ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL IS TOLD COLLABORATION NEEDED BETWEEN UN HUMANITARIAN AND DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS
Press Release
ECOSOC/5771
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL IS TOLD COLLABORATION NEEDED BETWEEN UN HUMANITARIAN AND DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS
19980710Agency Heads Report on Organizational Reform; Community Role in Country Programme Decision-Making Is Emphasized
United Nations funds and programmes must improve the linkages among humanitarian, normative and operational activities, the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), James Gustave Speth, told the Economic and Social Council this morning as the Council continued its segment on operational activities for international development cooperation. During a dialogue between the Council and the heads of the funds and programmes, Mr. Speth said management structures, such as the Council, should encourage more effective collaboration among United Nations entities and their governing bodies. The Organization's humanitarian and development work should be jointly pursued, so that there was a successful transfer and sustainability when humanitarian efforts were phased down. Programming for development needed to provide for emergencies, and post-conflict recovery should assist the return to the normal development path. While coordination was a possible outcome, it was not an end in itself, said the Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Nafis Sadik. It needed to be judged against concrete results at the country level. With regard to the implementation of reforms and the coordination of operational activities, it was important to ask whether there was too much focus on processes and too little on outcomes. Reform was about more than new structures and procedures, said Carol Bellamy, the Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). It required reviewing current systems, and eliminating or reducing them where new procedures and products replaced existing mechanisms. However, improved collaboration mechanisms would not suffice. There must be measurement of impact, monitoring of progress, the exchange of information, a review of lessons learned, and the identification of problems and adjustments. The Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP), Catherine Bertini, said the funds and programmes must ensure that the community had a role in the decision-making process of emergency and development operations at the country level. It was important to ensure that programmes were directed to the people most in need. Women also must be involved in the process of rehabilitation and rebuilding of communities. They were often the only stable adults left in a community. The Council will meet again at 3 p.m. this afternoon to continue its informal dialogue with the heads of the United Nations funds and programmes.
Council Work Programme
The Economic and Social Council met this morning to continue its segment on operational activities for international development cooperation holding an informal dialogue with the heads of the United Nations funds and programmes.
Scheduled to participate in the dialogue are the following: Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), James Gustave Speth; Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Nafis Sadik; Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP), Catherine Bertini; and Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), Carol Bellamy.
To facilitate the discussion, the Council had before it a report (document DP/1998/12 and Corr.1 and 2) of the Executive Board of the UNFPA and the UNDP on its first regular session of 1998, held in New York from 19 to 26 January. Another report (document DP/1998/13) contains the four decisions adopted during the session addressing, respectively: narrowing the focus of UNDP interventions; review of policy implications of change and non-core funding; and funding strategy for the UNDP.
The report indicates that for the UNDP, the biennium 1998-1999 would be one of implementing and consolidating legislation and initiatives of the current biennium. Priority would be given to implementing the new management process and the new programming framework, as well as to mobilizing support and resources for poverty eradication programmes. Within the management process, the focus would be on enhanced country focus; effectiveness and impact; and efficiency, accountability and good management.
The Council also had before it a report (document E/1998/35, Part I) of the Executive Board on its first 1998 regular session, held from 26 to 28 and 30 January). Overall, the report focuses on UNICEF's development of a strategic vision for the future, primarily through coordination with other agencies in the context of the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF). Towards that end, the report describes a meeting between the Executive Boards of UNDP and UNFPA and of UNICEF.
The report indicates that the UNICEF Board adopted seven decisions during the session, a number of them on procedural matters related to support budgets, general resource budget estimates and supplementary-funded programme budget estimates. In a decision regarding the UNICEF greeting card and related operations segment, the board addressed aspects of the operation's two revenue-generating activities, product sales and private sector fund-raising. Among other things, the Board requested analyses of profitability and a comparison of approved budget to actual expenditures.
The Board also requested that a draft report on a resource mobilization strategy for UNICEF be prepared for transmission to the Council. Another decision approves allocation of funds for the 1998 UNICEF Maurice Pate Award relative to human rights in the Pacific.
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The annual report of the Executive Director of UNICEF (document E/1998/16 and Corr.1) states that country-level coordination between UNICEF, other funds and programmes of the United Nations development group and with the broader United Nations system would be facilitated largely through the UNDAF and the UNDP resident coordinator system. The UNDAF would serve as a basis for assisting governments to fulfil the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the commitments they have made. In that manner, it would be possible to place children at the centre of the development agenda and ensure that they constituted a distinct and priority concern in the national political context.
The annual reports of the UNDP Administrator and the Executive Director of UNFPA (document E/1998/45) are also before the Council. The UNDP reports the efforts of the open-ended ad hoc working group to develop a sustainable funding strategy for the Programme. The working group is reviewing various funding mechanisms and other options to place the funding of the UNDP on a predictable, assured, continuous basis. It also was taking into account the budgetary processes in contributing countries and the need for more equitable burden-sharing among donor countries.
The Executive Board was expected to adopt a decision on such a sustainable funding strategy at its third regular session of 1998. The Executive Board recommends that the governing bodies might wish to provide guidance for similar time-bound efforts by all funds and programmes to produce strategies for funding on such a basis, taking into account budgetary processes and the need for more equitable burden-sharing among donors.
According to the report of the UNFPA, the Fund has experienced difficulties during the past two years in trying to meet programme commitments under the current funding system. Significant cash flow problems in 1996 required that the UNFPA draw down on its operational reserve to meet its programme commitments. There was a great need for a predictable, assured and continuous funding mechanism, perhaps through multi-year pledging or other means. The UNFPA, and its partners in the United Nations development system, must be able to fulfil their programme commitments without encountering disruptions and slowdowns that result from uncertain and irregular funding patterns.
The Council also had before it the report of the annual session of UNICEF's Executive Board (document E/19981/L.11), held from 1 to 6 June. During that session, the Executive Director issued recommendations related to the resource mobilization strategy for UNICEF; the UNICEF communication policy; follow-up to the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD); implementation of management excellence in UNICEF; eradication of poliomyelitis; and follow-up to the 1990 World Summit for Children.
The Council also had before it a report (document E/1998/70) on UNICEF's resource mobilization strategy. The report states that the most important condition for effective fund-raising was for UNICEF to continue developing
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sustainable, quality programmes at the country level that show demonstrable results. The UNICEF must be able to show the impact of its programmes, including capacity-building and advocacy efforts. The development and implementation of guidelines and indicators for rights-based programming will be key to assessing the impact of UNICEF programmes.
The Council also had before it the annual report of the Executive Director of WFP, (document E/1998/62). The report highlights WFP activity during 1997, reporting a 17 per cent increase WFP beneficiaries from 1996 to 1997. The increase was mainly to beneficiaries in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and in Africa and Latin America as a consequence of the El Niño climatic phenomenon. There was also an increase in food delivery to development projects. Quantities shipped or purchased locally increased by nearly 28 per cent over 1996, due mainly to exceptionally large carry-overs from 1996. A decrease in the cost of commodities also enabled the Programme to buy more quantities for the same dollar value.
The report highlights progress made during 1997 in the WFP strategic and financial plan. An overview of WFP's consolidated budget and expenditures showed a people-centred approach which includes increasing the targeting of resources to the poorest groups, sharpening the focus on countries with the greatest need, and improving the quality of operations by incorporating assistance into national programmes.
Finally, the report describes measures to increase accountability during the strategic and financial plan for 1998-2001, which includes improvement of financial management and information systems, and of reporting systems. It also includes improving the management system, mobilizing resources, and gaining stronger advocacy through the media and new communications tools.
A report before the Council by the Executive Board of the WFP (document E/1998/37) reports on its four sessions of 1997. It outlines the governance matters taken up during the sessions, including revisions to WFP's general and financial regulations. Policy issues addressed included support to countries in establishing and managing national food assistance programmes; policies on the use of food aid in relief and development activities; monetization; measures to enhance programming in the poorest countries; reaching mothers and children at critical life stages; and reform and revitalization measures in the WFP.
The report includes updates on the shift in focus of reports from evaluation of development projects to reports reviewing relief operations, thematic studies of development and relief interventions. The report notes the Board's approval of the strategic and financial plan for 1998-2001 while presenting the budgetary performance report for 1996 and the pledging target for 1999-2000. The Board also took note of the progress report on the implementation of an external auditor. Finally, it reports on operational matters considered during the year and of the Board's visit to a WFP-assisted project in China.
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Also before the Council was a report on decisions of the UNDP/UNFPA Board taken at its April session (document DP/1998/16). Those concerned the UNDP/UNFPA report to the Council, UNFPA technical support services, resource mobilization strategy for the UNFPA and approvals on recruitment of country representatives.
Informal Dialogue
JAMES GUSTAVE SPETH, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), said the Council had before it a consolidated list of issues relating to the coordination of operational activities, as contained in document E/1998/CRP.3. The list had been prepared by the UNDP and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), in consultation with the United Nations Development Group. It provided an important framework for recommendations of the Triennial Review. It identified four broad categories of issues: programme-related issues; the resident coordinator system; administrative, financial and human resources issues; and resources.
The United Nations reform process emphasized the role of the resident coordinator as the leader of the country team, he said. There were issues and problems in strengthening the system and broadening participation, but progress had been made in addressing them. A separate and distinct job description, which set out specific tasks and responsibilities, had been drawn up for the resident coordinator. Special training courses were organized for all resident coordinators, and joint training for resident coordinators and United Nations country teams would continue. An improved process for the nomination, selection and clearance of resident coordinators had been developed to ensure greater transparency, consultation and ownership. Yet, there needed to be more women resident coordinators. There were currently 30 women out of a total of 131 resident coordinators. That was double the number in 1995, but the goal was 50 women by the year 2001.
The funds and programmes needed to move together to improve the linkages among humanitarian, normative and operational activities, he said. Management structures, such as the Council, the Executive Committees and legislative bodies, needed to encourage close and more effective collaboration among entities and their governing bodies. Conference follow-up mandates were required to do normative work, and natural and man-made emergencies needed to be minimized or avoided through development initiatives. Programming for development needed to provide for emergencies, and post-conflict recovery needed to assist the return to the normal development path. The Organization's humanitarian and development work should be jointly pursued, so there was a successful transfer and sustainability when humanitarian efforts were phased down. That would require major changes.
There was a need for greater uniformity of decentralization and harmonization of procedures, forms and requirements in order to achieve major integrated programming and genuine collaboration, he said. Communication among the governing bodies of the specialized agencies, under the aegis of the Council, could help encourage further progress in that area. In addition,
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adequate and predictable resources were necessary. Stressing core resources as the bedrock of operational activities, the funds and programmes were each pursuing innovative strategies to ensure more predictable resources. The true litmus test for operational activities was the actual impact their work had on the everyday lives of the poorest and the most vulnerable in the programme countries served.
NAFIS SADIK, Executive Director, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), said that while coordination was, in itself, a possible outcome, it was not an end in itself. It had to be judged against concrete results at the country level. With regard to the implementation of reforms and the coordination of operational activities, it was important to bear in mind the amount of time and effort spent on those processes. What needed to be constantly asked was whether there was too much focus on processes and too little on outcomes. It was also necessary to ensure that processes and products created were shared by the entire country team, as well as by national counterparts. It was only when everyone felt comfortable and confident with the initiatives and practices being pursued that they would be fully and integrated into the everyday work, thereby contributing to the effective results sought.
Addressing issues related to the programming processes, she said the question to be asked was what difference did the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) make in terms of process, effectiveness, timeliness and delivery. Also, what was the role of government and its involvement with UNDAF? Clearly, it was agreed that government was a close partner in the process and should be involved from an early stage. But what exactly did that mean, and how did it relate to the Country Strategy Note process? There was also the important matter of ensuring that dialogue and programming were as inclusive as possible, and extended to all partners, including civil society and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
She asked to what extent did the new tools for programming facilitate and provide useful mechanisms for the coordinated and coherent implementation and follow-up of major conferences. Those tools should utilize the materials produced by the task forces of the Administrative Committee on Coordination (ACC), which were established by the Secretary-General to help promote the implementation of conference programmes of action. A critical point was the support that could be provided to the country team on data systems and indicators, to help establish some baseline data and facilitate the monitoring of conference goals. In the area of the resident coordinator system, she said that, among the issues which remained on the table for discussion, was the need to further differentiate between the responsibilities of the coordinator and those of the UNDP representative.
She also referred to the overriding concern for securing a more stable basis for increasing the funding of operational activities. Addressing resource mobilization issues was as important as all other aspects of reform.
CATHERINE BERTINI, Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP), said the WFP faced several challenges when it responded with emergency and
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development programmes in a country. Sometimes, both programmes were working concurrently in the same areas. Most of the programmes in conflict or emergency situations attempted to rebuild and promote development. The most immediate challenge was to define what inputs were necessary and appropriate in a given situation. During an emergency, the focus was saving lives. In development, it was important to figure out how to define principles.
Another challenge faced by the funds and programmes was with working with the authorities in charge of a country, she said. A third challenge involved ensuring that the community had a role in the decision-making process. It was important to try to help the people most in need, and to ensure that programmes were directed to those individuals. That was particularly vital in areas of conflict and rehabilitation. Funds and programmes must also involve women in the process of rehabilitation and rebuilding of communities. Often, women were the only stable adults in a community. The WFP needed to deal with the existing power structure, as well as with the community and the heads of households. It also needed to ensure that its staff was in order and appropriate for the situation in the country.
The issue of coordination mechanism among the funds and programmes was another important challenge, she said. There was a need to coordinate with NGOs and other players in the country. That was the responsibility of the United Nations system and the bilateral donors. Another challenge faced was infrastructure-building, which involved helping the country build its own support mechanisms for the future.
She went on to say that funding for development was also a challenge, because official development assistance (ODA) had decreased in recent years. Regarding the issue of governance, she said countries should give the same messages to all agencies. The WFP was based in Rome and received direction from the Council, the General Assembly and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). It was important that advice given by member States took into account the individual characteristics of the funds and programmes.
CAROL BELLAMY, Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), said that with the launch of UNDAF, field-level coordination in the development, and implementation of programmes had entered a new phase. Draft UNDAF guidelines had made it possible to devise collaborative frameworks tailored to the realities and the specific development needs of countries. In the process, the nature of coordination had changed and been elevated from information-sharing to a process of developing common goals which could direct fully complementary activities to support country-owned programmes. The UNDAF had emerged as both product and process, and brought together funds, programmes and other entities in a binding collaborative effort. It would enable the Organization to support governments more effectively, and to respond to many global initiatives, including the follow-up to conferences, poverty eradication, the Special Initiative for Africa, and the implementation of international conventions.
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She said reform was clearly about more than creating new structures and adopting new procedures. It required a review of current systems, with the aim of eliminating or reducing them where the new procedures and products replaced existing mechanisms. However, improved mechanisms for collaboration would not be enough. There must be measurement of impact, monitoring of progress, the exchange of information on good practices, a review of lessons learned, the identification of problems and necessary adjustments. Care must be taken to ensure that reporting was rationalized and not duplicated. Reporting to the intergovernmental machinery, in particular, would need to be more rational and based on main cross-cutting themes.
She said that the triennial policy review provided a useful perspective on the Secretary-General's reform process. The Organization needed to address how best to use the complementary process -- the review and the reforms. As the work of the funds and programmes were brought into increased harmony, what could be clearly seen were the linkages and interrelationships between development and humanitarian activities, and the need to avoid disconnects in the respective programming frameworks. While the United Nations was better prepared than ever before to address the challenges of the future, the programme results that were required would only be possible if there were adequate resources. In that regard, the international community needed to provide financial support that was predictable, sustained and adequate to the task at hand. The need for complementarity and cohesion in the United Nations programming at country level was well understood -- the work of the resident coordinator and the effective functioning of the country team were crucial in bringing that about.
Exchange of Views
Responding to questions about UNDAF, Mr. SPETH said the UNDAF assessment would be presented to the General Assembly during its consideration of the triennial policy review. There needed to be more active interventions and support from member States in order to drive the changes that would be considered. The UNDP was deeply committed to pursuing the harmonization agenda through the United Nations Development Group.
He went on to say that decentralization should continue throughout the United Nations system. The UNDP was pleased with the World Bank's decision to carry on decentralization measures that would allow for better coordination at the country level. Decentralization would move the decision-making closer to where the action should be. They also allowed for better responses more in tune with the country's needs.
Regarding new procedures emerging for donor coordination, he said the UNDP had been a strong leader in experiments in country-level cooperation and coordination. There was need to strengthen the ownership of the country, and the entire donor community should come together in order to eliminate overlap. The United Nations pursued a programme approach at the country level that established a platform for the larger cooperation of the donor community.
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Regarding funding, he said the UNDP had engaged in extensive reforms and strengthening of organizational structures. The approach of the United Nations to develop cooperation was at the cutting edge, and its basic principles were exemplary. Yet, the rules and procedures should be reformed, particularly at the country level. Unfortunately, resources were disappearing and had hit an historic low. That trend must be reversed.
Ms. SADIK said that decentralization as far as funds and programmes were concerned was being implemented. The inability to arrive at decisions in the past had often delayed strategies. Participation in the pooling of resources was an issue that had to be discussed in the UNDP. There were also questions on whether issues such as reproductive health and family health were reflected in the health sector guidelines. There also was a need to work out an arrangement to maintain the accountability of funds.
She agreed completely with the view that country programmes and processes had to be owned by country partnerships; there was, however, a need to work out how that could be guaranteed. On the question of core resources, she said it was necessary to do more to promote public support for those activities in the donor countries. The issue of the impact of the non- availability of core resources and the use of funds was also being looked at; hopefully, that would lead to stable and increased resources. On the follow-up to conferences, there was a need to decide where that issue could be discussed in a holistic way. Its implementation should be as one agenda item. The basic social service guidelines were good mechanisms for coordination at the country level since they could be used to measure results and progress.
Regarding a comment about organizations not based in New York, Ms. BERTINI said United Nations reform had allowed the WFP to participate actively in the United Nations development group. It also continued to play a very active role in the inter-agency standing committee in its work within the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The Secretary- General was very sensitive to the issue and had set up tele-conferences with the offices in Geneva, Nairobi, Vienna and Rome. In Rome, the WFP also held meetings among executive heads and deputies. She offered to host the first annual meeting of the bureaux of the UNDP, UNFPA and UNICEF, if they chose to meet with the board of the WFP.
In response to a question about bridging the gap between relief and development, she said the consolidated appeal process could be amended to incorporate the development group in the work in development and
rehabilitation. Yet, it was important to ensure that emergency and life- saving operations were not compromised.
Concerning an inquiry about food aid, she said the WFP's share of global food aid had increased from 20 to 40 per cent in the last 10 years. That was caused by a decrease in overall world food aid. The WFP was now the major agency in development food aid, including bilateral organizations and
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non-governmental organizations. Yet, she would rather have the WFP be a small fish in a big pond than a big fish in a small pond.
The focus of the work of the WFP had shifted from development to emergencies and humanitarian work, she continued. It had also undertaken many reform measures, including decreasing its work in middle-income countries. Over the past three years, the WFP had closed development operations in 22 such countries. It was now concentrating a majority of its resources on the least developed countries and low-income food-deficit countries.
Ms. BELLAMY stressed the importance of the ownership of programmes by countries -- that was the true test. The quality and coherence of programmes at field level was also critical. She said UNICEF had undergone decentralization for some time now. While there was need for synergy between headquarters and regional offices, what took place out in the field was key. The UNICEF therefore attached great importance to regionalization which it considered to be more than just having regional offices. When there was need for help in a primary health initiative for example, instead of relaying between headquarters and the field, a regional office could step in to offer assistance. While decentralization was not a new mechanism, it was still an evolution that was taking place.
She said the Board of UNICEF had raised concerns about relationships with organizations such as the World Bank. That relationship was improving, but, given the scale of resources, UNICEF did not want to become just an implementing agency -- it wanted to have more effective use of donors' funds.
She said no singular goals would be universally accomplished on a global basis. The Fund could, however, come close. She cited as evidence of that the fact that there were only two countries left who had yet to ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child. By the year 2000, UNICEF was targeting accelerated activity in the pursuit of its goals. There were 850,000 children who died each year from measles despite the availability of a vaccination -- that was an issue that needed to be rectified. As of now, UNICEF was looking at the agenda of children in the twenty-first century.
In response to several remarks about UNDAF, Mr. SPETH said the link between UNDAF and country priorities was essential. The UNDAF should stimulate the development of more up-to-date country strategy notes. There was also a need to move towards more joint programming and more joint reviews of United Nations country programmes by Committees of the General Assembly. The most difficult issue to be addressed in the evaluation for the triennial policy review was ensuring quality control of UNDAF. It was important that all country team leaders were evaluated on their support for the system and its objectives, as part of performance assessments.
He said he hoped that all members of the ACC would soon participate in UNDAF, so that decisions would be made at the highest level. While in the past there had been voluntary inputs from the specialized agencies in UNDAF, it would be preferable to have a formal commitment by all ACC members.
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Commenting on the relevance of UNDAF, Ms. SADIK said that in the current evaluation the key question was the value added in the process. There were already examples of joint programmes in areas such as education but there would not be one joint programme. While all agencies would participate in the joint endeavours, not every agency would be represented in every programme. Guidelines were for guidance and were not rigid instruments, she stressed.
Turning to common services, she said that at the field level officers were already making efforts to pool services in an informal way. She observed that some difficulties could be encountered with that approach. Regarding performance systems, she said criteria to measure the coordination work of representatives in the field had been introduced. There were also attempts to form a mechanism for appraisal that was more transparent.
Addressing gender mainstreaming, she said there should be a common approach because everyone in the system had different guidelines.
Ms. BERTINI said UNDAF was a way for development partners to work together, and so far ownership at the level of agencies had not been a problem. Regarding joint programming, the WFP needed to increase decision- making in the field. There would be increased chances for more common decisions in the field as more countries approved country programmes. Yet the United Nations system was still far from truly connected joint programming.
Regarding the resident coordinators programme, she said the process for getting more people involved in the system was important. Also vital were performance reviews and holding people accountable for coordination. The UNDP had made major strides in recognizing that performance appraisals should include coordination work and had asked other bodies for comments. However, the process had a long way to go in making the feedback completely relevant.
In response to questions about gender, she said the UNDAF was working to build consistent social and economic indicators that could be desegregated by gender. Regarding coordination, she said the WFP would be pleased to make an informal briefing to the Council. More decisions should take Rome into account.
Ms. BELLAMY said all the members of the United Nations Development Group had been quite open about UNDAF. There was a whole series of issues and questions that were being addressed by the funds and programmes. The key issues concerned: participation by specialized agencies, true country ownership, and the implication of bilateral donor arrangements.
Regarding the sub-group of the Development Group on indicators, the common country assessment tried to build in a common set of indicators and would allow for greater commonality about the data that was being used. Performance evaluations should include an element dealing with commitment to and participation in United Nations reform.
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