Speakers Call upon Organization to ‘Deliver as One’ as Economic and Social Council Continues Operational Activities for Development Segment
The United Nations must manage protracted crises more effectively, and overcome operational and funding silos to achieve lasting solutions, speakers in the Economic and Social Council agreed today, calling upon all entities to “deliver as one”.
Briefing the Committee on the longer-term positioning of the United Nations development system in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Council Vice-President Hector Alejandro Palma Cerna (Honduras) said that resolution 2014/14 had decided to convene a dialogue, exploring the interlinkages between functions, funding practices, governance structures and organizational arrangements. While the first phase had focused on building an understanding among Member States of the current state of play in the development system, the second phase was a critical step to ensure that the development system reflected the universal and integrated nature of the 2030 Agenda.
Over the course of the discussions, he said, Member States had called upon the United Nations to translate its promises into results and provide effective support tailored to contexts and needs. Addressing the needs of middle-income countries and States in crisis required the greater integration of humanitarian, peace and security responses. Also focusing on funding and national ownership, he stressed the need to ensure enhanced quality and predictability of resources, and create a development system that aligned with and provided support to national priorities.
In the ensuing panel discussion, titled “How to strengthen coordination and integration of development, humanitarian and peace pillars in the work of the United Nations system”, panellists and delegates stressed that the realization of the new development agenda would require significant strengthening of horizontal cooperation between the humanitarian, peace and development pillars of the Organization.
Delivering a keynote address, Baroness Verma, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development of the United Kingdom, said the poor were most vulnerable to crises and half of that segment lived in conflict-affected countries. Calling upon all to prioritize efforts on those strands, she said: “We cannot look at peace, development and humanitarian issues in isolation.”
To make further progress, the Organization needed a more flexible footprint, with a focus on where help was most needed, she continued. Delivering as one must be fully implemented by all entities, including through the standard operating procedures and the management and accountability framework. Responding to short- and long-term needs required authority and adequate funding, as well as strong leadership of resident and humanitarian coordinators.
Echoing that sentiment was Ameerah Haq, former United Nation Under-Secretary-General for Field Support, who took the floor as a special speaker. As today’s challenges demanded a system that unified its strengths, the international community had to leverage tools for preventing, resolving and recovering from conflict. “We must put an end to the era of ‘short-termism’,” she said, calling for placing political engagement at the United Nations efforts.
On the issue of integration, she noted that the United Nations must reduce the political and resourcing pressures that drove fragmentation and managerial tendencies to compete. Going forward was possible with replacing the bureaucratic “New York-centric” mindset at Headquarters with a focus on impact.
While there was much more to do, “we’re not starting from zero”, said Stephen O’Brien, Under-Secretary-General, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, stressing that progress was being made between humanitarian and development actors. Drawing attention to the scale and diversity of needs, he noted that, in 2016, the Office and its partners sought $21.1 billion to help 88 million people in some 33 countries. Underlining the need for additional tools, partnerships and new ways of working, he described the World Humanitarian Summit an opportunity to place 125 million people affected by humanitarian crises at the centre of efforts.
Also featured in the morning dialogue were Stephanie Hochstetter Skinner-Klée, Ambassador of Guatemala in Rome and President of the World Food Programme (WFP) Executive Board; Helen Clark, Chair, United Nations Development Group; Parfait Onanga-Anyanga, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the Central African Republic; and Mourad Wahba, Deputy Special Representative for the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH).
In the afternoon, the Council held a second panel discussion on the theme of “Organizational arrangements: How to strengthen inter-agency collaboration in organizational presence at country, subregional and regional levels”, and held a general debate on the topic.
Also speaking today were representatives of Thailand (on behalf of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China), Netherlands (on behalf of the European Union), Bangladesh (on behalf of the Group of Least Developed Countries), Maldives (on behalf of the Alliance of Small Island States), Canada, Trinidad and Tobago (on behalf of the Caribbean Community) and Sweden.
The Economic and Social Council will reconvene at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, 24 February, to conclude its operational activities segment.
Special Briefing
HECTOR ALEJANDRO PALMA CERNA (Honduras), Vice-President of the Economic and Social Council, said resolution 2014/14 had decided to convene a dialogue on the long-term positioning of the United Nations development system to explore the interlinkages between functions, funding practices, governance structures and organizational arrangements. The first phase of the Dialogue had focused on building a solid understanding among Member States of the current state of play in the development system. The outcome had been a general recognition among Member States that the development system was at an inflection point and the status quo was not an option. The second phase, launched in December 2015, was expected to have an intense schedule and provide a unique opportunity to ensure that the system reflected the universal and integrated nature of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Over the course of the discussions, he said, Member States had stressed the need to focus on translating promises into results, focusing on the development system’s comparative advantages and delivering on the interconnected nature of the 2030 Agenda. On the ground, they stressed that the United Nations must be able to provide effective support tailored to contexts and needs. That ranged from the diverse needs of middle-income countries to persistent crisis countries and regions where the United Nations must drive for greater integration of humanitarian, peace and security responses. Turning to funding, he noted that it must be in line with the Organization’s priorities and mandates. To do so, there was a need for a shift in financing practices geared towards enhanced quality and predictability of resources, through ensuring the adequate volume of core resources. On national ownership, the development system needed to align with and provide support to national priorities. In that regard, evidence, data and innovation should be the basis to support the design of effective policies and decision-making.
The second phase of the dialogue marked a critical step in the Council’s work as it aimed at strengthening the development system, he said. In that regard, the Council Bureau had appointed an Independent Team of Advisers to assist Member States in analysing and prioritizing options. The Team was composed of 14 members from all regions with complementary expertise. It also included representatives from non-governmental organizations and leaders of several think tanks. The Advisers would conduct consultations with all stakeholders, including Member States, United Nations entities, regional commissions and the private sector. As the first consultations would start the following day, he called upon Council Members to engage in that critical process.
Panel I
The Council began the day with a panel discussion titled, “How to strengthen coordination and integration of development, humanitarian and peace pillars in the work of the UN system”. Moderated by Alex Aleinikoff, Visiting Professor of Law and Huo Global Policy Initiative Research Fellow, Columbia Law School, the panel featured presentations by Stephanie Hochstetter Skinner-Klée, Ambassador of Guatemala in Rome and President of the World Food Programme (WFP) Executive Board; Helen Clark, Chair, United Nations Development Group; Stephen O’Brien, Under-Secretary-General, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Speaking via video conference were Parfait Onanga-Anyanga, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the Central African Republic, and Mourad Wahba, Deputy Special Representative for the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH).
Baroness Verma, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development, United Kingdom, delivered a keynote address, while Ameerah Haq, Bangladesh, former United Nation Under-Secretary-General for Field Support, took the floor as a special speaker.
Ms. VERMA said the poor were most vulnerable to crises. Indeed, half of that segment lived in conflict-affected countries. “We cannot look at peace, development and humanitarian issues in isolation,” she said, noting that her country had prioritized efforts on those strands. For its part, the United Nations must manage protracted crises more effectively, and overcome operational and funding silos to achieve lasting solutions. It must act earlier to prevent conflict, meaning that actions to address the underlying causes of fragility were required, as were investments in institutions and the rule of law. The United Nations also needed a more flexible footprint, focusing on where help was most needed. Outlining steps, she said “delivering as one” must be fully implemented by all entities, including through the standard operating procedures and the management and accountability framework. Resident and Humanitarian Coordinators must deliver strong leadership that responded to short- and long-term needs, and they required authority and funding. There was also a need for flexible allocations to humanitarian peace and development funds, including by the private sector.
Ms. HAQ said the humanitarian, peace and development arms of the United Nations still operated as “distinct and distant” entities, whereas today’s challenges demanded a system that unified its strengths. Protracted crises demanded the best efforts to leverage tools for preventing, resolving and recovering from conflict. “We must put an end to the era of ‘short-termism’,” she said, which focused on crisis management, and instead centred on prevention, peacebuilding and resilience. Peace was not achieved through military and technical interventions alone; political engagement must be at the heart of United Nations prevention, resolution and post-conflict efforts. Integration did not come naturally for the Organization, as the bureaucracies of the Secretariat, agencies, funds and programmes, and their respective governance entities, were fragmented. At all levels, the United Nations must reduce the political and resourcing pressures that drove fragmentation and managerial tendencies to compete. Going forward, the bureaucratic “New York-centric” mindset at Headquarters must be replaced with a focus on impact. Supply-driven templates and overly technical approaches to reform must change, with institution- and capacity-building tailored to countries’ internal factors and political dynamics. In conflict-affected countries, engagement — normally fixed on capital cities and their small political and civil service elites — must widen. Improving coherence meant that Headquarters must deliver strong leadership, encourage management to work towards integration and deliver field-focused solutions.
Ms. HOCHSTETTER SKINNER-KLÉE said there could be no sustainable development without peace and no peace without sustainable development. Since 2008, major civil wars had almost tripled. As a result, the number of humanitarian crises was at an all-time high, with needs stretching beyond the scope and financial capacity of the humanitarian system. As the global peace and security, humanitarian and development landscape had become more complex, the mandates and functions of the United Nations development system were increasingly challenged. The fundamental question for all was: “What can be done to better institutionalize coherence amongst the United Nations entities at the strategic and operational levels?”
Turning to practical suggestions on how to make progress, she noted that context analysis enabled the United Nations actors and their partners to understand the root causes, dynamics and trends of conflicts or crises. Risk analysis, on the other hand, enabled such actors to forecast the likelihood of crises and their potential impact. Preventing crises and sustaining peace was a shared responsibility across the United Nations system. On partnership, she noted that the principle of national ownership was central to the common pursuit of sustainable development and peace. In that regard, partnership with national and local governments was critical in the collective efforts for inclusive and transparent progress.
Ms. CLARK, focusing on further strengthening the United Nations development system, emphasized the need to bring together existing knowledge, capacity and resources. The 2030 Agenda wanted to ensure that no one would be left behind. Its successful implementation required long-term responses focusing on humanitarian needs, in particular disaster preparedness and risk assessment. Further, Member States needed to establish coherent policies in support of the 2030 Agenda. On funding, donor flexibility and aligning with national plans and priorities was crucial. Joint financing strategies would better promote the integration of the development system, she underlined.
Mr. O’BRIEN said progress was being made between humanitarian and development actors. While there was much more to do, “we’re not starting from zero”. In such work, it was important to consider the scale and diversity of needs. Humanitarian actors were more in demand than ever. In 2016, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and its partners sought $21.1 billion — the largest figure to date — to help 88 million people in some 33 countries, up from $3.8 billion in 2005. Today’s crises were predominantly protracted — lasting for generations and featuring the intersecting impacts of climate change, urbanization and conflict. Once launched, a humanitarian appeal would be renewed for an average seven years, while displacement usually lasted for 17 years. Yet, the planning and financing tools for humanitarian assistance did not match that reality. Actors must deliver short-term assistance, in line with humanitarian principles. But, those needs often quickly gave way to a desire for self-reliance and advancement through education, employment and human rights. “We need additional tools, partnerships and new ways of working,” he said, stressing that the World Humanitarian Summit on 23 and 24 May provided an opportunity to place the some 125 million people affected by humanitarian crises at the centre of efforts. Moving from aid delivery to ending need required anticipating crises — emphasizing predicting and preparing for them — and providing incentives to act. There was a need to reinforce existing capacity in crisis-affected environments and deliver collective outcomes by shifting from supply-driven, short-term approaches, to demand-driven, outcome-oriented ones that involved the United Nations, Governments, donors and others, to avoid fragmentation.
Mr. ONANGA-ANYANGA, speaking from Bangui, said the Central African Republic was “waking up from a nightmare”, as peaceful celebrations welcoming a new President were drawing to a close. “No one would have predicted such an amazing outcome,” he said. The elections had allowed the country to end a lengthy transition and return to constitutional order. MINUSCA and the United Nations Development Programme had shared the bulk of political, technical and logistical work, while other parts of the system had provided staff, transport and other critical assets. To ensure that refugees could vote — an important element, as exclusion had caused the country’s descent into chaos — the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) contributed its own funds, without tapping into the fund, providing critical support. It would have made “a big difference” if the Mission, agencies, funds and programmes had shared a common situational analysis that outlined threats, challenges and priorities. That would have made it easier to allocate scarce resources. Such planning should be led by national authorities. While that might prove unrealistic in some places, every effort should be made to reflect national concerns as soon as the opportunity arose. Noting that each agency had its own budget, priorities and executive board, he said donors, which were outside the United Nations system, based their decisions on separate frameworks — meaning that integration was voluntary. The question was how to institutionalize integration. Pending a new system enabling a pooling of assets at the country level under one single authority, he placed his hope in the concept of a “national compact”, which would be pursued in the Central African Republic.
Mr. WAHBA, speaking from Port-au-Prince, said the situation in Haiti was characterized by delicate and violent political dynamics, and a series of humanitarian crises of cholera, drought and displacement — some of which had their origins in a “dire” economic situation in which two thirds of the population was poor. To address that scenario, as a mission and as country team, joint work methods had been developed, he said, citing the community violence reduction programme, whereby UNDP, International Organization for Migration (IOM), United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), International Labour Organization (ILO), United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) and others worked in slums where violence occurred and where humanitarian needs were most acute. That programme also relied on the security apparatus to support women’s empowerment programmes and allow scope for health interventions. The flow of people from the Dominican Republic was an example of a purely humanitarian crisis that had evolved into a protection crisis and exposed the State’s weakness in providing employment and civil registry. “Should one try to work within a silo in Haiti, one would not be able to do it,” he said. The Mission was working within existing instruments and preparing a United Nations Development Assistance Framework for 2017 that included as an outcome the development factors that led to humanitarian crises. It was also operating within the humanitarian response plan, which recognized underlying factors, such as lack of water and sanitation. He stressed the need to plan ahead, noting that the Central Emergency Response Fund had been useful in the quick deployment of aid, as well as in addressing long-term needs that led to emergencies.
In the ensuing discussion, delegates stressed the need to strengthen coordination between development, humanitarian, disaster response, climate change and resilience efforts across the United Nations system. The representative of Norway inquired if there was a need to start from scratch or build on existing knowledge.
Calling upon the United Nations system to provide effective, immediate response to crises and deliver immediate, effective and coordinated recovery assistance to affected Governments and populations, the representative of Australia, also speaking on behalf of Canada, Australia and New Zealand, underlined that delivering coordinated recovery assistance was crucial in reaching a common goal.
Iraq’s delegate, noting that some States enjoyed security and others were in need of it, described peace and security as a precondition to achieving stability.
The representative of Maldives, speaking on behalf of the Alliance of Small Island States, noted that horizontal coordination across the United Nations system remained a challenge. As such, strategic plans must be coordinated and flexible to address emerging challenges.
Ms. HOCSTETTER, responding to the question put forth by the representative of Norway, expressed that there had been a strategic framework for cooperation. However, more needed to be done to ensure interagency coherence and joint information analysis, particularly in the area of disaster preparedness.
IZUMI NAKAMITSU, Assistant Secretary-General of UNDP, speaking on behalf of Ms. Clark, noted that the United Nations system had begun to see what did and did not work. On resident coordinators, the Organization had made progress in selecting people with the right capacities and qualities.
Mr. O’BRIEN said resident coordinators had the authority to consolidate data, ensure coherence to collect outcome and implement the mandate. Underscoring the need for predictable funding to address humanitarian needs, he called for investing in collective projects.
Mr. ONANGA-ANYANGA said generating better mandates and ensuring that country teams were invited to the conversation were instrumental in creating right entry and exit strategies.
Mr. WAHBA, on the authority of resident coordinators, said that it must be earned rather than granted. On the quadrennial comprehensive policy review, he noted that the following one should focus on humanitarian assistance and peace operations.
Panel II
In the afternoon, the Council held a panel on “Organizational arrangements: How to strengthen interagency collaboration in organizational presence at country, subregional and regional levels”. Moderated by David Nabarro, Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, it featured presentations by Alicia Bárcena, Executive Secretary, Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC); Mike Kelleher, Senior Adviser, United Nations Relations and Partnerships of the World Bank; Nardos Bekele-Thomas, Director, Office of the Chef de Cabinet, Executive Office of the Secretary-General, and former United Nations Resident Coordinator, Kenya; and Sahar Nasr, Minister for International Cooperation, Egypt. Rossana Guevara, Vice-President of Honduras, delivered a keynote address.
Ms. GUEVARA said there were nine United Nations country offices in Honduras that shared $9 million in core resources. The country had a high amount of earmarked funding compared to other regional countries. Further, United Nations operational activities amounted to less than 10 per cent of official development assistance (ODA). In Honduras, a lower middle-income country, more than two thirds of the population lived in poverty; 5 of 10 people in extreme poverty, or almost 40 per cent of its 8 million inhabitants. With only modest ODA, Honduras instead relied on domestic resource mobilization and international private flows to finance development. Meeting the Sustainable Development Goals required “catalytic” ODA and technical assistance. The priority was national capacity development. While the Organization should provide differentiated, high-quality development assistance in an equitable, inclusive manner, its development work was fragmented and funding unpredictable. Cooperation among agencies had been hindered by competition for funding, “mission creep” and outdated practices. “We want a United Nations that works together,” she said. As 70 per cent of the world’s poor lived in middle-income countries, the United Nations needed new strategies to meet their needs. She supported the enhancement of the analytical, strategic, innovative and multisectoral capacity of the system to gather and translate evidence into normative advice for different country contexts.
Ms. BÁRCENA said business as usual was no longer an option and success in implementing the 2030 Agenda required a change in approach, one that aligned with a structural shift. The United Nations system needed to provide country-specific policy advice at a time when all finance ministers were cutting budgets. As such, creative solutions were needed to ensure progress in implementing the Sustainable Development Goals across many sectors. Growing demands from middle-income countries must also be addressed. With those concerns in mind, she said regional organizations could help in building a truly universal 2030 Agenda, working with equally universal approaches with a view to focusing on the needs of a range of States. For instance, the Caribbean region had suffered debt growth due to the impact of natural disasters. In response to that and other kinds of challenges, regional commissions were already coordinating agency activities and were important in bringing the voice of regions into the international arena. It was time to rethink how global governance operated, with all countries agreeing on moving towards the Goals in the 2030 Agenda. Global governance was needed in many fields, from digital to finance sectors, as were efforts to integrate the Goals into national frameworks and to leverage science and technology. Indeed, a regional forum for sustainable development could bring countries together to share experiences, challenges and solutions.
Mr. KELLEHER said the multilateral system was struggling and it needed more than just “a new coat of paint”. Climate change, pandemics and conflict were global in nature and had to be addressed collectively. If that occurred, the chances of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals would rise considerably. For its part, the World Bank Group had coordinated with the United Nations on a broad range of issues related to the 2030 Agenda. Examples included working in fragile and conflict-affected areas and cooperating on the joint implementation of global development goals. Going forward, he said, improving the quality of public expenditure was critical and “silo” thinking must transform into more coordinated approaches. Data was now one of the most powerful tools to improve accountability and end poverty. In many countries, however, there simply was no poverty data from 2002 to 2011. Better data must be provided and new technologies were needed through public-private partnerships. As a partner of Global Partnership for Sustainable Data, launched in 2015, the World Bank also supported the involvement of the private sector in delivering development solutions. That sector was, however, constrained by conflict, rural poverty and gender-related issues. Such issues should be addressed, and the private sector could play an important role in fostering sustainable development and growth.
Ms. BEKELE-THOMAS discussed the importance of aligning United Nations core values with the planning and budgeting of countries, which was critical for national ownership. In Kenya, 27 United Nations agencies had come together with the World Bank to support the formulation of a medium-term plan that integrated core humanitarian, human rights and peacebuilding values into national planning. From there, the United Nations Development Assistance Framework had become a programme of the Government. The President had signed the Assistance Framework at the State House, along with development partners, civil society, the private sector and philanthropists. There was one country and one United Nations plan. Derived from a shared vision and a common analysis and risk assessment, the Assistance Framework had become national coordination mechanism. More broadly, the private sector must be integrated into that process, as it had a stake in the health of the economy. The trust developed through such efforts had led to an agreement between Kenya and Ethiopia, which involved the country team, Governments and the Intergovernmental Authority for Development (IGAD), to bring peace to the border area.
Ms. NASR underscored the importance ownership, leadership and high-level commitment to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Ownership meant extensive consultations with Governments, the private sector, civil society, youth and parliamentarians, as well as reaching out to low-, middle- and high-income countries. She urged reaching out to different age brackets and governorates. An integrated agenda meant that integrated solutions must be achieved. For example, gender issues, which were mainly addressed by UN-Women, could be integrated into the work of agencies dealing with social housing or microfinance. “It requires more than just having meetings or joint conferences,” she said. “It requires reaching out to people.” Also, funding often catered to donor, rather than national, priorities. Tasks must instead be driven by demand, which was the only way to engender national ownership. Responsiveness was also important. She urged the United Nations to provide capacity-building support to institutions, from data collection to tools for implementing policy reforms needed to reach the Goals. “We need to work closely together,” she said, stressing that Governments could not deliver the Goals alone.
During the ensuing dialogue, many speakers discussed how to improve coordination and coherence among all relevant actors at the regional and subregional level, and were urged to share success stories on joint planning and evaluation.
Drawing attention to the key role played by the regional commissions, the representative of Argentina noted that they could ensure the successful implementation and monitoring of the 2030 Agenda. Unfortunately, that was not reflected in the document before the Council, he said.
Speaking on behalf of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the representative of Trinidad and Tobago said that the work of the development system at the regional and subregional levels would be a critical enabling factor for supporting national and local actions. Building on current regional structures, greater interagency planning and coordination with specific deliverables at the regional and subregional level must be conducted in a sustained manner, he stressed.
The representative of Maldives, speaking on behalf of the Alliance of Small Island States, said the small island developing States Accelerated Modalities of Action (SAMOA) Pathway had explicitly asked the United Nations system to improve inter and intraregional cooperation and collaboration among States, in the context of institutional mechanisms and capacity-building. Describing coordination among the United Nations entities as an ongoing challenge, he noted that many small States experienced uncoordinated efforts. More impactful and actionable coordination and improved communication between different entities would provide effective and efficient support to programme countries.
Also speaking during the interactive dialogue were the representatives of Finland, Germany and Kazakhstan.
In response, Ms. BÁRCENA said population dynamics varied from one region to another. In Latin America, the ECLAC was coordinating with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and sharing data and statistics.
Mr. KELLEHER said the World Bank had local presence in countries, focusing on shared values and purposes.
Ms. BEKELE-THOMAS stressed that the Executive Board should speak with “one voice”. She believed that the resident coordinators should have an enhanced leadership role.
Ms. NASR noted that the United Nations entities should provide integrated solutions through coordination and cohesion.
Statements
Also this afternoon, the Council held its general debate on the operational activities of the United Nations development system.
VIRACHAI PLASAI (Thailand), on behalf of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China, said global commitments to operational activities were “not up for reinterpretation”, but rather, must be implemented. He urged scaling up the capacity of operational activities to help developing countries achieve the 2030 Agenda, by taking into account the need to build, promote and strengthen the developing country national capacities, bearing in mind the different development levels of those countries. He requested United Nations funds and programmes to include in their reporting to the Council information on their strategic plans, efforts to address the root causes of poverty, good practices and efforts to mainstream the 2030 Agenda into system-wide planning and reporting. In “delivering as one”, they must bear in mind that “no one size fits all”. Within the development system, he supported the creation of separate accountability tracks for development and humanitarian assistance activities, reiterating that core resources were the “bedrock” of operational activities.
ANNE POORTA (Netherlands), speaking on behalf of the European Union, urged United Nations entities not to compete against each other, which, in turn, implied implementing joint programming, and harmonizing both the reporting and management frameworks. The Union supported an enhanced coordinating role for the Council and the development system, as well as enhanced synergies among the normative, standard-setting and operational functions. He noted “room for improvement” in mainstreaming gender equality and women’s empowerment into the 2030 Agenda, expressing support for efforts to bolster the Resident Coordinator’s authority and legitimacy. In that context, he urged agencies, funds and programmes to “sign” with the Resident Coordinator’s management and accountability systems, and implement the management cost-sharing arrangement. Reforms were needed to address the challenge of obtaining resources that allowed the development system to fulfill its functions. The donor base must be broadened, as it currently relied on a small group of contributors, with the European Union contributing a 40 per cent share.
MASUD BIN MOMEN (Bangladesh), speaking on behalf of the Group of Least Developed Countries, pressed United Nations entities to work in a coordinated manner to implement the Istanbul Programme of Action for Least Developed Countries and to ensure coherence with the 2030 Agenda. While 74 per cent of UNDP resources went to least developed countries, such allocations had been decreasing, including for core resources, a trend which needed to be reversed. Programmes and projects funded by non-core resource must not be managed by core resources. Operational activities must also take up new sectoral programmes in least developed countries, rather than focus on smaller projects. He expressed concern that several United Nations entities worked on the basis of low- and middle-income countries, rather than from a concept of “least developed countries”, a group of countries whose definitions were regularly updated. It was important to ensure that development activities were predictable and incremental in nature, with Governments informed at an early stage of planned activities. He pressed entities to provide detailed reports of their operational activities, best practices, lessons learned and recommendations for overcoming challenges faced by least developed countries.
AHMED SAREER (Maldives), speaking on behalf of the Alliance of Small Island States, reiterated the need to integrate the 2030 Agenda and the SAMOA Pathway to all aspects and activities of the development system. The multidimensional nature of the Agenda required a clear understanding of how the “sustainable” and “environmental” aspects of development and poverty alleviation would translate into the work of the development system. Expressing concern over the “massive imbalance” between core and non-core resources, he noted that the functions of the development system should be aided by its funding practices. For small island States, it was critical to build and strengthen local capacity for implementation of the 2030 Agenda. The success, in that regard, depended on the coordinated and tangible support from the United Nations system. On the resident coordinator system, he underscored the need to increase diversity in order to better balance and present local communities.
MICHAEL GRANT (Canada), speaking also for Australia, said the development system must be reshaped to fit the multiple aims of the new Agenda and the differentiated needs of countries. Three shifts must take place, first in the delivery of shared development results, through multisector financing and delivery mechanisms; next, in terms of greater cooperation in planning, financing, operations and reporting; and finally, with greater integration of the humanitarian, peace and development pillars. The United Nations Development Assistance Framework had generated significant efficiency gains, but some of its shortcomings were due to a lack of leadership and gaps in monitoring and reporting. Others were linked to unrealistic, and sometimes unclear and numerous, mandates in the quadrennial comprehensive policy review, which, itself, should be renamed to reflect the “breakthrough” elements of the 2030 Agenda. He also advocated streamlining system-wide mandates, better integrating peace, humanitarian and development activities, and elaborating an incentive-based funding system at the country level in support of the Sustainable Development Goals, among other things.
RUEANNA HAYNES (Trinidad and Tobago), speaking on behalf of CARICOM, acknowledged the greater coordination between the United Nations entities, but noted that more needed to be done to enhance and harmonize delivery on the ground. Commending the best practices of some agencies, she looked forward to seeing more detailed plans on the implementation of General Assembly resolution 67/226. On funding, there was a need to increase core resources, and she called for flexibility of resource allocation based on regional needs and priorities.
KRISTINA PERSSON (Sweden) noted that the emerging consensus on what functions the development system should perform was an important step towards a modern and forceful United Nations system. She believed that the Organization’s ability to generate, promote and foster partnerships should be further developed and strengthened. A particular emphasis should be put on its role in the least developed countries and States affected by conflict or other humanitarian crises. Success depended on the cooperation between the peacebuilding, humanitarian and development pillars. Further, in support of the implementation of the national 2030 Agenda, the United Nations had an indispensable role to play in monitoring, she said, adding that no other actor could shoulder that responsibility. Concluding, she noted that funding practices needed to be aligned with the system’s functions as different functions required different funding modalities.