How are risk management methods and methodologies structured in the United Nations Development Programme?

How are risk management methods and methodologies structured in the United Nations Development Programme?

Department of Political Science, University of Copenhagen 2022

The last couple of decades have been characterized by a growing number of efforts to structure and systematize risk management inside all kind of organizations, including leading actors of international development such as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Organization-wide methods and methodologies created from a logic of auditability, such as Enterprise Risk Management (ERM), have been adopted over science-based risk management methods. Research has shown that the nature of the techniques implemented to deal with uncertainty have a direct effect on risk-informed decision making. This study aims to examine how are science-based methods incorporated into the UNDP’s methodology, and investigate the implications on decision making. Using a qualitative exploratory approach, the main governing risk management documents, tools and systems were analysed and the seven most relevant risk management processes were dissected and reviewed in relation to the research aims. The empirical analysis revealed that the UNDP’s ERM methodology is linked to an auditability logic from a level of design. Since the introduction of ERM, there has been an absence of science-based methods in the organization’s policies and procedures. Instead, a risk matrix was established as the guiding method to assess and communicate risks. Findings indicate that despite the organization-wide approach, the lack of structured methods grounded in probabilistic reasoning, could have direct adverse effects on the quality of the information produced to inform decision-making.

Risk; Development; Security; UNDP; International; Management; MASTERPROGRAMMETHESIS

68 pages
application/pdf
English

DAV oai:pure.atira.dk:studentproject/b8d4cb32-33bc-4465-a739-4c428cf3d84e
1340992512

UNIV OF COPENHAGEN
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