ieg-dossier

ieg-dossier coverage: updates

Volume 1 Edition 2 ¦May 2006

New York, May 2006:Update on Work of the System-wide Coherence Panel
Update from ReformtheUN.org on the work of the Panel

Nairobi, May 2006: Report on the Panel Seminar on Environment: Report from the May 2006 seminar of the Secretary-General’s High-level Panel on System-wide Coherence on environmental issues held in Nairobi, Kenya.

ieg-dossier coverage: proposals

The Group of 77 and China

Volume 1 Edition 2 ¦May 2006

Geneva, 25 April 2006: Pakistan Expects UN to make Affirmative Interventions to Eradicate Poverty, Hunger and Disease: In a meeting with UN Deputy Secretary General, Mark Malloch Brown, Pakistan expressed the hope that the ongoing UN reform process will enable the Organisation to make affirmative interventions in parts of the world which continue to suffer from abject poverty, hunger and disease.

Volume 1 Edition 1 ¦May 2006

New York, March 2006: Initial Views on the System-wide Coherence Panel: Toward the end of March, the Chair of the Group of 77 and China in New York, Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo, Permanent Representative of the Republic of South Africa to the UN, circulated a letter to the co-chairs of the Secretary-General’s High-level Panel on System-wide Coherence outlining the initial views of the developing country group on the Panel’s work

Paris, February 2006: Paris Consensus: In February, the 39th Meeting of the Chairpersons/Coordinators of the G-77 adopted the Paris Consensus, providing a broader developing country perspective on the reform of the international development system

Paris, February 2006: Coordinators adopt overall position on UN Reform measures: The 39th Meeting of the Chairpersons/Coordinators of the G-77 held in February adopted a statement on UN Reform, outlining developing country views on the current state of UN reform negotiations. The statement attaches high priority to reform as an ongoing process and not an end in itself and reaffirms the important the roles and mandates of UN institutions and agencies

Jakarta, November 2005: South-South Cooperation and the Bali Strategic Plan: The High-level consultation to consider the way forward for the South-South Cooperation component of the Bali Strategic Plan on Technology Cooperation and Capacity Building was convened in Jakarta , Indonesia from 23-24 November 2005

Mozambique

Volume 1 Edition 1 ¦May 2006

Mozambique: Prime Minister Announces UN Consultation in Maputo: According to reports from Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique (Maputo), Mozambican Prime Minister Luisa Diogo and co-chair of the Secretary-General’s High-level Panel on System-wide Coherence said the development component has not so far been sufficiently covered by the reform process, noting that prior to the establishment of the Panel the discussion of United Nations reform had concentrated on political issues such as the composition of the Security Council

India

Volume 1 Edition 1 ¦May 2006

New York, 6 April 2006: India: Statement on System-wide Coherence: In a statement to the informal meeting of the plenary with members of the Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on System-wide Coherence on April 6 2006, Ajai Malhotra, India’s Acting Permanent Representative, called for the Panel to address the “gap between mandates and financial resources available for their fulfilment

Egypt

Volume 1 Edition 2 ¦May 2006

New York, May 2006: Egypt: Non-paper on UN System-wide Coherence.

Africa

Volume 1 Edition 2 ¦May 2006

Ouagadougou, 15 May 2006: Economic Commission for Africa: Ministerial Statement, 39th Session of the Commission/Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development: At the Twenty-fifth meeting of the Committee of Experts Thirty-ninth session of the Commission/Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, held in Ouagadougou from 14 - 15 May 2006, Ministers discussed a paper prepared by the Secretariat of the Economic Commission for Africa, entitled Follow-Up to the 2005 World Summit Outcome: ECA's Response.

Group of 24

Volume 1 Edition 1 ¦May 2006

Group of 24: The Voice and Representation of Developing Countries: On 21 April, in preparation for the World Bank and International Monetary Fund Spring Meetings, the Intergovernmental Group of Twenty-Four on International Monetary Affairs and Development released a Ministerial Communiqué outlining developing country views on global economic prospects, the millennium development goals, the IMF’s medium-term strategy, the voice and representation of developing countries; and clean energy, climate change, and development.

European Union

Volume 1 Edition 1 ¦May 2006

New York, 6 April 2006: EU statement to the High-level Panel: In his address to the informal consultation of the General Assembly with members of the Secretary-General's High-level Panel on System- wide Coherence (6 April 2006), Ambassador Gerhard Pfanzelter, on behalf of the European Union, suggested that for the informals, the Panel should lay a particular emphasis on the needs of and the results in developing countries.

New York, 6 April 2006: EU Commission and Panel Member proposes new reform ideas: According to a 6 April press release, European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Assistance and member of the Secretary-General's High-level Panel on System-wide Coherence, Louis Michel, said those who wish to reduce the UN to the role of a niche player, to see it fragmented, or who consider it as no more than an operational tool, dangerously diminish the hope of a peaceful and equitable world.

Canada, Australia and New Zealand

Volume 1 Edition 1 ¦May 2006

New York, 6 April 2006: Statement of Canada, Australia and New Zealand (CANZ) at the informal meeting of the plenary with members of the High-Level Panel on UN system-wide coherence: In a statement to the informal meeting of the plenary with members of the Secretary-General’s High-level Panel on System-wide Coherence (6 April 2006), Australia, speaking on behalf of Canada and New Zealand, presented a preliminary set of principles for the Panel to consider in its programme of work.

Group of 13 Donor Countries

Volume 1 Edition 1 ¦May 2006

G-13 Proposals for system-wide coherence: Martin Khor of the Third World Network reports that on 23 February 2006, the UN Ambassadors of 13 countries, calling themselves a group of 13 donor countries (or the G13) including Canada and twelve European countries - Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and United Kingdom- presented a letter to the Prime Minister of Norway in his capacity as Co-Chair of the Secretary-General’s High-level Panel on UN System-wide Coherence.

The Netherlands

Volume 1 Edition 1 ¦May 2006

Netherlands’ proposals for a ‘Brave New UN’: The developed country charge has been led by the Netherlands, in particular the Minister for Development Cooperation, Agnes van Ardenne-van der Hoeven. With an annual contribution of ninety million euros, as part of a multi-year commitment, the Netherlands is the UN Development Programme’s (UNDP) main donor. The Dutch have also initiated a non-paper with an ambitious reform package and are a leading initiator of the G-13 countries.

Dutch Paper on UN operational system for development fit to face the challenges of reaching the MDGs: According to Martin Khor of the Third World Network, the Netherlands produced a paper on a UN operational system for development fit to face the challenges of reaching the MDGs, which was presented for discussion at the OECD's Development Assistance Committee on 6-7 December.

United Kingdom

Volume 1 Edition 2 ¦May 2006

US, 26 May 2006: Blair: Calls for UN Reform, including UNEO : In an address to Georgetown University UK Prime Minister Tony Blair outlined several proposals for reforming the United Nations, including the: Security Council; role of the UN Secretary-General; humanitarian and development operations; IMF and World Bank; safe enrichment of nuclear power; the G+5; and a UN Environment Organisation. The address was the third of series of speeches by the Prime Minister on the challenges facing the international community.

New York, 8 May 2006: UK: Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry speaks on UN Reform: Speaking at the UCLA Center for Globalisation on UN Reform and Africa’s Opportunity, the UK Ambassador to the UN, Sir Emyr Jones Parry, welcomed the Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on System-wide Coherence as a major opportunity to take stock of the UN’s development architecture and identify methods of improving coordination.

Volume 1 Edition 1 ¦May 2006

UK non-paper on ‘system-wide coherence, a vision for the UN’: According to Martin Khor of the Third World Network, the UK has floated a consultant's discussion paper on "system-wide coherence, a vision for the UN", stressing it is "not UK government policy”.

United Kingdom’s visions for the 21st century development architecture: Further UK thinking on international development reform is to be found in the recent Department for International Development’s consultations on a White Paper on International Development, which has as one of its three central themes as “reforming the international development system: how can the international development system be reformed so that it delivers better results for development, and be more responsive to the needs of poor people.

Germany

Volume 1 Edition 2 | May 2006

Germany , 26 April 2006: Germany : Discussion Paper on UN Reform: In April 2006, Germany 's Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development released a discussions paper ‘The reform of United Nations' operational activities: challenges and goals'. The paper outlines initial views on the need for reform of the UN operational activities, and outlines Germany 's objectives regarding: programme countries; monitoring by the member states (intergovernmental level); merging of units, and financing issues.

United States of America

Volume 1 Edition 1 ¦May 2006

New York, 6 April 2006: United States of America: Statement on the High-Level Panel: In a statement prior to the informal meeting between the Secretary-General's High-level Panel on System-wide Coherence, the US Under-Secretary for Economic, Business, and Agricultural Affairs, Josette S. Shiner stated that "this new UN reform effort represents a historic opportunity for the international community to make changes that will greatly enhance the ability of the UN system to quickly respond to humanitarian relief needs and improve the effectiveness of every dollar spent on development assistance.”

Belgium

Volume 1 Edition 2 ¦May 2006

New York, 6 April 2006: Belgium: Statement to the Panel: In a statement to the informal meeting of the plenary with member states, observers and members of the High-Level Panel on System-wide Coherence, Belgium outlined its views in relation to harmonisation and cooperation at the operational level, the concept of tightly managed entities, the creation of individual structures, humanitarian and development architecture, and procedural issues.

Volume 1 Edition 1 ¦May 2006

Belgium : Proposal for redesigning the UN Development Architecture: According to Martin Khor of the Third World Network, last October, Belgium prepared a paper on entitled "redesign of the UN development architecture".

Belgium: Political Note on Multilateral Cooperation: A 2004 Political Note on a Policy for the development cooperation department further outlines some of Belgium's proposals for reform.

Norway

Volume 1 Edition 2 ¦May 2006

Spain, 7 April 2006: Norway: Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg remarks to the UN Chief Executives Board meeting: In his address to the UN Chief Executive's Board meeting, Norway's Prime Minister and co-chair of the High-level Panel on System-wide Coherence said the Panel “will look at how the structures we have created to deal with development, environment and humanitarian assistance can be made more effective, on how we can create more system-wide coherence.” He said the “focus will be in particular on the millennium development goals, and the prime aggregate expressions of our common targets for human development.

Belarus

Volume 1 Edition 1 ¦May 2006

New York, 6 April 2006: Belarus: Statement to the Panel: In statement to the informal meeting between the General Assembly and the Secretary-General's High-level Panel on System-wide Coherence (6 April), Sergei Rachkov, the Deputy Permanent Representative of Belarus, encouraged the Panel to hold “informal meetings with the members of the Executive Boards of UNICEF and UNDP/UNFPA, since these bodies provide a strategic guidance to the activities of the largest UN agencies at the country level”.

Ireland

Volume 1 Edition 2 ¦May 2006

5 April 2006: Ireland: Financial Support to the Panel: In a statement by Ireland's Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dermot Ahern T.D., to the Joint Committee on European Affairs, he said Ireland “has already contributed €100,000 to the extra-budgetary expenses of the Panel and we are working closely with like-minded donors to ensure that genuine reforms are put in place”.

Chief Executives Board for Coordination

Volume 1 Edition 1 ¦May 2006

Chief Executives Board responds to the World Summit Outcome: In February 2006, the CEB secretariat circulated a paper-Gender mainstreaming and women, peace and security- outlining possible elements for a gender and system wide coherence (CEB/2006/HLCM/R.4). The proposed system-wide gender mainstreaming policy and strategy would serve as a standard setting reference guide for gender mainstreaming for all UN entities, while at the same time providing both a conceptual and operational framework for collaboration.

New York , October 2005: High-Level Committee on Programmes discusses follow-up on environment, proposes system wide discussion on climate change: In an address to the Chief Executives Board's (CEB) Second regular Session of 2005, the Chairman of High Level Committee on Programmes (HLCP) outlined the HLCP's reflections on the implications of the Summit Outcome for the UN system.

UN Environment Management Group

Volume 1 Edition 2 ¦May 2006

Geneva , February 2006: UN Environment Management Group Initiates Review: In response to the World Summit 2005, UNEP Executive Director and EMG Chair Klaus Töpfer initiated the EMG High-level Forum in order to revitalise support arrangements for UN System-wide cooperation. The High-level Forum took place on 24 January 2006.

UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation

Volume 1 Edition 1 ¦May 2006

Paris, April 2006: Executive Board of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation discusses Director’s Report: The issue of UN reform was also addressed during the 174th session of the UNESCO Executive Board in April 2006. In his address to the Board, Koïchiro Matsuura, Director-General, addressed Member States on how UNESCO could contribute to the current UN reform debates.

International Strategy for Disaster Reduction

Volume 1 Edition 1 ¦May 2006

Geneva, November 2005: Strengthening the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction: The 12th session of the Inter- Agency Task Force on Disaster Reduction in November 2005 finalised and adopted the new structure of the ISDR system.

Economic Commission for Africa

Volume 1 Edition 2 ¦May 2006

Ouagadougou, 15 May 2006: Economic Commission for Africa: Follow-Up to The 2005 World Summit Outcome: ECA's Response: Discussion paper, prepared by the Secretariat of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), entitled Follow-Up to the 2005 World Summit Outcome: ECA's Response. The paper deals specifically with: coherence in the areas of development, humanitarian assistance, and the environment; review of mandates; UN response to the World Summit Outcome in the economic and social area; and ECA's response to the World Summit Outcome and other initiatives.

International Labour Office

Volume 1 Edition 2 ¦May 2006

Geneva, 27 March 2006: ILO’s Somavia: The 2005 World Summit Outcome document: Implications for the ILO: Speaking to the International Labour Office’s Working Party on the Social Dimension of Globalisation ILO Director-General Juan Somavia addressed the policy implications of the World Summit 2005 Outcome Document for the ILO.

UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs

Volume 1 Edition 2 ¦May 2006

New York, 15 May 2006: Address to the Fifth Session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues by José Antonio Ocampo, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs and Coordinator of the Second International Decade of the World's Indigenous People.

World Health Organisation

Volume 1 Edition 2 ¦May 2006

May 2006: WHO Paper on Collaboration within the United Nations system and with other intergovernmental organisations, including United Nations reform process: The WHO Secretariat’s Report on "Collaboration within the United Nations system and with other intergovernmental organisations", including United Nations reform process.

Envoy for Tsunami Recovery

Volume 1 Edition 2 ¦May 2006

Geneva, 5 April 2006: Lessons from the Tsunami: Remarks of Eric Schwartz, Secretary General's Deputy Special Envoy for Tsunami Recovery, to ECOSOC Informal Preparatory Meeting.

Women

Volume 1 Edition 2 ¦May 2006

8 May 2006: Briefing Note on Women’s Rights and the “Coherence Panel” in the UN Reform Process: The purpose of this briefing note is to provide you with information so you can take action critical to advancing gender equality at a time of fast-paced UN reform.

April 21 20006: Interview: The women's agenda for United Nations reform: The following is an extract from an interview by Kathambi Kinoti, with Charlotte Bunch, Executive Director of the Center for Women's Global Leadership on the current United Nations reform drive, and what it means for women.

Volume 1 Edition 1¦May 2006

New York, 6 March 2006: Women: Proposals for a UN Women’s reform: During the 50th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women, a large number of NGOs released an Open Letter on Women and UN Reform In the letter, NGOs state their disappointment and outrage that gender equality and strengthening the women’s machineries within the UN system are barely noted, and not addressed as a central part of the reform agenda.

Non Governmental Organisations

Volume 1 Edition 2¦May 2006

New York, 2 May 2006: Stakeholder Forum: Reforming the UN Development Architecture: UN Reform Processes on System-wide Coherence Panel and International Environmental Governance: Report of a side-event, held during the 14th Session of the Commission on Sustainable Development, organised by the Stakeholder Forum for a Sustainable Future and the Brazilian NGO and Social Movement Forum for Environment and Development (FBOMS).

Volume 1 Edition 1¦May 2006

Nairobi, January 2006: Trade Union Assembly on Labour and the Environment: The Trade Union Assembly on Labour and the Environment was held in Nairobi, Kenya from 15-17 January 2006 under the auspices of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), with the support of the UN Global Compact and with the collaboration of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the World Health Organisation (WHO), the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), the World Confederation of Labour (WCL), the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD (TUAC) and SustainLabour Foundation.

Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on System-wide Coherence on Humanitarian Assistance, Development and Environment

Volume 1 Edition 1 | May 2006 |

The World Summit 2005 called for much stronger system-wide coherence across the various agencies, funds and programmes of the United Nations. The Summit invited the Secretary-General to “launch work to further strengthen the management and coordination of UN operational activities.” The Summit Outcome Document, further noted that such work should focus on ensuring the UN maximises its contribution to achieving internationally agreed development goals, including proposals for ‘tightly managed entities' in the field of the environment, humanitarian assistance and development. The Outcome Document also calls for greater co-ordination between the governing boards of various operational agencies so as to ensure a more coherent policy in assigning mandates and allocating resources throughout the system.

In November 2005, the UN Secretary-General circulated his proposal for the establishment of a High-level Panel on System-wide Coherence in the fields of Humanitarian Assistance, Development and Environment, including the draft terms of reference for the Panel's work. In February 2006, the Secretary-General formally established the 15 member Panel of eminent persons, which is co-chaired by Luisa Dias Diogo, Prime Minister of Mozambique; Jens Stoltenberg, Prime Minister of Norway; and Shaukat Aziz, Prime Minister of Pakistan. According to the Secretary-General, the overarching aim of the Panel's work is to seek recommendations on a process of rationalisation that will maximise the available resources for relief and development programmes in the UN system, while minimising overhead and administrative costs. The Panel is expected to explore ways of fully exploiting synergies between the normative and analytical institutions and departments of the UN, such as Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the UN Conference on Trade and Development, and operational agencies. The Panel is also expected to address how the UN system works and can best exercise its comparative advantages with international partners, including the Bretton Woods Institutions, the European Commission and other regional actors, donors, civil society and the private sector. While the Panel's primary focus will be on increasing impact at the country level, in making concrete proposals for improved management, coordination and effectiveness, it will also make findings with regard to work both at UN Headquarters, regional and at the country level. The Panel complements other major reform initiatives currently under way in the UN, including the proposal for comprehensive management reform, the mandate review, consultations on international environmental governance and reform of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). The Panel is expected to complete its work by the summer, to allow for formal presentation of its recommendations to the next session of the General Assembly in September 2006, and possible implementation in 2007. According to news reports, Pakistan's Prime Minister and Panel co-chair, Shaukat Aziz, has stated that the “ co-chairpersons and other members of the Panel would carry forward their agenda through video conferencing every month.” Panel Members are expected to meet the Committee of Permanent Representatives to UN Environment Programme in Nairobi in May, and will hold a regional consultation in Maputo on 8-9 May, with at least six African states participating - South Africa, Botswana, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania and The Democratic Republic of Congo.

Regarding the environment component, the Secretary-General's Terms of Reference for the Panel noted that the Panel will address “a full assessment of how the UN can best provide more comprehensive and coherent management and monitoring of the growing range of multilateral environmental agreements,” and “better integration of the environmental perspective within the broad principle of sustainable development in UN country-level activities and in particular capacity building and technology support undertaken by the entire UN system”.

The World Summit also committed the General Assembly to strengthening the UN's coordination of humanitarian and disaster relief assistance. The Secretary-General has proposed that the Panel's study focus on ways of developing and improving mechanisms for the use of emergency standby capacities for a timely response to humanitarian emergencies.

Regarding development, the Summit Outcome Document commits all countries to map out their own national strategies to meet the international conference goals, including the Millennium Development Goals. In this context, the Panel's study will analyse how the UN system as a whole can be better re-oriented to provide more efficient, coherent, demand-driven support to national partners by building on its core normative, technical assistance and capacity building strengths to partner with the longer-tern financing and other support brought by the World Bank and other international partners. In this regard, it will be particularly important for the Panel to consider how to strengthen linkages between the normative work and the operational activities of the system. It will also need to examine how this work can support and complement the wider role the Outcome Document envisages for ECOSOC in ensuring follow-up and assessing progress of the outcomes of the major United Nations conferences and summits, including the internationally agreed development goals; and playing a major role in the overall coordination of funds, programmes and agencies, ensuring coherence among them and avoiding duplication of mandates and activities.

The Terms of Reference also propose that in all three areas, the Panel will need to encompass both organisational and funding issues, ranging from the duplication and overlap of work products across UN agencies, funds and programmes to prospects for joint multi-year funding and programming arrangements. It also notes that the broad issue of more predictable financing of the UN system and its impact on existing systems and proposed reform will need to be a central element.

The High Level Panel is co-chaired by the Prime Ministers of Pakistan , Shaukat Aziz , Mozambique , Luisa Dias Diogo, and Norway, Jens Stoltenberg. Other members are: Gordon Brown, UK Finance Minister; Ricardo Lagos, former President of Chile; Mohamed El-Ashry, former Chairman and CEO of the Global Environment Facility; Robert Greenhill, President of the Canadian International Development Agency; Ruth Jacoby, Director General for Development Cooperation of Sweden; Benjamin W. Mpaka, former President of Tanzania; Jean-Michel Severino, Director General of the French Development Agency; Keizo Takemi, former Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs of Japan; and Josette Shiner, Under-Secretary for Economic, Business and Agricultural Affairs, US Department of State. Ex-officio members include Kemal Dervis, Administrator of the UN Development Programme (UNDP); Lennart Båge, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The Panel's Secretariat is headed by Adnan Amin of the UN Environment Programme.

Source: UN, 2006
General Assembly Follow-up;http://www.un.org/ga/president/60/summitfollowup/swc.html
Terms of Reference of the High-level Panel;
http://www.un.org/ga/president/60/summitfollowup/060215sg.pdf

 

Update on Work of the System-wide Coherence Panel

Volume 1 Edition 2 | May 2006

According to reports from the ReformtheUN.org, the Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on System-wide Coherence is expected to hold four official meetings, as well as ongoing thematic consultations on several specific issues with smaller groups. Panel members recently met in Mozambique where the group held consultations with various stakeholders, including members of the cabinet, the country team and civil society groups. It was noted that the interactive discussions with society groups provided important grassroots perspectives. The Panel's Executive-Director is considering holding a one-day hearing with civil society organisations and specialists to share ideas and concrete solutions on the cross-cutting issues of gender, human rights, and sustainable development. While the Panel will take into account possibilities of comprehensive restructuring, their main focus will be on delivery mechanisms rather than the creation of new organs or agencies.
According to some sources, the Panel’s study is expected to focus on three sets of recommendations: Short-term: one team, one programme, one leader; Medium term: To look at more structural/systemic changes required to help the UN work more effectively together; and Long-term: A more radical vision.

While financing and the Resident Coordinator system have been highlighted as two main priorities, the Panel will also look at several other priority areas:

• Financing of the UN system;
• Development: how to make business practices within this sector more effective in areas such as management, IT and communications;
• Enhancing the efficacy of the Resident Coordinator system;
• Humanitarian assistance: addressing the transition gap from relief to development taking into account the existing framework and new developments such as the Peacebuilding Commission and the Central Emergency Response Fund;
• Environment: mainstreaming the environment into development and translating environmental issues at the field level; and
• Mainstreaming of three crosscutting issues: gender, human rights and sustainable development.

Other issues that are being considered by the Panel include the: regional structure of the UN; ECOSOC and intergovernmental coherence; gaps between the UN's normative and operational work; interaction with the International Financial Institutions (IFIs); and UN's role in enterprise development. In May 2006, the Panel held a seminar in Nairobi on environment issues. The seminar was attended by Mohamed El-Ashry, Swiss UN Ambassador Peter Maurer, incoming UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner, Pakistan’s environment Minister Malik Amin Aslam. The meeting coincided with a two day visit by the General Assembly President Jan Eliasson, who was in Nairobi to meet with senior UN officials and Kenyan Government representatives. According to UN News, in his address to the Committee of Permanent Representatives to UNEP and UN-HABITAT the General Assembly President called on those present “to embrace the reform programme and to help strengthen the UN, citing his vision of a world in which countries understand that well functioning international structures are in the national interest of each country." On 15 May, the UN Industrial Development Organisation hosted the Panel’s Consultation on the Resident Coordinator System, which included selected representatives of donor and programme countries, UN resident coordinators and country team members, representatives from 13 UN agencies, and members of the High-level Panel and Secretariat. According to Pakistani media reports, during a Panel consultation held in Islamabad (24 May 2006), Prime Minister and Panel Co-chair, Shaukat Aziz stressed that “UN reform was urgently required to make the UN a more coherent and vibrant organisation geared to deal with social, political, security, diplomatic and economic challenges faced by the world.” He said that “bold decisions would be required to restructure the UN to meet the requirements of an increasingly globalised world”. The Prime Minister also emphasised the need for taking steps for better coordination among the UN organisations. The UN should have a country strategy for all member states, and proposed setting up of humanitarian relief assistance fund and a dedicated UN office for disaster management. Separate funds need to be setup for emergency disaster relief post rehabilitation activities, he observed. He also highlighted the need to adopt a result-oriented approach in the restructuring process and said that a careful balance between vision and theories should be kept to ensure success. According to reports, Panellists also discussed measures to enhance the UN’s role with emphasis on its contributions in humanitarian work and transition from relief to recovery. Country-level practitioners from Asia (Afghanistan, China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan and Tajikistan) were invited to integrate the views of practitioners on the ground into upcoming deliberations of the Panel. The meeting was attended by several Panellists, including President of the CIDA, Robert Greenhil; Director General for Development Cooperation Ministry of Foreign Affairs Sweden Ruth Javoby; and US Secretary Economic Business and Agriculture Affairs Department of Sate, Josette S. Shiner. According to the ReformtheUN.org, the Panel is also expected to hold consultations throughout May on: Transition from relief to development (mid May); Business practices; Resident Coordinator system; Financing; and Relationship with IFIs – in June.

Source: ReformtheUN.org, 2006; http://www.reforumtheun.org
Exigency reconstruction necessary for vibrant, coherent UN: PM;
Internet: http://www.onlinenews.com.pk/details.php?id=97594
UN panel finalises recommendations, Daily Times, May 26, 2006;
Internet: http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006%5C05%5C26%5Cstory_26-5-2006_pg7_40

Report on the Panel Seminar on Environment

Volume 1 Edition 2 | May 2006

Nairobi, May 2006: In early May, the Secretary-General’s High-level Panel on System-wide Coherence held a seminar in Nairobi on environment issues. The seminar was attended by Mohamed El- Ashry, Swiss UN Ambassador Peter Maurer, incoming UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner, Pakistani Environment Minister Malik Amin Aslam, and various representatives from UN entities including UNEP, UNDP, WMO, UNESCO, HABITAT and FAO. Various experts on international environmental governance and one representative from civil society also attended. Recommendations that were made on the issues of coherence in the normative and analytical work of the UN in the field of the environment and the institutional framework for the UN’s environment activities included the need for a comprehensive assessment of existing global environmental governance, a strategic review of UNEP and its comparative advantages, and the creation of a new position of UN Under- Secretary-General for the Environment. Other suggestions included the need for stronger leadership, better communication mechanisms, a focus on knowledge generation and scientific assessment and monitoring, the strengthening of the Global Ministerial Environment Forum, more stable and predictable funding, a stronger Environmental Management Group, a swift, direct and effective reporting mechanism to review progress in implementation of policies, and the development of a strong norm and policy setting body with direct links to operational activities.

The needs for national ownership and strengthened public participation in development policy-making were also stressed. On the issue of mainstreaming environment in development decision-making, calls were heard from various UN bodies for incremental change and for further cooperative work between UNEP and UNDP. Others recommended the need for strong environmental expertise with direct links to UNEP in each country office, strengthening implementation of UNEP’s Bali Strategic Plan, and the better provision of technical assistance to developing countries in meeting the 2005 World Summit commitment for developing countries to produce new MDG-consistent national development strategies in 2006. The establishment of sufficient incentives – both nationally and internationally – to correct market shortcomings and to recognise and account for environmental services in development policy and the need for the translation of environment issues into dollar terms were also proposed. It was stressed that development without environmental care cannot be sustained. The importance of institution building in order to ensure effective implementation was also emphasised. Concerns were expressed regarding the links between the Panel’s work and that of the General Assembly in its informal consultations on international environmental governance, stressing the need for the Panel’s recommendations to emphasise measures to strengthen international environmental governance.

The Importance of Environment and Civil Society Input: Although Panel members have stated that they wish to include the views of stakeholders, many members of civil society have expressed concerns that the process is not inclusive enough. In particular, various NGOs have noted their disappointment that the Panel has allowed few NGOs to engage and that it held its consultations in Nairobi while significant numbers of civil society representatives were in New York for the CSD. Panellists will hold further meetings over the coming weeks in Islamabad, Geneva, Vienna and Barbados to gather regional perspectives and consider various other themes that are relevant to its work. In order for the Panel’s outcome to obtain civil society support, there is an urgent need for greater civil society ownership in the Panel’s work. To address this, the Panel should hold civil society hearings covering all three areas of the Panel’s work as soon as possible. The Secretary-General’s High-level Panel on System-wide Coherence will provide the vision for UN operational activities for the foreseeable future in the development, humanitarian assistance and environment fields. It must provide a strong environmental message, which addresses the integration of environment with development, the need for strengthened international environmental governance, and better coherence in the UN’s normative work in the environment field. The Panel’s recommendations must be fed into ongoing GA work on these issues and must not be restrained by a risk of non-complementary outcomes. The Panel’s recommendations must be open-minded, bold, ambitious, and realistic. But they must also be comprehensive. It must articulate a vision of the future commensurate with the environmental crisis, which provides the inspiration to address the roots of the problems, which have impeded the achievement of the MDGs.

Source: Outreach, 2006;
Internet: http://www.stakeholderforum.org/news/outreach/csd14/Friday12May.pdf

High-Level Panel Consultation with Member States

Volume 1 Edition 1 | May 2006

The first informal consultation between the Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on System-wide Coherence and the plenary of the General Assembly took place on 6 April 2006. The President of the General Assembly invited six panellists to make brief introductory remarks, including Luisa Dias Diogo, Prime Minister of Mozambique (Panel co-chair); Ricardo Lagos Escobar, former President of the Republic of Chile; Mohamed T. El-Ashry, Egypt, Senior Fellow, United Nations Foundation, former Chairman and CEO of the Global Environment Facility; Robert Greenhill, Canada, President of the Canadian International Development Agency and Deputy Minister, International Cooperation, Canada; Jean-Michel Severino, France, Director-General, French Development Agency and former Vice President of the World Bank East Asia and the Pacific; and Keizo Takemi, Japan, Member of the House of Councillors, Liberal Democratic Party and former State Secretary for Foreign Affairs.

In a statement to the meeting, UN Secretary-General Kofi Anan said “we are meeting at a time of great global challenges – uneven progress in poverty reduction in many parts of the developing world, natural and manmade disasters that vastly outstrip our capacity to respond, and increasing environmental degradation that threatens the sustainability of our future well being.” He said, “there is a real expectation that the Panel (the highest of its kind ever constituted in the history of the United Nations) can help make a decisive breakthrough in realigning and revitalising the United Nations in these crucial areas of our work, so that the Summit's political goals are translated into real action on the ground.” He suggested that the Panel’s approach “be broad and comprehensive”, with a “primary focus should be the UN system's international development cooperation work.” He also suggested that the Panel review the transition to development and peace building as part of the review of humanitarian assistance and development-related work and structures, and regarding the environment he said the review should address how “to better mainstream it into development decision-making”. He said the “Panel needs to address these issues, head-on, with a clear sense of responsibility and understanding of the comparative advantages of the UN system, especially with regard to how it relates with the rest of the international multilateral system.” The Secretary-General also called on the Panel to “produce bold but implementable recommendations that will lead to a UN system that is greater than the sum of its parts in the areas of development, humanitarian support and the environment. A UN that is better able to ensure that these areas are much more closely and effectively integrated and coordinated with its other key pillars: peace and security, human rights, norms and standards”.

Following the meeting, the co-chairs held a joint press conference at UN Headquarters. According to the UN Department of Public Information, Shaukat Aziz, Prime Minister of Pakistan stated that “the Panel held a day and a half of intense discussions on a number of issues, including the need to provide a clear role for the UN, in order to accelerate development, fight poverty, build capacity in countries and assist countries in various reform initiatives.” Regarding the environment, he said “the Panel would look at how global warming and other threats the world faces could be given their rightful place through the UN. We think change is definitely needed… we need to retool and reorganise ourselves to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow, because that will then allow us to have a more prosperous and a peaceful world," he added. He also said that “the Panel should lay out a road map for the UN to conduct its activities in a seamless manner, empowered, well resourced and with clear objectives, meaning all the actors knew what they had to do and what they should not do. That was how the Organisation would become effective. The Panel,” he continued, “would look at the UN delivery system at the country level to make it more coordinated, seamless and effective. It was agreed that the United Nations family in a country must not operate in ‘silos’ but should be coordinated in such a way that its effectiveness was improved”.

In her remarks, Luisa Dias Diogo, the Prime Minister of Mozambique said “the UN system needed to respond to those changes and to help countries better organise and achieve the objectives of development.” Regarding the issue of gender and coherence within the system, Prime Minister Diogo noted “that the majority of actors in the areas of development, environment and humanitarian assistance were women. That was why one of the agreements in the panel was to commission a specific study on the gender issues related to the three pillars of development, environment and humanitarian assistance”. Jens Stoltenberg, the Prime Minister of Norway, said the “whole point of the panel, and of the reform process is to make the UN a better and stronger organisation in the future.” In an effort to examine the weaknesses and shortcomings of the Organisation, he said the Panel would engage in ‘constructive criticism,’ noting that there was “great will on the part of Panel members to present bold conclusions and recommendations.” He said “there were many different ways to achieve coherence. One was to look at the different institutions. Another was to try to promote better coordination and cooperation between existing institutions and programmes. A third way involved the way programmes and institutions were funded, which is important for the way they work together.” In his remarks, Mark Malloch Brown, the UN Deputy-Secretary-General, said the “real challenge had been that the world changed faster than the UN. That was felt particularly strongly in the areas of development, environment and humanitarian assistance.” He said that "rather than doing ‘just another group’ of UN people sitting around a table seeing how we can fine tune and recalibrate the existing arrangements, it seemed we should go out to our clients at the highest political level and to the development experts of the world outside the system, and challenge them to challenge us with solutions, which would give us an architecture able to deliver on the financing committed last year at the Summit, but, above all, able to deliver on the international community’s pledge to support countries in their efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals”.

Source: UN Department of Public Information, 2006
Secretary-General’s Address; http://www.un.org/apps/sg/sgstats.asp?nid=1977
UN News Release; http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=18069&Cr=UN&Cr1=reform
UN News Release; http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=18084&Cr=UN&Cr1=reform