22 October 2009
Gareth Thomas today promised UK funding for the UN’s work with the world’s poorest people when its different agencies deliver ‘as one team’.
The International Development Minister committed £40m to the Delivering as One programme which strips away bureaucracy by ensuring all the UN’s work in developing countries is delivered through one efficient programme.
Speaking on the eve of UN Day and following this week’s Delivering as One conference in Rwanda, he also warned that if it is not replicated across the UN, then the international community risks missing a major opportunity to increase its effectiveness.
The conference in Kigali, Rwanda, was attended by 14 countries who have voluntary adopted the UN Delivering as One approach. In their final statement at the end of the conference they said there was ‘no going back’ to the fragmented UN development system that existed before these countries Delivered as One.
They called on UN agency headquarters and their governing bodies to support the reform process and help simplify their systems. They also called on more donors to provide predictable, multi-year funding to countries to Deliver as One.
Gareth Thomas said:
“It is important for every pound of UK taxpayers’ money spent on UN activity to be used as effectively as possible, with no waste.
“We are committed to reforming parts of the UN that do not deliver. For too long, developing countries have had to deal with a spaghetti soup of UN agencies and do not know who to speak to in the UN when they want support.
“We want to see the Resident Coordinator with overall responsibility for the UN’s in-country work being the first point of contact and able to support national governments through joined-up services which deliver quickly and effectively for people on the ground.
“This approach also reduces bureaucracy and waste within the UN with less duplication in roles.
“Unless we make reforms such as Delivering as One quickly we will face an uphill struggle to meet the Millennium Development Goals and give people in the developing world the life opportunities we take for granted.”
The UK’s funding of Delivering as One provides support for countries where the UN’s work is fully integrated through one programme. Previously, agencies often duplicated each others’ work or left gaps where UN bodies were not working.
In the past, in any one developing country the UN has had different offices for each agency working there. Some countries have had more than 20 different UN agencies working with them.
The Delivering as One principle of one leader, one budget, one programme and one office means the UN is able to work more coherently with national governments to deliver better access to education, improvements in healthcare and lift people out of extreme poverty, while at the same time ensuring more efficient use of vital development aid.
In many cases, Delivering as One will ultimately mean the UN working under one roof – making significant savings on transport and communication costs, and enabling the UN to work as one team.
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