Deputy Secretary-General Calls for Funding Resident Coordinator System More Sustainably, in Message to Educational, Scientific, Cultural Organization
Following is UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s message on the occasion of the meeting with the Executive Board of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), in Paris today:
It is a pleasure to join you today on the heels of yesterday’s Transforming Education Summit Stocktake.
UNESCO’s contributions to education, culture, the sciences are integral to the broader goals of the United Nations. Your work is woven into the very fabric of our societies — a fabric that today is being stretched to its limit by dramatic social, political, economic, technological and environmental challenges.
The Secretary-General greatly appreciates our collaboration with UNESCO and its leadership in several areas. We commend, in particular, UNESCO’s work to revive the spirit of Mosul, to support the people of Lebanon, to protect freedom of expression, to place guardrails around the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and to advance the role of women in science.
And we are also extremely grateful for our partnership with Assistant Director General Giannini to elevate education on the global agenda and accelerate implementation of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4.
We are meeting at a moment when multilateralism is under severe pressure. The foundational norms of the UN are being challenged. And the value proposition of the UN family is being questioned.
Today, therefore, just three months out from the Summit of the Future, I welcome the opportunity to exchange with you on UNESCO’s role in a more inclusive, networked, relevant and ultimately, more effective, multilateral system. The challenges we face in the world today are many and they are growing.
Inequalities between the richest and poorest people and countries are unacceptably high. The climate crisis is intensifying as green-house gas emissions move in the wrong direction. New technologies are advancing without guardrails or governance. Trust in Governments is deteriorating and social cohesion is fraying. And horrific wars are raging in Sudan, Ukraine, Gaza and beyond.
Allow me to take this opportunity to say a brief word about the situation in Gaza.
The death and destruction we have all witnessed these past nine months is shocking and it simply cannot come to an end quick enough. I reiterate the Secretary-General’s urgent appeal for an immediate ceasefire, the unconditional release of all hostages and a surge in humanitarian support.
Underlying all these crises is a global systemic failure. Our tools and frameworks to manage decision-making at the global level are long out of date.
They do not incentivize action to prevent crises and conflict. They have failed to provide a financial safety net to developing countries mired in debt — often of no fault of their own. They are incapable of mobilizing the investments needed for the green and digital transitions. They do not account adequately for new risks and threats. And they do not include vast swathes of the world’s people.
The Summit of the Future in New York in September is an opportunity for an update and an upgrade.
With negotiations on the Pact for the Future moving into the final stages, we are closing in on some crucial breakthroughs:
A clear path forward to reform the international financial system — reforms that will make it more representative and responsive to today’s challenges;
A commitment to a New Agenda for Peace and new arrangements to prevent and respond to complex global shocks;
A strong foundation to overcome digital, data and innovation divides and to govern artificial intelligence so that it benefits all of humanity.
And a commitment to engage young people in decision-making and ensure the UN works better with other key partners.
UNESCO has actively contributed to the Summit of the Future process.
Its outreach has helped ensure a strong focus on culture, the sciences, and education in the current draft of the Pact for the Future, and an emphasis on ethical AI and digital learning in the draft of the Global Digital Compact.
Over the coming months, we urge you to remain engaged with your delegations in New York to help secure an ambitious outcome in September.
Looking ahead, there are several key moments for follow-up to the Summit of the Future and for spurring greater action to accelerate SDG progress.
First, the annual meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF), the G20 in Brazil and the financing for development conference in Spain provide opportunities to advance the economic agenda and some of the key agreements reached at the Summit of the Future, including on international taxation, debt restructuring, special drawing rights, reform of the multilateral development banks, representation in international financial institutions and more.
Second, next June’s UN Ocean Conference in Nice, in the south of France, must continue to advance the ocean agenda. I commend the UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission for its strong work in this area.
And third, next year’s World Summit on Social Development will be an opportunity to strengthen global commitment to the eradicating of poverty and to supporting human development in a rapidly changing world.
Education must be at the heart of this, and the World Social Summit will provide a chance for Governments to unite around what it will take to create true learning societies.
This is an opportunity to leapfrog ahead and to prepare our societies for uncertain futures, building on the work of UNESCO’s International Commission on the Futures of Education and on the UNESCO Recommendation on education for peace, human rights and sustainable development.
The shift that is needed is now beginning to get off the ground, and yesterday’s event was hugely helpful in this regard.
The Secretary-General’s special event on transforming education in July and the global education meeting in October should also help to grow momentum.
The SDG4 High-level Steering Committee has a crucial role to play here, as does the entire UNESCO membership.
To make a real difference in people’s lives, the multilateral system must complement these important convenings with effective support at the country level. That is why the Secretary-General embarked on an ambitious reform of the UN development system when he took office. The reforms seek to ensure that the UN development system better supports Governments to deliver the 2030 Agenda.
There has been considerable progress. Our resident coordinators are increasingly convening all partners for ambitious national transformations and are succeeding in bringing UN country teams together behind development priorities set by Governments.
The reforms have also made our collective operations more efficient. And they are helping us to better leverage the capacities of non-resident specialized agencies and those at the regional level. UNESCO, for example, is now a member of 127 UN country teams, up from to 108 in 2014.
But there is still some way to go. I see two big issues that need to be resolved.
First, we need to fund the resident coordinator system more sustainably.
Since 2019, UNESCO, along with the 36 other UN entities, has supported the resident coordinator system through its cost-sharing contribution, and we are grateful for this support. Since its inception, however, there has been a chronic funding shortfall in voluntary contributions for the resident coordinator system.
The Secretary-General has presented a proposal to the UN General Assembly to use assessed contributions to fund a portion of the resident coordinator system budget. We count on the support of all countries to make that proposal a reality.
Second, we need to shift mindsets and funding patterns of donors and UN entities alike.
The recently re-energized Funding Compact can serve as the frame for discussions in UNESCO to enhance flexible funding and effectiveness. And a Reform Checklist has been provided to support you also.
Moving forward, it will be important to address three key priorities, particularly in the area of education — ensuring that UNESCO has the core funding needed to respond systematically to country priorities; ensuring that UNESCO has a footprint on the ground that is sufficient to accompany Governments with the expertise they need; and ensuring UNESCO has stronger collaboration with other UN entities.
Recent examples of UNESCO joining forces with United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and leveraging the capacities of its own institutes to support education system transformation in Côte d’Ivoire, Burundi, Chad and elsewhere are greatly encouraging. And a similar approach is urgently needed in other areas, such as on digital learning and skills for the future of work.
The Campus Africa initiative, the Digital Transformation Collaborative, UNESCO National Commissions and a reinvigorated and repurposed E9 platform all offer considerable possibilities.
I encourage the UNESCO Executive Board to play a proactive role in supporting UNESCO to evolve its offer as a key part of the UN development system.
I first entered the halls of UNESCO some 30 years ago. I did so because of my belief in the power of education, science and culture to weave together the rich tapestry of our societies for the benefit of peace, tolerance and justice.
Today, UNESCO continues to have a crucial role to play within a more networked, inclusive and effective multilateralism. And I look forward to strong collaboration with its leadership, staff and Member States in the years ahead.
Today’s opportunity to have a constructive dialogue will shape the support the Secretary-General and I will continue to give to the education constituency.
I look forward to hearing your perspectives and reflections.