14 June 2018: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has informed UN Member States of the steps he is taking to implement the UN development system reforms agreed by the UN General Assembly in May 2018.

The UNGA adopted a resolution on the repositioning of the UN development system to align it with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (A/72/L.52) on 31 May 2018. The resolution requests the UN Secretary-General, in consultation with UN development system entities, to present an implementation plan for the inception of the reinvigorated Resident Coordinator (RC) system, including on the operationalization of its funding arrangements, to the UNGA before the end of the 72nd session.

In his letter of 14 June 2018, the Secretary-General notes that he is setting up a “lean” transition team under the leadership of the Deputy Secretary-General. The team will work for 18 to 24 months to initiate, manage and oversee the implementation of all provisions of the UNGA resolution. Guterres reports that the team will focus on: strategic direction; tracking progress towards the deliverables requested in the resolution; and ensuring minimal disruption to the UN’s work on the ground. Per the letter, the transition team will “rely heavily” on substantive inputs from UN development system entities, including through dedicated working groups and overall steering by the UN Sustainable Development Group.

The Deputy Secretary-General will soon – during June 2018 – launch a series of informal discussions with Member States on the transformed RC system.

In order to inform his plan for the RC system, the Secretary-General writes that the Deputy Secretary-General will soon – during June 2018 – launch a series of informal discussions with Member States on the transformed RC system. These consultations will be followed – in July and August 2018 – by briefings by the Secretariat on emerging characteristics of the implementation plan, before the final plan is presented to the membership.

Guterres also notes that he will soon launch the mandated Funding Dialogue to operationalize the Funding Compact, while underlining the “critical need” of securing Member States’ support to ensure that the necessary resources for the RC system are mobilized for its operationalization on 1 January 2019.

Finally, the Secretary-General stresses that UNGA guidance must be translated within the governing bodies of agencies, funds, programmes, specialized and non-resident entities. [UN Secretary-General Letter] [Resolution A/72/L.52] [SDG Knowledge Hub story on the adoption of the resolution] [SDG Knowledge Hub story on draft resolution] [SDG Knowledge Hub coverage of UN development system reform]