The Future of the United Nations Development System

Friday 15th July 2011, 13.30 – 15.00, Salle XXV, Palais de Nations

Moderator: Cécile Molinier, Director, UNDP, Geneva

Presenter: Stephen Browne, Director, Future of the UN Development System (FUNDS) Project, Geneva & Fellow, Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies, New York (author). (Download Powerpoint of the presentation)

Discussants:

• H.E. Ms. Betty King, Ambassador of the United States to the UN
• H.E. Dr. Yonov Frederick Agah, Ambassador of Nigeria to WTO
• Assistant Secretary-General Sigrid Kaag, UNDP (New York)

The book “The UN Development Programme and System”  is written by a development economist who spent 33 years in the UN system. It  examines both UNDP’s roles and, more than in any previous analysis, it highlights the challenges of reconciling them in a global development context which has seen the UN development system’s steady marginalization. The book also contains some future pointers to a more cohesive system based on the ideals for which the UN is most valued.

The book is published by Routledge and is available from here.

Click here to download the report on Survey on the Future of the United Nations.

The FUNDS project is pleased to present the report of the November 2010 conference, which it co-sponsored with the Wilton Park, on the Future of the UN Development System.

Key conclusions of the report:

• The efficiency of the UN development system and the need to reform it has been much discussed but with little progress and with gathering frustration and concern. The core problem is decision making; the historical design of the system and its fragmentation has resulted in the lack of any overall control which is not subject to the national interest of members.
• The absence of central governance is the single largest obstacle to any reform of the UN system or any part of it.
• The Delivering as One programme holds out the greatest hope for reform, and with more countries signing up to it, change may be effected from the bottom up.

Download the complete report

Richard O’Brien, Partner, Outsights, London, outlined the draft scenarios for the future of the UN Development System during his presentation at the Wilton Park FUNDS Conference of November 18-21 2010.

These draft scenarios build upon the drivers of change analysis carried out by participants of the meeting (slides 3-5). Slide 6 suggests how the scenarios might shape the world at the level of resources and governance.  Slide 7 suggests the possible implications for finance for development.  Slide 8 reports the initial ideas suggested at the workshop for the UN development system, and slides 9 and 10 present the underlying scenario dimensions.

Download the presentation

Acclaimed BBC World Service programme on the environment and development issues ‘One Planet’, sent presenter Richard Hollingham to the conference “Future of the UN development system” at Wilton Park, UK.

One Planet used the conference  as an opportunity to shed focus on challenges facing the United Nations in terms of development. Presenter, Richard Hollingham, spoke to Andry Raharinomena (Director for Economic Cooperation and Aid Coordination, Ministry of Economy and Finance) about Madagascar and Harsha Singh (Deputy Director General, WTO, Geneva) about aid and the economic successes of Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC).

The episode airs November 25th and will be repeated several times. For more details and to listen to the podcasts, go to:
http://www.wiltonpark.org.uk/en/news/?view=News&id=206088682

Over 60 representatives of Governments, UN agencies, academia, NGOs, international think-tanks and private sector companies gathered for three days (18-21 November) at Wilton Park to deliberate on the future of the UN development system. The system comprises a loose family of some 30 different agencies and organisations, some of which have existed for more than 100 years, but which are now facing new and emerging global challenges.

Participants acknowledged that there were now alternatives to the UN development system, which would need to continue an urgent process of reform if it was to remain relevant and effective. Participants indulged in an exercise of envisioning scenarios for the world in 2025 and the place of the UN development system within it. They diagnosed in depth the challenges facing the system, but also heard many proposals for renewal, including attempts to forge greater coherence at the country level in Africa and Latin America.

The conference concluded that a further meeting would be valuable, comprising more representatives from civil society in developing and developed countries, as a means of stimulating continuing reform which all agreed was needed.