Annex. Examples of ongoing managerial reforms 91
Institutional strengths and weaknesses
The institutional context
A.A new leadership and management structure
Strengthening leadership capacity in the Secretariat
Acting as one at the country level
Increasing administrative effectiveness and efficiencies
Creating a dividend for development
Reaching out to civil society
Instilling a culture of communications
Economic and social affairs
III.A NEW UNITED NATIONS FOR THE NEW CENTURY
United Nations Development Group
Explanatory note for chart
PART TWO: MEASURES AND PROPOSALS
96The new leadership and management structure described in Part One entails several important changes in the leadership capacity of the Secretariat. The main actions and recommendations are as follows.
Action 1.A Senior Management Group will be established in the Secretariat, comprising the convenors of the four Executive Committees, together with several additional senior officials selected by the Secretary-General. Its primary responsibility will be to assist the Secretary-General in leading the process of change and instituting sound management throughout the Organization.
Action 2.A Strategic Planning Unit will be set up in the Office of the Secretary-General to identify emerging global issues and trends, analyse their implications for the Organization and devise policy recommendations for the Secretary-General and the Senior Management Group.
IV.NEW APPROACHES TO POLICY FORMULATION
97The General Assembly is the organ of the United Nations which most fully embodies the universal and democratic character of the world Organization. It sets the overall policy framework within which the United Nations system as a whole operates. As part of its broad responsibilities and powers under Chapter IV of the Charter, the Assembly has specific oversight authority regarding budgetary and administrative matters. As the only intergovernmental body with a broad mandate to discuss “any matters within the scope of the present Charter” (Art. X), the Assembly stands at the apex of the United Nations system and has a crucial role to play in providing leadership and broad policy guidance as the Organization and the United Nations system prepare to meet the changing needs of the world community in the next century. Recent years have witnessed repeated calls for the revitalization of the Assembly to allow it to play the role envisaged for it in the Charter more effectively. As part of the reorganization of the Secretariat, the Secretary-General has consolidated the servicing of the General Assembly and other legislative bodies in a new Department of General Assembly Affairs and Conference Services. In convening the Open-Ended High-Level Working Group on the Strengthening of the United Nations System, the Assembly recognized the need to take steps to reinforce its work and that of the Secretariat. The deliberations of the Working Group have focused on a wide range of issues critical to any reform effort.
98It is largely at its special conferences that the United Nations attracts widespread attention and media coverage, and these are usually concentrated within a period of two weeks. Such conferences have proven to be extremely valuable to the United Nations and the world community, particularly in focusing a high degree of public and political attention on important issues and providing the basis for agreement on measures to deal with them. In the light of this experience, it may be desirable to incorporate the principal features of United Nations conferences into the working methods of the General Assembly. This could be accomplished by having the Assembly decide, two years in advance, on an issue or theme to be the subject of a high-level one-week segment. Preparations for that segment would be the responsibility of the Economic and Social Council, in areas under its purview, or of other appropriate intergovernmental bodies, which in turn could employ many of the techniques and modalities developed for the preparation of United Nations conferences. The adoption of such an approach could improve both the public interest in and political effectiveness of the Assembly, as well as the Economic and Social Council, and could reduce, though certainly not replace, the need for some United Nations conferences.
99It is further proposed that a thematic approach be adopted for the work of the Main Committees. At present, some Main Committees have arrangements to focus or pay attention to an area or subject at each General Assembly session. These arrangements are not comprehensive, however, and indeed are essentially ad hoc. If each Main Committee would decide in the previous year on a thematic focus for consideration the following year, it would allow the Assembly, on an annual basis, to have a group of themes that would represent a concerted effort on the part of the international community to make progress in designated areas of current concern.
100The large and varied scope of the agenda of the Assembly, which consists of 168 items during the current session, presents a challenge to Member States and to the Secretariat in terms of appreciating the range and scope of the issues under consideration. The agenda of the Assembly constitutes, in effect, an overall annual work programme of the Organization, which involves both the intergovernmental machinery and the Secretariat. Considered from this perspective, there would be value in the Assembly identifying an accepted and authoritative instrumentality around which it could conceptualize and organize its agenda. That instrument exists in the priority areas of the medium-term plan for the period 1998-2001.
101The outcome of the Assembly’s discussions on most of the items on its agenda is currently reflected in resolutions in an established format, which comprises several preambular and operative provisions. The negotiation of these texts can be very time consuming. It is suggested that the adoption of formal resolutions be reserved for outcomes that involve policy recommendations addressed to Member States and the international community. Requests for reports by the Secretary-General or other procedural outcomes could be reflected in simple decisions to be drafted by Committee Chairmen for adoption by the Assembly. This would make it possible for negotiations to be concentrated on the most important policy issues, and serve to highlight the impact of the Assembly’s work on policy development. The adoption of a thematic approach to the work of the Main Committees of General Assembly, and the time saved by negotiating resolutions on a smaller number of items, should make it possible to reduce the length of the annual sessions of the Assembly by at least three weeks.
102Reform of the Security Council is of great importance for its functioning and legitimacy. Within the General Assembly, there have been intensive and prolonged discussions regarding the expansion of the Council, an issue that can be resolved only by Member States. This is a key issue for the United Nations and a positive resolution of it would contribute to the prospect of moving forward with other issues.
103The enhanced prominence of the Council has also resulted in intense scrutiny of its procedures and working methods. Steps have been taken to regularize exchanges of information and dialogue with non-Council members, including regular consultations with the troop contributors and other concerned States. These changes, however, have not completely addressed all of the concerns of non-Council members and efforts should continue to enhance transparency and broaden support for Security Council decisions.
V.FOCUSING ON SUBSTANTIVE PRIORITIES
A.Peace, security and disarmament
104The end of the cold war transformed the international context of United Nations missions and activities. In the area of peace and security, the Organization now finds itself primarily concerned with intra-State conflicts, often with serious international implications and, in many cases, complex humanitarian emergencies. Recent trends suggest that these types of conflicts will continue to require priority attention by the United Nations.
105The Security Council, after decades of stalemate, is now at the centre of international efforts to maintain international peace and security. There is widespread agreement on some of the concepts to guide action by the United Nations in the peace and security field: recognition of the role of the Secretary-General in preventive action; the need for comprehensive approaches in which the political, human rights, military, humanitarian and developmental assets of the Organization are deployed to promote peace and human security; and a coherent engagement and partnership with regional organizations and other external actors.
106The complexity of the peacekeeping mandates of the Security Council and the lack of sufficient resources and political will to implement them has undermined United Nations efforts in a number of conflicts. It is, however, clear that peacekeeping will remain an indispensable instrument of the United Nations and it is thus crucial to maintain the Organization’s capacity to plan, manage and conduct these operations efficiently and successfully.
107The United Nations does not have, at this point in its history, the institutional capacity to conduct military enforcement measures under Chapter VII. Under present conditions, ad hoc coalitions of willing Member States offer the most effective deterrent to aggression or to the escalation or spread of an ongoing conflict. As in the past, a mandate from the Security Council authorizing such a course of action is essential if the enforcement operation is to have broad international support and legitimacy.
108In recent years, the Security Council has called, with increasing frequency, for economic sanctions as an enforcement tool under Chapter VII. The universal character of the United Nations makes it a particularly appropriate body to consider and oversee such measures. Consideration needs to be given, however, to making these sanctions more effective in achieving the goal of modifying the behaviour of those targeted, while limiting the collateral damages. There is also a need to address the broader humanitarian and economic effects of sanctions, as well as objective criteria in their application and for their termination.
109At the present time, the vision of the Charter of a workable system of collective security has yet to be fully realized. The Organization still lacks the capacity to implement rapidly and effectively decisions of the Security Council calling for the dispatch of peacekeeping operations in crisis situations. Troops for peacekeeping missions are in some cases not made available by Member States or made available under conditions that constrain an effective response. Peacemaking and human rights operations, as well as peacekeeping operations, also lack a secure financial footing, which has a serious impact on the viability of such operations.
110The prevalence of intra-State warfare and multifaceted crises in the present period has added new urgency to the need for a better understanding of their root causes. It is recognized that greater emphasis should be placed on timely and adequate preventive action. The United Nations of the twenty-first century must become increasingly a focus of preventive measures.
111The Organization is already maintaining a global watch to detect potential threats to international peace and security with the objective of supporting the efforts of the Security Council and the Secretary-General to deter conflict. Improving this capacity will require close contact with the Security Council and stronger cooperation with Governments, especially those with relevant capabilities, as well as with regional or subregional organizations, non-governmental organizations and academic and other institutions.
112A critical lesson from past experience is the need to be able to deploy operations quickly so as to establish a credible presence at an early stage and prevent a further intensification of armed conflict. Consultations are currently under way with Member States to explore the optimal means of funding the nucleus of a rapidly deployable mission headquarters -- a small, multidisciplinary group which would be the first in the field to set an operation in motion.
113Preparedness on the part of the Organization must be coupled with the ready availability of trained and equipped troops. A number of States, within the context of the United Nations standby arrangements, are developing units that could deploy immediately upon a decision of the Security Council. Most encouraging is the decision of a group of Member States to participate in the establishment of a standby high-readiness brigade. The availability of troops continues to depend on whether their respective Governments are prepared to commit them on a case-by-case basis. An effective system of global security can be said to exist only if the Council can dispatch military forces rapidly and with the requisite predictability and reliability.
114Serious financial constraints have often affected the establishment and proper functioning of peacekeeping operations. The peacekeeping accounts have furthermore had to be used to cover shortfalls in the United Nations regular budget. The result is a delay in payments to troop-contributing countries. This is an intolerable situation that cannot be allowed to continue. If the Organization is to continue its work for international peace and security, and do it well, it needs the continuity provided by a sufficient base of resources from the regular budget, mission budgets and the support account for peacekeeping operations.
115Considerable difficulties are also at times encountered in negotiating and properly implementing a status-of-forces agreement. Amendments proposed by certain host Governments sometimes constitute fundamental departures from the customary practices and principles applicable to United Nations peacekeeping operations, and negotiating on such a basis delays the conclusion of an acceptable agreement. A time-frame prescribed by the Security Council for the conclusion of the status-of-forces agreement and an inclusion in the resolution establishing the operation of a provision to the effect that the model status-of-forces agreement (see A/45/594) shall apply provisionally, pending the conclusion of such an agreement, would contribute to expediting its conclusion.
Cooperation with regional organizations
116Different regional organizations have been involved in preventive action, peacekeeping and other peace-related activities carried out under a Security Council mandate. Based on Chapter VIII of the Charter, the Organization has developed a number of complementary efforts with regional organizations and arrangements in carrying out these activities. These have included codeployment of field operations, such as in Georgia and Liberia and the designation of a joint United Nations-Organization of African Unity Special Representative for the Great Lakes. Cooperation with regional organizations will be intensified and regional organizations will increasingly become partners of the United Nations in all activities related to the maintenance of international peace and security, including conflict-prevention.
117It is now widely accepted that present-day conflicts have many dimensions that must be addressed comprehensively and require more integrated and coordinated action. Wide-ranging reforms have already been put in place, and cooperation between the Department of Political Affairs, the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, the Department of Humanitarian Affairs and other relevant departments and entities called upon to mount and participate in field operations has been considerably expanded. Lines of authority and reporting from field missions have been clarified and information-sharing and coordination between the Departments and with other entities of the system, particularly on humanitarian matters, has been enhanced. The Executive Committees on Peace and Security and Humanitarian Affairs will examine ways to strengthen cooperation among the Departments concerned, in particular with regard to information-gathering and analysis and to gain the maximum possible benefit from lessons learned in the conduct of field missions.
118Within the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, civilian-military integration is being tightened and reinforced. While much has already been accomplished in this regard, further progress will be difficult as long as a number of units, in the absence of budgeted posts, are staffed almost entirely by gratis military officers. The existing capacity of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations must be consolidated by ensuring civilian-military cooperation in all areas from the planning and preparation of an operation through its implementation, closure and post-mission analysis. This can be achieved only with a budget that reflects the Department’s real personnel requirements.
119An integrated approach is particularly important in the field, where lack of cohesion or differences among the United Nations entities can be exploited by the parties. It is for this reason that the role of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General is so vital. In countries where large multidisciplinary field operations are in place, the Special Representative will ensure that the efforts of the different components of the system are mutually reinforcing. In such circumstances, the Special Representative has authority over the force commanders, civilian police commissioners, resident coordinators and humanitarian coordinators.
Post-conflict peace-building
120In recent years, post-conflict peace-building has assumed new prominence in the work of the United Nations. The concept of post-conflict peace-building refers to the various concurrent and integrated actions undertaken at the end of a conflict to consolidate peace and prevent a recurrence of armed confrontation. Peace-building may involve the creation or strengthening of national institutions; the monitoring of elections; the promotion of human rights; the provision of reintegration and rehabilitation programmes; and the creation of conditions for resumed development. Peace-building does not replace ongoing humanitarian and development activities in countries emerging from crises. Rather it aims to build on them and introduce further activities or reorientation of existing ones which, in addition to their intrinsic humanitarian or development value, are politically relevant because they reduce the risk of a resumption of conflict and contribute to creating conditions most conducive to reconciliation, reconstruction and recovery. The multidimensional nature of such an enterprise demands effective coordination measures.
121As focal point and convenor of the Executive Committee on Peace and Security, the Department of Political Affairs will work particularly closely with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Bank, bearing in mind in particular the importance of determining the point at which the emphasis on a peace-building role will give way to full-fledged reconstruction and development activities. Task forces will continue to be established to ensure integrated action by the entire United Nations system, the chairmanship being decided on each occasion on a pragmatic basis. The focal point will support and reinforce the work of these task forces.
Disarmament and regulation of armaments
122Disarmament is a central issue on the global agenda. With the end of the superpower rivalry, nations everywhere have come to recognize their stake in the success of multilateral negotiations and the monitoring of weapons developments. As a consequence, the United Nations has taken centre stage in the worldwide effort to limit both weapons and conflict. Within the framework of the Conference on Disarmament and the General Assembly, significant advances have been made in the establishment and consolidation of multilateral legal instruments and nuclear-weapon-free zones. A valuable role has also been played by the Disarmament Commission.
123The momentum towards nuclear disarmament has increased significantly with the signing of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and its endorsement by the General Assembly; the indefinite extension of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty; the establishment of the African Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone; efforts to bring fully in force the Treaty of Bangkok, which establishes a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone in South East Asia; and the strengthening of Non-Proliferation Treaty safeguards by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Other positive developments have been the entry into force of the Chemical Weapons Convention and the strengthening of the prohibition against biological weapons. Recent progress in the effort to reduce and eliminate landmines is also of crucial importance to the United Nations.
124The emergence of new dangers and actors has added new urgency to the tasks that the United Nations is called upon to play in the area of disarmament. In the post-cold-war period, there is a growing threat from the spread of nuclear weapons technology and material, as well as a wider interest in acquiring biological and chemical weapons and means of delivery for such weapons. Regional warlords, criminal syndicates and various terrorist groups have, during recent years, become involved in trading in and the acquisition of weapons of mass destruction. The extensive use and destructive power of landmines in areas of armed conflict and the flow of conventional weapons and small arms into the hands of civilians have become items on the international agenda and have often to be addressed in the context of peacekeeping operations.
125A managerial reorganization of Secretariat capacities will now be effected so that a structure will be in place to respond effectively to the priorities of Member States in the disarmament area. A new Department for Disarmament and Arms Regulation will be established, replacing the Centre for Disarmament Affairs. It will be based in New York to ensure effective interaction with the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Office of the Secretary-General and relevant United Nations departments. Since the Conference on Disarmament meets in Geneva for three to four months every year, it will require continuing support. Therefore, existing staff capacity to support the Conference on Disarmament, the monitoring of multilateral disarmament treaties and conventions, fellowship and training programmes and the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) will continue to be maintained in Geneva. The Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva will continue to act as the Secretary-General of the Conference on Disarmament reporting directly to the Secretary-General.
126Taking into account new developments and trends indicated above, Member States may consider it appropriate to review the current multilateral negotiating or deliberative structures and their agendas with a view to updating and rationalizing them.
B.Economic and social affairs
127International economic and social cooperation and the promotion of conditions of economic and social progress and development were considered by the founders of the United Nations as being among the prime purposes of the Organization. Finding ways to advance this fundamental goal under changing conditions remains a high priority and should be a principal objective of the United Nations reform process. The Organization must strengthen the capacity to address long-standing obstacles to development and, at the same time, equip itself to meet new and emerging challenges.
128The strengths and potential of the United Nations in this area are considerable. It is the only institution that has the breadth of mandate to address the root causes of instability and conflict and to pursue in a comprehensive and integrated manner the wide array of economic, social and environmental issues impinging on development. The Organization is also best placed to build bridges of cooperation and the necessary partnership for development among Governments, the private sector, civil society and regional and global organizations. Many of the issue areas affecting development have been comprehensively addressed in the international conferences organized by the United Nations in the 1990s. The cross-cutting and common themes emerging from these conferences require common policy approaches and treatment, and a common effort at ensuring sustained follow-up. Taken together, they represent a framework for an integrated, systemic approach to socio-economic development in its widest sense.
129The contribution of the United Nations is particularly important at a time of shifting paradigms in socio-economic development philosophy and thinking. As a global centre for innovative thinking and consensus-building, the United Nations should make maximum use of its analytical capacities to identify common problems and recommend solutions. Through its normative activities, the Organization can help to bring about an external environment that allows all countries and their enterprises to compete in international markets on an equal footing; and, through its advisory and operational activities, it can help to develop the tools and human resource capabilities that address the supply-side constraints faced by many countries. The United Nations must continue to endeavour to affect economic decisions taken in other forums from the perspective of the developing countries and remains best placed to build consensus based on the perspective of interdependence between issues, and to identify the means by which sustained and sustainable development can be realized by all countries.
130The Economic and Social Council needs to be positioned to play more effectively the role envisaged for it in the Charter. In the longer term, a fundamental rethinking of the role of the Council may be required, given the experience of the past 50 years and new economic and social realities, including providing it with greater authority through Charter revision. An immediate priority is to enhance the essential policy management and coordinating roles of the Economic and Social Council and to equip it to fulfil better its role in the macroeconomic policy coordination dialogue. The Council also needs to organize its sessions and reporting procedures better and to rationalize its subsidiary machinery, including the governing bodies of United Nations funds and programmes.
131In recent years, the Council has begun to organize itself in more effective ways so as to enhance its contribution to the international policy coordination dialogue. The “one-day” policy dialogue established by the Council brings together the executive heads of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in a unique dialogue with the membership of the Organization. The policy dialogue, together with the debate that takes place at the high-level segment with the participation of a growing number of ministers and senior officials from capitals, demonstrates that Member States want the Council to play a distinct role in the macroeconomic policy coordination dialogue. In order to strengthen that role further, the Council could be reliably assisted by panels of experts supported by an identifiable, dedicated secretariat that would facilitate consideration of timely and relevant issues. Convening specialized panels on particular subjects would allow the Council to secure the advice of leading experts. At the same time, it is proposed that the Committee for Development Planning could, consequently, be discontinued.
132The informal dialogue with heads of United Nations funds and programmes that takes place at the high-level meeting of the Council’s “operational activities for development segment”, has also been proving increasingly useful. The Council, through this segment, is also called upon to give coherent policy guidance on a system-wide basis to operational activities for development. This requires improved preparations, so that key policy issues arising from the reports of the executive boards of the funds and programmes are effectively identified, and a level of participation in the Council that can give the necessary political weight to the policy prescriptions emanating from it. The active participation of the least developed countries, which are the beneficiaries of operational activities, is especially important in order to render the dialogue more meaningful.
133The general segment of the Council where the reports of its subsidiary bodies are reviewed should also be more focused. The reports of the subsidiary bodies are now taken up sequentially without sufficient attention to the linkages between them. Furthermore, the consideration by the Council of the reports of the subsidiary bodies is largely procedural, rather than policy-oriented. There is also a clear need to enhance the Council’s capacity to manage ex ante rather than ex post the work programme of its functional commissions.
134A recommendation that the Council institute a segment on humanitarian affairs is contained in paragraph 197 of the present report. Recommendations on the strengthening of substantive secretariat support for the Council are dealt with, together with other secretariat reforms, in paragraphs 138 to 142 below.
Reform of the subsidiary bodies
135In order to assist the Economic and Social Council in its review of its subsidiary machinery, in accordance with General Assembly resolution 50/227, and guided by the spirit and intent of the resolution, proposals for a wide-ranging consolidation and reconfiguration of the subsidiary machinery that seek to exploit complementarities and provide opportunities for cross-fertilization have been developed for consideration by Member States. The main purpose of presenting these proposals is to provide a technical input and contribution to the deliberations that are currently under way. Details of the recommendations and the rationale for them are contained in a background note to be made available to the General Assembly.
Regional commissions and the reform process
136Numerous studies have been undertaken with regard to the role of the regional commissions. While an increasing number of regional and subregional integration groupings are being established, the regional commissions remain the bodies that are par excellence politically neutral and democratic and where each country of the region has an equal voice. The regional commissions have nonetheless been acutely aware of the need to redefine their role in response to changing circumstances and the emergence of these integration groupings. In certain cases, major changes in membership have taken place, partially owing to developments in Central and Eastern Europe. The commissions also need to consider their role in the context of global organizations. Recently, reform efforts have been intensified by the commissions which, to varying degrees, have streamlined both their intergovernmental and their secretariat structures.
137The reform efforts of the regional commissions have not involved an overall review of their role within a reformed United Nations. In consequence, there are a number of general issues, spanning the work of the commissions, which the Economic and Social Council should address.
Reform of the Secretariat
138At the Secretariat level, a series of measures are under way in order to ensure the most rational use of the resources available to the Organization in this area. Emphasis is being placed on identifying areas of strength in which recognized competencies have been developed in various parts of the Secretariat; reducing fragmentation of skills and duplication of efforts; creating the necessary synergies and critical mass in each sector in order to raise the quality of analyses and operations; and streamlining and rationalizing delivery capacities.
139The decision in March of this year to consolidate Secretariat departments in the economic and social field into a new Department of Economic and Social Affairs was intended to further these objectives. The establishment of the new Department followed an extensive reorganization of UNCTAD, involving both the UNCTAD secretariat and its intergovernmental machinery. The participation of UNCTAD and UNEP, along with the new Department of Economic and Social Affairs, in the Executive Committee on Economic and Social Affairs, is now making it possible for the Organization to address in a coherent way two key dimensions of development: the environmental and the trade/investment/technology nexus. In addition, the participation of the regional commissions in the Executive Committee ensures that global and regional aspects of development are harmonized and brought to bear, in a complementary way, on the work of the Organization, including substantive support provided to the Economic and Social Council. The Executive Committee is actively pursuing modalities to pool more effectively the Organization’s resources and capacities in key areas, such as the preparation of economic and social surveys, and to achieve a more efficient division of labour within the Secretariat.
140The capacity of the Secretariat to support the Council effectively needs to be enhanced through the establishment in the new department of an identifiable substantive secretariat, which would work in close cooperation and collaboration with the relevant departments, funds and programmes and organizations and agencies within the United Nations system. Such a secretariat would provide the main substantive support to the Council, particularly with regard to the high-level, coordination and operational activities segments. It would also prepare the annual report of the Council to the General Assembly as well as analytical, consolidated reports identifying cross-cutting policy issues arising out of the general segment and in support of the policy role of the operational activities segment. As part of that secretariat, an identifiable inter-agency affairs unit will be created, reinforced by staff seconded by programmes and agencies, to service the Administrative Committee on Coordination and promote continuous exchange of information and consultations throughout the United Nations system.
141In giving effect to the decision to establish the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, adjustments are being introduced to improve the division of labour with other entities in the economic and social fields, taking into account also the proposed reforms in the intergovernmental process and structures. Particular attention is being given to reinforcing areas of work related to South-South cooperation and support to Africa and the least developed countries and small island developing States. It is intended that these areas would be given priority attention as a result of resources released from efficiency measures. Details will be provided in the revised budget estimates.
142In order to enhance policy analysis within the United Nations, centres of excellence and critical mass need to be developed exploiting relative strengths and capacities available in the different economic and social entities within the Organization. The new Department has clear core competencies in areas such as an integrated approach to development; sustainable development; social development; advancement, rights and empowerment of women; and demographic and statistical work, as well as issues arising from the integrated follow-up to recent United Nations conferences. UNCTAD has core competencies in macroeconomic policy analysis in the context of interdependence and in support of the interrelated issues of trade and development.
Drug control, crime prevention and combatting international terrorism
143Government authority and civil society are increasingly threatened by transnational networks of crime, narcotics, money-laundering and terrorism. Access by underworld groups to sophisticated information technologies and weaponry as well as to the various instrumentalities through which the global market economy functions are vastly increasing the potential power and influence of these groups, posing a threat to law and order and to legitimate economic and political institutions. To both industrialized and developing countries, this is an issue of growing concern in which international cooperation is essential.
144Drug control, crime prevention and combating international terrorism in all its forms and manifestations is one of the eight priority areas in the medium-term plan for the period 1998-2001. So far, the programmes are carried out by two separate entities, namely, the United Nations International Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) and the Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Division, both located in Vienna. UNDCP services the Commission on Narcotic Drugs as well as the International Narcotics Board, while the Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Division services the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice. As the issues of drugs and crime clearly intersect, an organizational realignment of the two programmes would strengthen the United Nations capacity to respond to these critically important problems.
145In order to enable the Organization to focus and enhance its capacity to address the interrelated issues of drug control and transnational crime, the Division for Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice will be strengthened and transformed into a Centre for International Crime Prevention. Capacities within the Centre to deal with international terrorism and increasingly serious phenomena such as money-laundering and trafficking in women and children will be enhanced. The balance in the work of UNDCP between combating drug trafficking and other components of drug control, including activities aimed at prevention and rehabilitation and the reduction of illicit supply through alternative development, will not be affected. At the same time, synergies between the work programme of the Centre and that of UNDCP will be enhanced, including through joint programmes on matters of common concern such as money-laundering. A common managerial structure would be established under an Executive Director managing UNDCP as well as the new Centre, who will also serve as Director-General of the United Nations Office at Vienna.
C.Development cooperation
146The nature of development has changed dramatically and is now characterized by greater political and economic openness as well as sensitivity to social and environmental concerns. Import substitution and barriers to trade are being replaced by export-orientation and the elimination of trade distortions. This has resulted in a dramatic increase in private sector capital flows, which have now become the primary engine for development in many countries that possess the requisite institutional base. The majority of developing countries, however, continue to have very limited access to private capital and depend on a diminishing pool of official development assistance (ODA) while struggling with problems of poverty, low levels of social development, environmental degradation and, in some cases, political instability. It is estimated that, in 1996, foreign direct investment in Asia amounted to US$ 48 billion, but just US$ 2.6 billion in sub-Saharan Africa.
147The demands on the United Nations have expanded over time and are reflected in the mandates emanating from global conferences. Economic, environmental, social and political changes have added further priorities for development assistance, particularly in managing the effects of economic and political transition, ensuring sustainable livelihoods, reversing trends such as the feminization of poverty and redressing threats to the environment. Despite these growing needs, the key funds and programmes of the United Nations continue to face stagnation and lack of predictability and reliability in core contributions, accompanied by a significant growth in earmarked resources. Individually, the funds and programmes represent a very modest proportion of total resource flows for development purposes. The United Nations must therefore seek to reassess and refocus its role in development operations in relation to significant new entrants in the development assistance arena and important shifts in the policies and role played by others. In the context of development operations, in particular, the United Nations must develop closer cooperation with the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the regional development banks.
The importance of coherence and effectiveness in development operations
148The diversity, distinctiveness and specialized focus of the United Nations funds and programmes involved in development operations provide important benefits to the United Nations and to developing countries. The reform process is designed to maintain and reinforce the distinctive nature of these entities while seeking to facilitate their functioning in a more unified, cooperative and coherent framework as members of the United Nations family.
149With the increasing realization that effective development requires a more holistic approach, there has been a tendency for each sectoral organization to broaden its activities to areas that overlap with others. This is a phenomenon witnessed in the case of all organizations of the system. Overlap of this type has increased the need for cooperation and coordination among the organizations concerned and compounded the problems created by the fragmentation of existing structures. At the country level, this fragmentation and overlap make it difficult for the United Nations to respond to the needs of countries in a consistent, coherent and cost-effective manner.
150Fragmentation and overlap compound the problem of the decreasing relative size of United Nations operational activities resources in companion with other financial flows. Together, the expenditures of UNDP, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in 1994-1995 amounted to just US$ 4,706 million, covering 135 programme countries. Despite the grant nature of this assistance, it remains a relatively limited amount. The way in which these resources are deployed, leveraged and managed is therefore critical to their effectiveness and impact.
151The General Assembly, beginning at its forty-fourth session, had adopted a series of resolutions that have sought to address these issues. While stressing that the mandates of funds and programmes should be respected and enhanced, it emphasized that the “separate funds and programmes and specialized agencies must make a commitment to work together to integrate assistance provided by the United Nations system into the development process of the recipient countries in a fully coordinated manner”. It has “stressed that coordination in funding arrangements and procedures should maximize complementarities and avoid duplication so as to increase the positive impact of development cooperation activities on the development of developing countries”. The General Assembly has also emphasized that “the United Nations system at the country level should be structured and composed in such a way that it corresponds to ongoing and projected cooperation programmes rather than to the institutional structure of the United Nations system”.
152The work done by the Executive Committee on Development Operations constitutes important progress in the implementation of the changes announced on 17 March of this year. UNDP continues as the manager and funder of the Resident Coordinator system. The Resident Coordinator system will be strengthened by the selection of Resident Coordinators from all organizations concerned. The Executive Committee on Development Operations has agreed on a series of measures designed to advance this process, while identifying some areas on which further consultations are required.
153On the basis of this experience, it is now feasible to move into the next phase of this process with the designation of the United Nations Development Group to supersede the sectoral group on development operations. The Development Group Executive Committee will be reconstituted under the leadership of the convenor of the Executive Committee, the Administrator of UNDP. Its membership will consist of UNDP, UNICEF and UNFPA with participation by others in respect of matters relevant to their interests and mandates. The Development Group Executive Committee will further sharpen the contributions that each entity is called upon to make to the overall objectives of the Organization, while helping each entity to avoid duplication and build on the work and capacities of others; serve as a policy development and management instrument geared to contributing to, and effecting, policy, administrative and operational decisions in each entity, while at the same time strengthening decision-making processes in the Organization as a whole; provide a forum for heads of entities to consult on submissions to their governing bodies on both substantive and administrative matters that have implications for other members of the Group or for the Organization as a whole; contribute to strengthening policy coherence and cost-effectiveness by avoiding duplication and by pooling resources and services so as to maximize programme impact and minimize administrative costs; share draft work programme and budget documents sufficiently in advance of their finalization and submission to the relevant governing bodies to make such consultations a meaningful phase in the programming process; and promote a more unified United Nations presence at the country level through, inter alia, providing a forum for concerted directives to Resident Coordinators and field representatives in order to ensure more integrated and consistent substantive support from headquarters for their work.
154In providing for improved modalities of cooperation, the establishment of the United Nations Development Group will in no way dilute or compromise the distinctive character or identity of participating organizations or the accountability of their heads vis-à-vis the Secretary-General or their respective governing bodies. On the contrary, it would serve to strengthen their individual and collective capacities to respond more effectively to policy directives and requirements. This arrangement also preserves the individual resource mobilization capability and responsibilities of the individual funds and programmes, while enabling a greater proportion of their funds to be utilized directly in substantive programmes. It should, at the same time, serve to strengthen support for the essential intergovernmental organs -- the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council -- by helping these organs to focus the exercise of their governance responsibilities better and by introducing a more effective collective mechanism for preparing and following up their overall policy directives.
155Building on the significant progress already made, the United Nations Development Group will continue to pursue harmonized or common programme and budget frameworks, services, facilities, administration and personnel practices.
156The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is the one major operational fund of the United Nations system that would not be covered by the United Nations Development Group. Despite its status as a specialized agency, there would be considerable benefit to the closest possible association between IFAD and the main funding institutions of the United Nations that have an operational presence at the country level.
157The World Food Programme (WFP), while operating primarily in the humanitarian field, continues to have significant field operations related to development, particularly in the areas of transport, food for work and school feeding. WFP will therefore be invited to be associated with the United Nations Development Group and to participate in its Executive Committee in areas relevant to its operations and interests.
158The main focus of development operations will continue to be at the country level, where programmes are deployed in support of national priorities. Focusing programmes on national priorities in line with General Assembly resolutions will ensure relevance, preserve national ownership and foster the successful development of national capacity.
159The General Assembly has decided that, “in order to enhance coherence and programming and resource utilization, programme development and component approval, capacity and authority should be further decentralized to the field offices, which should be provided with the necessary technical and substantive expertise”. It further urged, in this context, that governing bodies of all funds, programmes and specialized agencies should ensure that the prescribed limits on field-level authority for cancelling, modifying and adding activities within approved programmes and for shifting resources within approved budget lines of individual components of a programme and among components of a programme with the approval of national authorities should be expanded to become equal and uniform to the maximum extent possible in the context of enhanced accountability.
160While the establishment of a United Nations Development Assistance Framework through the United Nations Development Group must necessarily include coordination and coherence in respect of fund-raising, it must not weaken or undermine the authority and independence of individual fund-raising activities of UNICEF, UNFPA, UNDP and other funds and programmes. This requires that each be able to retain the capacity to solicit, deploy and be accountable to donors for contributions designated for their programmes. The budget of each of these funds and programmes will continue to be clearly identifiable. In addition, full accountability for funds raised will remain vested in the individual entities. Furthermore, country representatives will remain directly responsible to the executive heads concerned on all issues related to the individual country programmes as well as policy matters and issues related to their mandates.
161There have been encouraging indications that if the proposed improvements in consolidation at the country level are effected, some developing funding agencies may be prepared to utilize the United Nations Development Assistance Framework for deployment of their assistance to the country.
Governance of the funds and programmes
162Enhanced governmental management of funds and programmes would be greatly facilitated by greater integration of the oversight that Member States provide. It is recommended that the UNDP/UNFPA and UNICEF Executive Boards continue to be convened back to back, with joint meetings as appropriate and with joint committees comprising members of both Boards to review issues and matters of common concern to all of the United Nations Development Group constituent entities, including the collaborative country programming produced by the United Nations Development Assistance Framework process.
Fostering a constructive partnership between the United Nations and the Bretton Woods institutions
163The World Bank’s “Strategic Compact: Renewing the Bank’s Effectiveness to Fight Poverty” focuses the World Bank on “human development ... environmentally and socially sustainable development ... poverty reduction and economic management … and finance, private sector and infrastructure”. The Bank is also moving rapidly to decentralize its operations to the regional and country level. The movement of the World Bank into areas similar to those hitherto in the purview of the United Nations will bring additional resources to bear on similar objectives. However, this brings added urgency to the task of ensuring an appropriate distribution of responsibilities between the World Bank Group and the United Nations for the benefit of programme countries. This should take the form of a functional rationalization in a complementary and cooperative manner between the work of the United Nations and the World Bank. Such a rationalization would enable both institutions to operate in the same sectors in a complementary manner. This rationalization of functional roles and mandates will require the support and endorsement of States members of the World Bank in its Executive Board and Board of Governors. Governments play an important role in bringing the United Nations and the World Bank together not just at the intergovernmental level, but at the country level as well. National priorities, along with the active involvement of Governments, should serve as the basis for closer coordination of common country assessments, the United Nations Development Assistance Framework, and the World Bank’s policy planning frameworks.
164The policies of IMF have an extremely important effect on the conditions affecting development in developing countries. This is particularly true of their structural adjustment requirements. The Secretary-General welcomes the increased degree of consultation now taking place between IMF and the United Nations at the country level on these issues and intends to strengthen this relationship further.
The financing of development and technical cooperation
165Resources for development need to be restored as rapidly as possible and made more predictable to preserve the intensity of their operations. This should be followed by a net increase in ODA and an increase in resources channelled through the United Nations in order to fulfil the mandates laid down by Member States. Such an increase should not be at the expense of other bilateral or multilateral institutions but should result from an overall increase in ODA based upon agreed global targets. All three principal sources of funding should be addressed -- voluntary, negotiated and private -- in development operations and an appropriate mix between them ensured.
166Core resources remain the basis for the mobilization of all other funds, and their unpredictability has presented perhaps the most serious challenge to the smooth and effective functioning of development operations. Financing of United Nations funds and programmes is currently based on voluntary pledges on an annual basis.
167It would be preferable if core resources could be made available in multi- instead of one-year tranches. These contributions would be based upon programme targets established for the period. Contributions would be based on the principle of burden-sharing among Member States, the terms of which will need to be worked out. Negotiated pledges should mobilize additional core resources for the implementation of priorities that emanate from global conferences and from new country-based or regional requirements.
168Mandates of various organizations emanating from recommendations of global conferences require additional resources. There are a number of challenges facing the United Nations in this regard and the key one is increasing the availability of resources for operational activities. The mobilization of resources from private capital markets and other innovative financing systems must also be addressed in order to enable countries to tap into the development potential embodied in the private sector.
169Mobilization of innovative new and additional resources requires a concerted, full-time effort. An Office for Development Financing that does not duplicate or compete with the fund-raising activities of the United Nations funds and programmes could meet this need. The Office’s mission would be to seek new and additional resources for development through innovative mechanisms and modalities. The new Office should, inter alia, explore the possibility of creating non-profit entities to enable the United Nations Development Group to receive tax-deductible contributions from individuals and especially private corporations at the country level. The Office would also work to identify innovative mechanisms for mobilizing resources from private capital markets for development.
D.Environment, habitat and sustainable development
170Of the challenges facing the world community in the next century, none will be more formidable or pervasive as the attainment of a sustainable equilibrium between economic growth, poverty reduction, social equity and the protection of the Earth’s resources, commons and life-support systems.
171The recently completed nineteenth special session of the General Assembly reviewed programmes and prospects on the fifth anniversary of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development and the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Stockholm Conference and underscored the difficulties and divisions that continue to impede progress towards agreement on the cooperative measures required to deal with these issues and to ensure enforcement of existing agreements.
172A particularly important product of the Earth Summit has been the proliferation of new actors in the field of environment and sustainable development and their expanding participation in United Nations deliberations, negotiations and actions. This has led to changes in the scope of the international and environmental agenda to focus on the environment as a critical component of sustainable development. In addition, it is clear that the world of the twenty-first century will be predominantly urban and the transition to global sustainability will largely depend on success in ensuring the sustainable development of our cities and towns. Sustainable development is now understood to consist of a positive synthesis between the environmental, social and economic dimensions of development.
173In the United Nations, the Commission on Sustainable Development has become an important policy forum; environmental capacities within major United Nations bodies and specialized agencies have been developed; and the number of international environmental conventions with autonomous governing bodies and secretariats has been growing.
174Overall the response to the needs of developing countries for new and additional financial resources has been disappointing and ODA has declined since the Rio Conference. The Global Environment Facility (GEF), established to finance the incremental costs of certain sustainable development projects, has functioned well and now needs to be replenished at higher levels and its scope expanded. UNDP, the World Bank and other multilateral and bilateral funding agencies are devoting a growing proportion of resources to sustainable development-related projects and programmes. And with the increased role of private investment, the recent initiative of the World Bank to develop, in cooperation with other interested parties, voluntary guidelines for private investment, is a welcome development. Little progress has been made in developing new and innovative sources of financing for the transition to sustainable development. However, some promising prospects are emerging as, for example, the development of a system of “offsets” to carbon dioxide emissions through joint implementation and emission trading, which could produce significant new flows of resources to developing countries.
175What has emerged clearly from the experience represented by these events is the need for a more integrated systemic approach to policies and programmes throughout the whole range of United Nations activities in the economic, social and development fields by mainstreaming the Organization’s commitment to sustainable development. This requires closer cooperation and interaction between the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) and between both entities and other departments, funds and programmes in the economic, social and development areas. It is necessary to that end to strengthen the system of task managers under the Inter-Agency Committee on Sustainable Development (IACSD) of the Administrative Committee on Coordination, in which both UNEP and Habitat are actively involved. At the intergovernmental level, the fact that the Governing Council of UNEP and the Commission on Human Settlements report to the General Assembly should not preclude or inhibit this process as both report through the Economic and Social Council.
176UNEP is the environmental voice of the United Nations and the principal source of the environmental input into the work of the Commission on Sustainable Development. High priority must be given to according to it the status, strength and access to resources it requires to function effectively as the environmental agency of the world community. This has been confirmed by the Nairobi Declaration, adopted by the UNEP Governing Council at its nineteenth session, in February 1997. UNEP’s role as the focal point for harmonization and coordination of environment-related activities must be strengthened, and the Secretary-General intends to lend his full support to this process.
177The important experience and capacities that UNEP has developed in the areas of monitoring and assessment, through its GEMS and GRID programmes, constitute an invaluable resource that must be further developed and enhanced in the period ahead; so too its key functions as the forum for development of international policy, law and negotiation and implementation of cooperative arrangements to deal with environmental issues, as a bridge between science and policy-making as well as its interacting relationships with national environmental organizations and agencies. One of the most notable achievements of UNEP has been its contribution to the initiation, negotiation and support of some of the most important treaties that have been agreed in the international field. Many of these continue to depend on continued support by UNEP. The operational projects at the country level that have been financed by the Fund of UNEP can now be more appropriately funded by UNDP and other sources. Accordingly, UNEP will discontinue implementation of such projects.
178The High-level Advisory Board on Sustainable Development appointed by the Secretary-General in July 1993 made a valuable contribution to the work of the Commission on Sustainable Development during its first five years in analysing and elaborating a number of key sustainable development issues. With the initiation by the Commission of promising new arrangements for consultations with and participation in its work by various relevant civil society actors, the Secretary-General believes that the functions of the High-level Advisory Board could now be effectively performed through these processes.
179On this twenty-fifth anniversary of the establishment of UNEP and in the light of the recommendations of the Istanbul Conference on Human Settlements, it is most timely and necessary to take immediate steps to strengthen UNEP and Habitat, while considering the fundamental changes that may be required to clarify and focus their structures and functions within a reformed United Nations in the economic, social and development fields as well as to revitalize political and financial support for them. The nineteenth special session of the General Assembly has provided useful guidance in this respect.
Towards a strengthened capacity to respond to humanitarian crisis
Role of the Emergency Relief Coordinator, the Office of the Emergency Relief Coordinator, the Inter-Agency Standing Committee and the consolidated appeal process
Restructuring and consolidation of the human rights programme
Coordination with other United Nations programmes
Support for intergovernmental processes, monitoring
VI.ENHANCING SUPPORT CAPACITIES
A.Financing the Organization
Strategy 1: Strengthening the staff of the United Nations
Strategy 2: Create a “dividend for development” from savings in
This shows that the people who do the work
Strategy 3: Enhance the flexibility and responsibility of line managers
Strategy 4: Simplify processes, procedures and rules
Strategy 5: Results-based budgeting: shift from micro-management
Strategy 6: Expand and strengthen common services
Strategy 8: Institute an issue management system
C.Communications and public information
A strategy for communication
Strengthened partnership with Member States
D.United Nations University, research institutes and related bodies
VII.PREPARED FOR A CHANGING WORLD
