28 February 2019: UN Member States met for the fourth and final plenary meeting on the Funding Compact for the reformed UN development system. The Compact will be formally considered by the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) during its 2019 Operational Activities for Development Segment (OAS). UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed presented the final draft of the Compact, and told governments that the issue of efficiencies will require more work by the Secretariat and more engagement with Member States ahead of the ECOSOC discussion.

In May 2018, Member States adopted a UNGA resolution on the reform of the UN development system (72/279), welcoming the Secretary-General’s proposal to launch a funding dialogue to finalize a Funding Compact regarding support for the reformed UN development system. In the subsequent months, a dialogue between the UN development system and Member States took place along two tracks, plenary and technical, to translate the commitments contained in resolution 72/279 into concrete actions, time-bound targets and indicators.

Presenting the final draft of the Compact, Mohammed said that it intends to equip the UN development system with the means to provide UN Member States with “the maximum funding support” for efforts to reach the SDGs. She noted that its themes are not really new, with some of them having been under discussion for decades. However, the Compact “now binds the UN entities together with clear measurements of progress and a shared responsibility amongst each entity to reach those targets.” The Compact also provides a measurable, tangible commitment of Member States, she continued, to ensure “a more adequate funding base” for the UN to better support the 2030 Agenda. She said that this represents a major achievement.

On the Member States’ side, Mohammed explained that the Compact lays the foundation for “a much-needed shift” in the funding base of the UN development system, restoring “a healthier balance” between core and non-core resources, which requires investing, leveraging and accelerating results on the ground. The Funding Compact sets “firm targets” on a minimum share of core and projected increases in pooled and thematic funds, which she noted will help the UN get to more flexible, responsive, predictable and high-quality funding. To that end, she mentioned the need to “fully implement” a 1% coordination levy. She announced that following “extensive consultations,” the Secretariat will send a letter to all Member States with the final operational arrangements for the levy’s implementation. She urged governments to proceed with its application without delay.

On the UN side, the Deputy Secretary-General reiterated the UN development system’s commitment to report more systematically and clearly on what it does and achieves, linking resources to results at all levels. She said the commitments of the Compact regarding efficiency gains are both collective and entity-specific, and will be realized through, inter alia, the consolidation of premises and functions, better use of new technologies, and more joined-up approaches and enhanced collaboration on the ground. Mohammed announced that the UN “SDG team” led by the World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is currently working on developing a more detailed strategy for common back offices and to establish a strong tracking system to measure and monitor efficiency gains. The Deputy Secretary-General stressed that the levy, the efficiency gains and the other commitments enable each other, as “progress on one leads to progress on many others.”

On monitoring, which is the Compact’s last section, Mohammed emphasized “the primacy” of ECOSOC in providing oversight for the UN development system, and said reporting on the Compact will be a key dimension of the Secretary-General’s report to ECOSOC. She said the Secretariat will continue to hold informal briefings and engage with Member States to complement formal oversight by ECOSOC. The Deputy Secretary-General added that the Secretariat will also work with the Resident Coordinators and the UN country teams to “unpack” and act upon the Compact at the country level.

The Deputy Secretary-General highlighted the leadership of the ECOSOC regional representatives and representatives from the Group of 77 and China (G-77/China), the least developed countries (LDCs), landlocked developing countries (LLDCs) and small island developing States (SIDS), whom she said coordinated inputs from their constituents and represented their views through the technical track. Mohammed expressed also gratitude to colleagues in the UN development system who worked under Assistant Secretary-General Robert Piper to advance the system’s contributions to the technical track, as well as to the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) for their support on data and indicators.

Closing her briefing, Mohammed urged Member States to move from dialogue to action, as “this Compact means little if it is not implemented now, and by all.” [Deputy Secretary-General Remarks] [SDG Knowledge Hub Update on UN Reform] [SDG Knowledge Hub Story on Third Funding Dialogue] [SDG Knowledge Hub Story on the Funding Compact’s Potential]