UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon presented his report “Recommendations contained in the report of the High-level Panel on United Nations System-wide Coherence in the areas of development, humanitarian assistance and the environment” at a General Assembly meeting on 16 April 2007 at UN Headquarters, New York, US, saying that he had benefited greatly from extensive consultations with Member States when assessing the recommendations.

The Secretary-General said the Panel had produced thought-provoking and far-reaching proposals to address the shortcomings of the UN system, including fragmentation at the country level and a lack of synergy at the global level, and noted that the recommendations deserved the international community’s full engagement. He also stated that moving forward on system-wide coherence was a “triple win” solution and vision for the UN system, developing countries and donor countries. Stressing that the promise of achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) was central to delivering the broader development agenda, General Assembly President Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa said it was the international community’s duty to ensure global economic stability and prosperity, and the Panel’s report presented an important opportunity to do this.
In their ensuing statements, most countries generally agreed with the Panel’s recommendations and welcomed the Secretary-General’s call for an open and transparent intergovernmental review on ways to implement the recommendations. Pakistan, on behalf of the Group of 77 and China and the Non-Alignment Movement, stressed that development cooperation should be demand-driven and cautioned against the introduction of new conditionalities through the reform process. In response, the United Kingdom said the Panel’s recommendations were an opportunity to match the vision in the Millennium Declaration with a first-rate UN delivery system, emphasizing that the “One UN” approach was no “backdoor for conditionality.” The European Union noted that while “delivering as one” would be a challenge for UN entities, recipients and donors, meeting that challenge was worthwhile. She also advocated that future discussions on institutional changes, in particular the creation of new bodies, be carefully considered in view of their added value. For the UN to better respond to global development challenges, France noted the need for a more strategic approach that focused on country needs. Rwanda said that the pilot country experiences would be valuable in understanding how to move the UN reform agenda forward, and welcomed the recommendation to establish a sustainable development board. With the halfway point to achieving the MDGs fast approaching, Japan underlined the need for the intergovernmental consultations on the recommendations to yield the best possible results. While noting that the “One UN” pilot programme was an interesting approach, the Russian Federation said it would not solve existing problems, and he also cautioned against establishing either a global leader’s forum of the Economic and Social Council or a sustainable development board. India said there was a lack of clarity on precise operationalization of the Panel’s recommendations, stressing that system-wide coherence would not have any effect if changes only were made on an administrative level.
The General Assembly resumed its consideration of the Secretary-General’s report on 17 April 2007 (statements made during this session). In concluding, General Assembly President Sheikha Haya said the formal consultation process would be transparent and inclusive, assuring that she would present her proposals on how to consider the recommendations of the Panel and the Secretary-General in a pragmatic and results-oriented manner.

Links to further information
UN press release, 16 April 2007
The UN Secretary-General’s statement