PLANS TO STRENGTHEN SYSTEM-WIDE COHERENCE IN UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES

DESCRIBED BY DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL AT SANTIAGO REGIONAL MEETING

This is the text of remarks by UN Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro in Santiago, Chile, on 3 November, on “Initiatives to Strengthen the Development Pillar and System-Wide Coherence” (delivered at the annual meeting of the Regional Coordination Mechanism in Latin America and the Caribbean Region):

I am grateful for this opportunity to update you on the effort to build a more effective United Nations and to strengthen the development pillar of our work.

As your dynamic region makes clear, the world is changing.  We have an opportunity, and a responsibility, to better serve that changing world.  The diversity of the Latin American and Caribbean region means countries need different, more adapted support from the United Nations system.

I wish to begin with the question of system-wide coherence.  If United Nations organizations are to remain valued, relevant providers of development assistance, they must go much further in planning and coordinating their programming.  Only by harnessing the resources and diversity of the full system can we truly demonstrate our unique value and deliver more for the people who count on us most.

The General Assembly and other United Nations governing bodies have welcomed our efforts to work together more coherently, and have called for further progress in this direction.  The Triennial Comprehensive Policy Review resolutions of 2004 and 2007 call on us to improve operations at the country level.  We are called to do so through more relevant and coordinated programmes, improved delivery and increased national leadership and ownership.

The Secretary-General and I are committed to making that vision a reality with a view to building a stronger United Nations for a better world.  Together, as a system, we bring about a paradigm shift in the way the United Nations development system operates at the country level.

In 2007 we launched the “Delivering as One” initiative.  This has brought together development partners, including pilot countries, donors and United Nations country teams with fresh energy, momentum and a greater sense of common purpose.  By strongly encouraging eight pilot country teams to implement agreed reforms, and by giving them broad latitude to work together as one United Nations team, “Delivering as One” has accelerated the pace of change and demonstrated the potential of a more coherent system.

The initiative is making good progress.  The pilot mechanisms of One Programme, One Budgetary Framework, Joint Resource Mobilization, Joint Communications, Common Business Practices and One Leader provide host Governments with a comprehensive overview of United Nations assistance.

These mechanisms are also helping to cut transaction costs, reduce fragmentation, duplication and internal competition for resources among United Nations organizations.  This progress has been recognized by Member States.  But significant challenges remain.  Together with the Triennial Comprehensive Policy Review, the resolution on system-wide coherence adopted by the General Assembly this past September gives us a renewed mandate for change.

However, there is much work to be done, and we need your support.  We must harmonize and simplify business practices, define and respect resident coordinators’ authority and accountability, plough savings back into programming and change our culture to move faster and focus on results.  By working together more effectively and efficiently, we can deliver better support to developing countries.  We can have a stronger voice, play a more meaningful role and make a more valuable contribution.

At the intergovernmental level, Member States have yet to take a formal policy decision on the “Delivering as One” strategy.  Key to this will be the independent evaluation due in 2009.

The President of the General Assembly has also expressed his intention to resume the intergovernmental consultations.  He has requested the Permanent Representatives of Ireland and the United Republic of Tanzania to continue last year’s functions as co-chairs.  A decision by the two Ambassadors is still pending.

Let me turn now to our efforts to strengthen gender equality and empower women.  The resolution on system-wide coherence also offers an opportunity to strengthen the United Nations work for gender equality and women’s empowerment.  Achieving gender equality is one of the primary and enduring responsibilities of all Member States and civil society.  Our mandate derives from the preamble to the United Nations Charter, which proclaims the equal rights of men and women.   The 2005 World Summit outcome reaffirmed that gender equality is essential to development, peace and human rights.

Accordingly, the United Nations has made major advances in establishing gender equality as a core issue across our agenda.  Most of our entities have integrated gender perspectives into their traditional mandates and functions.  Despite this progress, we have not been able to bring about the profound structural and cultural change required to close the gap between policies and reality.  This should be a cause of concern for all of us.

While the United Nations system can play a major role in supporting Member States in overcoming these challenges, our capacity to deliver results needs significant strengthening, especially as the demands placed on us keep growing.  Recognizing the need for change, at the request of the President of the sixty-second General Assembly, on behalf of the Secretary-General, I submitted a concept paper outlining four institutional options to strengthen United Nations work on gender equality and the empowerment of women.  The four options are: (a) status quo, (b) an autonomous fund/programme, (c) a department of the Secretariat, and (d) a composite entity.

The paper provided in a non-prescriptive way an analysis of all four options, leaving it up to Member States to select the best mix of institutional features, which should provide an optimal response to the challenges identified.

In early September, Member States adopted a resolution which requested the Secretary-General to present a paper containing detailed modalities for strengthening gender equality and the empowerment of women, focusing on the “composite” entity.  The modalities paper will address, among other aspects, funding, governance structure, staffing, specific functions and relationship with the Commission on the Status of Women and other relevant bodies.  Work on the modalities paper is under way.  I urge the regional commissions to contribute to this effort and to help us achieve tangible results during this session.

Finally, allow me to say a few words on the development pillar of the Organization’s work.

The new and global challenges facing the world mean that accomplishing our goals depends on having a strong development pillar.  The Secretary-General submitted his proposal to the General Assembly in February.  Member States have decided to postpone consideration of the Secretary-General’s report during the current sixty-third session.

In October, I reintroduced the Secretary-General’s proposal to the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) and urged Member States to adopt it without further delay.  I insisted on the need to address the critical gaps that impede the Organization’s ability to adequately implement its development-related mandates.  I have argued that enhancing the Organization’s capacity in this area would allow it to further assist Member States in responding to global challenges they face, from the current financial crisis and high food and energy prices to eradicating poverty and disease, and fighting climate change.

Subsequently, all heads of development entities, including the Executive Secretaries of the five regional commissions, were auditioned by the Fifth Committee.  Consultations are ongoing and we hope a favourable decision will soon be made on the basis of the broad support provided by the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ).

I hope this meeting will help us to reflect on how we can best rise to the challenges ahead.  All parts of the United Nations system, including the regional commissions, need to work together and become more coherent, effective and efficient.  We must provide demand-driven support based on our comparative advantages.  I look forward to working with you to deliver better results, to strengthen our voice and to make more valuable contributions for our constituents.

I know that is what every United Nations entity wants.  And I know that I can count on you, the staff and leaders of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), to do your part.

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For information media • not an official record