Secretary-General outlines steps to strengthen UN’s development framework

“We need to change in order to secure the promise of sustainable development, human rights and peace for our grandchildren and we have no time to lose,” Mr. Guterres told the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

“The UN development system, therefore, must itself be far more integrated [and aligned] in our response […] to work seamlessly across sectors and specializations – and to do so more effectively.”

Mr. Guterres noted that his report to the Council (on repositioning the UN development system) is an integral component of the broader reform agenda at the UN to better meet the world’s complex and interlinked challenges.

He added that his ideas and proposals are intended to spur further discussions in the Council and to solicit the views of Member States on a number of key areas. A more detailed report will be submitted in December.

Eight guiding ideas
Mr. Guterres highlighted eight key guiding areas for his proposed reforms. The first is accelerating the transition of the UN development system from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to the 2030 Agenda and, at the same time, closing gaps and improving skillsets.

“We must be able to provide advice, pool expertise and help governments implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and help convene the partners they require to take actions to scale,” he said.

He also highlighted the need for a stronger focus on financing for development to help governments better leverage financing as well as working with a broad range of actors including the private sector, international financial institutions and other partners.

Another area of focus is enhancing the effectiveness of UN Country Teams – which comprise all UN agencies operating in a particular country – to build on the strengths of individual agencies while delivering with greater coherence, unity and accountability.

He also underlined the need to “delink” the functions of UN Resident Coordinators from UNDP Resident Representatives to enable more effective and integrated analysis and planning at the country level to encompass the dimensions of sustainable development.

Further, he noted that reform efforts would be taking place at the headquarters levels as well to ensure that no new bureaucracies or superstructures are created.

To that end, he announced that Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed has been tasked to oversee and provide strategic guidance to the UN Development Group and lead a Steering Committee to strengthen coherence between humanitarian action and development work.

Other areas of focus included strengthening a more cohesive UN policy voice at the regional level; strengthening accountability of the UN development system; and ensuring effective and efficient funding structures that would offer greater value-for-money and reporting on system-wide results.

Success will be seen through results on the ground
Noting that the success of the reforms would be seen in tangible results in the lives of the people served by the Organization, the Secretary-General said that many of the issues raised in the report would require further consideration and that he looked forward to working with the Member States on that matter.

“Repositioning the UN development system is our shared responsibility […] I am convinced that, together, we can take the bold steps that the new agenda requires and that humanity deserves,” he stated."



'via Blog this'United Nations News Centre - Secretary-General outlines steps to strengthen UN’s development framework: "Secretary-General António Guterres presents to the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) his report, “Repositioning the UN development system to deliver on the 2030 Agenda – Ensuring a Better Future for All”. Photo: UN Photo/ Kim Haughton

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5 July 2017 – Stating that the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is the “boldest agenda for humanity” and requires equally bold changes in the United Nations development system, Secretary-General António Guterres today outlined steps to better place the Organization to deliver tangible results in the lives of the people it serves.

UN conference adopts treaty banning nuclear weapons

“The treaty represents an important step and contribution towards the common aspirations of a world without nuclear weapons,” the spokesperson for Secretary-General António Guterres said following its adoption.

“The Secretary-General hopes that this new treaty will promote inclusive dialogue and renewed international cooperation aimed at achieving the long overdue objective of nuclear disarmament,” Stéphane Dujarric added.

The treaty – adopted by a vote of 122 in favour to one against (Netherlands), with one abstention (Singapore) – prohibits a full range of nuclear-weapon-related activities, such as undertaking to develop, test, produce, manufacture, acquire, possess or stockpile nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices, as well as the use or threat of use of these weapons.

“We feel emotional because we are responding to the hopes and dreams of the present and future generations,” said Ambassador Elayne Whyte Gómez of Costa Rica, who serves as the President of the conference that negotiated the treaty in response to a mandate given by the UN General Assembly.

We feel emotional because we are responding to the hopes and dreams of the present and future generations
President of the conference
She told a news conference at UN Headquarters that with the treaty the world is “one step closer” to a total elimination of nuclear weapons.

The treaty will be open for signature to all States at UN Headquarters in New York on 20 September 2017, and enter into force 90 days after it has been ratified by at least 50 countries.

However, a number of countries stayed out of the negotiations, including the United States, Russia and other nuclear-weapon States, as well as many of their allies. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) did not join the talks either.

In a joint press statement issued today, the delegations of the United States, United Kingdom and France said they “have not taken part in the negotiation of the treaty… and do not intend to sign, ratify or ever become party to it.”

“This initiative clearly disregards the realities of the international security environment,” they said. “Accession to the ban treaty is incompatible with the policy of nuclear deterrence, which has been essential to keeping the peace in Europe and North Asia for over 70 years.”

In response to questions on the joint statement, Ms. Whyte Gómez recalled that when the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) was adopted decades ago, it did not enjoy a large number of accessions.

Opened for signature in 1968, the Treaty entered into force in 1970. Then in 1995, the Treaty was extended indefinitely. A total of 191 States have joined the Treaty, including the five nuclear-weapon States that are the permanent members of the UN Security Council – China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

In the beginning, it was unimaginable that those States would be parties to the NPT, she noted. “But the world changes and the circumstances change.”

She added that the hibakusha, survivors of nuclear bombs, have been the driving force in the creation of the nuclear weapons prohibition treaty. The experiences they have been sharing “touch the human soul,” she said, adding that the negotiations were a “combination of reason and heart.”"



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UN’s economic advice ‘proven accurate’ and applicable for sustainable development, review finds

"Economic analysis by the United Nations over the past 70 years has proven to be accurate and can help countries navigate through a difficult current world economic situation and implement the new global development goals, an in-depth review of the analysis has found.

First published in January 1948, in the direct aftermath of World War II, the World Economic and Social Survey is the oldest annual economic and social report of its kind and has promoted a broader understanding of development.

“This year’s Survey reviews 70 years of this flagship publication and draws lessons for the pursuit of sustainable development as we look ahead,” noted UN Secretary-General António Guterres in the report’s preface.

Individual countries have pursued widely different development paths during a period that has witnessed the fastest growth in global output and trade than any other period in the history of humanity. The nations have achieved varying results from the bleak to the miracle.

The review, released by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, finds that the free trade, development-friendly, country-specific advice of the Survey over the past 70 years has proven to be accurate and prescient and should continue to aid nations as they peruse implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Survey’s prescient analysis ‘a valuable tool’ for the SDGs
“Despite significant changes in global development over the years, many parallels can be drawn between the current challenges facing the international community and those that confronted the world in the past,” Mr. Guterres said, underscoring that the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development “is a moral and economic imperative – and an extraordinary opportunity.”

The review argues that in the early 1950s, the Survey was ahead of the curve in development thinking. It was an early proponent of development not just as the expansion of output, but also as a process of large-scale structural and institutional change for the promotion of high standards of living, full employment and social progress.


General view of opening meeting of 6th session of the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations on 2 February 1948 at Lake Success, New York. The 18-member organ of the United Nations was established by the Charter "to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights... to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom... to employ international machinery for the promotion of the economic and social development of all peoples. UN Photo
The Survey advocated the importance of international coordination, by saying that the action of the government of one country may constitute an element disrupting the equilibrium of other countries in the absence of effective coordination.

In other instances, the Survey in the 1960s contributed to the analytical basis for the establishment of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), providing a forum for developing countries to advance their insertion into global trade and support for industrialization. The Survey also proved to be forward-looking in the 1980s. Before the debt crisis in developing countries erupted, it had raised concerns about large fiscal and trade deficits of developing countries and their implications for the long-term growth and social progress. Leading international financial institutions at the time concentrated on getting economies into balance with little consideration of the social consequences.

The Survey offered a critique of the “one-size-fits-all” approach adopted by adjustment programmes during the debt crisis, which significantly constrained national policy space and contributed to a “lost decade of development” in Latin America and Africa.

This critique supported countries in the design of country specific development strategies in the 1990s. The Survey prudently cautioned against factors leading to the financial crisis in the late 2000s.

This year’s Survey also argues that development progress requires robust global economic growth, solid expansion of trade, and steady access to financial resources for development.

The Survey contends that the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals requires greater and deeper international coordination in key policy areas including fiscal, monetary and trade, but such challenges are not insurmountable.

In the last 70 years, the world has witnessed episodes of economies experiencing remarkable economic development, including Germany and Japan in the 1950s and 1960s, followed by the rise of economies in Hong Kong, the Republic of Korea, Singapore and Taiwan. In recent decades, some Southeast Asian countries, Botswana, China and India, among others, have also experienced high and sustained economic growth and improved standards of living."



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