Hanoi, 8 December: Kemal Dervis, Head of the UN Development Group and Administrator of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), joined the government of Vietnam Friday to announce its selection as the first “pilot” (forsøgs) country in the UNs effort to unify and make more efficient and responsive its work at the national level.
– Vietnam is at the forefront of the UN move to deliver as one. The UN family has to combine the diversity of skills and mandates present in our agencies to realize our tremendous potential as partners in development, said Mr. Dervis.
The “One UN” pilot program will include at least five other countries and aims to move beyond coordination to consolidating a single presence in countries.
The Vietnam pilot will comprise six participating agencies – UNICEF, UNDP, UNFPA, UNIFEM, UNV and UNAIDS – and commitments are expected from others to join or cooperate with the programme in the near future.
The “One UN” plan means agencies will work as one team, with the aim of avoiding fragmentation and duplication (overlapning) of efforts. The goal is to ensure a unity of purpose, coherence (sammenhæng) in management and efficiency in operations while maintaining the distinct personality, agenda, and purpose of the different agencies.
– There was a realization that while we were doing a good job, we were not being fully efficient, said (Danish national) Jesper Mørch, the Representative for UNICEF in Vietnam.
– By working together, UNICEF will be able to deliver far more for Vietnamese children. It seemed obvious to embrace the idea, he noted.
The announcement followed a meeting of the government-led taskforce on UN reform with the Vietnamese government, participating UN agencies, funds and programmes, and bilateral donors. The taskforce was set up to guide the implementation of the “One UN” initiative in Vietnam.
– Vietnam is always pushing us to do things better, to be ever more responsive and efficient, and the UN team here is working to answer that call for more effective assistance, said UN Resident Coordinator John Hendra, adding:
– With this very exciting pilot opportunity, Vietnam is being recognized for its openness and drive to make the UN work better. In a sense, this pilot is like bringing global reform efforts home, and the development community will be very interested in what happens here as Vietnam is now literally at the center of UN reform efforts.
Dervi? echoed Hendras enthusiasm for Vietnams selection as a pilot country, and stressed the importance of full transparency and accountability in managing the complex process of integrating UN work in the country.
This announcement comes nearly a month after the UN High-Level Panel on Systemwide Coherence released its report, “Delivering as One”.
The report recommended, among other things, that the UN “deliver as one at the country level, with one leader, one programme, one budget, where appropriate, one office.” Additional pilot countries will likely be announced at the end of December.
Kilde: www.undp.org
