RPBA Partnership Arrangements
The governance, management and coordination mechanisms designed to support RPBAs have been strengthened since the 2015 review. They aim to foster national ownership and to provide effective support to, and coordination with, the host government and other key national stakeholders.
The responsibility for the overall engagement with the RPBA process, including advising on key decisions on whether to undertake such an exercise, and the manner in which it is conducted, is held jointly by the three partner institutions. They also guide headquarters-level collaboration and coordination among and within the tripartite partners.
On the ground, RPBA teams comprised of experts from the three institutions and beyond work with national and local actors, as well as the HQ-based RPBA team to conduct assessments.
At the HQ level, the High-Level Advisory Group (HLAG), supported by a Virtual Secretariat was been established in mid-2016. The HLAG plays a senior-level institutional policy and advisory role, while the Virtual Secretariat facilitates coordination amongst the three institutions at headquarters, country-level senior leadership, and RPBA teams.
High Level Advisory Group
The HLAG (High Level Advisory Group) provides strategic direction, and manages the overall tripartite partnership at the HQ level. The HLAG comprises of high level representation of the three institutions.
Virtual Secretariat
The Virtual Secretariat comprises technical experts of the three institutions, and acts as the team supporting the work of the HLAG. The Virtual Secretariat also supports day-to-day RPBA operations in the initial stages of an assessment, and provides coordination support to the team's in-country activities when an RPBA is underway.
Intra-Organization Technical Arrangements
World Bank Group
RPBA Facility
The RPBA work within the World Bank is housed within the Fragility Conflict and Violence (FCV) Global Theme. The team within the FCV Group works to coordinate funding for RPBA scoping missions, and can provide expert input through the RPBA process. It can also call upon the tripartite RPBA Virtual Secretariat, and the High Level Advisory Group to coordinate HQ activities
Global Leads and Experts Team
The FCV Group convenes a community of experts from a variety of World Bank Group Global Practices that can be called upon to participate in an RPBA. These experts have training and experience in RPBAs, and are a valuable resource for an ongoing RPBA. They can be contacted via the Global Leads and Experts Team (GLET) coordinated from within the FCV Group.
United Nations
Within the UN at HQ level, the tripartite RPBA partnership is anchored in an inter-agency RPBA working group with technical experts from across all relevant UN Agencies, Funds and Programmes as well as UN Secretariat Departments and Offices. The UN representatives on the HLAG are the Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding, Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and the Assistant Secretary-General/Director of UNDP’s Crisis Bureau, whose representation on the HLAG is coordinated through the inter-agency working group. The working group is supported by UNDP, who is also part of the EU-UN-WB Virtual Secretariat.
At country level, from the UN’s side the RPBAs are led by the Resident Coordinator and expertise provided mainly through the UN Country Team members and UN Missions where present. Experts trained or experienced in the RPBA can be pulled from across the UN system to support RPBAs at country level.
European Union
The EU provides support to the High Level Advisory Group and its Virtual Secretariat across several services. The advisory group is supported at Director Level by the Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development (DG DEVCO), the Directorate-General for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR), the Commissions Service for Foreign Policy Instruments (FPI) and the External Action Service through its Integrated Approach for Security and Peace (ISP) Directorate. The Secretariat has representation from these Services and the Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO). All HQ services act in support to country level decicision making through EU Delegations.