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Statements in International Organisations

16.05.2008

UNIDO - 34th Session of Industrial Development Board: Agenda Item 5 (14 – 16 May 2008, Vienna)

Statement by the Republic of Slovenia on behalf of the European Union

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Thank you, Mr. President,

1. I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union. The Candidate Countries Croatia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia  and Turkey, the Countries of the Stabilization and Association Process and potential candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Serbia, the EFTA country Norway, member of the European Economic Area, as well as Republic of Moldova, Armenia, Georgia and Ukraine, associate themselves with this statement.

Mr. President,

2. The EU is a strong supporter of the UN reform process. We welcome the proactive stance which the Director General and his staff have taken, working from within the United Nations system to promote enhanced coherence in its areas of work.

3. The EU was particularly appreciative of UNIDO's efforts in organizing the High-level Dialogue on System-wide Coherence from 4 to 5 March in Vienna. We felt that this was a very useful meeting which helped to clarify a number of developmental issues connected with the adoption of system-wide coherence and the "Delivery as One" process, as well as identifying some of the main challenges on the way forward.

4. The EU supports the bottom-up approach of the High Level Panel and learning from the problems and suggested solutions from the field in searching for ways for the UN to work more coherently and effectively. The informal consultations and briefings on System-wide Coherence so far showed the complexity of the issues being addressed. Differences of opinion on the High Level Panel report exist, but there is widespread agreement on the goal of better delivery at country level and a better response by UN bodies to the needs of beneficiary countries.

Mr. President,

5. A lot of effort is being made by Governments of the eight One UN pilot countries and   the UN to move forward on the "Four Ones" (One Program, One Leader, One Fund and, where appropriate One Office) so as to accord with country's specific requirements and circumstances. The EU supports these on-going efforts.

6. The first assessment of the "Delivering as One" process has taken place as an informal stocktaking of key emerging issues and recommendations which are indicating the progress achieved in pilot countries from the first year of implementation.

Till now the analysis of the 8 pilot countries has brought some common findings:

  • there is need for the enhanced role of the Resident coordinator, whose neutrality must be ensured,
  • national ownership and leadership are very important for the success of any project and must be enhanced,
  • the "One UN" pilot projects must be given a high degree of flexibility to be able to find suitable responses and inputs to the System-wide Coherence process.

Mr. President,

7.  Pilot countries are judging the "Delivering as One" program is in line with defined national development strategies. Government leadership has been strengthened. The reforms are changing the way in which UN agencies work with Governments, helping to increase the impact of projects, delivering them in a more cohesive manner, increasing transparency, decreasing overlap and transactions costs.

8. Some problems nevertheless remain. Pilot countries have pointed out the need for an enhanced role for the Resident coordinator. They have warned of continued fragmentation of projects, resulting from the competition of agencies for resources. Greater efforts are needed to develop more strategic and integrated joint agency programming. Specialized agencies and other UN entities are strongly encouraged to give their full support to the process, take measures that facilitate and further develop intra-UN partnerships and joint approaches. UNDP's role is vital in developing a "firewall" showing a clear divide between its managing the Resident coordinator system and operational activities of the UNDP.

9. Effective funding of the "Delivering as One" program presents further challenges. The EU believes Member States need to be fully committed to achieving the objective of ensuring adequate, predictable and timely core funding to the UN Funds, Programmes and agencies  The balance between core and non-core resources needs to be improved, strengthening the efficiency and effectiveness of the UN at country level.

10. The EU believes that UNIDO should continue to contribute substantially to system wide coherence. We welcome the role that UNIDO is already playing within the CEB, participating in the trade cluster together with WTO, FAO and UNCTAD; and in producing the resource guide under the auspices of the High-level Committee on Programmes on who does what in trade capacity building. We further welcome the role that UNIDO is playing within UN Energy and the creation of energy clusters on energy access, renewable energy and energy efficiency.

11. On the One UN pilots we have been pleased to see the active role that UNIDO has been playing in those UN pilots were they have a role to play and can add value. But we were concerned to learn that UNIDO was planning to send additional staff to the Pilots including those where UNIDO does not currently have a field presence. The EU believes that the One UN pilot programmes need to prioritise, focus and be country led. Not all organisations will need to have a presence on the ground or be part of every programme. We understand that there is sometimes a conflict of interest with UNDP and this needs to be resolved. We believe that the best way of doing this is to establish a clear division between UNDP's management of the Resident Coordinator system on behalf of UN System at large and its own mandate-based operations, which all UN organisations are content with, so as to ensure that Resident Coordinators are fully independent and impartial in their dealings with UN country teams. We would encourage UNIDO to continue to work with UN partners to ensure the effective functioning of the Resident Coordinator System.

12. Harmonizing and simplifying business practices and governance at the centre is crucial for an improved functioning of the UN development system. UN system processes such as the Chief Executives Board, United Nations Development Group and the United Nations Evaluation Group, must be better utilized to raise the collective capacity of the UN to work in a fully joined up manner. Issues such as duplication and effectiveness in inter-agency coordination across the system need to be properly addressed. The EU would welcome a readout on what measures would need to be taken for UNIDO to better harmonize or adapt its rules and regulations to those of other UN system organisations. We would also be interested in receiving more information on how UNIDO might be able to fit their activities funded from global and regional sources like the GEF and Montreal programme into "One Programmes.

Mr. President,

13. To deliver as one, UN country teams should be able to provide a coherent approach to cross-cutting issues, such as sustainable development, gender equality and human rights. As recalled at the World Summit in 2005, human rights are an integral part of UN activities, and the EU reiterates its strong commitment in this regard. No less importance has been given to the strengthening of the UN gender perspective. The EU would also like to reiterate that accountability for gender-mainstreaming and woman's empowerment should be given higher priority within UN agencies. At the same time, we must not forget that for the achievement of MDGs, promotion of gender equality is one of the agreed steps.

14. A great deal of the early phase of the reform process has been focused on planning and programming. The EU expects that the coming stage will move its focus to implementation. The success at country level depends on the continuing dedication of the Governments to the process and the support of the donor community. The experiences and views of the pilots and other countries currently working with the UN to improve aid effectiveness and reduce duplication will also play a crucial role in this on-going process. The EU supports activities of UNIDO in this regard and appreciates the timely information provided by the organisation on current developments.

Thank you for your attention.

 

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Date: 26.05.2008