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EU Presidency Statement - Triennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the UN system

Mr. Chairman,

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 and Serbia and Montenegro and the EFTA country Iceland align themselves with this statement.

The EU wishes to express its appreciation for the work conducted by the Secretariat in preparing the TCPR. The document reflects that there has been quite a lot of progress in improving the effectiveness of the UN development system at the country level, which is widely recognized. The present statement should be read in conjunction with the EU statement made during ECOSOC and the EU non-paper on TCPR that was attached to it. As the EU position was presented in some detail in July, I will limit my remarks at this juncture to a few issues.

CENTRALITY OF THE MDGs

Mr Chairman,

Let me at the outset reiterate that the UN is a key player in translating and operationalising the MDGs into nationally owned, nationally driven development strategies, ensuring the participation of relevant stakeholders throughout the process and assisting governments in their efforts to implement such strategies. The 2004 TCPR Resolution should therefore underline the importance of the overarching framework of the Millennium Declaration and MDGs and invite countries to focus nationally owned, nationally driven development strategies towards the 2015 development agenda, customising the development targets according to their specific realities and ambitions.

FUNDING IN A DYNAMIC AID ENVIRONMENT

Mr Chairman,

The international aid environment is changing rapidly. Based on the Monterrey Consensus we can expect the resources for development to increase in the years to come. Secondly, many providers of international assistance for development have delegated decision-making on funding to the decentralised level. Thirdly, the trend in funding modalities is a stronger emphasis on budget- and sector programme support. These trends pose challenges and opportunities for the UN development system.

The UN should strategically position itself in this dynamic environment by focussing on what it does best: providing technical assistance and building national capacities, including building local capacities to manage the new forms of support, and the implementation of concrete activities that are strategically linked to the national poverty reduction strategies. Rather than diminishing the role of the UN, the new aid modalities can give the UN, through its strategic policy advice and advocacy, greater leverage on how these resources are used in the pursuit of the MDGs.


*Croatia continues to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process

While the overall contribution of the UN development system is constrained by its funding, lack of adequate funding does not justify failure to perform with utmost efficiency and effectiveness within the current funding framework. The UN development system must reposition itself to fulfill an effective role in the development architecture at country level. To attract resources for its programmes, the UN development system needs to pursue its reform agenda vigorously, reducing fragmentation and avoiding competition, duplication and overlap. Deepening and broadening the UN drive towards simplification and harmonization, with clear targets and deadlines for the next three years, is an essential prerequisite in this regard. The UN needs to have a common, coherent, demand-driven and strategic MDG-focussed programming approach for all UN operations for development, which is harmonized, coordinated with other partners in the multilateral field and in line with national processes and priorities.

It is clear that we cannot expect the United Nations to perform the tasks we entrust upon them without an adequate, secure and predictable funding base. Reform of the UN system should be accompanied by a substantial and sustained increase of unearmarked core funding for its operational activities. The EU would favor a dynamic consultation process that can ensure a fundamental discussion on how to achieve this objective in the light of the changed development dynamics and challenges, and taking into account the trends in aid modalities. To enhance the predictability of funding for the UN operational activities for development, funding modalities, such as assessed, negotiated and voluntary contributions, should be further analyzed.

CCA AND UNDAF

Mr. Chairman,

In the EU non-paper, we have clearly outlined our position that both the CCA and UNDAF should adapt their cycles to the existing national planning cycle. Common analysis should increasingly replace repetitive analysis of individual agencies. UNDAF should not be an aggregation of proposals or ongoing projects and programmes from individual agencies. Instead, we need to look at a coherent programming (and monitoring) framework, and thus at the contribution of the UN Country Team in its entirety to the national poverty reduction strategy. The central question for the UN Country Team and non-resident agencies in preparing UNDAF should be to determine to which national priorities and international efforts the UN system at country level can meaningfully and effectively contribute, focussing on its comparative advantages.

It is essential that the country level programmes of the Funds, Programmes and Specialised Agencies are fully aligned with the UNDAF and its Results Matrix. The EU would welcome a clear recognition of the UNDAF and the Results Matrix in TCPR as the strategic planning tool for determining the roles and responsibilities of the various UN agencies working at the country level, fostering a harmonized UN approach to the country led poverty strategy. Over time, the EU encourages the evolution of the UNDAF from a common framework for agency programming to a common programming instrument in order to ensure that the intended gains in efficiency and reduction in the transaction costs for government of dealing with the UN country teams are institutionalized. In this context, the UNDAF should become a tool for resource mobilization. The EU would welcome joint evaluations of the impact of the UNCTs contribution towards the MDGs as the UNDAF comes to a closure - and with jointly we mean with the participation of the government and the UN agencies involved in its implementation. The TCPR should consider the feasibility of establishing a Joint Executive Board to discuss matters relating to the operational activities relevant to the aggregate performance of the Funds and Programmes, particularly at the country level, such as joint evaluation reports, overall progress with simplification and harmonization and quality and effectiveness of CCAs and UNDAFs.

RC-SYSTEM

Mr Chairman,

Essentially, a recognition of the role of UNDAF and the Results Matrix as the UN contribution to the MDGs at country level, fully aligned with national priorities and complementing the efforts of other donor partners, implies a different authority of the Resident Coordinator. The contribution of the UN towards the MDGs at the country level currently remains marred by duplication of activities, the fragmented structures and decision-making, multiple institutions and lines of accountability, and competition for funding. In order for the UN country teams to deliver a coherent contribution to the national strategy for poverty eradication, especially PRSPs, the EU believes that RC system needs to be further strengthened by giving the RC a greater level of authority and clearer lines of accountability. What do we mean?

• First of all, the RC should to able to ensure that the UNDAF is fully aligned with the national poverty reduction strategy;
  
• Secondly, the RC should be able to ensure that all UN partners align themselves fully with the priorities identified in the UNDAF Results Matrix. This will ensure a more joined up and harmonized programme;
  
• And lastly, the RC should be mandated to monitor the results achieved.

With its wide network and relatively broad mandate in operational activities for development, UNDP is best placed to manage the RC-system. In countries with large programmes or complex post-conflict situations, the EU would favor the division of labor between the RC and the UNDP Country Director. This would give the RC the latitude and time to coordinate more effectively the UN Country Team. It would also enable the RC to focus on effective management of joint programmes, while the UNDP Country Director would focus on managing and raising resources for the UNDP country programme.

Resident Coordinators should have the necessary resources to fulfill their role effectively. Core costs of the coordination function, such as the RC and a support staff, should be met through contributions from the UNDP core budget as is currently the case. To enhance ownership by other partners in the system, financial arrangements, including cost sharing, between agencies participating in UN Country Team could be envisaged for the country coordination plan itself.

As is the case in all situations of management for change, the quality and commitment of senior management will be a critical factor in driving the process forward. The EU welcomes the improvements made in the RC-selection process to ensure that the most suitable people are chosen to work as RCs. Accountability of the RC-system would be greatly enhanced through a common assessment by all members of the UN Country Team of the performance of RCs.

GENDER

Mr. Chairman,

It has been said many times before: without adequately addressing the gender dimensions in operational activities, the MDGs cannot be achieved. As the report of the Secretary General outlines, accountability for gender equality is inadequate as analytical capacities and monitoring mechanisms within the UN system on gender are weak. Yet it is essential to have sufficient gender expertise in the UN Country team to monitor the implementation of the national poverty reduction strategy and to mainstream gender in the results based programming frameworks of the UN. The EU calls upon all organizations of the UN system to ensure that their designated gender specialists at country, regional and global levels have the seniority, capacity and time to effectively support gender mainstreaming in country level activities in all the sectors required.

The EU advocates to make gender theme groups mandatory in all UN Country Teams in order to ensure adequate inter-agency collaboration and monitoring of UNCT efforts to mainstream gender equality in programmes and policies, building on the positive experiences of the mandatory HIV/AIDS Theme Groups.

The EU strongly supports the recommendation contained in the report of the Secretary-General, to articulate a comprehensive, time-bound action plan for gender mainstreaming and women's empowerment. Moreover, the EU welcomes the call in the report to generate sex-disaggregated statistics at the country level, in support of more in-depth analysis, particularly when evaluating results in conjunction with the UNDAF results matrix.

TRANSITION

Mr. Chairman,

The EU welcomes the inclusion of a section on transition from relief to development in the report of the Secretary-General. While the debate on transition is likely to continue for some time to come, the EU considers it vital to ensure enhanced cooperation between UN security, political and development actors. It is the response to the aftermath of crises and the prevention of others that will determine our efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals in many countries. The UN needs to develop a coherent, cooperative and effective response for the UN system as a whole to transition situations. The inter-agency mission concept, currently being applied in countries such as Afghanistan and Sudan, as well as joint assessment missions, should be extended where appropriate.

In transition, as well as the relief phase, capacity building is an important element for national and local governments to assume their responsibilities. It is critical that UN Country Teams strengthen their cooperation in the nexus between humanitarian and development work in order to ensure a smooth transition at the country level. The EU welcomes the request to the Secretary-General by the Security Council to develop an action plan, with time lines, for implementing resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security across the UN system. This would strengthen commitment and accountability at the highest levels, as well as allow for improved accountability, monitoring and reporting on progress on implementation within the United Nations system.

CONCLUSION

Mr. Chairman,

I wish to reiterate the appreciation of the EU for the progress made in the past years. UNDGO and the ExCom partners have played a leading role in this respect. But progress has not been even as not all partners in the UN development system seem to have fully embraced the drive for coherence, simplification and harmonization. The challenge for the UN is now to develop one consolidated, integrated and coordinated UN-system response to the needs of developing countries, based on comparative advantages of the partners in the UN Country Team and building on the normative capacity of the UN in general. To ensure this, the full UN system, including the specialized agencies, must evolve rapidly towards joint programming, based on common strategies that engage all of its components, with agencies that have the most relevant contribution to make to national priorities playing leading roles in the country team according to their capacities. A strengthened Resident Coordinator system and a rationalized UN country presence are crucial in this regard. TCPR provides member states with the opportunity to ensure a coherent and coordinated UN development system. A comprehensive and time-bound action plan, with targets that can be monitored throughout the process, is an essential prerequisite for success as we embark on the next phase in the reform process.

Mr. Chairman,

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 EU believes that this TCPR should keep in mind the crucial importance of the UN development system for next year's coordinated and integrated conference follow-up process. 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.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

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