Economic and Social Council                                

2010 Substantive Session                                   

29^th & 30^th Meetings (AM & PM)

With 2015 Fast-Approaching, Senior Officials from United Nations Funds, Programmes

Pledge to Push for Broad Achievement of Millennium Development Goals

 

Economic and Social Council also Holds Panel Discussion on Operational

Activities of the United Nations for International Development Cooperation

Enhanced coordination was essential not only for the United Nations system to provide quality support for achievement of the Millennium Development Goals at the national level, but also to streamline relevant efforts, avoid duplication, lower transaction costs, and simplify reporting methods, senior officials from the world body’s funds and programmes stressed today, as the Economic and Social Council continued its operational activities segment.

“Working together, we in the funds, programmes and specialized agencies can draw on our diverse and complementary expertise to tackle complex and multifaceted development challenges”, said Helen Clark, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). 

Her comments framed the Council’s meeting today, which featured a dialogue that included the Executive Heads of the United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the World Food Programme (WFP) — the four agencies which report to the Council.  The panel discussion, moderated by Sha Zukang, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, focused primarily on how operational activities for development could help respond to challenges ahead.

Continuing, Ms. Clark said:  “By concentrating our human and financial resources around priority goals, we can maximize the development impact of our support.”  The United Nations Development Group (UNDG) was prioritizing its work towards accelerating achievement of the Millennium Goals for programme countries, and numerous measures had been put in place to improve coherence and coordination, with the United Nations Development Assistance Frameworks (UNDAF) at the heart of such efforts.

She also noted that in 2010, 48 programme countries would develop Development Assistance Frameworks, and next year another 28 would do so.  Currently, 115 country teams had already reported that their UNDAFs were fully aligned with national strategic priorities, with a strong focus on Millennium Development Goal achievement.

Sounding a note of caution, however, Anthony Lake, Executive Director of UNICEF, noted that gaps in progress towards the Millennium Goals continued to grow.  In the final five-year push towards 2015, the international community, including the United Nations and its agencies, needed to think anew and refocus strategies on children. 

“We need to change the way we analyse data — disaggregating averages to discover concealed disparities — and how we assess need and allocate resources.”  Moreover, United Nations agencies had a “tremendous responsibility” to drive and support coordinated, community-based development interventions.  However, he stressed that the communities agencies wished to help should drive their own development.

During the discussion with Council delegations, the representative of Norway noted that United Nations agencies, Governments, and donors were all under tremendous pressure to make progress towards the Goals, so the Organization must strive to better communicate results achieved and to prioritize communication strategies.

Responding to questions posed, Thoraya Obaid, Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund, said agencies were working together but had been asked to report individually, which was where the concern lay.  Agencies were asked to track every dollar but results were achieved in partnerships — with Governments and others.  “Are you assessing us in terms of our contributions to Governments to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, or on agencies’ responsibility to achieve the Goals?” she asked.  Those two ideas were often confused.

In an afternoon panel discussion — on funding operational activities for development — panellists weighed the pros and cons of core and non-core funding.  Ahmed Shide, State Minister of Finance and Economic Development of Ethiopia, noted that core funds were predictable and aligned with national needs, while non-core funds supplemented existing resources. A mix of core and non-core funding was critical in achieving the Millennium Goals, and all types of funding should be flexible and unconditional.

Panellist Nicholas Alipui, Director of the Programme Division of the UNICEF, highlighted the advantages of a funding mix at the country level, noting that such a mix could be used synergistically to deliver results for children.  As the “bedrock” for operational activities, core funding ensured continuity of partnerships at the national level for pro-equity strategies to reach marginalized populations.  In turn, non-core funding could be used in addition to free up core funding to support the fulfilment of “normative roles”, such as developing statistics on children.

There were, however, challenges to address in terms of fund management, said Willie Samute, Principal Secretary of Public Sector Reform for the Office of the President and Cabinet of Malawi.  It was often difficult to “plan as one” when one agency adopted a one-year planning framework and another, a five-year framework.

Also participating in the dialogue with United Nations agency Executive Heads were representatives of Belgium (on behalf of the European Union), Republic of Korea, Bangladesh, Australia, Russian Federation, Cuba, Ireland, Malawi, Brazil, Israel, and Egypt.

The Council also began its general debate for its operational segment and heard statements from the representatives of Yemen (on behalf of the Group of 77 developing countries and China), Belgium (on behalf of the European Union), Russian Federation, China, Brazil, Switzerland, Indonesia, Ukraine and Belarus.  

Council Vice-President Alexandru Cujba (Moldova) made opening remarks.

The Economic and Social Council will meet again tomorrow at 10 a.m. to continue and conclude its general debate on operational activities for development.

Background

The Economic and Social Council continued its operational activities segment today with delegations holding a dialogue with the Executive heads of United Nations funds and programmes, and a panel discussion on funding operational activities.

Executive Dialogue

Moderated by Sha Zukang, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, the dialogue included Helen Clark, Administrator, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); Thoraya Obaid, Executive Director, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA); Anthony Lake, Executive Director, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF); and Ramiro Lopes da Silva, Deputy Executive Director, External Relations Department, World Food Programme (WFP).

Opening the dialogue, Council Vice-President Alexandru Cujba (Moldova) said the discussion was a unique opportunity for a face-to-face interaction with the highest management authority of the four organizations that report to the Council.  This year’s topics were geared mainly towards the September Millennium Development Goals review.  Participants would focus on how operational activities for development could help respond to the challenges ahead, including achieving better and faster results through effective partnerships and effective and results-oriented operational modalities.

Mr. SHA said it was necessary to build a more cohesive and harmonized United Nations system in order to achieve the Millennium Goals.  The General Assembly, having consistently reiterated that notion, had recently adopted a resolution on system-wide coherence.  That resolution examined how the governing bodies of United Nations agencies could work more closely with both the Assembly and the Council.  “Efforts to create a more effective United Nations system need support from national Governments,” he said. 

National leaders must work closely with the Organization as it strived to streamline its business practices.  Furthermore, he said, national development priorities must become more aligned with the United Nations agenda.  Better international and internal cooperation could help to achieve the Millennium Goals.  In preparation for 2015, the Organization and its agencies had reflected on approaches used and identified both successful and non-successful practices.

The first panellist, Ms. CLARK, said the message for the General Assembly’s upcoming Millennium Goals review must be clear:  The Goals could be achieved, and there was a range of tried and tested polices, which could ensure progress if scaled up and adapted to national contexts.  Yet, for the United Nations development system to give quality support to such progress, coordination was essential. 

“Working together, we in the funds, programmes and specialized agencies can draw on our diverse and complementary expertise to tackle complex and multifaceted development challenges,” she said, adding:  “By concentrating our human and financial resources around priority goals, we can maximize the development impact of our support.”  The United Nations Development Group (UNDG) was prioritizing its work towards accelerating achievement of the Goals for programme countries, and numerous measures had been put in place to improve coherence and coordination, with the United Nations Development Assistance Frameworks (UNDAF) at the heart of such efforts.

Continuing, she said that this year, 48 programme countries would develop development Assistance Frameworks, and next year another 28 would do so.  Currently, 115 country teams had already reported that their UNDAFs were fully aligned with national strategic priorities, with a strong focus on millennium development goal achievement.  India, the United Republic of Tanzania, Albania and other countries were making strides, with some using the “Delivering as One” approach to accelerate goal progress. 

At the global level, she said, the UNDG had provided important resources for programme countries on how to achieve progress on the Millennium Goals, including issuing in-depth thematic papers addressing seven of these goals, analysis of successful strategies and a summary of key lessons and future measures conducive to bolstering advances.

In addition to this work, UNDP had prepared an international assessment of what it would take to achieve the goals by 2015 based on evidence drawn from around 50 national reports.  Some United Nations country teams were also piloting a goal acceleration framework.  Yet challenges remained, including improving the United Nations engagement in national development processes, building country teams’ strategic planning capabilities through the UNDAFs, and increasing the effectiveness of assistance through harmonizing and simplifying business practices.  “Our goal is to see the [Millennium Development Goals] met,” she said.

Next, Ms. OBAID said United Nations partnerships with Governments were a natural expression of shared mutual responsibility for human progress and development.  At the global level, partnership was about having a constant dialogue with States to agree on development priorities, norms and standards.  Regionally, the United Nations was coalescing resources to respond to needs at the country level and to collaborate with regional organizations in formulating policies, especially critical work, as the number of such organizations was increasingly active in the entire spectrum of development.

Nationally, Governments led and owned their development plans and set priorities, she said, but in collective work to reach the Millennium Development Goals, engagement with civil society — or the “third sector” — played a vital role in ensuring community-owned development.  In such work, she cited UNFPA’s “Global Partners in Action:  NGO Forum for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Development”, and highlighted valuable partnerships with faith-based organizations.

On the private sector’s role in development, she said partnerships with businesses could take many forms, and UNFPA’s experience included financial, programmatic and advocacy support.  By way of example, she cited collaboration with global fashion retailer H&M in its “Fashion Against AIDS” campaign that provided financial support for awareness programmes in the Middle East and Eastern Europe.  The United Nations Global Compact was a voluntary network for companies to enact core values in the areas of human rights, labour standards, the environment and good governance.  However, major questions persisted, particularly when the United Nations disengaged with partners over practices and values that were in question.  How could the public interest in accessing medicines, for example, be weighed against private interests to make profits? Such questions must be explored.

Finally, she said the best-known partnerships among United Nations organizations included the “Delivering as One” initiative and the H4+1 partnership to tackle health-related Goals.  Discussing challenges, she said planning and delivering programmes jointly was driven by the quest for more cohesion to support countries in achieving development targets.  New options in the United Nations Development Assistance Framework presented new challenges in the area of accountability.  The current system of organizations was still “agency-specific” and there was a need to contribute jointly to achieve development results that were nationally owned.  That called for more innovative “results chains” and a review of reporting systems to meet emerging trends on attribution.  Another key issue was the value-added of a more transparent approach to funding and budgeting as a way of keeping track of all activities of the United Nations system.

Mr. LAKE, citing “compelling” evidence that gaps in progress towards the Millennium Goals continued to grow, said the world’s 49 least developed countries were the richest in children, but the poorest in child survival, child development and child protection.  More then 75 per cent of the 100 million primary school-aged children currently out of school lived in South Asian and sub-Saharan Africa — regions which also had the lowest rates of birth registration, highest rates of stunted growth, and most limited access to basic healthcare, clean water, and sanitation.

While the majority of developing countries had successfully reduced their under-five child mortality rates, the disparity between rich and poor children’s survival had increased, by as much as 10 per cent in some countries.  “That is a tragic, angering failure”, he stressed.  The Millennium Goals were meant to be, and thus were, a unifying force for the highest human aspiration.  They were created to ensure that more people could live in peace, plenty and freedom, not to widen disparities. 

In the final five-year push towards 2015, the international community must think anew and refocus strategies on children.  “We need to change the way we analyze data — disaggregating averages to discover concealed disparities — and how we assess need and allocate resources”.  In light of links among all the Goals, there was also a need to develop more integrated efforts, including co-ordinated, community-based interventions that could be brought to scale.  Some of the toughest challenges depended on community-based systems and trained community workers who could more easily provide services, support and life-saving information to families in need. 

Technologies and other innovations such as text messaging and new vaccines could also greatly increase the international community’s ability to help the most vulnerable.  United Nations agencies had a tremendous responsibility to drive and support such an approach, he noted, stressing as well that communities should drive their own development.  Citing a quote on the reasons why some community development projects failed, he shared an example of a successful initiative launched by his organization, called the “UNICEF Seal of Approval.”

The UNICEF “Selo” — an award for which municipalities could compete by making the greatest progress in improving children’s lives in ways related to specific Millennium Goals — was a measure which helped to get everyone in the community involved.  Winning the “Selo”, therefore, “becomes everybody’s business,” encouraging efforts from mayors, community leaders, families and even teenagers.  Demand for the model had been so great that UNICEF recently teamed up with UNDP to produce a Seal of Approval guide to help other countries launch their own efforts. 

At the end of every “Selo” competition, winners celebrate with a party and an award ceremony.  But the real reward, he said, was the results — “the lives saved, the dreams of a better life realized, and the recognition that the people themselves have the power to drive their own development and build a stronger future for their children”.

Mr. DA SILVA said it was the United Nations duty to maximize resources to ensure that they were used to achieve win-win sustainable solutions in development work.  “It is critical that we embrace and embed in our organizations the very best and most modern business practices,” he stressed, noting that United Nations bodies must be more efficient, transparent and accountable.  Better management practices had the potential to improve impact and reduce transaction costs.  Among the most fundamental changes involved implementation of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards, which all agencies had committed to meet by 2014.  For the World Food Programme those changes would provide it with a better picture of its financial performance and impact of food inventory levels.

Like other agencies, the WFP was enhancing control and accountability systems, he said, and its organizations were working hard to ensure that management controls, including performance management and risk-management systems, were best in class.  Internal control was not just about ensuring accurate financial statements or compliance with directives; it was about ensuring strategic objectives were met in a cost-effective manner.  In efforts to strengthen controls, WFP had put in place improved performance management frameworks for both strategic and management results.  Both held significant potential for improving programme effectiveness.  In implementing an enterprise-wide risk-management framework, information on risk was absolutely crucial to formulating appropriate policies.

At the country level, several measures had been implemented to deliver better results, he said, noting that the agency, through the common information technology platform, was working with others in the system to put in place reliable and high-speed networks to enhance information sharing.  In addition, pilot countries in the “Delivering as One” programme had made progress in simplifying business practices in procurement.  The Harmonized Approach to Cash Transfer programme to transfer cash from United Nations agencies to Government and non-Government partners, approved by the General Assembly in 2008, reduced transaction costs and eased the burden of national partners.  The High-level Committee on Management also focused on pursuing opportunities for improving coherence in key business practices.

Challenges also must be addressed to reach the next level of efficiency in pursuing the Millennium Goals.  “We will need to work harder to find ways of measuring the overall contribution and performance of the United Nations system in achieving the Millennium Development Goals,” he said, noting that the diverse reporting burden imposed on the Organization by donors and the Executive Boards did not facilitate that task.  Also, outstanding work would need to be urgently addressed, especially given that United Nations agencies were still employing “quite different approaches” to national staff and locally recruited personnel.  Finally, a shift to better business practices might require up-front investment by agencies to put systems in place that would pay off in coming years.

Discussion

In the discussion that followed, speakers asked several targeted questions to the Executive Heads of each agency.  Belgium’s representative, on behalf of the European Union, asked where efficiency gains could be found within the agencies to lower administrative overhead costs.  He also asked for more information on the concept of “critical mass” with regard to core funding required for each United Nations fund, programme and agency.

Additionally, the United States’ representative asked which opportunities would be the greatest for lowering transaction costs, and which partnerships were the most valuable in finding common ways to lower such costs.  “Far too much relies on far too few donors,” said Norway’s representative, stressing the need to widen the Organization’s funding base.  Internal reforms must be expedited, particularly with regard to human resource management and business practices.  United Nations agencies, Governments, and donors were all under tremendous pressure to progress, so the Organization must strive to better communicate results achieved and prioritize communication strategies, she stressed.

The Republic of Korea’s representative, noting that duplication may still exist among agencies in terms of target populations or themes of projects, asked what UNDP planned to do to tackle that issue within the framework of “Delivering as One”.  Similarly, Australia’s representative asked what UNDP was doing to enable comprehensive measurement of the Organization’s overall contribution to global Millennium Goals achievement.

Bangladesh’s representative said the agencies should highlight their activities in least developing countries, noting that those countries were currently facing a time in which need and resource gaps were higher than ever.  Climate change was also a major hindrance to development gains, he said, calling for the agencies to further strengthen their efforts at the country level, and asking how they planned to reposition themselves to effectively address climate change issues in least developing countries.

Also participating in the discussion were representatives of the Russian Federation, Cuba, Ireland, Malawi, Brazil, Israel, and Egypt.

Responding to the question on where the heads of funds and programmes saw scope for efficiency gains, Ms. CLARK said all were looking at spending budgets and reporting to their Executive Boards.  “We’re having to give close attention to where we can get efficiency gains,” she added.

On the issue of firewall, she said the management and accountability system was about to undergo a review, noting that UNDP had taken steps to ensure management of the resident coordinator system.  On the issue of critical mass and corefunding for country-level programmes, she said that without critical mass, it would be impossible to support a global presence.  The whole point of better coordination was to eliminate duplication and this year’s synthesis report by the Resident Coordinators detailed various efforts in that regard.  Some duplication had set in with respect to regional commissions and that issue was being discussed.

On support to least developed countries, about 60 per cent of UNDP’s funding went to them, she said, adding that 85 per cent flowed to low-income countries.  On transaction costs, she said the most effective partnerships had stemmed from the “Delivering as One” pilots and she expressed hope for seeing a positive impact on costs throughout the system.  There was, indeed, no one size fits all.  “We absolutely accept that, to be effective, everything has to be adapted to the national context, with national leadership and ownership,” she said.

As for where she saw bottlenecks in coordination, she said there were practical things to work through and a joint session would be held involving the United Nations Development Group to push forward an agenda in that regard.  “We’re all under pressure on results,” she stressed, adding that the reason her organization was in the field was to support development — and it intended to do just that.  As for coordinating with the new gender entity, UN Women, she said a transition team would be in place by 1 August and it was hoped the new chief would be in place before the General Assembly met in September.  To bring in smaller donors not present in every country, she cited “One Funds”, which those donors might find useful as a way to fund.

Next, Ms. OBAID said she had seen shifts in the development paradigm in her 35 year experience with the United Nations.  To the question on accountability, she said agencies were working together but had been asked to report individually, which was where the issue lay.  Agencies were asked to track every dollar but results were achieved in partnerships — with Governments and others.  “Are you assessing us in terms of our contributions to Governments to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, or on agencies’ responsibility to achieve the Goals?” she asked.  Those two ideas were often confused.

Related to that was the issue of individual institutional assessment, she said, which looked for specific contributions from organizations.  Their often diverse indicators presented an extra burden.  Another aspect was that the last MOPAN — a network of 16 donor countries with a common interest in assessing the organizational effectiveness of the major multilateral organisations they fund — had criticized UNFPA for not being visible.  However, UNFPA could not be visible when contributing to a common result. 

All agreements, especially in the General Assembly, had stated that the United Nations should migrate to common systems of auditing, evaluation and procurement, she said, but such work was not yet complete. The question then became one of how agencies would be evaluated. On efficiency gains, she urged looking at the long-term decision-making.  As for inequity and disaggregated data, many measurements could be used in the short-term, notably the 2010 census.  Countries must be supported in analyzing that data, which was a complex endeavour.

On the task of disaggregating data and making short-term progress, Mr. LAKE said UNICEF was asking for a review of all its country programmes through a prism of equity:  which programmes had outlived their usefulness?  Strategies for “better off” countries would be examined, as would high-impact, cost-effective interventions for least developed countries.  Such a process took time, and because of that, it was urgent to start it now.  The reason it would be undertaken on a country-by-country basis was that there was no one-size-fits all.  Efficiencies could be found through various systems, notably the International Public Sector Accounting Standards, and it would be integrated with results-based programming.

In other areas, he endorsed Ms. Obaid’s comments about the complex process of achieving results, expressing hope that donor nations could also coordinate more among themselves to avoid the creation of multiple systems for showing results.  On critical mass and core resources, he said that, if efforts were under way to change course, “you don’t do that through programmatic resources; you do it through core resources”.  In that context, he emphasized the importance of multi-year contributions, which allowed for cost-effective planning.  Emergencies were under-funded and core resources were needed to compensate for shortfalls.

On the issue of climate change, he said that in the short-run, more work was needed in the area of adaptation.  As to which success formulas had been the hardest to integrate, he said community-based programming deserved more attention.  Because those programmes were disaggregated, some had higher overhead costs, but they were vital to UNICEF’s work.

Mr. DA SILVA, responding to a query about singling out reporting requirements to executive boards, said there were multiple reporting requirements to Governments, donors — which often differed from one another but contributed to single operations — executive boards and governance institutions.  In the search to increase efficiencies and reduce transaction costs, reporting requirements should be examined.

On other matters, he said the World Food Programme did not have critical mass.  It was voluntarily funded, and as such, had no core funding.  Its portfolio was varied within the context of food assistance, but overhead costs were about 6 per cent of total income, which gave an idea of its administrative burden.  To a question posed by Bangladesh’s delegate, he said climate change was part of the Programme’s work, both jointly with other agencies, and in its recovery and humanitarian work.  WFP’s strict targeting process allowed it to work in the most marginalized areas of programme countries and in close collaboration with communities.

Panel on funding of United Nations Operational Activities for Development

Moderated by Román Oyarzun Marchesi, Deputy Permanent Representative of Spain to the United Nations, the panel featured presentations by:  Ahmed Shide, State Minister of Finance and Economic Development of Ethiopia; Servacius B. Likwelile, Deputy Permanent Secretary of Public Finance Management, Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs United Republic of Tanzania; Willie Samute, Principal Secretary of Public Sector Reform, Office of the President and Cabinet of Malawi; and Nicholas Alipui, Director of the Programme Division of the United Nations Children’s Fund.

Kicking off the panel, Council Vice-President CUJBA said funding was the “lifeblood” of United Nations operational activities for development, with recent analysis showing that total contributions for those activities had grown at a faster pace than overall official development assistance (ODA) from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)/Development Assistance Committee (DAC) donors, positioning the United Nations as the largest multilateral partner of DAC countries.

However, the majority of United Nations funding had been, to varying degrees, earmarked and in the form of single-donor and programme or project-specific contributions, he said, hindering multi-year planning in line with strategic United Nations priorities.  The panel would provide an opportunity to understand the repercussions of the current funding architecture at the country-level, and offer an assessment of the innovative funding modalities from programme-country perspectives.

Adding to that, Mr. MARCHESI said it was essential to include the point of view of receiving countries, particularly in relation to resource management on the ground.  The panel would examine the current financing model and trust funds with the aim of improving understanding of donor funding policies.  Discussions should cover key questions about the advantages and disadvantages of poor- and non-poor funds in country programming.  He asked:  To what extent were country programmes involved in decision-making on the financing of the United Nations development system?

Mr. SHIDE said that in view of Ethiopia’s development and climate challenges, his Government was committed to transforming the country into a middle-income State by 2025.  Government policies included having a clear vision on, among other things, capacity building, a focus on poverty, and good macro-economic management.  The target of 7 per cent economic growth had already been surpassed, but poverty eradication remained a governmental priority.  Average income data suggested a rise of more than 25 per cent and other indicators had shown progress, he added.

Government spending on poverty reduction had increased, he continued, adding that significant achievements in universal primary education, reducing child mortality and improving maternal health were also notable.  Given Ethiopia’s size, donor aid was low compared with other African countries.  The country’s aid modalities included significant donors such as the European Union and United Nations agencies, and the international presence in Ethiopia included $1 billion in annual expenditures operated by 25 resident and non-resident agencies.

In all this, he said there were pros and cons to various funding forms.  For instance, core United Nations funding resources were advantageous for being predictable and aligned with national needs, but were limited in addressing development needs.  In addition, they were often spread too thin and lacked flexibility in terms of being aligned with national programmes.  Advantages of non-core resources included that they supplemented existing resources. 

However, non-core resources sometimes overlapped with existing interventions and were difficult to transfer using the usual fund-transfer modalities.  He said joint programmes were rewarding as they had a high impact, but if the lead agency was encumbered by too much paperwork, its efforts risked being hampered.  Finally, he recommended, among other things, that donors should provide more core resources to agencies, that fund-transfer transaction costs should be reduced, and that non-core resources should not be weighed down by conditions.

Mr. LIKWELILE said encouraging trends in funding still left room for debate.  The main challenge arose from the funding mix, between core and non-core resources.  Ideally, core funding should be more predictable when compared with non-core funding, and, as such, boosting the percentage of core funding should be considered.  The challenge of increased expenditure to cover institutional costs also existed, he said.

In 2008, about 80 per cent of United Nations core resources focused on least developed countries.  At the country level, he said, the United Nations system played an important role in the United Republic of Tanzania regarding poverty reduction and providing funding through conventional programmes over the past three decades.  Pooled funds played an important role in sector-wide approaches.  These “basket funds” received contributions from UNFPA, UNICEF and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). 

He said that each “basket fund” allowed Government participation through national committees and served as a tool of mutual accountability.  The Government-led basket fund arrangement had also led to substantial reductions in operating costs and to flexible approaches.  The One United Nations Fund had enabled the Government to be involved, leading to further improvement of programmes.

He recommended improvements of the funding architecture, including increasing non-core funds in a flexible manner that would have an impact on challenges related to, among other things, development and climate change. 

Next, Mr. SAMUTE, associating with comments made by Mr. Shide and Mr. Likwelile, said there was growing funding to the United Nations at the country level, though marginal.  There also had been an emergence of new donors with new modalities and unique working arrangements.  Through the “Delivering as One” approach, it had become easier to determine the adequacy or inadequacy of United Nations funding at the country level.  In Malawi, United Nations activities aligned with the country’s growth and development strategy, but it was important to examine whether that was the case outside that strategy.

In Malawi, the United Nations was involved with 62 projects in 12 sectors, showing that resources were widely spread among small projects, he continued.  In the area of fund management, he said it was difficult to “plan as one” when, for example, one agency adopted a one-year planning framework and another a five-year framework.  Applauding the United Nations country team in Malawi, he also noted it had been more difficult for it to work in sectoral areas.  On the Government side, the same reasons that had compelled reform in the United Nations had pushed Governments to reform their own systems.  Malawi had volunteered for “Delivering as One” as it was already in a reform environment.

Mr. ALIPUI said it was critical to realize that, as much as statistical success that might have been achieved in reaching the Goals, the underlying stresses in reaching the most-disadvantaged communities meant that “we have to dig deeper”, beyond the perceived achievements, which hid wide disparities and masked inequities.  By way of example, he said progress reported globally related to the Goals was bypassing the world’s bottom quintile, and development funding must be more responsive to allow stakeholders to reach those populations.  As a field agency, UNICEF depended exclusively on voluntary contributions which must be flexible and transparent.

Turning to the benefits of core funding, he urged looking at the advantages of a funding mix at the country level, saying that such a mix could be used synergistically to deliver results for children.  Core funding was the bedrock for operational activities, as it allowed agencies to have a field presence and maintain development activities fully aligned with national strategies, something which earmarked funding did not allow.  Core resources ensured continuity of partnerships at the national level for pro-equity strategies to reach marginalized populations.  Another advantage of having a funding mix was that non-core funding could be used to free up core funding to support the fulfilment of “normative roles”, such as developing statistics on children.  It would allow UNICEF to work with Governments in reporting on the International Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocols.

The disadvantages of such a mix included an imbalance between core and non-core funding, he said, voicing concern that such an imbalance would eventually interfere with helping children.  Core resources made quick responses possible, certainly in crisis situations, and greater predictability had allowed UNICEF to take action to support early warning and disaster risk reduction.  The sustainability of results was another area that required focus.  UNICEF’s advocacy on social issues and ability to leverage results was critical for achieving its rights-agenda.  Without core funding, there was a risk of having distorted priorities, notably in relation to funding communication strategies meant to elevate health literacy.  Thematic funds earmarked for sector-wide areas, like child survival, were the second-best type of funding, as they provided the ability to support long-term goals and strategic plans.

In closing, he supported the call for more stable, flexible multi-year funding in working towards the 2015 deadline to attain the Millennium Development Goals.  He also wanted to see more solidarity initiatives, like South-South cooperation, particularly among emerging economies, in support of sub-Saharan Africa.

In the ensuing discussion, delegations emphasized the importance of predictable and unconditional funding commitments, with the representative of Brazil highlighting that core contributions were the backbone of the United Nations system and that non-core funding tended to be more flexible. 

Regarding reaching targets, the representative of the Republic of Korea said many countries were under pressure to reach goals, and she suggested that results should be set at the beginning of the programme planning stage.  She asked how the United Nations communicated requests to donors and recipient countries.

The representative of Canada said future discussions should look at trends in the diversification of funding within the United Nations system.  Project size had shrunk and spreading of resources had become thin in the face of a reality where competition for resources had heightened. 

She asked Mr. Likwelile about the performance-based funding mechanisms in Tanzania, and then asked Mr. Samute about whether or not there was a noticeable difference in the programme size funded by donors.  She then asked whether or not the Governments represented by the panellists would prefer that donors would divert non-core funds to core funding in the United Nations system.

Mr. SHIDE said he believed in synergy between different modalities of funding.  A mix of core and non-core funding was critical in achieving the Millennium Goals.  It was not that he was against non-core funding, but rather believed that all funding should be flexible and unconditional.  Ethiopia had an aid architecture in place to engage with bilateral and multilateral actors.  The volume of funding should be increasing in order for developing countries to meet their goals.

Mr. LIKWELILE agreed, noting that funding should be flexible, predictable and have no strings attached.  Regarding performance-based programmes, those programmes were implemented and were assessed based on target achievements by dates and what had been achieved.  Nine programmes now scored by percentages, a method that urges improvement.

Mr. SAMUTE, in reply to a question on projects in Malawi, said the pilot programme had shown more collaboration.  He pointed to the gender strategy created for Malawi that spanned several sectors.  Some of the programmes in the pilot were small.  Regarding non-core funds and how the United Nations requests funding, he said Malawi believed that if funding was planned and predictable, there was no difference between core and non-core funding. 

Mr. ALIPUI supported the answers given by the panellists.  He underscored the critical importance of programming aligned with national goals.  UNICEF funding decisions were based on national evidence.  The same evidence should also be used for discussions.  Accountability was also important, he said, as was transparency.

Also participating in the debate were the representatives of Viet Nam and Belgium.

Mr. MARCHESI concluded the discussion, saying it had painted a clear picture of the advantages and disadvantages of core and non-core funding.

General Debate on Operational Activities for Development Cooperation

ABDULLAH ALSAIDI (Yemen), speaking on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, said United Nations operational development activities must remain universal, voluntary, flexible and carried out at the request of recipient countries.  The United Nations role should be strengthened, but the Group of 77 and China was concerned about the imbalance between core and non-core funding.  This imbalance was a major cause for incoherence in the United Nations development system and would lead to distorted and uneven approaches towards implementing development programmes aligned with national goals.

A strengthened global partnership should be based on the recognition of national leadership and ownership of development strategies.  He reiterated the call from the Nairobi Outcome Document for the United Nations funds and programmes to take concrete measures to mainstream support for South-South cooperation, and highlighted that such cooperation was a complement rather than a substitute for the traditional modes of international cooperation.  South-South cooperation should be explicitly incorporated into the operational programmes of all relevant bodies in the United Nations system, he said.

He called on the United Nations funds, programmes and specialized agencies to continue to enhance the capacities of developing countries to develop and formulate development cooperation programmes, strengthen the regional and sub-regional organizations’ capacities and conduct research to identify areas where support for South-South cooperation would have the greatest impact.  He stressed that the outcome of the Council’s Operational Segment should improve the effectiveness of the United Nations system response to the development needs and priorities of developing countries, as well as the system’s overall capacity to respond more effectively to support developing countries’ efforts to achieve the internationally agreed development goals.

JAN GRAULS ( Belgium), speaking on behalf of the European Union, said core resources were the bedrock of the mandate and resources of United Nations funds and programmes.  Some had argued that non-core contributions were eroding priorities set by programme countries or Boards of respective organizations, and while his Government shared concerns that those contributions were increasing transaction costs for all parties, it viewed it as positive that they were additional resources in most cases and, thus, providing extra support that would otherwise not be channelled to the United Nations.  Noting that 98 per cent of the core funding for the three major New York-based funds and programmes was provided by the Development Assistance Committee countries, he wondered whether such an unequal burden of sharing was appropriate.

He went on to say that a limited number of often small European countries provided major parts of the Organization’s operational resources for development, and he urged broadening the funding base.  Operational activities had grown too complex and they should be redesigned to maintain their relevance.  However, the last year had seen progress on making delivery more effective at the country level, with the Kigali and Hanoi conferences on “Delivering as One” marking important milestones on that front.  In that context, he hailed the creation of the new gender entity, which marked a “quantum leap” in rationalizing the functioning of the United Nations system.  For its part, Belgium was ready to take further steps in that direction.  “Delivering as One” was key to the future operating of the Organization.

DENIS PIMINOV ( Russian Federation) confirmed his Government’s commitment to principles of operational activities, including their universality, non-arbitrary nature and country leadership and ownership of development paths.  United Nations agencies and donor States should be flexible in determining their cooperation mechanisms.  Indeed, his Government favoured improving the stability of resources for operational activities.  Core resources from voluntary contributions enabled United Nations funds and programmes to harness their comparative advantage, he said.  Innovative financing mechanisms, while helpful, were not exhaustive and did not replace the traditional forms of mobilizing resources.  Cutting core resources decreased the ability of operational activities to respond to development needs.

Citing General Assembly resolution 64/289 on system-wide coherence, he said the main measure in the text centred on reform of a new gender architecture and his Government was satisfied with agreements reached in that regard.  It also was satisfied with the balanced wording in the text regarding governance and the harmonizing of procedures.  In other areas, he said Joint Executive Board meetings should discuss questions related to all agencies and maintain an informal status.  There also should be an informal approach to assessing pilot projects.  He favoured providing consistency among all reforms.  The consultation process was drawing to an end and further discussions on improving the development system should be part of the comprehensive policy reviews.  The Russian Federation also favoured strengthening the Resident Coordinator system and expected further improvement in that regard.

WANG MIN ( China) said his Government had always supported the United Nations development system in carrying out reforms.  However, reforms could not be completed with just one stroke; more political commitment and practical action on the part of all stakeholders were needed to attain the Millennium Goals.  Financing for development was a paramount concern for developing countries and adequate, stable and predictable core resources guaranteed the effective implementation of the principle of national ownership.  Core resources had shown a downward trend last year and the imbalance between core and other resources had eroded the fundamental characteristics of United Nations operational activities for development, including their neutral and grant nature.

In that context, he called on donor countries to implement the 2002 Monterrey Consensus by increasing their contributions to the development system, based on their capacity and commitments, with a view to decreasing the over-reliance on funds provided by a handful of donor countries.  National ownership and leadership by recipients guaranteed the effectiveness of development assistance.  China’s 30-year experience in development cooperation had shown that United Nations agencies must tailor assistance to the needs of recipient countries.  As such, Resident Coordinators should work under coordination by recipient Governments, improve reporting of results and promote modes of national implementation.  In addition, the development system should provide policy and financial support for South-South cooperation, and China hoped to see in the Secretary-General’s next annual report improvements in result analysis, assessment and reporting on support provided to developing countries.

REGINA MARIA CORDEIRO DUNLOP (Brazil) said this year’s theme for the high-level segment had been timely, as it allowed for the assessment of the gender-related goals.  Last month, Member States gave unanimous support that would promote the rights of women and girls worldwide.  The newly-created UN Women was inspired by the premise that all countries needed support to achieve gender equality, and that entity’s innovative structure would ensure predictable funding.

The Assembly resolution on system-wide coherence had strengthened the Council’s role, she continued, adding that the Council was also entitled to oversee the central repository for successful experiences and would review the participation of trust funds.  Turning to contributions, she said funding to and from the United Nations operational activities must be free of conditions, with the objective being able to create and develop national capacities.

The full implementation of the Council’s policy review was necessary to strengthen United Nations activities for development.  She welcomed the central role accorded to the resident coordinator system.  But she said countries should become more involved in programme development and implementation.  A stronger Resident Coordinator system through a network could be used in the promotion and facilitation of South-South cooperation.  Approaching the final stretch to reach the Millennium Goals, the Council had a key role to play.  However, much remained to be done, she concluded.

MATTIA PORETTI (Switzerland) welcomed changes to United Nations Development Assistance Framework procedures favouring joint programming, as well as the United Nations Development Group’s 2010 guide, which presented a standard operational format for reports to national authorities on results achieved in implementing development assistance frameworks.  He was interested to know what measures had been taken by various agencies to rationalize procedures for communicating information on results.  He recommended that, until the next full review, the United Nations development system should focus on strengthening national capacities.  A rigorous assessment of risks and opportunities associated with managing the capacities of main implementing partners should be carried out, especially in countries affected by conflict or natural disaster.

In other areas, he recommended strengthening the monitoring and evaluation capacities of the United Nations operational system, as the Secretary-General had said that country teams lacked such capacities to improve the impact of their activities.  He also said that more institutional mobility would help improve the quality of programmes, and requested whether the inter-institutional mobility agreement was being implemented, how many agencies had signed it and what challenges must be faced in applying it.  The Swiss Government advocated a realistic approach to reform, he added.

Aligning with the statement made on behalf of the Group of 77 developing countries and China, AGUS SARDJANA (Indonesia) said cooperation and close coordination at all levels were required for each country to overcome challenges to meeting national development objectives.  As there was no “one size fits all” solution, the United Nations development system had an important contribution in supporting country development.  While coherence and coordination within the Organization had improved since the adoption of Assembly resolution 62/208, more needed to be done for its effective implementation, he said.

Strengthening the role and capacity of the United Nations development system required a significant increase in resources and an expansion of its resource base on a continuous, more predictable and assured basis.  Furthermore, the Organization should continue to mainstream and enhance support for South-South cooperation to fully operationalize activities.  In particular, middle income countries required continuous international support to adequately address their individual vulnerabilities.  Another important area of focus was capacity-building to create a conducive domestic investment climate and enhance productive capital flows in accordance with middle income country laws and regulations.

HANNA PROROK (Ukraine), aligning with the European Union, was encouraged to see a growing number of countries adopting the “Delivering as One” approach and adapting it to national circumstances, as United Nations assistance based on that approach afforded more opportunity to ensure efficiency.  Much had been done to ensure system-wide harmonization and cooperation in the “Delivering as One” framework and Ukraine welcomed various measures undertaken in the area of human resources management and administrative reform, notably those aiming at a stronger field presence and team building.

As a programme country, Ukraine wished to see more focused support on national development priorities, she explained, as United Nations funds and programmes played an important role in Government efforts to achieve the Millennium Goals.  Supporting decisions by UNICEF and UNDP/UNFPA Executive Boards to extend for one year their country programmes for Ukraine, her Government expected that those extensions would allow for the development of new country programmes aligned with national priorities.  She noted with satisfaction Ukraine’s cooperation with UNDP and UNICEF, noting also the importance of support in the implementation of programmes to reduce poverty and develop new and renewable energy sources.

SERGEI SERGEEV (Belarus) said the amount of core resources had led to a fragmentation of financing and loss of predictability, which, in turn, had negatively impacted the operational activities of United Nations agencies.  Noting that the European Union had doubled its official development assistance over 2000 levels, he said that, by the same token, donor principles, which were selective in nature, required re-thinking, as they should be more transparent and accountable.  He supported improvements to operational activities at all levels. The resolution on system-wide coherence contained balanced wording on those issues.

On other issues, he welcomed measures to synchronize the work of Resident Coordinators and recipient Governments.  He also voiced concern at growing expenditures, which, in the case of UNDP, increased almost two-fold.  Changes to the procedures and commitments of recipient countries had been carried out without adapting the ways of providing assistance.  The time had come to verify agreements and adapt them to new realities.  UNDP, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) should expand programmes in the energy sector to increase energy supply to developing countries, particularly as implementing such projects involved the exchange of environmentally friendly technologies.  Supporting statements on behalf of the Group of 77 developing countries and the European Union, he called on UNDP and UNICEF to adopt a specific approach for providing assistance to middle-income countries.

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For information media • not an official record