ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL DISCUSSES FOLLOW-UP TO POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS,

SOUTH-SOUTH COOPERATION FOR DEVELOPMENT

 

Concludes Operational Activities Segment

(Reissued as received.)

GENEVA, 12 July (UN Information Service) -- The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) this morning held a general discussion on follow-up to its own policy recommendations and those of the General Assembly, under which it considered reports of the Secretary-General on the triennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities of the United Nations development system, on comprehensive analysis of the financing of operational activities for development of the United Nations system and on South-South cooperation for development.

Introducing the general discussion, Sha Zukang, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, said that today the Council commenced debate on the full implementation of General Assembly resolution 59/250 on the triennial policy review of the operational activities of the United Nations development agenda, which set guidelines for the United Nations system policy work at the country level, stressing the overarching purpose to make the United Nations more effective and efficient in its support to developing countries in their efforts to achieve the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals.  Since the 2004 triennial comprehensive policy review, the development landscape had changed immensely.  The central importance of national ownership and leadership had been asserted, and new development actors were playing a growing role in development cooperation.  There had been a major increase in the volume and dynamism of South-South cooperation.  Today, there were two reports of the Secretary-General before the Council to help in its deliberations.

In the course of the general discussion, speakers mentioned that the strengthening of the planning, management, performance and accountability for results of partner government departments so that they could better implement and coordinate both their own national development process and external assistance was essential to support national ownership and leadership.  One could see agencies, particularly funds and programmes, working better together to avoid duplication and to ensure complementarity.  Key to this had been the establishment of the eight “One United Nations at country level” pilot programmes. 

But while there had been significant gains, there was also a long way to go as the United Nations needed to further align its work to partner countries, and to work more effectively with development partners outside the United Nations including donors, civil society and the private sector.  There were also concerns expressed with regard to the introduction of “One UN” on whether it was the way to improve coherence in the system, and the viability and effectiveness of this concept remained to be proven.  South-South cooperation without a doubt contributed to poverty reduction, and the United Nations system should continue to support triangular cooperation.

Within the context of the general discussion, representatives of the following States took the floor: Pakistan (on behalf of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China), Portugal (on behalf of the European Union), Switzerland, Russian Federation, Australia, Japan, Belarus, Indonesia, Venezuela, Canada, New Zealand, Algeria, Norway, Sudan, China, United States, Brazil, Angola, India and Cape Verde.  A representative of the World Food Programme also spoke.

The Council endorsed the proposed amendments to the General Regulations of the World Food Programme (WFP), as contained in document E/2007/36, and recommended them to the General Assembly for its approval. 

The Council thereafter took note of a number of documents, including the two reports of the Secretary-General on the triennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities of the United Nations development system and on the comprehensive analysis of the financing of operational activities for development of the United Nations system.  In addition, two reports of the Executive Board of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), as well as a report of the Executive Board of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Food Programme (WFP) were taken note of. 

Idriss Jazairy ( Algeria), Vice-President of the Council, in concluding remarks at the end of the operational activities segment, said it had been a successful and productive meeting on addressing the operational activities of the United Nations with regards to development.  A good overview had been provided of how the United Nations system had responded to the directives of the General Assembly on its operational work.  A good overview had also been provided of the various forms of guidance the Council could give to the General Assembly when it embarked upon the triennial review.  It was clear that the United Nations had a lot to contribute.  Developing countries needed access to the wealth of knowledge and expertise that could be made available by and through the United Nations system, including that available through the South-South system.  The coherence and delivery of the United Nations system needed to be improved. 

The Economic and Social Council will resume its official plenary on Monday, 16 July, at 10 a.m., when it will open its segment on humanitarian affairs.

Documents

The Council has before it the report of the Secretary-General on the triennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities of the United Nations development system (E/2007/52), which reviews those activities and examines whether they meet the expectations of Member States as expressed in General Assembly resolution 59/250 and the 2005 World Summit Outcome.  At present, the United Nations development system is not configured at the country level to allow developing countries to have optimal access to all United Nations development resources, including those from specialized agencies and other global and regional entities.  A special effort is therefore currently being made to ensure that the Resident Coordinator system, the common country assessment and the United Nations Development Assistance Framework become more inclusive of non-resident agencies, including specialized agencies and other global and regional entities.  Challenges remain in making the development system more coherent and efficient, and ongoing processes and emerging outcomes are described and analysed.  The report also reviews the adequacy of funding and the current funding modalities of operational activities for development, including innovative initiatives to enhance the predictability and dependability of resource availability.

The Council has before it the report of the Secretary-General entitled comprehensive statistical analysis of the financing of operational activities for development of the United Nations system (E/2007/54), which is submitted in response to General Assembly resolutions 35/81 and 59/250, in which the Assembly requested the Secretary-General to improve the annual statistical report to the operational activities segment of ECOSOC by adding a multi-year perspective fully incorporating available information and statistics.  It also responds to ECOSOC resolution 2006/14, which requested the Secretary-General to further refine the data in the report in order to improve understanding of funding trends in the United Nations development system and humanitarian field, including through a better distinction between funding for development assistance and for long-term development cooperation.  The data coverage and analysis have been further strengthened through greater disaggregation; a reconciliation of the differences between the estimates of the United Nations and the Development Assistance Committee of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development of the contributions to the United Nations system; the inclusion of the activities of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees; and an expanded analysis on humanitarian assistance.  The report also recommends the building of a comprehensive and sustainable financial data and reporting system for operational activities of the United Nations system.

Presentation of Reports

SHA ZUKANG, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, said today the Council commenced debate on the full implementation of General Assembly resolution 59/250 on the triennial policy review of the operational activities of the United Nations development agenda, which set guidelines for the United Nations system policy work at the country level, stressing the overarching purpose, to make the United Nations more effective and efficient in its support to developing countries in their efforts to achieve the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals.  These countries should be able to draw on the United Nations system expertise.  The forthcoming General Assembly would negotiate a new resolution on the triennial comprehensive policy review, and the Council had a unique opportunity to assess the current resolution, and suggest areas to the General Assembly on which Member States should focus in the future.  Since the 2004 triennial comprehensive policy review, the development landscape had changed immensely.  The central importance of national ownership and leadership had been asserted, and new development actors were playing a growing role in development cooperation.  There had been a major increase in the volume and dynamism of South-South cooperation.

Mr. Sha said there were two reports of the Secretary-General before the Council to help in its deliberations.  Prior to the session, many had participated in informal briefings where the analysis and evidence in the reports were discussed.  The report on the triennial comprehensive policy review analysed the implementation of the General Assembly resolution 59/250, assessing to what extent and how the United Nations system had provided support to developing countries.  It also reflected the larger reform agenda and the commitment to change within the United Nations system, taking into account the 2005 World Summit outcome and other United Nations conferences and summits, and the changing context of international development cooperation.  It showed that progress had been made in selected areas, and yet many challenges remained. 

The second report was the Comprehensive Statistical Analysis of the Finances for Operational Development of the United Nations system for 2005, Mr. Sha said.  These finances had increased considerably over the last year, and these were largely due to non-core contributions.  There had been a steady increase in the share of total expenditures allocated to the least developed countries.  The data coverage and analysis of the report had been further broadened through a greater emphasis on country-specific data, the inclusion of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and other elements.  The Council also had a number of conference room papers at hand, including on steps taken to implement the triennial comprehensive policy review.  Previous triennial reviews had all emphasised the importance of national ownership and leadership -- the Council had an opportunity to assess how far the system had moved in this direction, and could also discuss the impact of operational activities on poverty elimination, and the contribution to national capacity-building, among other important elements.

General Discussion

MUNIR AKRAM (Pakistan), speaking on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, said the Council’s deliberations in the operational activities segment this year assumed special significance in view of a number of parallel ongoing processes.  First, 2007 was the year of triennial comprehensive policy review of the operational activities for development of the United Nations system.  Second, the United Nations was engaged in inter-governmentally reviewing the recommendations of the Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel Report on System-Wide Coherence.  Third, the UNDP Executive Board was considering the finalization and adoption of the UNDP Strategic Plan 2008-2011.  The Group of 77 and China were confident that their work in this segment would guide the other processes.  Some issues of particular concern to Group of 77 and China in the context of the triennial review would be highlighted, such as reaffirming the importance of the triennial comprehensive policy review for operational activities, through which the General Assembly established key system-wide policy orientation for the development cooperation and country-level modalities of the United Nations system including the United Nations Development Programme.  As a second point, it was mentioned that the fundamental characteristics of the United Nations operational activities for development must remain, inter alia, universal and voluntary.  These activities must be able to respond to the development needs of programme countries in a flexible manner.

Third, the need for a strengthened global partnership for development, based on the recognition of national leadership and ownership of development strategies should be a guiding principle of United Nations operational activities at the country level, he said.  Fourth, the primary thrust of the triennial comprehensive policy review process should be driven by a vision of a stronger role for the United Nations on development issues.  As a fifth point, the Group of 77 and China mentioned that the central issue remained the quantity and quality of development assistance from the United Nations system.  Another point highlighted was that the guiding principle of the United Nations operational activities should be to provide more efficiency in delivery.  The coherence at the national and international level also involved the Bretton Woods institutions.  There was no “one size fits all”.  South-South cooperation was complementary to North-South cooperation and was a way to enhance exchange of best practices and support among developing countries, regardless of their levels of activities.  Operational activities for development should take into account the need to promote national capacity building in developing countries.

In conclusion, he said the Group of 77 and China were concerned at the inordinate emphasis on issues such as human rights, gender and civic engagement in the context of the United Nations operational activities for development.  These issues should be promoted in all countries, and were not confined only to developing countries.  The Group was concerned that these issues, as well as humanitarian assistance, if included as objectives of UN developmental cooperation, could result in discrimination against developing countries, distort their national development plans and strategies and could be misused to introduce new conditionalities on international development assistance.  This was not acceptable to the developing countries.

FRANCISCO XAVIER ESTEVES (Portugal), speaking on behalf of the European Union, said the triennial comprehensive policy review was a unique tool for the United Nations membership to guide and operationalize the United Nations’ reforms in the operational activities sector.  A strong United Nations should have a leading role in reducing poverty, achieving peace and security, setting global standards and agreeing on solutions to global threats such as climate change.  This role stemmed from its global mandate and unparalleled legitimacy, he said.  Progress had been made since the last triennial comprehensive policy review, mainly with regard to the increase of organisational efficiency and development effectiveness of individual funds, programmes, and specialised agencies.  However, more needed to be done to enable the United Nations system as a whole to effectively deliver on the agreed goals and objectives and to respond to new and growing challenges.

At the heart of the ambition of bringing the United Nations family together to deliver as one at the country level was the development of a common programming instrument and joint monitoring and evaluation at the country level, he said.  United Nations programmes should derive from national priorities.  The United Nations system’s ability to assist in capacity development had to be further strengthened, and its role clearly defined.  All United Nations entities should use to the fullest extent possible national execution and the use of national expertise and technologies as the norm for implementation of operational activities. 

He said a growing number of United Nations organizations had adopted human rights-based approaches to development cooperation and human rights issues had been increasingly incorporated into the analysis and planning framework.  Further efforts were needed in order to build up the United Nations country team’s capacity to support the efforts of Member States, at their request, in strengthening their national human rights promotion and protection systems and link their work with the United Nations human rights mechanisms.  The European Union reiterated that accountability for gender mainstreaming and women’s empowerment should be given higher priority within United Nations agencies with explicit performance and accountability mechanisms for gender goals. 

The European Union considered funding for United Nations operational activities, both at central and country level, as a key question which it was committed to address, with the objective of ensuring multi-year, adequate, predictable and timely core funding, he said.  In this regard, the European Union considered a code of conduct or principles for good multilateral donorship to have the potential to mitigate distorting funding patterns. 

In conclusion, he said the European Union emphasized its belief that the triennial comprehensive policy review could set the foundations to achieve many of the reforms they were seeking and it committed its Member States to be creative and constructive during the negotiations of the next triennial comprehensive policy review.

OLIVIER CHAVE (Switzerland) said that against the backdrop of the General Assembly consultations on the report of the High-Level Panel on United Nations System Wide Coherence, a number of States and others had underlined the relevance of the triennial comprehensive policy review process in dealing with issues covered by the High-Level Panel Report that were related to the United Nations operational system for development.  For Switzerland, the Economic and Social Council’s position on this question must be unambiguous as the bulk of the recommendations formulated in the High-Level Panel Report coincided broadly with recommendations already contained in the triennial policy review of 2004.  The instruments of ECOSOC and the General Assembly for the governance and the coordination of the operational system, especially the triennial comprehensive policy review, must continue to function unhindered – as they had not been superseded by any legislation.  The Council, and later this year the General Assembly, should thus consider the relevant recommendations made by the High-Level Panel on their own merit within the context of the triennial review process, whenever these recommendations fell under the authority of the review from a substantive interaction point of view.

Switzerland had already had an opportunity to present its views during this session of the Council and would thus dwell on two aspects only of those addressed in the triennial review of 2004, funding and coherence, he said.  The funding of the United Nations operational activities for development was characterized by too much earmarked funding and too little core funding.  Innovative solutions needed to be devised to address this serious impediment to an effective United Nations operational system.  The notion of good multilateral donorship should be developed and implemented.  Extra-budgetary contributions continued to be an important element in the United Nations funding.  On the issue of coherence, Switzerland welcomed the adoption of the new guidelines by the United Nations Development Group on Common Country Assessments and the United Nations Development Assistance Framework with their clear focus on national ownership, their clarity on principles and resources on cross-cutting issues, their focus on United Nations core comparative advantage, their flexibility for the United Nations country teams, as well as the adjustments made to allow the full engagement of the specialized agencies including the non resident agencies.    

MIKHAIL SAVOSTYANOV ( Russian Federation) said his country had consistently advocated the strengthening of the leading role of the triennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities of the United Nations for development in discussing all issues relating to the functioning of the United Nations development system.  This year, it was being carried out in a particular context: Member States had before them the recommendations of the High-Level Panel on System-Wide Coherence.  The role of the triennial review should remain unchanged -- it was the main mechanism for the discussion and formulation of political guidance on matters of operational activities.  The decisions of the triennial policy review, reflected in a General Assembly resolution, were the basis for the concrete measures relating to the activities of funds and programmes.  The three-tier structure of the triennial comprehensive policy review was one of the most effective mechanisms of inter-Governmental consideration and adoption of decisions in the United Nations, and Russia did not support any radical changes in the format of inter-Governmental consideration of operational activities at the level of Executive Boards and the Council, and in particular proposals that would lead to the creation of new governing structures.

Consideration of a number of the High-Level Panel recommendations could be integrated in the triennial comprehensive policy review, he said.  Core resources constituted the bedrock of operational activities.  United Nations agencies should make more systematic use of non-core contributions to support the implementation of their core normative mandates.  Measures aimed at national capacity building were supported, and national implementation for effective national capacity building efforts should not be ignored.  Russia was ready to support a balanced approach to a consolidation of the United Nations system in recipient countries, which could improve its attractiveness for donors.   Russia was not convinced that the introduction of “One UN" was the way to improve coherence in the system, and the viability and effectiveness of this concept remained to be proven.  There was much room for the improvement of common programming instruments such as the United Nations Development Assistance Framework, and there should be further progress in strengthening the Resident Coordinator system. 

NATASHA SMITH ( Australia) welcomed the progress made in implementing the triennial comprehensive policy review 2004.  Concerning the triennial comprehensive policy review 2007, Australia had a very clear and strong priority.  It wanted a United Nations system that delivered real, measurable and measured results in supporting the achievement of country owned and country led development objectives in the most efficient and effective way possible.  In looking toward the 2007 triennial policy review, it was important to ensure that the commitments and expectations of the 2004 triennial policy review were not forgotten.  Australia was looking forward to a synthesis of the achievements and an honest account of where more needed to be done and clear, concrete and ambitious recommendations of how to do it.  There were many important elements in the current triennial policy review and in the Secretary-General’s report.  There were also issues that were critical to improving the operational activities of the United Nations that were not highlighted.  While there had been advances in the United Nations operational systems’ work on gender mainstreaming, there was much that remained to be done.  The recommendations in the briefing by the United Nations Development Group’s own Gender Task Team earlier this week outlined where further action was required.

The second key area was coherence of United Nations operations at the country level, she said.  Central to this was one common United Nations Development Assistance Framework that incorporated all United Nations funds, programmes, and agencies.  A third area of priority was capacity development.  Strengthening the planning, management, performance and accountability for results of partner government departments so that they could better implement and coordinate both their own national development process and external assistance was essential to support national ownership and leadership.  The fourth issue Australia wanted to highlight, requiring further work and therefore strengthening in the triennial policy review process, was transition from relief to development.  Two critical issues that were currently not in the review framework but should be for the 2007 triennial review were aid effectiveness and accountability.  Better, more efficient ways to ensure accountability, including through reviewing governance arrangements, must be found.

MAKIO MIYAGAWA ( Japan) said this year was critical to the adoption of a new triennial comprehensive policy review and the new strategic plans for the funds and programmes of the United Nations development system.  In New York in the General Assembly, there had been informal consultations on system-wide coherence.  These efforts were all related, and therefore strategies should be discussed in parallel, so as to avoid going off in different directions.  The true measure of success for the United Nations was not how much it promised, but how much it delivered to those who needed it most -- and the ultimate objective of the United Nations operational activities should be to find the most effective means of delivering services to communities and people in need, so as to ensure human security.  Consequently, the discussions on the triennial comprehensive policy review should be based on the idea of national ownership and on a people-centred approach.

A strong United Nations system needed both to be more coherent and to produce results in a more effective and efficient manner.  Since the last triennial comprehensive policy review, all funds, programmes and entities had strengthened their efforts to function more effectively; however, there remained a number of challenges to overcome.  The importance of national capacity building should not be ignored.  Capacity development of national Governments was essential, especially in relation to the formulation of national plans and strategies.  The triennial review needed to provide all United Nations activities with a strategy to guide South-South cooperation.  Regarding the transition from relief to development, particularly in post-conflict situations, the United Nations development system needed to work closely with the Peacebuilding Commission.  There was also the importance of delivering and creating an impact at the community level, primary responsibility for achieving the Millennium Development Goals rested with national Government, and consequently, national ownership was important.

TAMARA KHARASHUN ( Belarus) said economic and technical cooperation between developing countries had been ongoing for some time, including South-South cooperation.  Belarus was in favour of this process.  At the same time, the coordinating system did not need to be reworked every time.  This might affect the work of each specific agency.  An enhanced coordinated role of the United Nations could enhance the operational activities.  Belarus was in favour of the proposal to improve the Resident Coordinator system and ensure that the priorities were observed at country level.  Belarus was in favour of a coherent system and did not wish to see duplications.  Regardless of the results in implementing pilot projects, it was necessary to ensure the freedom of selecting the work the United Nations was conducting. 

She said Governments needed to have some freedom and programmes could not simply be imposed.  On efforts to fight human trafficking, gratitude was expressed to the United Nations Development Programme and the United Nations Children’s Fund for an international congress.  With regard to South-South cooperation, it had not made a significant contribution to the economic progress of the developing countries.  Belarus proposed a new system of a single economic data bank, which could be a platform reflecting the interests of developing countries.  More use of the United Nations and its Specialized Agencies, funds and programmes was needed.

NINA DJAJAPRAWIRA ( Indonesia) said the discussion was an opportune one, which would guide the forthcoming General Assembly deliberations on the triennial comprehensive policy review and the inter-Governmental debate on the High-Level Panel Report on the United Nations System-Wide Coherence.  Cooperation between recipient development countries and the United Nations system should always be based on their development priorities, needs and requirements, and be within their respective development frameworks.  To ensure country ownership, improvement of Government leadership through stronger coordination and coherence in policies and programme activities were imperative. 

He said it was critically important for the development thrust of the United Nations system to be linked to adequate resources made available on a continuous, more predictable and assured basis.  South-South cooperation without a doubt contributed to poverty reduction, and the United Nations system should continue to support triangular cooperation.  It was Indonesia’s hope that the 2007 triennial comprehensive policy review would provide a record of the positive changes that were made to improve the operational activities of the United Nations system.

RUBEN MILONA ( Venezuela), associating himself with the Group of 77 and China, said his country was committed to consolidate actions made at the worldwide level to enhance South-South cooperation.  Developing countries needed effective and efficient mechanisms.  Significant initiatives had been taken by Venezuela.  Between 1999 and 2006, the Government had taken measures in the field of energy, among others.  The country had contributed to energy security and sustainable development in neighbouring countries as well.  Considerable savings could thus be achieved in neighbouring countries.  In the financial sector, regional integration had been strengthened.  The Government had shown interest in cooperation with the least -developed countries.  Grants had been given to them.  Many efforts had been undertaken vis-à-vis many countries to combat poverty and exclusion worldwide.

DIANA RIVINGTON ( Canada) said the package of reports showed that progress had been made, but that it was uneven, but this was also proof that what got measured got done.  As the Council moved forward in the collective thinking on what should be in the next iteration of the triennial comprehensive programme review, Canada suggested that there should be an inclusion of time-bound targets and clear benchmarks.  The reports said that much progress had been made at the country level, but repeatedly, under the remaining challenges, there were issues that addressed a fundamental weakness of the triennial comprehensive policy review, namely its inability to address governance and accountability issues at the level of governing boards and individual institutions. 

With respect to joint offices and One UN pilots, she said there was a need for more effectiveness and an accountable United Nations at the country level, one that was better positioned to deliver meaningful and focused programming that was closely aligned with the country’s own priorities.  For this, the principles of the Paris Declaration were a useful tool for benchmarking progress.  There should also be guidance on how to establish baselines and assess the pilots to collectively draw on their lessons to improve future programmes.  There should be recommendations in the next report on oversight and governance gaps; more progress needed to be made on the evaluation and audit functions in order for members of governing boards to be able to exercise their oversight and stewardship with confidence.  The United Nations system should be encouraged to finalise, implement, downstream and assess the system-wide plan on gender mainstreaming; there should also be common performance indicators on gender equality for all United Nations country teams.

BILLIE MOORE ( New Zealand) said New Zealand was committed to improved development effectiveness of the United Nations, especially at the country level.  New Zealand welcomed the triennial comprehensive policy review as an opportunity to review efforts since 2004, to take on board what was working well and acknowledge what was not.  One could see agencies, particularly funds and programmes, working better together to avoid duplication and to ensure complementarity.  Key to this had been the establishment of the eight “One United Nations at country level” pilots.  But while there had been significant gains, there was also a long way to go as the United Nations needed to further align its work to partner countries, and to work more effectively with development partners outside the United Nations including donors, civil society and the private sector.

She said the forthcoming triennial comprehensive policy review provided an opportunity to improve the functioning of the United Nations development system at the country level including in the areas of coherence, impact, taking on board regional dimensions, strengthening the role of the United Nations Resident Coordinator, reducing transaction costs, providing capacity development and humanitarian response, gender mainstreaming and evaluating operational activities for development.  One must especially be clear about the need to align agency strategies and programmes to the national plans and development needs of partner member countries.  A joint United Nations Development Assistance Framework had been developed for 14 small island developing States that was aligned to both regional and national plans.  This was a good example of regional leadership and ownership, taken up at country level.

NOUREDDINE BENFREHA ( Algeria) said the reports contained data that would facilitate negotiations.  Operational activities for development in the United Nations system were at the heart of development-related issues and were key to international cooperation.  The debate was taking palace in a specific context on United Nations reform and efforts of the United Nations family to enhance the competitiveness of the operational activities.  These last should be based on the document contained in General Assembly resolution 59/250, the basis for the deliberations.  They should also draw on the bases defined in the decisions of the various international summits, including the Monterrey Consensus.  The United Nations system was in a better place to play a direct role in national development, in particular with regards to capacity building. 

He said developing countries faced several challenges that required analysis if they were to be helped effectively by the United Nations system.  National ownership should also apply to the implementation of development plans and programmes, and should remain the main channel for communication with the United Nations system.  The present development structure of the United Nations did not allow developing countries to get the best access to all the plans and programmes of the system, and this limited the outcomes of operational activities for development.  There should be harmonisation and simplification of administration procedures.  Sustained effort was required in the context of agreed guidelines to enhance the reliability and effectiveness of the operational activities system.

OLA BREVIK ( Norway) said progress was hampered by broken promises and lack of political will.  The United Nations was uniquely positioned to play a crucial role by providing efficient and effective support to governments in implementing their national plans.  Action to deliver on promises made should be taken now and the list was long.  Norway welcomed the report on the triennial comprehensive policy review that provided a very useful overview of the situation.  The United Nations system must realign in such a way that it responded to national demands in the most efficient and coherent way and at the same time enable countries to take full control of their development process.  This was what was being done in the eight pilot countries.  The Resident Coordinator system was vital to ensure a coherent and responsive United Nations at country level.  Norway supported the strengthening of the Resident Coordinator system by providing appropriate authority, resources and accountability as well as a common management, programming and monitoring framework. 

He welcomed the efforts being made by funds and programmes and the specialized agencies in the Chief Executive Board for Coordination to facilitate greater cooperation and coherence at the country level through harmonization of practices and removal of structural bottlenecks, and encouraged the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination to continue these processes.  Changes at country level not only had implications for the United Nations at all levels, it had implications for all Member States as well.  Reforms were not for the sake of reforms, but for the sake of enabling the United Nations system to respond more effectively to countries’ demands and to deliver better.  Much progress had been made to modernize and strengthen the United Nations.  This path needed to be continued.

ELTAYEB MUKHTAR ( Sudan) said the meeting was very important, and dealt with topics that were of utmost priority, such as setting down a platform for all, in addition to the United Nations activities and to increase cooperation between countries.  Sudan was doing its utmost to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, develop international cooperation through the activities of the United Nations and develop decent work that was fruitful for everybody without distinction.  Sudan had certain laws that guaranteed the rights of the workers and which would lead to an increase in productivity which would be fruitful for all.

He said his country was doing its best to achieve decent work for all, and was working with every organization, and was witnessing a growth in the economy.  However, there should be an increase in development, and at the societal level.  There should be a range of activities implemented.  Much had been achieved at the institutional level, but support had stopped from the international community.  People were dying because of poverty, disease, the lack of dignity and absence of social security, and the international community should take care of people during peace as well as during war.  It should not be said that the organizations did not respect their commitments, but for various reasons they had not lived up to their responsibilities.  There should be effective cooperation between organizations and States so that all could reach the desired results -- cooperation between development organizations would be fruitful for all mankind. 

YANG NINGNING ( China) said that, from 2004 to 2007, the United Nations Development Assistance Framework had done a lot of concrete work in the implementation of the General Assembly resolution on the triennial comprehensive policy review and had achieved remarkable results.  The assistance activities were now more geared to the realization of the national development strategies and the Millennium Development Goals.  Everyone should also be clearly aware of the shortfalls in certain areas, especially that of national capacity building.  Capacity building of developing countries constituted the core of development and its long-term process, and it should be incorporated into the mainstream of the operations of the United Nations development system.  There was still an urgent need to come up with a systematic approach to national capacity building activities and to strengthen guidance at the macro-level.  Governments of recipient countries also needed to play a bigger coordinating role in the formulation of the Common Country Assessment and the United Nations Development Assistance Framework.

She said finance was also of fundamental significance in the functioning of the development system.  Adequate, sustained and predictable core resources constituted both the foundation of operational activities for development and the guarantee for the effective implementation of the principle of country ownership.  In recent years, most funds and programmes had seen a steady decline of core resources in proportion to overall resources, thus producing negative results.  In his report, the Secretary-General had pointed out the imbalance in the resource ratio of the development system which had to a certain extent caused and exacerbated the lack of coordination in the operation of the development system, and China fully supported this observation. 

Reform had profound implications for the developing countries, she said.  A stage-by-stage approach should be taken.  Reform at the field level should take into account the specific situation of the country in question.  On South-South cooperation, China considered that this cooperation must be strengthened.  The United Nations should carry out studies to define priority areas for South-South cooperation.

CHARLES CHANG ( United States) said world leaders at the 2005 Summit had reaffirmed that sound economic policies and solid democratic institutions responsive to the needs of the people were essential for growth and poverty eradication, among others.  This was an important achievement which formed a mandate and work programme for the United Nations.  The United Nations should make this mandate the centrepiece of its operational activities for development.  Respect for human rights was a precondition to achieving meaningful development.

On capacity-building, he said that, instead of talking about concepts being abstract, one should ask what sort of capacities and advice developing countries needed to help their economies grow.   The United Nations should discuss what policies needed to be put in place to drive economic growth.  Building institutions should be an important element of capacity-building -- concrete programmes should be developed to help developing countries to build these in order to protect the rights of individuals, businesses and civil society.  There should be a discussion of agency transparency and accountability in using public funds, and of how efficiently and effectively the United Nations used public funds to produce results in the field.  There should be rigorous evaluation and monitoring mechanisms with regards to the use of resources and what results their use was expected to achieve.

LUCIA MAIERA ( Brazil) said that, since the early 1990s, the Brazilian Government had consistently increased technical cooperation with other developing countries.  Technical cooperation offered by Brazil was neither profit oriented nor did it involve tied aid.  Brazil had helped to strengthen institution building in many developing countries, as an essential component for the rapid and effective transfer and absorption of knowledge.  South-South cooperation was part of Brazil’s efforts to enhance bilateral and regional cooperation in the context of the priorities of its foreign policy.  In addition to bilateral activities, Brazil also implemented joint projects with many multilateral agencies, such as the Organization of American States (OAS), UNDP, UNFPA, FAO, ILO, UNICEF and the World Bank.  It was worth noting that South-South cooperation had become a major item of the international agenda. 

She said it was important to preserve the uniqueness of south-south cooperation, its supplementary nature in regard to the traditional development assistance provided by developed countries, its own concepts and commitments, which were exclusive and inherent to the countries of the South, as well as the full ownership of its agenda by Southern countries, she said.  South-South cooperation encompassed an exchange of successful experiences and practices.  It was based on techniques and technologies more adapted to the levels of development existing in developing countries.  The cooperation of Brazil with Cuba in the fields of health and with China, in space technology, was mentioned.  Brazil stood together with its partners of the South and with those of the North willing to support an enhanced South-South cooperation as a complementary instrument for sustainable development.

VIRGILIO FARIA ( Angola) said the holding of the Annual Ministerial Review was important for strengthening the Council as the main organ in charge of issues related to economic and social development.  This session was a historical moment to evaluate the results of the efforts to improve the work of the Council to make it successful and efficient.  Despite progress achieved globally, the rate of poverty and human deprivation still remained of great concern in many regions, in particular sub-Saharan Africa.  The Government believed that the United Nations system should focus its efforts on supporting national strategies for the fight against poverty, maximising the effectiveness and efficacy of its efforts on the ground, and recognising the importance of a broader agenda.

He said social development was a national responsibility, but could not be successful without a collective commitment, and the concerned efforts of the international community, and through strengthening global partnerships.  The principle of complementarity should be used to accomplish the Millennium Development Goals.  The idea of promoting cooperation between the countries of the South sharing similar realities and challenges in exchanging experiences and sharing solutions should be made more efficient, and rely on principles of peace, equality, and respect of the sovereignty of each State in order to ensure mutual benefits.  South-South cooperation was a key to accelerating development, particularly in the least developed countries and in achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

ARINDAM BAGCHI ( India) said the United Nations development system provided a diversity of resources through about 40 funds, programmes and agencies.  The report of the Secretary-General provided a useful analysis of the overall trends in funding for the United Nations development system and the predictability and dependability of funding.  The imbalance between the core and the non-core resources due to the increasing non-core resources was only one of the areas of concern.  There was the need to distinguish humanitarian funding from funding that came for long-term development cooperation.  The report gave a useful overview of the efforts of the United Nations development system for capacity development.  The United Nations system could make an important contribution to capacity building in developing countries by bringing forth its rich resource of technical expertise and reservoir of best practices. 

India was a staunch supporter of South-South cooperation.  It supported the increasing cooperation amongst the countries of the South, while integrating the inputs of the developed countries through triangular partnerships as a useful means of furthering the development objectives.  On the issue of gender mainstreaming, India noted that considerable efforts had been made.  Such efforts must continue.  However, while advocating gender mainstreaming in its work, including at the country level, the United Nations needed to be mindful of maintaining a gender balance in its own work force.  The report’s focus on transition from relief to development was somewhat limited.  The report contained a detailed analysis on the effort to achieve coherence in the work of the United Nations development system.

ANA SAPINO PIRES ( Cape Verde) said the United Nations system should align its operational activities in a manner to best respond to the countries policies and priorities of development needs.  Its capital of knowledge, skills and resources conferred to it the role of primary partner of development.  To make maximum use of its capacity, the United Nations system needed to increase its coherence, improve synergies and avoid overlaps and gaps, and be more effective in delivering development assistance to people.  Good management based on transparency, efficiency and efficacy would help to further economise the available resources for country development.  Nevertheless, the success in delivery required a quality of expertise from professional officers at all levels, United Nations country teams and nationals. 

He said the system needed change and adaptation to fit within the new demands from developing countries, but much more remained to be done to accommodate for upcoming challenges.  Delivering as One, in a more coherent and synergic manner, the United Nations would deliver better on national priorities, have more leverage in relation to other development actors, and better contribute to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.  It was important for the success of One UN that an environment of mutual confidence and trust exist among the agencies -- there was a need for more accommodation and finding of mutually acceptable compromised and solutions. 

JEAN-JACQUES GRAISSE, Senior Deputy Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP), said that the aim of the World Food Programme was to reach the greatest number of vulnerable people, to save them from chronic hunger or starvation, and to give them an opportunity for better futures.  WFP’s dual mandate to address both humanitarian crises and development, and to fill the gap of the transition between them, meant that it must make the best use of limited resources, and ensure that every investment in coordination and programming would indeed lead to simplified processes and focused programme results.  In 2006, WFP fed nearly 90 million people; more than two thirds of them were women and children.  These people were suffering from man-made conflicts or natural disasters, or from the silent emergencies of chronic hunger and malnutrition.  WFP stepped in to provide a bridge from crisis to building better futures.  In every area, WFP operational activities relied on partnerships – with governments, with other United Nations agencies at country, regional and headquarters level, with civil society, with communities themselves, and with an entire range of technical and operational partners, in particular the Rome-based food and agriculture agencies, and the other funds and programmes of the United Nations. 

The 2004 triennial comprehensive periodic review made significant strides in recognizing the linkages between development investments and transition, and the roles of leadership and partnerships at country and regional levels, he said.  It also recognized the important roles of technical and specialized agency partners.  WFP was looking forward to the recognition of the progress made in alignment of country coverage and regional operations, and working to reduce hunger and poverty.  It supported a recommendation calling for more donor support for innovative funding approaches to financing the transition from relief to development.  WFP hoped that the triennial comprehensive policy review recommendations would call for rigorous evaluation of existing joint offices/“delivering as one” pilots as a precondition for expansion of these pilots to other countries.

Concluding Remarks on Operational Activities Segment

IDRISS JAZAIRY ( Algeria), Vice-President of the Council, in concluding remarks, said it had been a successful and productive meeting on addressing the operational activities of the United Nations with regards to development.  A good overview of how the United Nations system had responded to the directives of the General Assembly on its operational work had been provided.  A good overview of the various forms of guidance the Council could give to the General Assembly when it embarked upon the triennial review was also provided.  It was clear that the United Nations had a lot to contribute. 

The principle of national ownership and leadership exercised by countries which benefited from United Nations support should remain at the core of the United Nations development system.  National leadership should be exercised not only at the planning stage, but also in implementation.  The United Nations development system needed to become more responsive to countries’ needs and priorities, as expressed by them, as well as to the specific needs of countries in transition from relief to development and to middle-income countries.  It should enhance support to the least developed countries.  Capacity-development covered a wide range of institutions, including the productive sector and civil society. 

He said developing countries needed access to the wealth of knowledge and expertise that could be made available by and through the United Nations system, including that available through the South-South system.  The coherence and delivery of the United Nations system needed to be improved.  The contribution of the United Nations needed to support national development strategies and help countries to achieve the internationally agreed development goals.  There was a need to better monitor and evaluate this, in particular the impact of operational activities, and improve the observance and implementation of Millennium Development Goals at the national and sub-national level.

* *** *

For information media • not an official record