Summary: July 14, 2000: Statement by H.E. Mr. Jean-David Levitte, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of France to the United Nations. Follow-up to the triennial review of operational activities for development (New York)
Mr. President,
I am pleased to speak on behalf of the European Union, regarding item 3 on the follow-up to the triennial review of operational activities for development. The Central and Eastern European countries associated with the European Union (Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary Latvia Lithuania, Poland, The Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia), and the other associated countries (Cyprus, Malta and Turkey) endorse this statement.
Mr. President,
The European Union would first of all like to thank the Secretary-General for the interim report on the follow-up to resolution 53/192 and the useful annexes, which provide clear, comprehensive information on the measures taken by the United Nations Consultative Committee on Programme and Operational Questions, the United Nations Development Group and the funds and programs.
Many initiatives have been launched since the presentation three years ago of the Secretary-General's reform programme, and much progress has been made towards the introduction of greater coherence and efficiency in the organization of the United Nations' operational development activities. That progress is most encouraging, and the European Union attaches the greatest importance to the continuation of these reforms, which will help to reinforce the impact on the ground of United Nations
interventions in the economic and social field, to the benefit of the populations concerned.
Mr. President, the European Union would like to make the following comments on the report (E/2000/46/add 1):
The Common Country Assessment (CCA) and the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF):
Mr. President,
The European Union attaches much importance to the preparation of CCAs and UNDAFs, which constitute powerful instruments for reinforcing the coordination and coherence of interventions on the ground by the United Nations agencies. We are pleased at the progress made in developing these instruments, in harmonizing programme cycles and in drawing up guidelines and a learning network. We also welcome the emphasis now placed on national capacity-building, the follow-up to the objectives of global
conferences and the establishment of common sets of indicators.
We also welcome the growing participation of the Bretton-Woods institutions and of civil society in the preparation of these documents.
However, the European Union is aware that transaction costs remain high and that the impact of the reform will be limited if we do not envisage going still further. It seems to us that development framework plans should progressively lead to a system of joint programming of funds and programs and UN agencies active in the field.
The idea would be to establish a joint country programme, defined on the basis of national development priorities, in which the intervention of each agency would be defined in relation to its comparative advantages and the resources it is able to mobilize. This approach would preserve the identity of each agency and would offer many advantages: it would increase the impact and coherence of United Nations interventions, avoid redundancy and duplication, simplify programming procedures for
recipient countries and thus increase their capacity for coordination and appropriation. The European Union would therefore like ECOSOC to request the heads of agency and the UNDG to give some thought to the feasibility of this approach, and then perhaps experiment in certain interested programme countries. Consideration should also be given to the possibility of submitting such joint programs to the joint session of Executive Boards.
In any case, we feel it is vital, when preparing the next triennial review, to explore ways in which we could increase coherence between the programs of each agency and the UNDAF.
That could be done in parallel with an independent assessment of the CCA/UNDAF process, the results of which should be submitted in the context of the next review of operational development activities. That assessment should provide an opportunity to take stock of the involvement of the different United Nations agencies in the CCA/UNDAF process, including the specialized agencies.
Coordination:
The European Union shares the analysis set out in paragraph 48 of the report, i.e. that increased coordination could greatly help to enhance the impact and the visibility of the United Nations system in the field. It will reinforce its credibility in the eyes of other providers of funds and donor countries. Above all, more effective coordination of the system is one way to make it easier for recipient countries to appropriate programs.
The European Union thus welcomes the progress achieved, among other things in the implementation of shared United Nations Houses and common services. In this connection, on the occasion of the next triennial review of operational development activities it would like to see a precise account of the situation drawn up, with particular reference to potential management savings, and priorities for the subsequent three years defined.
It also welcomes the progress made in the selection and formation of resident coordinators and would like more information on the current assessment of this selection system. It wishes to reiterate the importance of broadening the recruitment base to include representatives of all the agencies and women. The report does indeed confirm progress in this area, but the number of women (29) and representatives of agencies other than the UNDP (23) among the resident coordinators is still low.
The European Union also considers the organization of joint meetings of the Executive Boards of the UNDP/UNFPA, UNICEF and the WFP to be particularly important. However, it feels that greater attention should be paid to the preparation of these meetings, which should be seen as a special platform from which a necessary boost can be given to the effective implementation of resolutions of the General Assembly and ECOSOC concerning coordination. Generally speaking, we consider that the Executive
Boards of the funds and programs should play a more active role in ensuring that recommendations for improved coordination, harmonization and simplification of procedures are acted upon.
The European Union believes that consideration could be given to asking the Secretariats of UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF and WFP to prepare an annual joint report on a topic of common interest (for example, the harmonization and simplification of procedures, joint field trips, joint mid-term evaluations or reviews, harmonization of results-based reports etc.), which would be presented and discussed at the joint meeting.
Follow-up to global conferences:
Mr. President,
The European Union considers that the follow-up to global conferences must be one of the chief priorities of the funds and programs and it welcomes the decision taken to make it a priority when drawing up UNDAFs.
Gender equality:
The European Union is very keen for all United Nations agency programs to incorporate a gender-equality element, both as an end in itself and as a means of eradicating poverty, promoting human rights and laying the basis for sustainable human development. In that respect, the European Union wishes to express its full support for the measures taken in this field, in particular the creation of theme groups and the United Nations initiative on girls' education.
Regional dimension:
The European Union considers that the regional dimension is particularly relevant in the case of measures to restore or maintain peace, to promote sustainable economic development and to assist in integrating developing countries into the world economy. It therefore encourages the United Nations agencies to integrate the regional dimension into all their programs and in particular when drawing up UNDAPs.
Humanitarian assistance, peace-building and development:
Mr. President,
The European Union shares with many other member countries the conviction that humanitarian assistance, the reconstruction of States and long-term development measures should not be implemented separately and consecutively but are generally an integral element of a comprehensive and continuous movement. It is therefore in favor of implementing a comprehensive assistance strategy for countries in crisis, bringing together all players, both national and international, under the coordination of
the local authorities. Natural disasters, political crises and conflicts constitute the principal barriers to development. In contrast, economic and social development based on equality and respect for rights is the key to preventing political crises and conflicts.
The European Union therefore fully supports the analysis set out in paragraph 124 of the report on the need to implement comprehensive strategic frameworks and wishes to reiterate that it is convinced of the need to strengthen links and complementarity between UNDAFs and the consolidated appeals of countries in crisis. The European Union therefore welcomes the adoption of guidelines on this subject by the Administrative Committee on Coordination.
United Nations - Bretton-Woods Institutions
The European Union welcomes the major progress made in recent years in dialogue and cooperation between the United Nations and the Bretton-Woods institutions. It wishes to stress the importance of stepping-up this dialogue on the strategies and objectives of development assistance and the need for a clear and effective division of labor. From that point of view, the European Union particularly wants the BWI to be fully involved in the elaboration of the CCA/UNDAF and conversely the funds and
programs and the specialized United Nations agencies to take an active part in establishing strategic frameworks for reducing poverty and country development frameworks (CDFs). Such cross-collaboration should in particular ensure that these various instruments are coherent and complementary.
Impact evaluation
The European Union welcomes the launching of impact evaluations of operational development activities on the strengthening of national capacity and on poverty eradication. It hopes that at the substantive ECOSOC session in 2001 a round-table meeting will be organized to present and discuss the outcome of such evaluations.
However, it notes that difficulties in mobilizing extra-budgetary resources have so far restricted the number of evaluations made. This situation is worrying us to the extent that in agreement with Resolution 50/120 of the General Assembly, the European Union considers that these impact evaluations constitute an important and intrinsic aspect of the triennial examination of operational development activities. We therefore think that these proceedings should be covered by the Secretariat's
regular budget and constitute one of the priorities of the economic and social department's programme of work. It is a major step towards creating an independent evaluation capacity at overall-system level which the European Union has been eagerly awaiting for several years.
Follow-up to implementation of the Resolution on the triennial examination of operational development activities
Sir,
On this subject, the European Union suggests that a plan of work defining the objectives to be attained in the next three years and a timetable indicating the deadlines to be met should be established within the framework of the next triennial review.
Thank you.
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