REGIONAL APPROACHES STRENGTHEN CAPACITY TO ADDRESS GLOBAL CHALLENGES, SAYS

DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL IN REMARKS TO INTER-AGENCY COORDINATION MEETING

Following is the text of Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro’s opening remarks at the Regional Inter-agency Coordination Meeting for Latin America and the Caribbean, as delivered in Santiago, Chile, 26 November:

At the outset, allow me to express my most sincere gratitude to the Government of Chile for its unfaltering support to ECLAC [Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean] and to all Governments of member countries for their effective cooperation in implementing the Commission’s activities.

I am deeply honoured to participate at this Regional Coordination Meeting and to lend you the strong and unequivocal support of the Secretary-General to this process.  My presence here today attests to the firm and abiding commitment that the Secretary-General and I have to strengthen the role of the United Nations in the promotion of development, one of the three pillars of the Organization’s work, along with peace and security, and human rights.  Further reinforcing the relationship between the UN Headquarters and regional commissions is indeed an important objective to which I am particularly attached.

I would also like to thank Mr. [José Luis] Machinea for his kind words.  He leads an organization that has profoundly shaped the evolution of the UN’s development agenda, as well as the development of countries in the Latin American and Caribbean region.  It is remarkable that ECLAC continues to enjoy deep linkages with policymakers in this part of our world.

I should also like to note that the UN system has a vibrant presence in the region, carrying out very important work ranging from MDGs [Millennium Development Goals] and social cohesion, to HIV and gender issues, to human rights and indigenous peoples.  All this is also an integral part of the overall priorities of the Secretary-General.

As the Secretary-General underscored earlier this month at the High-Level Panel on The Global Partnership for Development here in Santiago (8 November), advancing the UN’s development agenda is not a theoretical exercise -- it is about “our global undertaking to lift millions of individual women, men and children from the very real and debilitating poverty they face each day and every day”.  We, therefore, believe that a stronger United Nations needs a stronger development pillar.

There is no better option other than a multilateral approach to effectively address the plethora of complex development challenges facing our increasingly globalizing world.  We can be effective in facing these challenges only if all stakeholders, particularly within the UN system, act hand in hand, including at the regional level.

Internally in the Secretariat, I have been holding informal consultations with the principals in the development field on the UN’s development agenda, with a view to advancing the Secretary-General’s priority commitment to development.  Strengthening the regional dimensions of development within the overall work programme of the Organization is a key dimension of this exercise.  I trust I will continue to enjoy the support of ECLAC, as well as the organizations present in the region, in this endeavour.

It is heartening that the Latin American and Caribbean region is on track to reach the MDGs, as the number of people living in poverty continues to decline.  Standing at 190 million in 2007, it marks the first time since 1990 that the total number of people living in poverty in the region dropped below 200 million.

Yet, poverty remains widespread and differences among countries in terms of performance are substantial.  Also, a major challenge for the region was to create a balance between official development assistance (ODA) going to social sectors and productive capacity-building.  It is rendered complicated by the worrisome trend of decreasing ODA to the region.  The UN family has made major contributions to the achievements of the region, and will remain a key partner to address challenges ahead.

The growing importance of the regional dimensions of development is reflected in the accelerating pace of regional integration processes and the many forms of inter-country cooperation addressing the ever-growing number of transboundary issues.

There are increasing calls for the provision of “regional public goods”, mainly through the development of institutions and infrastructure in such strategic areas as transport, energy, telecommunications, finance and trade facilitation.  Regional approaches to development strengthen the capacity of Governments and peoples to address global challenges, such as climate change, air and water pollution, migration, pandemics or organized crime.

The United Nations has been quick to recognize this reality both at intergovernmental and the Secretariat levels.  For instance, all global UN conferences provided specific mandates for regional follow-up and implementation of their outcomes.

The “forum role” of the regional commissions as the regional arm of the United Nations in their respective regions is key to forging regional consensus at the intergovernmental level as a building block towards global consensus, as well as to advance their coherent implementation at the regional level.

At the same time, regional mechanisms such as this meeting play as an important bridge between Headquarters and country offices, and can have substantial impact in terms of improving the support provided by the UN system to countries.

The Regional Coordination Meetings (RCM), mandated by ECOSOC [Economic and Social Council], provide a key inter-agency forum for consultations and to promote more coherence and collaborative work among the UN agencies working in the respective regions.

This RCM, which has been preceded by yet another successful meeting of the Regional Directors Team (RDT), represents an excellent opportunity to generate improved cooperation and coordination between UN agencies working in the Latin American and Caribbean region.

When our many assets are brought into an integrated and more effective whole, the United Nations can better support the efforts of countries of the ECLAC region to implement their development strategies, especially their efforts to achieve the MDGs.

By promoting greater synergies, your efforts within the RCM framework can help redress, at least partly, capacity and resources constraints faced by the UN system agencies, which thus can help getting more out of our money.

I am impressed by your endeavours in this regard.  As highlighted during the Operational Segment of the 2007 ECOSOC on “Coherence and effectiveness of the UN development system at the regional level”, your efforts are frequently cited as example of successful cooperation at the regional level.  This is an essential aspect of our efforts towards “Delivering as One”, pursuant to the recommendations of the High-level Panel on System-wide Coherence.

Indeed, there has been significant progress in Latin American and the Caribbean region in terms of system-wide coordination.  I would like to note the fact that ECLAC itself has, since 2005, been an official member of the regional UN Development Group and it has helped revitalize the RCM mechanism by convening this meeting for the third consecutive year.

I should also like to highlight that these positive developments are the result of a team effort in which the leadership of every agency has readily contributed, in a genuine manner, to coordination and coherence.

I am highly pleased to learn about the progress made by the RDT process, whose main mission is to enhance UN system-wide coherence at the regional level and to support UN country teams to achieve sustainable human development.  You have made major headway to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the UN and to build a common agenda with joint objectives and leadership.

This is very encouraging and in line with the commitment made by the heads of international organizations gathered at the last CEB meeting at Greentree, New York.  The positive feedback on the progress so far achieved that I recently received from the Resident Coordinators of the eight “pilot countries” is a good indication of the relevance of the “One UN” strategy.

To further enhance this process, it is vital that Member States make policy decisions on a number of issues requiring intergovernmental approval.

To this end, the Secretary-General and I stand ready to continue working with the President of the General Assembly and the Member States to move forward proposals that enhance coherence of the UN system, including the proposed strengthening of the UN’s gender architecture.

As we gather here to discuss what steps could enable us to further advance our work, we should always be mindful of the fact that achieving greater coordination and coherence requires arduous but determined and sustained efforts. It is, however, an endeavour worth undertaking as we collectively strive to more effectively serve our Member States and their peoples in their attempt to meet the internationally agreed development goals, including the MDGs.

This is, in essence, the true sense of multilateralism, the bedrock of the United Nations.

I am truly impressed to see strong commitment and resolve among you today to advance the development agenda of the UN in a more coordinated and coherent way, which makes me ever more hopeful of greater progress in the days to come.

* *** *

For information media • not an official record