The UN launched the Secretary-General’s annual report for 2017, highlighting achievements of the UN system and its current reforms.
The report warns that progress on the SDGs remains too slow and uneven for all targets to be achieved by 2030.
In a foreword, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres comments that "peace remains elusive," and emphasizes that multilateralism is more important than ever.
14 August 2018: The UN has launched the Secretary-General’s annual report for 2017, highlighting achievements of the UN system and its current reforms. The report warns that progress on the SDGs remains too slow and uneven for all targets to be achieved by 2030. In a foreword, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres comments that “peace remains elusive,” and emphasizes that multilateralism is more important than ever.
The report was launched as the “most comprehensive reform” of the UN development system is being undertaken, according to a UN press release. Recent reform steps include, in December 2017, the UN General Assembly’s approval for the UN Secretariat to move towards an annual programme budget document, and away from the current two-year budget cycle. The annual budget is seen as a tool for increasing accountability to Member States, who will be able to get information on programme planning, performance, evaluation results and financial requirements in a single document. Overall, the repositioning of the UN development system aims for seven “transformations” that are outlined in the report, including stronger partnerships and funding mechanisms for implementing the 2030 Agenda.
The report cites achievements of 2017 including: reaching gender parity among the 44-member UN Senior Management Group and among country resident coordinators (RCs); establishing a finance strategy to accelerate implementation of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda on financing for development (FfD); and creating new structures, such as the Office of Counter-Terrorism.
On peace and security, the UN worked with the World Bank to produce the ‘Pathways for Peace’ study, and established a partnership with the AU to enhance joint work in this area. There is now also a Joint Fund for the 2030 Agenda to support country-level implementation, advocacy and communication by SDG advocates, and a High-Level Panel on Digital Cooperation. The annual report notes that, highlighting the potential for artificial intelligence (AI) to make lives better, in October 2017 the UN’s Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and the UN General Assembly’s (UNGA) Second Committee (Economic and Financial) hosted Sophia, the first robot to sit on a UN panel.
As the UN approaches its 75th anniversary in 2020, the report calls for continuing innovation “as ongoing events and problems shift beneath our feet.” [UN Press Release] [Publication: Report of the Work of the Secretary-General 2018]