Summary: July 8, 2002: Statement by H.E. Ambassador Ellen Margrethe Løj, Permanent Representative of Denmark to the UN, on behalf of the European Union, at the ECOSOC Substantive Session on Operational activities of the United Nations for international development cooperation (New York)
I speak on behalf of the European Union. The countries of Central and Eastern Europe associated with the European Union - Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia - and the other associated countries Cyprus, Malta, Turkey, align themselves with this statement.
Mr. President,
The European Union looks forward to engaging in a substantive debate on the operational activities of the United Nations in the field of development co-operation. The central coordinating role of the Economic and Social Council in this regard is accentuated by the broad and ambitious development agenda as derived from the internationally agreed development goals and objectives, including those contained in the Millennium Declaration. The adoption of a comprehensive set of time-bound goals and
targets raises a new set of challenges in terms of monitoring and measuring to the development community. The EU is confident that ECOSOC will also be able to contribute to this discussion.
By way of introduction we should like to extend our compliments to the Secretariat for having prepared extensive as well as very substantive documentation for this session. This will provide us with a sound basis for the deliberations on United Nations operational activities. Furthermore, we would like to convey our appreciation to Mr. Ambassador Dumisani Shadrack Kumalo of South Africa for chairing this segment.
Mr. President,
The European Union would firstly like to acknowledge the considerable progress made by the United Nations system to strengthen its capability at the country level to assist programme countries. The United Nations with its near universal membership is particularly well placed to contribute to a concerted international response to the development agenda stemming from the internationally agreed development goals and objectives, including those contained in the Millennium Declaration. In
particular, the UN funds, programs and specialised agencies are well placed to assist national governments in fulfilling this agenda owing to their normative expertise, operational mandates, neutrality and universal presence.
However, if we are to realise this ambitious development agenda, a collective endeavour by the entire international community is called for. The necessity of this comprehensive approach is inherent in the Monterrey Consensus adopted in March 2002.
The Monterrey Consensus firmly established a partnership compact: The clear commitment by all developing countries to take primary responsibility for their own development, ensuring democracy, human rights and rule of law. The clear commitment by developed countries to lend support to the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals and objectives, including those contained in the Millennium Declaration, including financial support and market access.
The operational activities of the United Nations have an important role to play in assisting national governments as they translate intergovernmental commitments and the outcomes from major UN conferences and summits into national development strategies. Moreover, to keep track of the gradual realisation of these international development targets, benchmarks at the national level will have to be consolidated. These can ultimately also contribute to assessing the effectiveness of United Nations
operational activities in assisting national governments in meeting these targets
The European Union is an ardent supporter of United Nations operational activities for development and of enhancing their effectiveness, efficiency and accountability. Ultimately, the beneficiaries of these endeavours must be the national development efforts.
The European Union is very pleased with the outcome of the most recent Triennial Comprehensive Policy Review of operational activities. General Assembly resolution 56/201 sets out clear principles and concrete requests to the UN system in the field of operational activities for development. We look forward to discussing the initial response by the UN system to the ambitious tasking as set out in this resolution.
Mr. President,
The Internationally agreed development goals and the outcomes of the international conferences, especially the Millennium Development Goals, now constitute the foundation for the establishment of the national Poverty Reduction Strategies and subsequently the United Nations Development Assistance Framework, guiding the United Nations efforts at country level. We are pleased to note that an increasing number of developing countries elaborate comprehensive poverty reduction strategies in the form
of poverty reduction strategy papers (PRSP). Evidence from the field shows that they often not only become the overall framework for the national development efforts, but also for the supporting efforts of all bilateral and multilateral donors. The PRSP's thus also provides a useful framework for coordination among all donors. The European Union is also convinced that the UN system could add value in the preparation of PRSPs.
We commend the United Nations Development Group (UNDG) for the steps taken in order to ensure a better integration of the Common Country Assessment (CCA) and the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) with the national development strategies and plans. The preparation of the CCA and the subsequent implementation of the UNDAF should be firmly anchored in the principle of national ownership of development.
We believe, therefore, it is important for the CCA/UNDAF process to integrate fully with PRSPs and for progress towards this to be kept under review. In this spirit we also welcome the World Bank's recent observer status in the UNDG and underline the importance of reciprocal interest being demonstrated by the Bretton Woods institutions in the CCA.
The EU is also increasingly a partner to the UN system. The Secretary-General's report "A vision for partnership - the United Nations and the European Union in Humanitarian Affairs and Development" amongst other things highlights the need for enhanced co-operation between UN organisations and EU representations at the field level. Common planning, monitoring and evaluation of activities are concrete areas where enhanced co-operation could take place. The European Union is fully committed to
examining these possibilities and looks forward to further defining areas of common interest.
Mr. President,
The continued rationalisation of United Nations operational activities has for a long time been a priority of a large number of Member States, not least the European Union. General Assembly resolution 56/201 gives new impetus to these efforts, particularly with regard to ensuring progress in the harmonisation and simplification of procedures.
We note with satisfaction the submission of a programme of work for full simplification and harmonisation of rules and procedures in key areas by the UN funds and programmes as contained in addendum to conference room paper E/2002/CRP.1. We consider progress in this area a precondition for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the UN and for enhanced coordination and co-operation within the UN family. In lowering the high transaction costs imposed upon recipient countries as a result of
diverse rules and procedures, this agenda will ultimately free up more resources for programming at country level.
The European Union would like to underline its strong support for any enhanced efforts on behalf of the funds and programs to engage in joint programming. Joint programming would constitute a significant UN contribution to instruments such as sector wide approaches (SWAP's) and PRSP's. It is clear that appropriate mechanisms for sharing funds will have to be identified. We would very much welcome additional work to be done in this area.
We acknowledge that the work program constitutes an ambitious undertaking on its own merits. However, we note with great interest that further initiatives outside the immediate scope of this work program is being pursued by UNDP, UNFPA and UNICEF in relation to exploring the feasibility of "joint offices" in countries with a limited UN presence. We would strongly encourage the funds and programs to also tackle this issue when implementing the work programme and to receive reports on the outcome
of the envisaged feasibility studies.
The European Union considers the work program as presented by the UN funds and programs as a very significant sign of commitment to the agenda of simplification and harmonisation. Naturally, the demonstration of sustained commitment to this timetable will hinge on the ensuing implementation in the next couple of years.
We welcome the central role of United Nations Development Group Executive Committee in moving this agenda forward, while acknowledging that the ultimate responsibility for implementing this agenda rests with the funds and programs and their respective governing bodies. In this respect, we look forward to receiving an annual report from the funds and programs in ECOSOC detailing progress made in the area of simplification and harmonisation. This could be done within existing reporting
mechanisms.
Mr. President,
Capacity building has been thoroughly discussed during the high-level segment and in the panel discussion on this matter last week. At this stage the EU should like in general to subscribe to the recommendations contained in the Secretary-General's report on capacity building. They represent a sensible strengthening of the ongoing work to place capacity building in the broadest sense of the term as the goal of technical assistance provided by the operational activities of the UN system.
Finding answers to the question of what works at the local level to meet the challenges of development requires adopting an approach mindful of the specific national development context. Capacity building has to be firmly rooted in national ownership; the latter being a sine qua non for sustainable development efforts.
Providing assistance for strengthening and maintaining national capacities in order to achieve the internationally agreed development goals and objectives, including those contained in the Millennium Declaration should remain at the core of what the UN funds and programs should be doing.
The conclusions derived from the report of the Secretary-General makes it clear that progress has been made in the UN system in establishing capacity building as an explicit objective of all relevant programmes. However, there is still a need for furthering the understanding of the concept of capacity-building system-wide. The latter is essential to advancing a coherent and comprehensive approach to capacity building, which is essential in the search for poverty alleviation, economic growth and
sustainable development. The UN agencies together with all development partners should further this process by a more systematic sharing of knowledge about best practices in the area of capacity building.
Finally, we would be interested in discussing in ECOSOC in 2004 proposals by the Chief Executives Board on Coordination for benchmarks and indicators on capacity-building linked to the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals and objectives, including those contained in the Millennium Declaration. This is fully in line with the endeavours of the UN system to enhance results-based programming. The result of this exercise should be fed into the programming cycles of the
individual UN agencies. Such an approach would also lend itself to the establishment of relevant evaluation mechanisms based on the objectives and indicators identified.
Mr. President,
Finally, the EU takes note of the report of the Secretary-General on assessment of operational activities. Although we agree with many of the principles presented in this report, we feel a need for further consultations to clarify the purpose of these assessments. In particular, we would have liked the report to discuss more practical proposals to increase the usefulness and relevance of field level assessments for the UN country teams and recipient governments involved. The EU is confident
that the reporting on evaluation for the next substantive session of ECOSOC will provide an occasion to come to a better understanding of these issues.
As a contribution to the discussion, we would like to reiterate our position with respect to the field level assessment of operational activities. Firstly, the European Union attaches great importance to the continuous improvement of instruments of monitoring and evaluation with a view to ultimately enhancing development efforts at the country level. The challenge is to ensure that the UN operational stakeholders forge tighter links between evaluation results and lessons learned on one hand,
and decisions regarding policy, programming and organisational learning on the other hand. As such, monitoring and evaluation constitute an important part of results-based management.
Secondly, the European Union finds that to be truly valuable as both a tool for learning and accountability, the assessment function of the United Nations will have to cover issues of developmental effectiveness as well as organisational effectiveness.
The comprehensiveness of these issues requires the involvement of a wide range of actors within as well as outside the UN system. A participatory approach should be applied to the full range of UN evaluation activities. Within the UN system, the findings of the evaluation activities of the operational agencies need to be clearly incorporated, taking full advantage of their country level representation. External actors should also be involved with a view to provide substantive support and
technical input. This would also serve to enhance the credibility of the assessment function of the UN. In this respect, we would encourage increased collaboration with development research centres.
Finally, as stated at the outset the European Union attaches great importance to strengthening the capacity of the United Nations in terms of evaluation and monitoring. The ultimate objective being the enhanced effectiveness of the UN operational activities.
In this regard, the Secretary-General may wish to consider the possibility of commissioning an independent study with a view to obtaining a comprehensive look at the assessment capacities in the UN system and providing recommendations on ways of strengthening these, where relevant. This study could be integrated in the reporting to be provided by the Secretary-General for next year's ECOSOC substantive session as a response to paragraph 56 of General Assembly resolution 56/201.
Mr. President,
The European Union hopes to use the operational segment of this year's ECOSOC substantive session to take stock of initial implementation efforts by the UN system and to further advance the implementation of the Triennial Comprehensive Policy Review as adopted last year in General Assembly Resolution 56/201. To sum up our main recommendations for this session: Strengthening linkages between the UN and the Bretton Woods institutions, particularly with regard to closer alignment of the CCA/UNDAF
with PRSPs. Secure progress in work programme on simplification and harmonisation, particularly in terms of enhancing prospects for joint programming. Specific benchmarks and indicators for capacity building linked to the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals and objectives, including those contained in the Millennium Declaration, should be elaborated. A thorough review of the assessment capacity of the UN system.
The European Union remains committed to working together with other Member States and the United Nations system, in finding the most effective ways of strengthening the operational activities in support of national development priorities and strategies. Mobilising our joint efforts is the only way forward in securing progress towards realising the internationally agreed development goals and objectives, including those contained in the Millennium Declaration.
Mr. President, thank you.
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