Head of Resident Coordinator's Office in Malaysia

How does a Resident Coordinator’s Office support an upper middle-income country in national development planning and financing for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)?  Meet Juanita Joseph, the Strategic Planner of the Multi-country Office of the UN Resident Coordinator in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei.

She is especially proud of bringing to bear the expertise of UN entities in support of national development planning such as for the 12th Malaysia Plan 2021-2025 via joint policy advisory papers and support to its planning conference. She also played a key role in helping make the MySDG Trust Fund, a joint initiative of the UN and the Government, a reality.  Under the guidance of the Ministry of Finance and the Malaysia SDG Foundation, the fund aims to accelerate the SDGs in line with national priorities, with a special focus on leaving no one behind – through inclusive recovery from the pandemic, addressing challenges of marginal and excluded groups; building the resilience of communities at most risk to the impacts of climate change though active adaption efforts; and helping to build social and political cohesion between Malaysia’s diverse communities. Juanita also supports the curation of participatory and inclusive processes for the 2030 Agenda through innovative multi-stakeholder platforms such as the Malaysia SDG Summit and TogetherforSDGs hub.