2007 Annual Report

Just over 60 years ago, the UN was created out of the hope that certain universal principles could guide everyone—peace, human rights, and shared prosperity and freedom. Despite the challenges it has faced since then, the UN today remains an embodiment of these principles, with a long record of translating them into people’s lives.

Owned by all countries, the UN enjoys a unique political legitimacy. It helps shape global agendas, but also responds to the specific needs of individual countries. UN development agencies have strong mandates and a wealth of skills and knowledge, honed by decades of on-the-ground work in developing countries.

Every day, in every region of the world, UN organizations, including UNDP, work in partnership with governments and their citizens to advance human development. Through these collaborations, the UN has brought the world close to the eradication of polio and assisted millions of refugees. It has carved unprecedented space to advocate for women’s equality and empowerment. It has supported the foundations of democracy, from brokering peace talks to assisting elections, even in the most troubled places.

With its affiliated economists and advisors, the UN has promoted a now widely accepted retooling of economic practice to include the basic dimensions of human well-being. It has demonstrated the increasingly critical link between economic and environmental sustainability.

Most recently, the UN has helped galvanize the world around the eight MDGs, the first common global agenda for human development.

All of these attributes are critical in the era of globalization, where common responses to shared problems are increasingly important. Countries trust the UN as a central partner in identifying gaps, assisting national capacities to reduce them, advocating international standards especially for the marginalized, and brokering mutual cooperation between nations.

But in stretching to respond to the many critical problems of a complex world, often operating in dangerous situations and isolated places from which others shy away, the UN has become fragmented in its efforts. With numerous divisions and agencies working on all aspects of development, in addition to its political role, the UN has not always effectively marshaled the full strength of its resources. Duplication and overlap have reduced efficiency and increased administrative costs.

Continued efforts to better coordinate the different parts of the UN system will allow diverse sources of expertise to flourish, while reducing duplication. Closer integration will ensure that different initiatives build on each other to maximize resources and results. Standardized and modern business practices will increase transparency, streamline operations and channel the targeted use of funds.

With these goals in mind, UNDP chairs the UN Development Group, a body of the major UN agencies, funds and departments working on development issues. It also houses the UN Resident Coordinator system for managing UN country teams. It has encouraged the harmonization of UN activities nationally and globally, modeled partnerships that marry the strengths of different but complementary agencies, spearheaded the creation of common UN development assistance strategies and administered multi-donor trust funds in post-crisis situations.

Over the past several years, the global community has put in place a platform for achieving a more cohesive UN. This has been carefully built through recommendations from the Millennium Declaration, the 2005 World Summit to assess progress on the MDGs and other development goals, the resolutions of the UN General Assembly, the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness, and most recently, the recommendations of the High-Level Panel on UN System-wide Coherence.

The platform starts with the MDGs as a common international agenda, with the expectation that national plans to achieve the goals will be developed and supported. The guiding principle is that development strategies must be nationally driven, backed by harmonized international assistance rather than a welter of individual interests. Partnerships—among governments, the UN, other international institutions, private enterprise and civil society—can unleash new resources and capacities for development.

The UN has embarked on a number of initiatives to increase coordination and efficiency in support of all of these objectives, with UNDP an important source for helping this process move forward. In 2006, when the UN Secretary-General convened the High-Level Panel on UN System-wide Coherence, the UNDP Administrator was asked to serve as an ex-officio member, offering input to the deliberations of representatives from 13 countries. The Panel’s final report, Delivering as One, proposed a framework for unified UN operations. It called for a well-governed, well-funded UN equipped to meet the changing needs of countries, especially through strategic support for national development plans. The report proposed consolidating most UN country activities under one strategic programme, one budgetary framework, one strong country team leader and one office where possible.

Eight countries have now agreed to pilot unified UN activities: Albania, Cape Verde, Mozambique, Pakistan, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uruguay and Viet Nam. Grappling with a variety of issues and at different stages of development, the eight countries will explore configurations for consolidation based on national needs. Their experiences will eventually help in establishing unified operations in other countries. All pilots will evolve in step with the requirements of national governments, without disrupting the delivery of existing services.  

Viet Nam moved forward with reformin 2007, building on efforts that began in 2005. Six UN organizations in Hanoi have agreed on a common plan for the period 2006-2010. It groups the activities of individual agencies under five strategic outcomes linked to Viet Nam’s national Socio-Economic Development Plan. Attached to the One Plan is the One Budget, covering total resource requirements. For joint mobilization and allocation of non-core resources, a One Plan Fund has been established, where final decisions rest with the UN Resident Coordinator. Steps are also being taken to bring project management guidelines into closer alignment with the systems of the Vietnamese Government.

In the other pilots, UN agencies, consulting closely with governments, other donors and civil society, are moving toward common financial systems and unified strategic programmes as well.