16 March 2018: Governments exchanged views on the repositioning of the UN development system, during the second meeting of the intergovernmental consultations on the topic. An outline of the UNGA’s draft resolution on the repositioning was circulated by co-facilitators Sabri Boukadoum, Permanent Representative of Algeria, and Ib Petersen, Permanent Representative of Denmark, on 13 March 2018.

The Funding Dialogue will commence after Member States agree on the draft resolution, in order to operationalize it as decided.

Opening the meeting on 16 March 2018 at UN Headquarters in New York, US, Petersen observed that Member States have found convergence around several areas: the strengthened role of UN Country Teams (UNCTs) and of the Resident Coordinator (RC) system, paired with alignment at UN Headquarters; the role of partnerships; and the essential role of funding in ensuring a cohesive UN development system. He added that the Funding Dialogue will commence after Member States agree on the draft resolution, in order to operationalize the framework decided through the consultations.

In the ensuing discussion, Egypt for the Group of 77 and China (G-77/China), said the zero draft should reflect the seven areas of transformation outlined in the Secretary-General’s December 2017 report on the proposed repositioning. In the section on the RC system, he called to delete the reference to “UN Leadership,” and to discuss the RC system’s funding in this section rather than under the Funding Compact.

The EU stressed that the zero draft should focus only on the new mandates that were requested by the Secretary-General and that are not captured by the Quadrennial Comprehensive Policy Review (QCPR). On issues already addressed in the QCPR, such as the RC system, the UNCTs, and the UN Development Assistance Frameworks (UNDAFs), the resolution should only note the progress made, said the EU. He called for the UNDAFs to progressively replace the country programmes of UN entities, adding that the zero draft should specify that UN entities will streamline the outcome in their strategic plans and work to achieve results based on it. He expressed openness to considering the funding of the RC system through assessed contributions, as proposed by the Secretary-General.

Paraguay, for the Land-locked Developing Countries (LLDCs), stressed the importance of the Vienna Programme of Action (VPoA) for the LLDCs and called for its inclusion in the zero draft. Supported by the EU and Australia also for Canada and New Zealand (CANZ), he expressed support for the proposed system-wide evaluation unit. Supported by the Republic of Korea, the LLDCs also welcomed the proposal for a system-wide approach to partnerships.

Mexico said the resolution must refer to the challenges of middle-income countries (MICs). On the regional approach, he recommended separate sections for each region, calling for tailored regional proposals.

Switzerland, supported by CANZ, emphasized the need to mainstream gender equality in the draft and, supported by the Republic of Korea, to reflect also the importance of humanitarian aspects. Both the EU and Norway called for references to the principle of leaving no one behind.

On a proposal to grant legislative authority on areas of joint action to the existing joint meeting of the Executive Boards, allowing it to become a decision-making platform “as first step towards the merger of the Boards,” the EU, the Republic of Korea and Norway expressed openness to discussing this. However, the US stressed that such a merger goes beyond the QCPR’s mandate.

On the new Funding Compact, the EU, CANZ and the US underscored the need to broaden the donor base and highlight the importance of partnerships with non-traditional donors such as the private sector, international financial institutions (IFIs), philanthropic organizations and others. The LLDCs emphasized that support to vulnerable countries needs to be increased.

The next consultation will convene on 23 March. [SDG Knowledge Hub story on draft outline] [Draft Outline and Calendar of Consultations] [SDG Knowledge Hub story on first consultation meeting] [SDG Knowledge Hub brief on repositioning proposals] [SDG Knowledge Hub coverage of UN reform processes] [SDG Knowledge Hub Sources]