2010 OPERATIONAL ACTIVITIES SEGMENT

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Date: - Location: UNHQ

The Operational Activities Segment took place on 9 - 13 July 2010 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, with an overall focus on “follow-up to policy recommendations of the General Assembly and the Council”. The Segment provided a unique opportunity for Member States to orient the preparations for the QCPR, building on a review of progress in implementing the 2007 TCPR over the last two years.

The Segment brought together high-level national policy makers, senior officials of UN system organizations as well as representatives of UN Country Teams to exchange views on key themes covered by the comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development, such as (i) the realities of national ownership and leadership and capacity development; (ii) the adequacy of UN country-level capacity in responding to programme countries’ priorities; and (iii) the adequacy and predictability of funding at country-level. The Council had a dialogue with the Executive Heads of UN funds and programmes. A special presentation was organized to apprise the Council of the most recent developments with respect of the “Delivering as One” initiative in eight programme country pilots.

At the end of the Segment, the Council adopted a resolution, providing guidance to further the implementation of General Assembly resolution 62/208 as well as policy orientations for the preparations of the QCPR.

Programme
 

STATEMENTS

9 July

Morning Session 

Opening of the Segment

  • Opening statement by H.E. Mr. Alexandru Cujba, Vice-President of ECOSOC (Key objectives of the segment)
  • Opening statement by Mr. Sha Zukang, Under-Secretary-General, Department of Economic and Social Affairs (Introduction of the reports of the Secretary-General)

Interactive plenary: “National ownership and leadership; and capacity development: have they become a reality?”

Chairperson:  H.E. Mr. Alexandru Cujba, Vice-President of ECOSOC

Moderator: Prof. Solita Monsod, Professor of Economics and former Secretary for Socio-Economic Planning, Philippines

Presenters:    

  • Dr. Servacius B. Likwelile, Deputy Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, Tanzania
  • H.E. Mr. Ahmed Shide, State Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Ethiopia

Afternoon Session

Chairperson: H.E. Mr. Alexandru Cujba, Vice-President of ECOSOC

Moderator: Mr. Nikhil Seth, Director, Office of ECOSOC Support and Coordination, Department of Economic and Social Affairs

Panelists:      

Special presentation: Outcome of the “High-level Tripartite Conference on Delivering as One:  Lessons learned from country-led evaluations and the way forward”  

Chairperson/Moderator: H.E. Mr. Alexandru Cujba, Vice-President of ECOSOC

Speakers:   

  • Mr. Ho Quang Minh, Director General, Foreign Economic Relations Department and Mr. Dao Xuan Quang, Principal Officer, Foreign Economic Relations Department, Ministry of Planning and Investment, Viet Nam
  • Dr. Servacius B. Likwelile, Deputy Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, Tanzania

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12 July

Morning Session

Remarks by H.E. Ambassador Mr. Alexandru Cujba, Vice-President of ECOSOC (Summary of key points of Day 1)

Interactive plenary: Dialogue with the Executive Heads of the UN funds and programmes

Chairperson: H.E. Mr. Alexandru Cujba, Vice-President of ECOSOC

Moderator: Mr. Sha Zukang, Under-Secretary-General, UNDESA

Panelists:

  • Ms. Helen Clark, Administrator, UNDP
    “Accelerating progress towards the achievement of the MDGs through
     delivering as one at country level.”
  • Ms. Thoraya Obaid, Executive Director, UNFPA
    “Partnerships with United Nations organizations and other development actors: strategies, mechanisms, value added, and sustainability”
  • Mr. Anthony Lake, Executive Director, UNICEF
    “Reaching the MDGs with equity” (presentation)
  • Mr. Ramiro Lopes da Silva, Deputy Executive Director, External Relations Department, WFP 
    “Efficiency, Modern Business Practices and Management for MDG Results”

Afternoon Session

Interactive plenary: “Funding of UN operational activities for development: challenges and best practices at the country level ”

Chairperson: H.E. Mr. Alexandru Cujba, Vice-President of ECOSOC

Moderator: H.E. Mr. Román Oyarzun Marchesi, Ambassador, Deputy
Permanent Representative of Spain to the United Nations

Speakers:

First respondent: Mr. Ho Quang Minh, Director General, Foreign Economic Relations Department, Ministry of Planning and Investment, Viet Nam

General debate:

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13 July

General debate:

Closing of the Segment:

Closing statement by H.E. Mr. Alexandru Cujba, Vice-President of ECOSOC

EXPERT ROUNDTABLE

CONCEPT NOTE

DOCUMENTATION

1. Documents to be considered at the 2010 operational activities segment

1.a. Follow-up to policy recommendations of the General Assembly and the Council

  • Report of the Secretary-General on results achieved and measures and processes implemented in follow-up to General Assembly resolution 62/208 on the triennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations (E/2010/70)
  • Report of the Secretary -General on comprehensive statistical analysis of the financing of operational activities for development of the United Nations system for 2008 (A/65/79-E/2010/76)
  • Report of the Secretary -General on the functioning of the resident coordinator system, including costs and benefits (E/2010/53)
  • Report of the Secretary-General on actions taken by the Executive Boards and Governing Bodies of the United Nations funds, programmes and specialized agencies in the area of simplification and harmonization of the United Nations development system (E/2010/52) 
  • Letter dated 3 December 2009 from the Permanent Representative of Rwanda to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General (A/64/578)

1.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

  • Report of the Executive Board of the United Nations Development Programme/United Nations Population Fund on its work during 2009 (E/2009/35(SUPP))
  • Annual report of the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme and the Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund for 2009 (E/2010/5)
  • Report of the Executive Board of the United Nations Children’s Fund on its first, second and annual sessions of 2009 (E/2009/34/Rev.1- E/ICEF/2009/7/Rev.1)
  • Report of the Executive Board of the United Nations Children’s Fund on the work of its first regular session (E/2010/34 (Part I)–E/ICEF/2010/7 (Part I))
  • Report of the Executive Board of the United Nations Children’s Fund on the work of its 2010 first regular session: Addendum: Joint meeting of the Executive Boards of the UNDP/UNFPA, UNICEF and WFP (E/2010/34 (Part I)/Add.1–E/ICEF/2010/7 (Part I)/Add.1)
  • Annual report of the Executive Director of the United Nations Children’s Fund for 2009 (E/2010/6–E/ICEF/2010/3)
  • Report of the Executive Board of the World Food Programme on its 2009 sessions (E/2010/36)
  • Annual report of the World Food Programme for 2009 (E/2010/14)

1.c. South-South cooperation for development

  • Report of the High-level Committee on South-South Cooperation on its sixteenth session (A/65/39, Supp. No. 39) 

2. Other relevant documents

2.a. Mandate

  • Triennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations system (A/RES/62/208)
  • System-wide coherence (A/RES/62/277)
  • Operational activities for development (A/RES/63/232)
  • System-wide coherence (A/RES/63/311)
  • Progress in the implementation of General Assembly resolution 62/208 on the triennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations system (ECOSOC Resolution 2008/2)
  • Progress in the implementation of General Assembly resolution 62/208 on the triennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations system (ECOSOC Resolution 2009/1)

2.b. Relevant reports

  • Report of the Secretary-General on the management process for the implementation of General Assembly resolution 62/208 on the triennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations system (E/2008/49)
  • Report of the Secretary-General on the functioning of the resident coordinator system, including costs and benefits (E/2008/60)
  • Report of the Secretary-General on the functioning of the resident coordinator system, including costs and benefits (E/2009/76)
  • Report of the Secretary-General on the human resources challenges within the United Nations development system at the country level (E/2009/75)

INFORMAL SUMMARIES

General debate

OUTCOME
 

STATISTICS ON FUNDING FLOWS

The functions of the segment were defined by the General Assembly in its Resolution (A/RES/48/162)