January 2016: The UN System Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB) endorsed a strategy for the global initiative on decent jobs for youth, as well as a position paper on equality and non-discrimination, at the CEB’s second regular session of 2015. Also at that meeting, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon requested the Board’s high-level committees to work together to produce “one set” of principles, to guide the UN system’s support to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in an integrated way.

The session convened at UN Headquarters and the Greentree Foundation in Manhasset, New York, on 18 and 19 November 2015, respectively. A summary of conclusions from the meeting was issued by the CEB on 18 January 2016.

According to the summary, work updates were presented by the High Level Committee on Management (HLCM), the High Level Committee on Programmes (HLCP), and the UN Development Group (UNDG), all of which support the CEB. Participants also considered Millennium Development Goals’ (MDGs) implementation at the country level, climate change, the 2030 Agenda, SDG implementation, and the interlinkages between peace, humanitarian and development efforts, among other topics.

CEB members stressed the importance of data to deliver on the 2030 Agenda, especially data disaggregated by gender, age, race, disability and other dimensions. The UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social affairs urged UN entities to adhere to the principles governing international statistical activities, the summary notes.

Per the summary, members widely shared the view that the path to addressing climate change is through the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs. They called for more joint programming and integration of climate change, sustainable development and disaster risk reduction (DRR) initiatives. One member suggested that a UN system-wide action plan on climate change could be a useful tool in that regard.

The HLCM Chair said UN Member States place great importance on the efficiency with which the UN system delivers on its mandates, and “organizations must find new ways to provide more value for money.” She reported that the Committee is leading the development of a UN system data catalogue seeking to: make UN system data open and accessible to the public and other key stakeholders; promote open data publishing among UN organizations; and improve availability and accessibility of information so as to better inform analytical and decision-making processes. She also highlighted the HLCM’s work to make UN operations more environmentally sustainable, and that more organizations are reporting achievements in that area.

The HLCP Chair stressed that the UN system looks to CEB for direction and guidance on its efforts should come together into one unified whole to support the 2030 Agenda.

The UNDG Chair said UN country teams are due to prepare almost 80 new UN Development Assistance Frameworks (UNDAFs) in 2015 and 2016. She remarked that the newest generation of Frameworks demonstrate a clear focus on the SDGs, along with a “much stronger emphasis” on innovation, citizen engagement and addressing vulnerabilities, inequalities and human rights.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights highlighted that the positioning paper titled ‘Equality and Non-Discrimination at the Heart of Sustainable Development: Towards a United Nations System-Wide Policy and Joint Plan on Addressing Inequalities and Human Rights for Sustainable Development’ issued by the HLCP and developed under the leadership of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), recommends that the CEB should issue a brief policy statement on putting the imperative of combating discrimination and inequalities at the heart of UN efforts to implement the 2030 Agenda. According to the CEB summary, the High Commissioner also noted a recommendation for UN system entities to collaboratively define a shared framework for action, through a time-bound task force of the HLCP.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) Director General said the successful implementation of the strategy for the global initiative on decent jobs for youth, developed by the HLCP under the leadership of the ILO, requires the establishment of a transparent, global funding mechanism on youth, as well as the creation of a dedicated secretariat “to launch the initiative and support it through its start-up phase.”

The Director-General also reported that a system-wide action plan on indigenous peoples, requested by the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in 2014, has been endorsed by the Inter-agency Support Group on Indigenous Peoples’ Issues. He encouraged CEB members to support the implementation of this plan in their respective organizations.

Finally, the summary states that the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Secretary-General expressed support for the preparation of a joint CEB statement to convey that the UN system is working as one in the field for information and knowledge societies, and to reaffirm the important role of information and communications technology (ICT) as a critical enabler of the SDGs.

The CEB brings together the executive heads of 30 specialized organizations “to deliver as one” at the global, regional and country levels. [CEB Website] [CEB Summary of Session]