FOLLOW-UP TO GENERAL ASSEMBLY RECOMMENDATIONS ON DEVELOPMENT REVIEWED BY ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL
Press Release
ECOSOC/5712
FOLLOW-UP TO GENERAL ASSEMBLY RECOMMENDATIONS ON DEVELOPMENT REVIEWED BY ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL
19970707 (Reissued as received.)GENEVA, 7 July (UN Information Service) -- The Economic and Social Council took up this morning the topic of "operational activities of the United Nations for international development cooperation: follow-up to policy recommendations of the General Assembly", and discussed, among other things, efforts to improve capacity-building and field- and regional-level coordination among development programmes.
Remarks offered by officials of United Nations development agencies and national delegations repeated patterns set during last week's "high-level" discussion: there were calls for efficient use of funds, including avoidance of overlapping between programmes, mixed with concern over the levels at which development projects were financed. Efforts to improve "capacity-building" -- defined as "helping countries and societies to strengthen their economic, human, social, and institutional capacities for self-sustaining development" -- and the functioning of country-based Resident Coordinators were mentioned repeatedly. Alfred Haemmerli, Chief of the Operational Activities for Development Unit of the Department of Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development, said the Council might wish to identify priority areas of work in the development field, as resources were limited, while Kerstin Trone, Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) said it was of "overriding importance" for the agency attain the level of resources for its activities agreed to by Governments at the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development.
A representative of the United States said that recommendations to put more emphasis on institutional "capacity-building" in countries in which development programmes were carried out were essentially correct but that greater analytical effort and more research were needed on how to accomplish that goal. And a representative of China said the aim of capacity-building should be to improve the United Nations's capacity to respond to the urgent needs of developing countries and to improve the ability of developing countries themselves to face effectively the challenges posed for them by a rapidly changing world economy.
Addressing the meeting were representatives of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA); Luxembourg (on behalf of the European Union); United States; United Nations Children's Fund; Canada; Norway; China; Philippines; Russian Federation; Turkey; Republic of Korea; Switzerland; Czech Republic; Malta; Swaziland; World Food Programme; World Bank; Zambia; and Belarus.
In other action, the Council approved the accreditation of the International Centre for Genetic Engineering Biotechnology to the Economic and Social Council; and approved the proposals of five non-governmental associations to make statements in connection with several agenda items considered relevant.
The Council will reconvene at 3 p.m. to continue its debate on implementing General Assembly policy resolutions related to development programmes.
Operational Activities for Development
Before the Council is a report of the Secretary General on progress in the implementation of General Assembly resolution 50/120 on operational activities of the United Nations for international development cooperation (document E/1997/65) (for background on that report, see Press Release ECOSOC/97/4). The Council is also reviewing four addenda to the report (for background on addendum 1, see Press Release ECOSOC/97/5; addendum 3 was summarized in Press Release ECOSOC/97/4). In addendum 2 (document E/1997/65/Add.2), the Secretary-General assesses steps taken to strengthen the resident coordinator system, whereby all United Nations agencies in the field have a unified presence. According to the report, in general there is a trend towards increased team participation in the resident coordinator system. It has been shown that success depends on the capacity of all members of the United Nations system to involve themselves in the team's work. In the document it is also recalled that in his 17 March 1997 letter outlining "track one" of his reform proposals, the Secretary-General included a range of practical measures to strengthen the resident coordinator system being introduced to better define the dual responsibilities of resident coordinators and the resident representatives of the United Nations Development Programme, and to ensure a broader selection of highly qualified candidates with recent experience in the United Nations system.
Addendum 4 (document E/1997/65/Add.4) is a note by the Secretary-General on comprehensive statistical data on operational activities for development for the year 1995. It provides information on contributions from governments and other sources for operational activities of the United Nations system as well as expenditures on those activities.
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Also before the Council is a note by the Secretary-General on policy issues arising from the reports of the Executive Boards of United Nations funds and programmes (document E1997/89). The note outlines the recent establishment of the guidance function of the Council vis-a-vis the Executive Boards of the funds and programmes. It concludes that to facilitate this task of the Council, and to avoid repetition of discussions, the governing boards should be requested to highlight in their respective reports the issues requiring examination and identify action to be taken. Information from reports confirm that while non-core and other resources had increased, core resources were either stagnant or declining, which poses a major challenge to the Council which might wish to make appropriate recommendations to the General Assembly and to the Boards. To further assist the Council, an overview of the principal items considered by the Boards in September of 1996 and 1997 is provided.
Statements
ALFRED HAEMMERLI, Chief of the Operational Activities for Development Unit, Department of Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development (DPCSD), introducing reports on follow-up to policy recommendations of the General Assembly (document E/1997/65 and /89) said that for some time General Assembly resolutions arising from triennial comprehensive policy reviews had provided important guidance for improving the effectiveness and coherence of operational activities; change was taking hold not only with the United Nations and its associated funds and programmes, but also in the rest of the United Nations system. Most benchmarks established for early 1997 in General Assembly resolution 50/120 had been reached. He went on to review steps taken and outlined in the reports on the subjects of capacity-building and country-level coordination. He added that it might be useful for the Council to identify areas requiring particular attention, as funds were limited; and that the group might wish to call greater emphasis by the boards of various programmes and funds to Country Strategy Notes prepared, as in many cases programmes for a number focused on the same country.
RAFEEUDDIN AHMED, Associate Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), said the two themes the Council had chosen for this year's deliberations -- capacity-building and field and regional-level coordination -- represented UNDP's daily work. The UNDP had seen its primary mission over the past four decades as creating the capacity in programme countries for economic and social development. The UNDP had intensified its focus on capacity-development for poverty eradication through sustainable human development, aiming its core resources at the poorest countries. Capacity-development needed to involve society as a whole, both the public sector as well as civil society and the private sector. In addition, the action environment, which consisted of the basic economic, social, political and policy structures in a country, had to be considered. The public sector institutional context, the task network had to be examined, and human
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resources had to be taken into account. Thematic groups, with different lead agencies depending on the subject, were also important in promoting effective coordination. These groups allowed agencies of the system as a whole to guide the substantive work of the resident coordinator system.
KERSTIN TRONE, Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), said the agency had participated actively in the Inter-Agency Task Forces set up to facilitate coherent and coordinated implementation of the Programmes of Action of recent international conferences and had participated constructively in all meetings of the Development Operations Group set up to assist the Secretary General in formulating measures to strengthen the Resident Coordinator System and related mechanisms. The UNFPA was worried about the adverse effects of any reduction in resources for its mandated activities, however; it was of overriding importance, for example, to attain the level of resources agreed to by Governments at the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development. Capacity-building required careful consideration that did not take place to quickly in order to ensure that United Nations assistance contributed to sustainable activities rather than those that only could be sustained with continued external funding, she added. The agency hence had given priority to monitoring and evaluation mechanisms and was working to streamline guidelines and procedures.
JEAN-CLAUDE MEYER (Luxembourg), speaking on behalf of the European Union, said the Union believed the resident-coordinator system was important: he or she should represent the United Nations system as a whole. The UNDP's move to allocate significant parts of its core resources to the resident coordinator system was welcomed, as was the promise of full support of other organizations. Funding of the resident coordinator system, which represented all organizations, should be shared, and the selection of candidates should be held within an open and transparent definition of functions and from as broad a base a possible.
Mr. MEYER said the use of common premises and administrative services should be increased without imposing additional costs on host countries. The European Union also attached great importance to Country Strategy Notes as an indispensable element in improving coordination within the United Nations system. It also believed that funds and programmes needed to delegate funds to thematic groups; that it was important for the United Nations to adopt a coordinated approach on questions of evaluation and monitoring; and that capacity-building was a key element of country development.
RALPH E. BRESLER (United States) said that although institutional capacity-building was obviously important -- and too often neglected -- an authoritative body of knowledge and experience was still lacking on how to build such capacity. Beyond devoting increased attention and resource to this issue, it was necessary first and foremost to learn and understand the nature of the problems involved in institutional capacity-building; the United
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Nations should try further to determine areas in which capacity-building was a priority. Recommendations to put more emphasis on capacity-building were essentially correct but greater analytical effort and more research were needed before an effective action plan could be developed. The United States also believed that reaching beyond traditional Government contributions and the donor community to increase core resources, as outlined in the Secretary-General's report on the subject, was an idea that deserved further explanation.
KARIN SHAM POO, Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), referring to the report of UNICEF's Executive Director's Report to the Council, said the organization had continued to emphasize the programme approach, ownership by national governments and national execution, as well as to focus on issues and priorities common to the United Nations system. The UNICEF was deeply committed to the process of reform in the system: it had itself clarified accountabilities and overall inter-relationships between headquarters and country and regional offices; streamlined oversight of programmes; increased effective field management through the use of management teams, and was about to implement new programme and financial-management information systems.
Turning to the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF), Ms. SHAM POO said it would work to enhance and strengthen the resident- coordinator system. The UNDAF and common premises, when considered along with improvements in the resident-coordinator system, provided a solid body of achievement under the "Track One" reform proposals of the Secretary-General. Still, the areas of capacity-building and national execution would require increased attention, along with monitoring, evaluation and the availability of resources. And the realization of the full benefits of reform would require that funding for operational activities be provided on a sustained, predictable and assured basis. For its part, UNICEF was relying more heavily than ever on resource mobilizations from the private sector.
LOUISE BERGERON (Canada), speaking on behalf of Australia as well, said the Secretary-General's report clearly recognized that fundamental policy and operational changes must be made if a more comprehensive approach to capacity-building was to be adopted; the United Nations system had a comparative advantage, particularly in some areas of the process, and must play a leadership role, but such leadership should be based on a focused and well-coordinated approach and should inspire outside cooperation agencies to work more closely with the United Nations system. Meanwhile, the current role played by Resident Coordinators in coordinated follow-up to United Nations global conferences was truly disappointing, as was a lack of progress in establishing system-wide mechanisms for shared and collaborative programming -- a matter which should be quickly addressed. Core resources must remain the main tool that allowed each organization to fulfil its mandate.
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AASLAUG HAGA (Norway) said Norway was pleased that the resident-coordinator system seemed to be functioning better. In this connection, the UNDAF was an important new tool with a great potential. But Norway had some doubt as to UNDAF becoming an efficient tool for bringing the system together unless the resident-coordinator system was given greater formal authority. Country-level structures could not be seen in isolation. The way the system organized itself at country level had to be reflected at the headquarters level.
Regarding common premises, the representative said the cost-effectiveness of closer programmatic collaboration of the staff of different agencies was hard to measure in dollars and cents, and such a narrow look should not be an excuse for rapid action on the issue.
YUAN SHAOLU (China) said the aim of capacity-building was to improve the United Nations's capacity to respond to the urgent needs of developing countries and to improve the ability of developing countries themselves to face effectively the challenges that confronted them; the rapid change being undergone by the world economy was not only providing great opportunities but also raising great problems for developing countries. Unfavourable external economic conditions prevailing at the moment had meant that such countries were paying a huge price for undertaking reforms necessary to improve themselves and which had been called for by the international community. This could not be allowed to continue; greater international help was needed to alleviate the effects of these unfavourable conditions and to augment the capacities of developing countries to cope with them. The implication almost was that this was the developing countries' fault, which was not true or fair. The Secretary-General's report should have called for a study on how to confront and rectify these damaging external conditions, the Chinese representative said.
FELIPE MABILANGAN (Philippines) said there was a need for a substantial increase of resources for operational activities; offers of increased support for operational activities for development from a number of countries were welcomed. On the issue of the use of common premises, the Philippines believed that the efficiency gains it would engender made it cost effective. As for the position of the resident coordinator, the representative of the United Nations at the country level, it had to be strengthened: the post needed to have a distinct job description, its own administrative and technical staff and adequate resources. The resident coordinator, together with members of country teams, should provide technical assistance to countries on capacity-building. Funds and Programmes, meanwhile, were urged to support South-South cooperation, and donor countries were invited to contribute to the trust for such cooperation.
V.A. NEBYENZIA (Russian Federation) said national capacity-building was not only one of the key factors for the growth of countries receiving
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development funding but also implied sustainability of the progress achieved. It was necessary to improve the quality of management at the Government level and active incorporation of civil society in the development process; inter- agency coordination in the field also had to be improved, especially through strengthening the resident-coordinator system. In this context, joint evaluations and reviews of development programmes should be carried out, and programme cycles should be harmonized; it also was efficient in recipient countries to have joint premises for operation of development programmes. Improvement of monitoring, evaluation, and accountability of such programmes also was important.
SAMVAR KIZILDELI (Turkey) noted that the debate on the funding of operational activities fell short of providing an optimistic outlook for the future, especially on core resources. Turkey supported efforts to attract more contributions from non-governmental sources. But the success of such an initiative depended on United Nations publicity efforts and the ability to conceive projects that would attract new donors. Decision-making on fund raising mechanisms of funds and programmes should continue to be within the domain of their executive bodies.
Concerning the implementation the new resident-coordinator system, the host country also had a role to play, he said.
MOON HA YONG (Republic of Korea) said assistance for developing national capacity needed to focus more on long-term results, and policies and procedures should be reviewed to develop a more effective approach. South-South cooperation also could be very useful for capacity-building, as experience gained by one country could be useful elsewhere in the difficult process of development. Korea was making modest contributions through various programmes designed to augment the development process. The country felt the Resident Coordinator system should be strengthened, with reforms applied throughout the system, and that such strategies such as developing country and regional strategy notes should be further developed. The trend towards declining core development assistance, meanwhile, should be reversed.
FRANCOIS ROHNER, of Switzerland, said relatively little information was available on "Track Two" of the Secretary-General's United Nations reform package, which was why the discussion on reform was not so easy. Capacity-building was the main issue for international development cooperation, but progress had been modest. Bilateral and multilateral groups had every interest in exchanging experiences and learning together. External evaluation was very important and Switzerland look forward impatiently to the results. Some 80 country strategy notes were presently being developed since the UNDAF started work March 17. Countries had been told about a pilot UNDAF experiment in Ghana, but it was necessary to put this information in writing so that all countries interested in a similar experiment could have access to it. It was no secret that the development of the country strategy notes had
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been a laborious and very difficult and bureaucratic process with rather modest results. The United Nations needed to seek something to give it better results. It was also crucial that United Nations activity at country level should cover the whole system, including specialized agencies. The United Nations system also had a particularly important role to play in regional and subregional activities.
MIROSLAV SOMOL (Czech Republic) said that the mission of development assistance was indeed, as listed in the report, "that of helping countries and societies to strengthen their economic, human, social, and institutional capacities for self-sustaining development"; under the current resource situation, this principle had become possibly more significant than ever. The process of globalization put differentiated accents on national capacity-building, and required high-quality skills in Government policy-making and in entrepreneurial management, along with good governance in both the public and private spheres; these constituted the basis for "internalization" of the new opportunities offered by globalization. Good governance, furthermore, enabled countries to contain the risks associated with globalization. Higher efficiency and better transparency in development assistance could help attract the interest of new donors and remedy the sometimes low esteem in which development programmes were held in the judgements of some traditional big donors, thus generating more funds; rules and procedures needed to be further harmonized, and regional and sub-regional cooperation augmented.
JACQUELINE AQUILINA (Malta) pointed to the major role played by the regional commissions through their collaborative arrangements with such agencies as the UNDP and bilateral donors. Malta had been pleased to hear the Secretary-General, in his brief meeting with the Group of 77 a few days ago, refer to the important role that regional commissions would play in his proposals on reform. Malta agreed with the conclusions of the third addendum to the report of the Secretary General on capacity-building, including the fact that external assistance should be fare more selective and sensitive and should not focus on short-term results and narrow accountability; the strengthening of national capacities should come from the governments themselves. There was a pressing need for a critical review of the existing policies and procedures in order that capacity-building became a more focused mission of the United Nations development system. Resources going to developing countries, whatever their nature or source, needed to be coordinated to produce the best results and to make the most impact in the development of the countries. However, there were no concrete signs of any breakthrough. This needed to be studied more deeply to address the high expectations raised by international conferences that there was a chance of a substantial volume of resources.
MATHENDELE M. DLAMINI (Swaziland) said the country appreciated all the efforts displayed at the coordination level by UNICEF in its efforts to
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empower the country's traditional institutions and enable them to participate in all the organization's programmes on behalf of children; these efforts were of great benefit, as traditional leaders played a major role in the life of the country. United Nations reform in general should harness all efforts to make more fruitful development programmes around the world; the current system should be retained, however, if anywhere there were calls that it should be curtailed; more good should be added, rather, to the good these programmes had already accomplished. Swaziland was concerned, in pursuing its development programmes, with keeping its traditional institutions intact, and appreciated respect for that strategy by the international community. UNICEF must continue, meanwhile, to monitor closely and respond effectively to violations of the rights of children; the organization did not seem to respond well enough during civil wars or to protect children against the depredations of armed groups or during periods of unrest.
JEAN-JACQUES GRAISSE, of the World Food Programme (WFP), said the agency was committed to all efforts to harmonize procedures. Resources for emergency and development needs for WFP had not varied much in the past five years; rather, there had been a slow erosion for resources for development. Thus, WFP was increasingly focusing its activities in a small number of least-developed countries. WFP was concerned that donors were increasingly providing assistance with instructions on how it was to be spent; it hoped that this could be reversed given the effects it had on WFP programmes.
ALFREDO STEIR-YOUNNIS, of the World Bank, said the experience of the Bank, backed up by a study, had shown that technical assistance was central to success for development; however, the process was delicate and complicated, as many countries which needed technical assistance most were least capable of handling technical complexities. The matter had to be done thoroughly and in a manner tailored to the needs of individual countries; funding for technical assistance needed to be increased; if well carried out, such programmes tended to be successful and to contribute to widespread and long-term development progress. It was important to make use of local technical expertise, to push for achievable and relevant Government and administrative reforms, to take into account prevailing cultures and cultural norms, and to make extensive "upstream analyses" of cultures, histories, and prevailing Governmental practices in designing programmes. The World Bank had striven to make use of these lessons in creating its recent development initiatives for Africa, the representative said. Experience also showed that where technical assistance was most difficult to carry out was often where it was most useful.
BRUCE NAMAKANDO (Zambia) said that capacity-building was an important cross cutting issue, and special attention needed to be given to strengthen "absorbative" capacity. There had been an increase in the number of recipient countries for aid, but there was no corresponding increase in resources; this was of concern. Support was needed to increase resources for operational activities, but that should not be at the price of core resources. There was
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a number of countries which were in position to join the list of donors, and Korea was recommended for doing so. Increasing core resources was still possible given the required political will. The resident coordinator system should be further strengthened, as should thematic groups. The resident coordinator should continue to be anchored to the UNDP. Harmonization of rules and procedures was very important and the simplification of rules and their streamlining were necessary.
SYARGEI MIKHNEVICH (Belarus) said operative actions for development by the United Nations system were vital for developing countries and countries in transition; it was important to coordinate such activities well and to concentrate on key areas; overall United Nations reforms certainly should include review of all the United Nations's development programmes. The basic role of development programmes at the country level should remain assistance to national Governments; all United Nations funds and programmes needed to be represented at the country level by one integrated office; funds and programmes should retain their distinctive characters and features, but should be managed in a global sense in an efficient way: it was important to simplify administrative procedures and rules but to make the system rational and accountable.
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