded to UNDP, the Implementing Partner agrees that donors to
UNDP (including the Government) whose funding is the source, in whole or in part, of the funds for
the activities under this Project Document, may seek recourse to the Implementing Partner for the
recovery of any funds determined by UNDP to have been used inappropriately, including through
fraud, corruption or other financial irregularity, or otherwise paid other than in accordance with the
terms and conditions of the Project Document.
Note: The term “Project Document” as used in this clause shall be deemed to include any relevant
subsidiary agreement further to the Project Document, including those with responsible parties,
subcontractors, and sub-recipients.
16. Each contract issued by the Implementing Partner in connection with this Project Document shall
include a provision representing that no fees, gratuities, rebates, gifts, commissions or other
payments, other than those shown in the proposal, have been given, received, or promised in
connection with the selection process or in contract execution, and that the recipient of funds from
the Implementing Partner shall cooperate with any and all investigations and post-payment audits.
17. Should UNDP refer to the relevant national authorities for appropriate legal action any alleged
wrongdoing relating to the project, the Government will ensure that the relevant national authorities

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shall actively investigate the same and take appropriate legal action against all individuals found to
have participated in the wrongdoing, recover and return any recovered funds to UNDP.
18. The Implementing Partner shall ensure that all of its obligations set forth under this section entitled
“Risk Management” are passed on to each responsible party, subcontractor and sub-recipient and
that all the clauses under this section entitled “Risk Management Standard Clauses” are included,
mutatis mutandis, in all sub-contracts or sub-agreements entered into further to this Project
Document.

XI. ANNEXES

1. Project Quality Assurance Report

2. Social and Environmental Screening
3. Offline Risk Log
4. Capacity Assessment: HACT Micro Assessment for ITE
5. Project Board Terms of Reference

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