UNITAR Workshop

1. UNITAR Workshop Overview of United Nations Reform II: System-wide coherence in UN development activities New York, 4 November 2011 Navid Hanif, Acting Director, Office for ECOSOC Support and Coordination, UNDESA

2. Presentation outline • Evolution of UN system-wide coherence process • Governance of UN operational activities for development Navid Hanif, Acting Director, Office for ECOSOC Support and Coordination, UNDESA

3. 1945 When UN was established it was not envisaged that organization would become a major player in delivery of operational activities for development Many of the “coherence” challenges which have arisen in UN in recent decades can therefore be traced back to original design of organization A. Evolution of SWC process Navid Hanif, Acting Director, Office for ECOSOC Support and Coordination, UNDESA

4. 1945 (cont.) Functional approach, rather than a federalist one was adopted in design of UN system UN system organized around independent specialized agencies, whose relationship with ECOSOC was established by set of formal agreements, with new organizations created as needs arose A. Evolution of SWC process Navid Hanif, Acting Director, Office for ECOSOC Support and Coordination, UNDESA

5. 1946 UNICEF established by GA to provide food, clothing and health care for children 1960s Many new entities established including WFP (1961), UNCTAD (1964) and UNIDO (1967) Major growth in operational activities of UN system 1965 UNDP is established to coordinate funding for technical assistance provided by other UN entities A. Evolution of SWC process Navid Hanif, Acting Director, Office for ECOSOC Support and Coordination, UNDESA

6. 1970s Continued expansion in UN operational activities for development Post of Director-General for Development and International Cooperation established in 1977 to address growing coordination deficit in UN development system. This function was abolished in 1992 A. Evolution of SWC process Navid Hanif, Acting Director, Office for ECOSOC Support and Coordination, UNDESA

7. 1980s UN system faces funding crisis as some donors withheld contributions at height of Cold War Fundingfor operational activities for development becomes increasingly earmarked System of execution by UN agencies comes under pressure as programme countries opt for national execution of UN technical assistance A. Evolution of SWC process Navid Hanif, Acting Director, Office for ECOSOC Support and Coordination, UNDESA

8. 1990s Centralized approach to funding through UNDP is gradually abandoned in early 1990s 1995 UNDP transforms itself from a central fund to being primarily a substantive organization Specialized agencies start mobilizing resources directly from donors, which contributes to rapid growth in non-core funding and fragmentation of UN operational activities for development A. Evolution of SWC process Navid Hanif, Acting Director, Office for ECOSOC Support and Coordination, UNDESA

9. 1995-2000 Step change towards Member States promoting enhanced programmatic coordination and coherence within UN system 1997 Major reorganization of UN system aimed at strengthening programmatic cooperation and common approaches among UN entities A. Evolution of SWC process Navid Hanif, Acting Director, Office for ECOSOC Support and Coordination, UNDESA

10. 1997 (cont.) Creation of UNDG, chaired by UNDP Administrator Merging of three departments into DESA Establishment of common UN houses Introduction of UNDAF and Common Country Assessment Creation of post of Deputy Secretary-General Establishment of Joint Meeting of Boards of funds and programmes A. Evolution of SWC process Navid Hanif, Acting Director, Office for ECOSOC Support and Coordination, UNDESA

11. 2000s Efforts to strengthen UN development system generally consistent with thrust of 1997 reform with focus on improving field-level coordination and inter-agency cooperation and better measurement of field-level results 2005 World Summit invites Secretary-General to launch work to further strengthen management and coordination of UN operational activities A. Evolution of SWC process Navid Hanif, Acting Director, Office for ECOSOC Support and Coordination, UNDESA

12. 2006 Secretary-General establishes High-level Panel on UN System-wide Coherence HLP submits report to SG in November 2006 2007 Informal consultations of General Assembly on UN system-wide coherence start A. Evolution of SWC process Navid Hanif, Acting Director, Office for ECOSOC Support and Coordination, UNDESA

13. GA resolution 64/289 on SWC (July 2010) Establishment of UN-Women (merging 4 entities) Independent evaluation of lessons learned from DaO pilots Comprehensive review of existing institutional framework for system-wide evaluation Survey of programme countries on relevance, effectiveness and efficiency of UN operational activities for development Funds and programmes to launch discussion on concept and definition of “critical mass” of core funding ECOSOC Bureau to convene informal coordination meetings with Bureaus of funds and programmes A. Evolution of SWC process Navid Hanif, Acting Director, Office for ECOSOC Support and Coordination, UNDESA

14. B. Governance system Intergovernmental governance • General Assembly • Provides overarching normative frameworks for UN development activities, e.g. MDGs, Monterrey Consensus etc. • Establishes key system-wide policy orientations for UN operational activities for development through quadrennial comprehensive policy review (QCPR) Navid Hanif, Acting Director, Office for ECOSOC Support and Coordination, UNDESA

15. Intergovernmental governance Quadrennial comprehensive policy review Main purpose of QCPR is to evaluate effectiveness and efficiency of UN operational activities for development based on extensive analytical preparations and consultations with stakeholders On basis of QCPR process, GA establishes key system-wide policy orientations for development cooperation and country-level modalities of UN system for a four-year period B. Governance system Navid Hanif, Acting Director, Office for ECOSOC Support and Coordination, UNDESA

16. Intergovernmental governance ECOSOC Coordinates implementation of global development agenda High-level Segment Annual Ministerial Review Development Cooperation Forum Coordination Segment Subsidiary bodies (e.g. functional commissions) B. Governance system Navid Hanif, Acting Director, Office for ECOSOC Support and Coordination, UNDESA

17. Intergovernmental governance ECOSOC (cont.) Coordinates and monitors implementation of policy guidance established by GA in QCPR Reviews and evaluates reports on work of funds and programmes These functions mainly discharged through annual session of Operational Activities Segment of ECOSOC B. Governance system Navid Hanif, Acting Director, Office for ECOSOC Support and Coordination, UNDESA

18. Intergovernmental governance Executive Boards of funds and programmes Responsible, inter alia, for providing intergovernmental oversight of respective entities in accordance with policy guidance established by GA and ECOSOC and for ensuring that respective entities are responsive to needs and priorities of recipient countries B. Governance system Navid Hanif, Acting Director, Office for ECOSOC Support and Coordination, UNDESA

19. Intergovernmental governance Executive Boards of funds and programmes (cont.) EBs report to ECOSOC and are expected to bring to Council issues that require its attention Executive heads of F/Ps appointed by SG following consultations with EBs and confirmed by GA B. Governance system Navid Hanif, Acting Director, Office for ECOSOC Support and Coordination, UNDESA

20. Intergovernmental governance Governing bodies of specialized agencies SAs are separate, legally autonomous organizations with own policy-making and executive organs, secretariats and budgets Executive heads of SAs elected by membership of respective entity B. Governance system Navid Hanif, Acting Director, Office for ECOSOC Support and Coordination, UNDESA

21. Intergovernmental governance Governing bodies of specialized agencies (cont.) Relationship of SAs with UN defined in special agreement with ECOSOC and approved by GA ECOSOC can coordinate activities of SAs through consultations with and recommendations to such agencies B. Governance system Navid Hanif, Acting Director, Office for ECOSOC Support and Coordination, UNDESA