ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL CONTINUES DISCUSSION ON OPERATIONAL ACTIVITIES FOR DEVELOPMENT
Press Release
ECOSOC/5703
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL CONTINUES DISCUSSION ON OPERATIONAL ACTIVITIES FOR DEVELOPMENT
19970702 (Reissued as received.)GENEVA, 1 July (UN Information Service) -- As the Economic and Social Council concluded this afternoon its discussion of operational activities for development of the United Nations system, speakers drew attention to a decline in "core" resources for development and proposed reforms of the system.
Core resources are generally understood as those contributed voluntarily to the funds and programmes for general resources to be utilized without any constraints or conditions. The representative of Norway warned that the reduction in the provision of those resources undermined the true multilateral character of development activities, while the delegate of Jamaica called the drop "alarming". It was important to reaffirm the financing of operational activities as voluntary, neutral and multilateral, added the Jamaican representative.
Meanwhile, the representative of Turkey said the impacts of globalization and liberalization were uneven, with developing countries having major difficulties in deriving maximum benefits while coping with inherent challenges. He said the United Nations system had a "major role" to play in promoting growth and sustainable development in developing countries. For the representative of Bangladesh, any reform of the system of operational activities should be relevant to the needs of developing countries, with the least developed getting priority attention.
Also making statements were the representatives of Romania, Canada, Philippines, Brazil, India, Argentina, Belarus, Zambia, Pakistan and Malaysia, as well as those of the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). At the end of the meeting, the President announced that the discussion on the operational activities of the United Nations for international development cooperation was finished.
The Council will meet again at 10 a.m. tomorrow to begin its high-level segment, which will discuss the theme "Fostering an enabling environment for development: financial flows, including capital flows; investment; trade".
Operational Activities for Development
The Economic and Social Council continued this afternoon to examine operational activities for development in the United Nations system. Among the documents before it was a note by the Secretary-General (E/1997/78) on collaboration between the United Nations and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The report notes that cooperation between the IMF and the UN has intensified in recent years as the former has increasingly integrated social concerns into structural adjustment programmes and begun to take into account the recommendations of major UN global conferences. The document reviews collaboration at the institutional level and summarizes how the IMF has incorporated the results of such major gatherings as the UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), the International Conference on Population and Development, and the World Summit for Social Development.
The Council is also reviewing a report of the Secretary-General on operational activities of the United Nations for international development cooperation, in an addendum on trends in core and non-core resources (document E/1997/65/Add.1). That report recalls that the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Children's Fund, the World Food Programme and the United Nations Population Fund are the principal avenues through which the operational activities in the United Nations were financed. Their resources are provided in core and non-core categories, and combined total resources through funds and programmes were $4.5 billion in 1996. Core resources are generally understood as those contributed voluntarily to the funds and programmes for general resources to be utilized without any constraints or conditions. Non-core resources were designed as a means to ensure additional resource flows and their projects are coherently and effectively integrated in the technical cooperation programme of the United Nations system; they are far more varied. The steady but small increase in total resources and declining core funds may necessitate new approaches to achieve the goal of increasing resources. The United Nations funds and programmes were enhancing core resources by enhancing efficiency and transparency of their operations; obtaining a larger share from existing traditional sources, and developing new sources of funding. The General Assembly was also pursuing intergovernmental reform.
Statements
AASLAUG HAGA (Norway) said the United Nations system was facing greater demand for action while there was a marked decrease in the funding of the official development assistance (ODA) in the late 1990s. The United Nations had to improve how it financed its activities. There were presently a number of current obstacles for funding development activities, mainly over-dependence, instability and fragmentation. Norway and Nordic countries had emphasized the need for a financing mechanism which ensured predictability
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and continuity, increased burden sharing, universally shared the administrative costs by all members and made a clear connection between programmed activities and funding. The Nordic UN Reform Project of 1996 proposed a model for funding based on a system of assessed, negotiated and voluntarily contributions. The development system needed a new financing mechanism, and the issue of sufficient and predictable funding of the UN system was an integrated part of any reform effort. The reduction in core resources undermined the true multilateral character of development activities and hampered the ability to carry out its advocacy role. Norway preferred a mechanism which included assessed contributions. However, negotiated contributions supplemented by voluntary contributions would bring the system one step in the right direction.
ALEXANDRU NICULESCU (Romania) said harmonization, capacity-building, and the role of the resident coordinator were critical to enhanced development aid. Reform efforts under way should be directed at both internal and external harmonization -- external as they applied to the specialized agencies, the Bretton Woods institutions, and other operations involved in the process; programming cycles of all projects and funds should be in step, making it easier to draw up funding cycles and country notes and to organize budgets; harmonization at country level, where the resident coordinator played a fundamental role, should be continued; regional cooperation agreements and plans should involve consultation with relevant UN regional commissions. Plans of action and programmes resulting from recent UN world conferences had contributed to increased interest in various aspects of development, and it was important to follow up on that momentum, but in a coordinated way. Improving capacity-building involved identifying specific features -- strengths and weaknesses -- of each country, and pinpointing the challenges to their economies. Resident coordinators, among other things, should be carefully selected and effectively trained, he said.
HUSEYIN E. CELEM (Turkey) said the impact of globalization and liberalization was uneven, with developing countries having major difficulties deriving maximum benefits while coping with inherent challenges. The United Nations system had a major role to play in promoting growth and sustainable development in a globalizing and liberalizing world economy, in particular through its operational activities.
Mr. CELEM said Turkey considered the United Nations reform process in the economic, social and related fields as a collaborative effort to refocus and reinvigorate international cooperation for development. One of the substantive issues in the revitalization and restructuring was the question of funding. Political will on the part of donors was essential to secure necessary funding. The reforms should take account of the mandates of the separate sectoral and specialized entities, funds and programmes, and ensure that major decisions on their funding arrangements should continue to be
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vested with their governing bodies. Particular attention should be given to the strengthening of the operational activities at regional and sub-regional levels. Only through such a comprehensive partnership for development would human-centred sustainable development be achieved.
LOUISE BERGERON (Canada) said it was important to explore possibilities to stop the erosion in overseas development assistance, especially for core activities. To that end, it was paramount that funding for such activities be managed effectively and efficiently to ensure that resources were used where they were needed most -- on the ground; to seek non-governmental funds from sources such as the private sector and international foundations; to enlarge the donor base, perhaps by including countries that had made significant strides in their own development and so might join the smaller 10 per cent or so of member States who contributed 90 per cent of development grants; to better balance core and non-core resources, recognizing the growing role of non-core funds as long as these responded directly to the mandates and objectives of funds and programmes; and to explore such possibilities as shifting to multi-year funding schemes, involving cycles of programming, execution, and monitoring, that linked programming with accountability. Under such an approach, voluntary undertakings, once made at the start of each cycle, would become firm commitments.
FELIPE MABILANGAN (Philippines) said the country supported strengthening of the resident-coordinator system and the granting of appropriate responsibilities and authority to the coordinator, to be backed by financial resources commensurate to the tasks involved; streamlining of existing administrative support structures to free up resources for a strengthened resident-coordinator system; and formulation of a United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) anchored on the Country Strategy Note -- intended to serve as a means of United Nations-wide collaboration in the country concerned --, if one existed, or in an equivalent document that spelled out the priorities of the State involved. The Philippines also felt additional steps were necessary, such as defining the timetable for completion of the reform process involving resident coordinators; capacity-building and technical assistance for member States without country strategy notes or equivalents; and acceleration of reforms to rational coordination of UN regional programmes. Reforms were not enough, moreover; it was necessary to ensure that the resources to support such aid increased in a continuous and predictable manner to meet the pressing challenges in many developing countries. It also was important to strengthen coordination with organizations such as the Bretton Woods institutions.
ANWARUL KARIM CHOWDHURY (Bangladesh) said development should be people-centred and participatory. An important focus on operational activities should be the building of national capacity. The programme approach remained an important element in better integrating efforts of the
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United Nations system. Operational activities should also promote South-South cooperation -- any reform of those activities should be relevant to the needs of developing countries, with the least developed getting priority attention. Better governance, accountability and transparency were important elements in the efficient use of resources and should be given very high priority in the police framework of all countries. The decline in core resources had serious implications for the future of operational activities. Bangladesh believed that any reform should keep in mind that the resident coordinator system had worked well, although it needed further refining. Serious thought was needed to consider new funding mechanisms for operational activities.
CELSO L.M. AMORIM (Brazil) said some suggestions based on Brazilian experience in dealing with development funds and programmes were worth mentioning. They included efforts to enhance South-South cooperation, as resources could be mobilized from the private sector in some of these countries, and as development experience of such countries offered great potential; exports and products from the South not only were cheaper, but could be more readily adjusted to the realities of developing countries. Cost-sharing should be enhanced: many developing countries, especially in Latin America, had been using United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) cooperation in a manner that combined resources from Governments, UNDP core resources, and funds from other sources, such as World Bank loans. Such modalities had led to impressive aid growth in Brazil; they also strengthened Brazilian sense of ownership in programmes, as Brazilian financial contributions were also involved. Innovative sources of financing also should be explored; many had been advanced, including international taxation, that would generate substantial resources but probably were not realistic. However, it was important to continue to think about such possibilities, including the provision of greater aid from the private sector.
PATRICIA DURRANT (Jamaica) said there was a vital need for strengthening and enhancing the effectiveness and impact of operational activities at country level. The question of funding of operational activities was not a new issue for the Council, but it had become "even more urgent" as developing countries continued to adapt to the changes in the world economic environment. It was imperative to ensure that resources were utilized in the most effective and efficient manner and that was still a burning issue. Declining resources had a direct impact on the delivery and success of programmes in developing countries.
Ms. DURRANT said it was alarming to note the continuing decline in core resources, while non-core resources had become increasingly popular. However, it was important to reaffirm the financing of operational activities as voluntary, neutral and multilateral. Enhancement of core resources had to be based on these three principles. The efforts of the United Nations system to reduce overlap and duplication was recognized. There had to be a clear
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definition of the role of the resident coordinator to avoid the confusion of dual roles to ensure there are no conflicts with the national government. Jamaica stressed that external assistance for national capacity-building had to be in line with national priorities and should remain a part of operational activities at country level. The United Nations system should examine its existing policies for capacity-building.
PRAKASH SHAH (India) said the significance and value of the agenda for development adopted by the General Assembly would only become apparent over time, but it was important to seek sustained economic growth and development for all the world's people. Resources must be increased to meet the growing needs of developing countries. Efforts had been made to make UN funds and programmes more efficient: reforms had been adopted, and unnecessary costs cut. It was worth calling some donors "investors" as many donors got back quite a bit of their money through employment of their nationals and purchase of materials. Reforms, however, were no substitute for resources required for development activities; such programmes for development were being threatened by insufficiency of funding -- it was important to recognize that little had been done to stem the decline in core funding; only a small number of countries contributed most of such assistance. Innovative funding should not become an excuse for continued and sufficient Governmental funding for core activities and programmes, the Indian representative said.
MARTIN BARCIA MORITAN (Argentina) said there was a need to increase resources to keep up with growing needs, and stressed the importance of ensuring the predictability of funding. Without adequate resources, it would be very difficult to fully fulfil programmes and funds of development operational activities. The role of the resident coordinator should be strengthened, increasing his responsibility and keep him or her in close coordination with the government in arranging country notes. A more effective utilization of resources was also needed.
STANSLAU AGURTSOU (Belarus) said reform of operational activities for development should not affect the principle of universality; reforms should convert the UN system into a powerful, unified force for sustainable development, moreover. Operational activities should be carried out in the interests of the developing countries concerned, taking into account their specific needs and priorities, and performed under principles of universality and neutrality. It was wise to allocate, as a priority, aid to the least-developed countries first, since resources were limited. It also was necessary to develop new and innovate mechanisms for funding, including private-sector and new international sources; but such sources should be considered only as additional sources, not as substitutes for existing forms of funding. More constant, predictable funding was needed, and maximum effectiveness still had to be achieved with existing programmes, as that would develop greater trust with existing and potential donors.
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P.N. SINYINZA (Zambia) said reforms were essential to operational activities system-wide. There was very clear guidance from the Council on how funds and programmes should pursue such activities. The key challenge facing the United Nations during this period of reform should be to create a balance between the delivery aspect and the structural changes. Yet it seemed to Zambia that the harmonization of rules and procedures was not leading to simplification of the programming processes, as desired by recipient countries. An emerging selective style, which was slowly becoming the norm, should be discarded, and a consensus should be developed on how to use private sector funds and the possibility for introducing negotiated pledges or assessed contributions. Whatever options were chosen one should endeavour to protect the multilateral nature of the current funding modalities.
MANSUR RAZA (Pakistan) said funding of operational activities for development required a constructive discussion based on the shared assumption that such activities were invaluable, that funding for these programmes were at an unacceptable level, and that resources had to be increased significantly. On tapping non-governmental organizations (NGOs) for funds, along with other sources in the private sector, it was important to consider a number of factors, especially what policy adjustments might be required -- Pakistan felt, on initial review, that the potential here was not likely to be commensurate with the need, and that there was likely to be unacceptable infringement with the aims and bases of UN programmes. Reforms to development programmes, as far as they went, helped, but could not be expected to make up for gaps in resource needs. Continued decreases in funding could not be allowed; objectives had been agreed upon and yet the targets of such programmes could not be reached for lack of resources. The reasons behind the increase in non-core funding deserved exploring, but Pakistan did not feel that the increase justified changing the aims or operations or philosophies behind core programmes; savings from efficiency measures should be channelled into core development programmes, but so far experience had shown little benefit from that approach, which did not augur well for the future.
SHUKRY IBRAHIM (Malaysia) said the attractiveness of non-core resources to some countries must not retract from core resources so that the neutral and multi-lateral nature of programmes and funds are not endangered. The reform movement to increase effectiveness and efficiency had not been balanced by an increase in funds. The private sector should be brought into the mainstream of development operational activities. However, this should not be at the expense of overseas development assistance.
FRANCOIS TREMEAUD, Assistant Director-General of the International Labour Organization (ILO), said reforms under way on developing medium-term programmes based on Country Strategy Notes -- intended to serve as a means of UN-wide collaboration in the country concerned -- should be effective and make good use of existing capacities in the system; the ILO had made use of these
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new procedures, among other things through training of staff. It was urgent, however, to implement the reform strategy with predictable, sure and continuous financing -- so that funds were distributed in a well-managed way. That was far from the case, unfortunately; the central financing system of the UN was in a kind of collapse, with core funding rapidly falling and a parallel increase in resources of agencies outside the system. Unhelpful competition for funding was resulting, and specialized agencies were forced to mobilize their own resources to meet the demand for services from member States, and so had in themselves become financing agencies. Lack of coordination and overlapping was more likely to occur under such an approach, while tasks carried out were more likely to be done by agencies able to raise funds rather than by those most competent and experienced in the fields concerned. Resource mobilization and rationalized procedures, along with synergy and complementarity in using funds, was essential, and programmes should focus on the matters of the greatest priority to the most vulnerable countries.
BAUDOIN DUVIEUSART, Acting Director of the Bureau for Extra-budgetary Resources of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), said the organization recognized the decline in ODA and the rapid growth of private capital for a number of countries. The strategic alliance between the Bretton Woods Institution, specialized agencies and funds an programmes had to be ensured. There should be increased funds for development and they should be directed at the poorest countries. Specialized agencies had an important and vital role to play in establishing a dialogue with member states to help them elaborate programmes which attracted donors; they also strengthened national capacities to exercise this same function. A better definition of development policies and investment programmes, effective execution of projects and a greater role for national actors would attract more resources. UNESCO was pleased by the reform within the United Nations system because it ensured more effective mobilization of resources. UNESCO had begun its own reform many years ago.
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