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EU Presidency Statement - Operational activities of the UN for international development cooperation - ECOSOC

Mr. President,

I have the honour to take the floor on behalf of the European Union. The Candidate Countries Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey and Croatia, the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro align themselves with this statement.

In anticipation of the Triennual Policy Review during the General Assembly later this year, the EU looks forward to a substantive debate on the operational activities of the United Nations in the field of development. The EU would like to express its appreciation for the documentation provided by the UN Secretariat. The EU remains committed to working together with other Member States and the United Nations System to strengthen operational activities in support of national development priorities and strategies. I refer to the statement made by UNDP's Administrator at the recent Executive Board's meeting in Geneva, where he asked whether the UN development cooperation system was really ready for 'prime time'. If 2005 proves to be the turning point for development that we hope it might be, would the UN be ready to step up to the plate and play its part in helping developing countries effectively break the back of global poverty? The EU would hope that this question could be answered in the affirmative, but feels that certain reforms in the operational system cannot be postponed. We are confident, Mr President, that this ECOSOC-debate will provide valuable input for the UN secretariat in drafting its policy recommendations for the fifty-ninth session of the General Assembly.

Mr. President,

The MDGs present a focused set of goals by which governments and their international partners can target their development activities, allocate resources and measure progress. The MDGs also recognize that the task of development is large and complex - no single agency or development actor alone can realize the desired development outcomes. Shared responsibility between donors and partners countries is essential for meeting the MDGs.

The enormous challenge of achieving the MDGs, especially in Africa, calls for a strong, coherent and well coordinated multilateral system. The UN agencies have a key role to play. In general, however, the contribution of the UN towards the MDGs at the country level remains marred by the fragmented structures, institutions and decision-making. We, member states that constitute the UN and the various governing bodies of its operational agencies, also have a responsibility to ensure a coherent and coordinated UN.

Mr. President,

The two reform processes, launched by SGUN in 1997 and 2002 to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of the operational activities, have achieved considerable success. New instruments were developed to enhance coordination and collaboration, both with external partners (alignment PRSP, national authorities) and within the UN (CCA and UNDAF). Collaboration and coordination with the BWIs has improved and substantial progress towards simplification and harmonization of procedures has been made. The EU welcomes the intensity with which UNDG has encouraged and fostered the reform momentum within the four Funds and Programmes and UNDG at large.

UNCTs play an important role in fostering broad national ownership and debate. The UN is indeed a powerful campaigner and advocate for the MDGs at the country level and has as such contributed significantly to a more focused and coherent policy towards achieving the MDGs. The UN also plays an important role in building national capacities to plan, implement and monitor progress towards the MDGs. As the instruments of the UN at national level to improve the collective impact of the UNCT, the CCA and UNDAF are crucial.

However, the UN's contribution to the MDGs could be further improved. Despite the reform process, more needs to be done to achieve significant increases in development effectiveness at country level - and it is here that we collectively need to do a better job. The EU welcomes the Greentree report prepared by the executive heads of the Funds and Programmes and the EU concurs with the view that further action is needed to make the UN more effective and efficient at the field level. In this respect, there is a need to ensure stronger involvement of the specialised agencies. The EU would consider the following steps essential ingredients to such a reform process:

• Greater alignment of UN instruments such as CCA and UNDAF to national development strategies and plans, including PRSP.
  
  
• Over time, the evolution of the UNDAF and its results matrix from a common framework for agency programming to a common programming instrument. This would save time, manpower and transaction costs for all partners concerned.
  
  
• The UNDAF Results Framework could also serve as an essential accountability framework to monitor the UN Country Team contribution to the achievement of country-tailored MDGs. Where the Results Matrix identifies shared results/programmes, the UN Funds & Programmes should get serious about joint programming, including joint funding of programmes.
  
  
• The simplification and harmonization process should be deepened. The cost-efficiency of the UN at field level could be improved by the introduction of shared support services at all levels (telecommunications, personnel, administrative and financial services, including procurement) by end 2007.
  
  
• Strengthening the role of the resident coordinator with a view to meeting the increasing responsibilities and challenges of further alignment, coherence and a fully integrated approach by the UN at the country level. This would, inter alia, require enhanced authority bestowed upon the RC-function, possibly additional financial and human resources, further efforts in ensuring gender balance and diversity of background and an evaluation and appraisal system that puts a premium on ability to enhance system-wide coherence and collegiate UN operations at the field level.
  
  
• In countries where coordination can become an almost full-time undertaking, the EU would advocate the consideration of a division of labour in the functions of the RC and the UNDP resident representative, so as to strengthen the capacity for UNCT coordination as well as the capacity of the UNDP to discharge its mandate.

Mr. President,

The MDGs represent a global compact to achieve poverty eradication. The donor community plays an essential role through the provision of adequate funding. All of the EU member states have reaffirmed their commitment to achieve the UN ODA goal of 0.7%. Four member states have already achieved this goal while a number of others have established specific time frames in which they will strive to reach it. As a first significant step, at Monterrey, the EU made a collective commitment to achieve an EU ODA average of 0.39% of GNI by 2006. The members states, individually, also committed to increasing their ODA volumes, within their respective budget allocation process, to at least 0.33% of GNI by 2006. The latest figures show that the EU is on track to implement its ODA commitment. In 2002 the EU members states have increased their ODA by 5.8% in real terms, compared to 2001, to reach the average of 0.35%.

In addition to increased resources, it is essential that all developing partners work together to make aid more effective. This means translating the Rome Declaration on Harmonisation into practice. It requires enhanced joint planning between donors, led by Governments and aligned with nationally owned development strategies such as PRSPs as well as with country systems and procedures.

Securing an increased and predictable funding base for the operational activities for development by the UN organisations is crucial. As the Secretary-General outlines in his report, the UN suffers from a discrepancy between its ever-increasing tasks and inadequate funding levels. A basic question is how to achieve predictability, stability and fair burden-sharing. For the EU, the challenge to increase resources for the UN through stable, predictable, multi-year pledges should be discussed within the context of increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of the UN development system. The EU remains convinced that results and resources are intimately linked and should be discussed in an integrated manner. The EU concurs with the view of the Secretary General that Multi-Year Funding Frameworks are a critical first step in revitalizing the broader commitment to regular resource funding. Funding modalities, such as assessed, negotiated and voluntary contributions, should be further analyzed.

Mr. President,

The EU stands ready to engage in a substantive dialogue on the merits of joint meetings of the UNDP/UNFPA, UNICEF and WFP Boards in order to consider the feasibility of delegating collective decision-making powers to joint meetings of the Executive Boards, in accordance with the coordination guidance and oversight roles of of ECOSOC. We request that the matter of the joint meetings be revisited within the context of the TCPR-discussions during the General Assembly this autumn.

The EU has long been in favour of joint evaluations from the country's perspective on the impact of UNDAF. Instead of conducting evaluations from the perspective of each individual UN agency, this would enable a systemic view on the operational activities. Such evaluations on the collective contribution to development effectiveness at country level of the activities supported by the UN Country Team, as well as progress made in strengthening organisational effectiveness, could also be discussed during the joint meetings of the UNDP/UNFPA, UNICEF and WFP Boards, and collective guidance could be given to the four funds and programmes.

These joint meetings could also provide the forum for a discussion of the overall progress with simplification and harmonization, the quality and effectiveness of CCAs and UNDAFs and the cooperation at the operational level between the Funds and Programmes and the Bretton Woods Institutions.

Mr. President,

Gender equality is an issue of securing rights and the empowerment of women and girls, and therefore an important goal in itself. But gender equality is also a means to achieving development, and is of critical importance to achieving the MDGs. Societies cannot prosper if they leave the talents of half their population behind. The success of a gender inclusive policy will require a strong commitment on the part of governments, international organisations and institutions at all levels. It will also require adequate mobilisation of financial and human resources.

Gender mainstreaming was discussed during the coordination segment of ECOSOC. The EU reiterates its call on the United Nations development system to strengthen internal accountability for implementing its commitments to achieve gender equality, and to enhance its focus on building capacity to achieve progress toward gender equality in programme countries. Efforts to achieve gender equality and women's empowerment will only be sustainable if they are country-led and country specific. Systematic integration of gender dimensions in the formulation, implementation and monitoring of planning tools is an essential strategy towards achieving the MDGs.

The EU recognises that the transition process from conflict to sustainable development is not sequential, with many facets existing simultaneously, at varying levels of intensity, susceptible to reversals. The EU also recognises that each transition process is unique and that the particular history must be assessed and well understood if the response is to be appropriate and effective. However, the EU believes that there is commonality in the challenges for the UN to better co-ordinate, collaborate and more efficiently support countries in transition. This challenge also exists, but to a lesser degree and with fewer actors involved, in the aftermath of natural disasters.

The EU proposes to include a section on transition in the TCPR resolution. This section should provide guidance on how the UN humanitarian and operational activities can better support countries in transition and how co-ordination within the entire UN system can be enhanced, in order to prevent relapses into conflict, with the ultimate goal of universal achievement of the MDG's. The EU also proposes to maintain a section on humanitarian assistance, where the humanitarian principles are reconfirmed as well as the potential of the Consolidated Appeals (CAPs) as a resource mobilisation tool mainly focussed on addressing humanitarian needs and protection of civilians during crisis.

Mr. President,

The fact that I have spoken at length is an indication of our interest in further improving the efficiency, effectiveness and responsiveness of the United Nations system to development challenges. We have therefore also prepared an EU non-paper, setting out our priorities for the Triennual Policy Review, which is attached to this statement.

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