United Nations Reform III

Operational activities for development

New York, 19 November 2010

UNITAR Training Course

Nikhil Seth, Director, Office for ECOSOC Support and Coordination, UNDESA

UN Operational activities for development

A.Overview

B.Historical milestones

C.Governance system

Presentation outline

Nikhil Seth, Director, Office for ECOSOC Support and Coordination, UNDESA

UN system-wide activities(Based on average contributions 2006-2008)

A. Overview

Nikhil Seth, Director, Office for ECOSOC Support and Coordination, UNDESA

HumanitarianAssistance 21% Development-

related activities43%

Peacekeeping 22%

Global policy, advocacy, norms

and standards 14%

Major operational entities (share of total contributions; 2008; $22.2 billion)

A. Overview

Nikhil Seth, Director, Office for ECOSOC Support and Coordination, UNDESA

Others 10% •

UNESCO 2% •

ILO 2% •

UNRWA 3% • UNFPA 3% •

FAO 4% •

WHO 7% •

UNHCR 7% •

UNICEF 15% •

UNDP 23% •

• WFP 24%•

Destination of expenditures(2008; $18.6 billion)

A. Overview

Nikhil Seth, Director, Office for ECOSOC Support and Coordination, UNDESA

Not attributed

8%

Global 9%

Europe 3%

Western Asia 11%

Americas 12%Asia/ Pacific

20%

Africa38%

Development-related expenditures by sector

(2008; $11.8 billion)

A. Overview

Nikhil Seth, Director, Office for ECOSOC Support and Coordination, UNDESA

Others 9%

Industry 2%

Human Settlements 3%

Environment 5%

Population 6%

Education 6%

Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries 7%

Social Development

11%

General Development

Issues 19%

Health 28%

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

B. Historical milestones

Nikhil Seth, Director, Office for ECOSOC Support and Coordination, UNDESA

1945 (cont.)

Functional approach, rather than a federalist one was adopted to 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

B. Historical milestones

Nikhil Seth, Director, Office for ECOSOC Support and Coordination, UNDESA

1946UNICEF established by GA to provide food, clothing and health care for children

1960sMany new entities established including WFP (1961), UNCTAD (1964) and UNIDO (1967)

Major growth in operational activities of UN system

1965UNDP is established to coordinate funding for technical assistance provided by other UN entities

B. Historical milestones

Nikhil Seth, Director, Office for ECOSOC Support and Coordination, UNDESA

1970sContinued 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

B. Historical milestones

Nikhil Seth, Director, Office for ECOSOC Support and Coordination, UNDESA

1980sUN system faces funding crisis as some donors withhold contributions at height of Cold War

Funding for 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

B. Historical milestones

Nikhil Seth, Director, Office for ECOSOC Support and Coordination, UNDESA

1990sCentralized approach to funding through UNDP is gradually abandoned in early 1990s

1995UNDP 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 system

B. Historical milestones

Nikhil Seth, Director, Office for ECOSOC Support and Coordination, UNDESA

1995-2000Step 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

B. Historical milestones

Nikhil Seth, Director, Office for ECOSOC Support and Coordination, UNDESA

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

B. Historical milestones

Nikhil Seth, Director, Office for ECOSOC Support and Coordination, UNDESA

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

2010Adoption of GA resolution 64/289 on system-wide coherence

B. Historical milestones

Nikhil Seth, Director, Office for ECOSOC Support and Coordination, UNDESA

Intergovernmental governance General Assembly

a)Provides overarching normative frameworks for UN development activities, e.g. MDGs, Monterrey Consensus etc.

b)Establishes key system-wide policy orientations for UN operational activities for development through quadrennial comprehensive policy review (QCPR)

C. Governance system

Nikhil Seth, Director, Office for ECOSOC Support and Coordination, UNDESA

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 four-year period

C. Governance system

Nikhil Seth, Director, Office for ECOSOC Support and Coordination, UNDESA

Intergovernmental governance ECOSOC

a) Coordinates implementation of global development agenda

High-level Segment Coordination Segment Subsidiary bodies (e.g. functional commissions) Annual Ministerial Review Development Cooperation Forum

C. Governance system

Nikhil Seth, Director, Office for ECOSOC Support and Coordination, UNDESA

Intergovernmental governance

ECOSOC (cont.)b) Coordinates and monitors implementation of policy

guidance established by GA in QCPR

c) Reviews and evaluates reports on work of funds and programmes

These functions mainly discharged through annual session of Operational Activities Segment of ECOSOC

C. Governance system

Nikhil Seth, Director, Office for ECOSOC Support and Coordination, UNDESA

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

C. Governance system

Nikhil Seth, Director, Office for ECOSOC Support and Coordination, UNDESA

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

C. Governance system

Nikhil Seth, Director, Office for ECOSOC Support and Coordination, UNDESA

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

C. Governance system

Nikhil Seth, Director, Office for ECOSOC Support and Coordination, UNDESA

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

C. Governance system

Nikhil Seth, Director, Office for ECOSOC Support and Coordination, UNDESA

Executive direction and management

Global-level

Chief Executives Board for Coordination

High-level Committee on Programmes

High-level Committee on Management

UN Development Group

C. Governance system

Nikhil Seth, Director, Office for ECOSOC Support and Coordination, UNDESA

Executive direction and management

Regional-level

UNDG Regional Teams

Regional Coordination Mechanisms

C. Governance system

Nikhil Seth, Director, Office for ECOSOC Support and Coordination, UNDESA

Executive direction and management

National-level

UN Resident Coordinator System

UNDAFs

Common country programmes (One-UN pilots)

C. Governance system

Nikhil Seth, Director, Office for ECOSOC Support and Coordination, UNDESA