Current Pace Will Cost Us Fight against Climate Change, Deputy Secretary-General Warns at Meeting of Resident Coordinators with Member States

Following are UN Deputy Secretary‑General Amina Mohammed’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, at the opening of the resident coordinator meeting with Member States today:

Let me begin with a profound thank you.  Thank you first to the Member States.  Your decisive action has ushered in the most ambitious transformation in the history of the United Nations development system.  In deciding to create a strengthened coordination function and a new generation of United Nations country teams, you have provided the conditions for the United Nations to step up its support to the 2030 Agenda as the world enters a decade of action.  Thanks to the commitment and hard work from colleagues across the United Nations system, we have responded to your guidance with determination.

I also want to express my gratitude to all resident coordinators who are gathering in New York this week.  Since January, they have taken on a new central role, with its share of opportunities but — at that time — also great uncertainty.  Yet, they have embraced the ambitions of the General Assembly and are now at the forefront — with their host Governments — in leading our development system on the ground.

So much has happened since you met the resident coordinators in October last year, at the first ever global meeting of resident coordinators.  At the time, we asked resident coordinators to take a leap of faith and to embark with us on one of the most transformative journeys of this Organization.  All had the choice of staying as resident coordinators or going back to their entity of origin.  The vast majority of resident coordinators — all those present here today — chose to take on the new challenge of reform.

A year later, we have transitioned to a reinvigorated, independent resident coordinator system and we are making progress on all of our transformative efforts.  Our resident coordinators are now key drivers of transformation in each country, giving life to the landmark General Assembly resolution on the repositioning of the United Nations development system.  From resolution to results.  This is what brings us together today.

Thanks to the leadership of resident coordinators and colleagues from across the system in United Nations country teams, we are on track in progressively strengthening the United Nations response to country needs towards 2030.  Inclusive dialogues with national partners are ongoing as we roll out a new set of United Nations sustainable development cooperation frameworks.  We are already more transparent and accountable to Member States and national Governments, including through joint reporting.

We are taking steps with all Principals of the United Nations Sustainable Development Group to deeply transform our approach to partnerships and how we leverage development finance and other means of implementation.  We are working hand‑in‑hand with donors to shift funding patterns, including through increased collective resource mobilization.  And we are advancing efficiencies through common premises and common back‑offices — through mutual recognition of business processes and harmonizing costing and pricing methodologies.  Thanks to the efforts of Member States and United Nations entities alike, we mobilized sufficient funding globally to transition to a new resident coordinator system with full capacities.  But we need continued support from Member States to ensure funding is sustainable in 2020 and beyond.  We count on you.

All along, we have kept our focus on one common objective:  a United Nations development system that is fit to deliver results on the ground, in support of Member States’ efforts; 2019 was a year of transition, 2020 will be a year of action and acceleration.  In the General Assembly this past September, world leaders sent a strong message to the system in favour of scaled up action towards Sustainable Development Goal implementation, climate change and financing for development, among other issues.  The repositioning of the United Nations development system will ensure we are ready to respond to this call.  And our sense of urgency and ambition is greater than ever.

Let us look around the globe.  We are living in a world of uncertainty, with persistent poverty and inequality, conflicts, chaos and anxiety in so many places.  We cannot repair these fissures and chart a road to a future of dignity, peace and prosperity — offer a hopeful future — without development strategies front and centre.  Yet, we are not moving fast enough to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and we are too far from upholding our collective promise to leave no one behind.  We need to do much better in responding to specific country contexts and advancing each component of the intergovernmental frameworks that address the specific needs of countries — the Istanbul Programme of Action for LDCs, the Vienna Programme of Action for LLDCs, and the SAMOA Pathway for SIDS.

At the current pace, we will lose the battle against climate change, but the world is waking up.  Pressure is building.  Momentum is growing.  And — action by action — the tide is turning.  But we need more Governments, more cities, more businesses to act.  And act fast to deliver on the Paris Agreement with increased ambition.  And we must challenge the world’s approach to development financing, truly implementing the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, so countries can make focused investments to reach the Goals.

With 10 years left to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), we cannot afford to waste any more time.  And working from good data and analytics, resources must be well spent.  Empowered, development-focused resident coordinators will be critical to driving a stepped up and meaningful response to national priorities and needs on the ground.  When the Secretary-General met the resident coordinators on Monday, he reminded us all that it is upon them to embody the renewed ambition of the next decade, embrace complexity and realize change.  He asked resident coordinators to make the most of the 2030 Agenda, leveraging all its components, to deliver results.  Today, residential coordinators will share a sense of how this is moving on the ground.  A reality check.

This second meeting of Member States with resident coordinators was designed to ensure you have a direct engagement with our resident coordinators.  We aimed to keep it as informal and interactive as possible.  We will hear from resident coordinators on their efforts with United Nations country teams to help Governments fight climate change; build resilience; close the gender gap; enhance opportunities for young people; leverage development finance to leave no one behind; and ultimately advance the SDGs — along with the goals and targets of key intergovernmental frameworks — in very distinct and complex country contexts.

I encourage you to probe resident coordinators on the progress and challenges they face in driving transformation on the ground.  Interrogate them on how they are leveraging their new authorities and tools to better coordinate country teams.  Ask for their frank views on bottlenecks that need to be addressed for the full implementation of the mandates you have entrusted to us.  Express your views on how to move forward.  And I ask you to support our resident coordinators in their efforts.  They are your resident coordinators.  They are champions of sustainable development on the ground.  They have only one agenda: delivering the SDGs for everyone, everywhere.

And in doing so, their everyday job is to meet your aspirations and deliver for the people of the world who are counting on us to make a real difference in their lives.  We count on you to guide us as we accelerate action on the ground, particularly for the least developed countries, small island developing States and landlocked countries.  I look forward — and I am sure also our resident coordinators — to a dynamic and frank discussion.

Thank you.