Switzerland traditionally plays a key role in this endeavour through regularly facilitating the only resolution that provides overall guidance to the UN development operations. In December 2012 the adoption of this quadrennial system-wide landmark resolution is providing a great opportunity for a consistent breakthrough in the right direction.
Remaining Challenges
Reforming the UN development system is ambitious. The QCPR addresses the four most important challenges to promote a more efficient, effective and coherent operational development system:
Fragmentation: The UN development system consists of a complex web of organizations. Their mandates partly overlap and their activities have become thematically and geographically dispersed. This fragmentation of institutions and activities challenges the coherence of operational activities, incurs high transaction costs on recipient countries and entails inefficiencies through high expenses for administration, coordination and reporting. An example of the consequences of fragmentation is the 17,000 reports annually produced by the UN development system. By reducing fragmentation and refocusing reporting, resources could be reallocated in favour of partner countries. In addition, this would facilitate more effective monitoring by member states.
Funding: In the recent years, the ratio of core financial contributions to the budgets of UN organizations has declined relative to earmarked contributions (contributions for specific themes or regions). The relative increase of earmarked financial contributions tends to limit the ability of UN agencies to fully comply with their mandates, threatens their financial sustainability and fosters fragmentation.
Complexity of business practices: One of the limiting factors to the implementation of the “Delivering as One” approach is the diversity of business practices between UN organizations. Handling the multitude of procedures and directives raises transaction costs of coordinating operational activities of UN agencies. Inconsistencies in planning, funding, reporting and evaluation across the UN development system threaten to undermine efforts to enhance coherence, effectiveness and efficiency for better development results. Furthermore, and despite important progress in rationalization, the complexity of business processes could still be decreased.
Accountability for results and transparency: Enhancing the effectiveness of the UN operational activities for development requires a coherent monitoring and evaluation of results. Information on system-wide results is still difficult to obtain for donor and partner countries. UN funds and agencies often struggle to report on results and make insufficient use of standard indicators. This largely complicates the analysis of results from the field and the collection of global information on results achieved on specific themes.
The Role of Switzerland
Switzerland as a facilitator, promoter and convener.
Making the UN system more effective and efficient is one of the main goals of Switzerland at the United Nations. Thanks to continuous efforts to promote and facilitate processes supporting reform at the global policy level and in its priority countries, Switzerland is considered as a country strongly committed to enhancing the capacity of the UN system to deliver results.
Facilitating the negotiations: For the past 10 years, Switzerland has assumed the role of facilitator of the QCPR negotiations (2004, 2007, 2012) as well as of the resolutions of the ECOSOC monitoring the implementation of the QCPR. Prior to the intergovernmental negotiations and in collaboration with UN agencies and the UN Secretariat, Switzerland helped build the basis for an informed dialogue and was then assigned the task of achieving consensus in the negotiations. As facilitator, it had a key role in making possible the positive outcome of the 2012 QCPR. This active role in the QCPR process considerably enhanced the visibility and good reputation of Switzerland in the United Nations.
Promoting the implementation of the QCPR is a priority objective of Switzerland at the UN. Continuous effort by the entire UN development system and by member states will be needed to put into practice what was agreed upon. In monitoring the implementation of these intergovernmental decisions, the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) plays a crucial role. UN DESA, through the UN Secretary General, issues the most important reports on the implementation of the QCPR which are discussed in the ECOSOC sessions. It also is the main provider of expertise to member states.
Switzerland will continue to support UN DESA for an effective implementation of the reforms. In addition, implementing the QCPR is actively advocated by Switzerland through its membership in the governing bodies of UN organizations. At country level, Switzerland is actively supporting the implementation of the “Delivering as One” approach and of the QCPR. This includes support to efforts to increase coordination between different UN organizations. Switzerland also sponsored events facilitating the exchange of experiences between Resident Coordinators as well as between countries that have adopted the “Delivering as One” model. Important lessons learnt and recommendations based on field experiences came out of these workshops and fed into the QCPR debate.
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Liliane TarnutzerLiliane is in charge of UNDS Reform process within the UN and MDB Section of SDC.
