Mr. President,
I have the honor to read this statement on behalf of the Governments of India and Sweden. We would like to thank the Government representatives from the pilot countries and the UN for their innovative and hard work and for sharing their initial experiences with us.
India and Sweden have at times differed on how best the UN development system can achieve its objectives in the field. Through this statement, we hope to illustrate that despite the divergent views, there are areas of strong convergence in our approach on the overall objectives for the United Nations development system.
Reform and continuous improvement is an intrinsic part of any successful organization working in changing environments and rising to new challenges. The United Nations is no exception. India and Sweden have been active supporters of a strengthened and revitalized United Nations and we particularly support an enhanced role for the United Nations in development. We firmly believe that development should be central to UN's agenda in its own right. We also recognize the vital contribution of development to the maintenance of international peace and security. We are therefore strong proponents of a more effective United Nations in development - a UN that is a true centre of excellence.
In this context, India and Sweden appreciate the need for further improvements in efficiency, to avoid unnecessary duplication, and minimize avoidable costs in the functioning of the UN development system. A better performing UN development system is in the interest of developing countries and donor countries alike. We are convinced that reform of the UN development system should be aimed at making the system more responsive to the needs of developing countries, through a better delivery and effectiveness of UN development assistance. While we may differ on specific proposals, we support better coordination between UN entities at the country level, as well as at headquarters. Both countries are convinced that “coherence” or “coordination” is not an end in itself, but a means towards a better performing UN in support of national development priorities.
There is also need for improved coherence in decision-making structures in the UN system, and beyond. As the global economy becomes more integrated, so will the linkages among issues. In this regard, we also call for good multilateral donorship that provides long-term, predictable and demand-driven funding for UN development activities.
India and Sweden welcome that under government leadership different paths have been explored in the pilots, taking into account the diverse circumstances and development contexts in each pilot country. We heard that there are concrete lessons to learn from the pilots that can strengthen the evidence base for our deliberations on the broader issues. The pilot experiences will further help us to formulate alternatives for an effective, consensual UN operational system for development. Member States should continue to choose their preferred modalities for the UN at the country level, just as they should always formulate their development strategies to best fit their respective circumstances. A ‘one-size-fits-all’ UN model at the country level would be impractical. Instead, we should identify best practices and lessons learned in support of improving the overall modalities for operational effectiveness.
India and Sweden look forward to the outcome of the evaluation of the pilots commissioned by the Secretary General. What we would like to see measured in this evaluation is not only the “how”, but also the “how much”. We should know how much the UN agencies saved on their transaction costs, how much of their reporting burden was reduced and how much improvement was achieved in the delivery of development assistance in support of national development plans and priorities. While measuring the development impact of improved coordination and coherence, it is also important to look at the costs incurred to achieve this better performance. In this regard, India and Sweden would like to see improved transparency on the expenditures incurred by UN funds and programmes on coordination, especially with regards to the RC system managed by UNDP. We would also emphasize the need for the achievement of genuine efficiency through lowering of transaction/coordination costs apart from the shifting of support/coordination costs to programme costs.
Improving the effectiveness of the UN operational system assumes added significance this year given that we have passed the half way mark for achieving the Millennium Development Goals. So far, not enough progress has been made. This lends added urgency to our task of improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the UN development system. All UN members have a responsibility and a collective interest to enable the United Nations to make a full and meaningful contribution in support of efforts of Member States to achieve the MDGs.
I thank you, Mr. President