2007 OPERATIONAL ACTIVITIES SEGMENT | Economic and Social Council

The 2007 Operational Activities Segment took place on 10 ‑ 13 July 2007 at the United Nations Palais des Nations in Geneva. It provided a platform for all organizations of the UN system to promote coordination and guidance to ensure that the policies formulated by the General Assembly, particularly the Triennial Comprehensive Policy Review (TCPR) of operational activities of the UN system, are appropriately implemented on a system-wide basis.

The Segment marked the review of the full implementation of General Assembly resolution 59/250 of 2004. In preparation of the 2007 TCPR, ECOSOC reviewed to what extent and in what ways the UN development system provides efficient and effective support to developing countries to realize their national development priorities and achieve the Internationally Agreed Development Goals (IADGs), including the MDGs.

The objectives of the 2007 Operational Activities Segment were to:

(a) provide the United Nations system with cross-sectoral coordination and overall guidance on a system-wide basis, including priorities and strategies, in implementation of the policies formulated by the General Assembly in the field of operational activities;

(b) monitor the division of labour between and cooperation within bodies of the United Nations system, including field coordination, and make appropriate recommendations to the Assembly as well as providing guidance to the system;

(c) review and evaluate the reports of the work of the development funds and programmes, including the assessment of their overall impact, with a view to enhance the operational activities of the United Nations on a system-wide basis;

(d) undertake preparatory work for the TCPR;

(e) review the operationally relevant recommendations of the subsidiary bodies of the Council and other relevant bodies in light of policies established by the Assembly, in order to incorporate them, as appropriate, into the operational activities of the UN; and

(f) provide orientation and recommendations to the relevant inter-agency coordination mechanisms to support and enhance their role.

For more information, please contact Ms. Juliet Wasswa-Mugambwa, Programme Officer, Development Cooperation Policy Branch (@email)

PROGRAMME

DOCUMENTATION

ITEM 3 (a) - Follow-up to policy recommendations of the General Assembly and the Council

Report of the Secretary-General on the triennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations system (A/62/73-E/2007/52)
Report of the Secretary-General on the comprehensive statistical analysis of the financing of operational activities for development of the United Nations system (A/62/74-E/2007/54)
Consolidated list of issues related to the coordination of operational activities (E/2007/CRP.1)
2007 progress in the implementation of the General Assembly resolution 59/250 (E/2007/CRP.3)

ITEM 3 (b) - Reports of the Executive Boards of the United Nations Development Programme/United Nations Population Fund, the United Nations Children's Fund and the World Food Programme

Dialogue with Executive Heads of United Nations funds and programmes (United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), World Food Programme (WFP))

Report of the Executive Board of the United Nations Development Programme/United Nations Population Fund on its work during 2006 (E/2006/35)
Decisions adopted by the Executive Board of the United Nations Development Programme/United Nations Population Fund at its first regular session of 2007 (DP/2007/16)
Decisions adopted by the Executive Board of the United Nations Development Programme/United Nations Population Fund at its annual session of 2007 (DP/2007/40)
Joint annual report of the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme and the Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund to the Economic and Social Council (E/2007/5)
Report of the Executive Board of the United Nations Children's Fund on its work during 2006 (E/2006/34/Rev.1-E/ICEF/2006/5/Rev.1)
Report of the Executive Board of the United Nations Children's Fund on the work of its 2007 first regular session (E/2007/34 (Part I)-E/ICEF/2007/7 (Part I)) and (E/2007/34 (Part I)/Add.1-E/ICEF/2007/7 (Part I)/Add.1)
Extract from the report of the Executive Board of the United Nations Children's Fund on its 2007 annual session (4-8 June 2007) (E/2007/L.11)
Annual report of the Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund to the Economic and Social Council (E/2007/6-E/ICEF/2007/3)
Report of the Executive Board of the World Food Programme on its first and second regular sessions and annual session of 2006 (E/2007/36)
Annual report of the Executive Director of the World Food Programme for 2006 (E/2007/14)

ITEM 3 (c) - South-South cooperation for development

Report of the High-level Committee on South-South Cooperation on its fifteenth session (A/62/39)

Panel Discussions

The 2007 Operational Activities Segment took place on 10 - 13 July 2007 at the United Nations Palais des Nations in Geneva. The present Segment had as its main theme the Triennial Comprehensive Policy Review (TCPR) of operational activities for development of the United Nations system, which the General Assembly will conduct at its 62nd session. The TCPR is based on an overall assessment of the effectiveness of the UN development cooperation at country-level. As part of this process, ECOSOC assessed to what extent and in what ways the UN system provides efficient and effective support to developing countries to realize their national development priorities and achieve the internationally agreed development goals, including the MDGs.

The Council commenced its deliberations in the afternoon of 10 July 2007 with an opening statement by the Chairman of the Segment / Vice-President of ECOSOC, the Permanent Representative of Algeria to the United Nations. This was followed by the introduction of the reports of the Secretary-General on the TCPR and on Funding of operational activities for development by Mr. Sha Zukang, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs.

The remainder of the afternoon and the following day (11 July 2007) was devoted to panels and interactive discussions. These events introduced the debate on the 2007 TCPR of operational activities for development of the United Nations system which was held on 12 - 13 July 2007. One of guiding ideas in organizing the panels was to show the variety of the UN contributions to development cooperation.

Panel 1: High-level interactive panel discussion on the “Contribution and effectiveness of the UN development system”, 10 July (3:15 to 6 pm) (Summary)

The objective of this panel was to stimulate a reflection on the performance of the UN development system and its future role. Panelists included Ministers (from developing and developed countries), high-level representatives involved in development cooperation as well as senior officials of UN system agencies. The panelists shared their views on such issues as country ownership, impact and improved functioning of the UN system at country level, and resources.

Panel 2: Dialogue with the Executive Heads of the United Nations Funds and Programmes (UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF and WFP), July 11 (10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.) (Summary)

This dialogue provided an opportunity to address the following issues linked to UN work at country level: (a) increased national ownership and alignment as reflected in the new CCA and UNDAF guidelines and in the agencies' strategic plans and as confirmed by the recent OECD/DAC survey; (b) regionalization; (c) system-wide support to national capacity development efforts; (d) partnerships and alliances for accelerated progress towards the MDGs - a positive sense of urgency.

Panel 3: Panel on “Coherence and effectiveness of the UN development system at the regional level”, July 11 2007 (3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.) (Summary)

The purpose of this panel was for the UN Regional Directors' Team in Latin America and the Caribbean and their national counterparts in government to share with the Council their experience on how regionalization contributes to a more effective and integrated interagency work at regional and country levels. It offered an opportunity to discuss the role of regional structures as an important bridge between headquarters and country offices, and their impact in terms of improving the support provided by the UN system to Governments.

The session on 12 July 2007: (10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.) (Summary) provided the opportunity for delegations to engage in a general discussion on the TCPR and to evaluate the full implementation of the Assembly resolution (59/250) based on the report of the Secretary-General reviewing the implementation of resolution 59/250 (A/62/73-E/2007/52).

On 13 July 2007 (10:00 a.m.–12:45 p.m.), the Council continued with the formal debate on the full implementation of the General Assembly resolution 59/250 of 2004, and concluded the Operational Activities Segment.

STATEMENTS & OUTCOMES

Statement:

Statement by Mr. Sha Zukang, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs to the Operational Activities Segment of the Economic and Social Council Geneva, 12 July 2007-Introduction of the report of the Secretary-General on the Triennial Comprehensive Policy Review and of the 2007 comprehensive report on the Financing of Operational Activities for Development

Outcomes:

Informal Summaries: