UNESCO. General Conference; 30th; Records ... - unesdoc - Unesco

(Ms Moserová resumes the Chair)
27. The PRESIDENT:
I should like to extend our thanks to Ms Daboulaye Kolo Mayoumbila, Minister of Culture, Youth and
Sports Promotion of Chad, for her contribution. I now call Mr Evlogui Bonev, who will speak on behalf of the
United Nations Development Programme. You have the floor, Sir.
28.1 Mr BONEV (United Nations Development Programme):
Madam President, the Administrator of UNDP, Mr Malloch Brown, extends to you his warmest wishes
for a lively and fruitful Conference. The issues you are discussing now and the decisions you will take at this
Conference are of crucial importance to UNESCO as they will pave its way in the new millennium. We in UNDP
are following with keen interest your deliberations. UNESCO has been an important partner since the inception
of UNDP. In most programme countries, there is a trace of our collaboration. Now that we are on the eve of the
third millennium, our partnership should receive a new impetus corresponding to the new requirements and
challenges of the ever-changing world. The past decade has witnessed unprecedented structural, political,
economic and attitudinal changes. There has been a series of United Nations reforms; perceptions of donors have
changed - as have the modalities for technical cooperation. Most United Nations system organizations, including
UNDP and UNESCO, have also been undergoing changes and reforms and the process continues.
28.2 It was in that context that over a year ago, in March 1998, during the session of the ACC, the Director-
General of UNESCO, Mr Federico Mayor, to whom UNDP pays tribute and expresses its gratitude, presented a
proposal “Towards a new partnership between UNDP and the specialized agencies”. The then Administrator of
UNDP, Mr Speth, with the blessing of the Executive Board of UNDP, followed up on this proposal: several
informal consultations have been held since then, involving UNDP and five major specialised agencies:
UNESCO, ILO, FAO, WHO and UNIDO. UNESCO has played a very active role in the consultation process.
The first consultation took place at UNESCO headquarters in December 1998. In May 1999, another
consultation meeting took place through an audio-televised conference, which furthered the progress in the
concretization of the initiative. The series of consultations continued, in June 1999 and most recently on
20 September 1999, which focused on practical steps in joint actions in the fight against poverty, including
NetAid. You may recall that the NetAid joint venture between UNDP - an international agency with a mandate to
eradicate poverty - and CISCO systems - a world leader in networking for the internet - was launched in
September this year, followed by three simultaneous concerts of world class artists broadcast globally on
television and radio, as well as webcast to each and every country. The NetAid will be a long term vehicle to
fight extreme poverty, to learn, volunteer, contribute and take action. Joint programming initiatives, SURFs and
strategy for joint resource mobilization were also discussed during that meeting in September.
28.3 This initiative came in response to the changes taking place in the international framework of
development cooperation and to the Secretary-General’s proposals for reform of the United Nations system.
Building on the historic bonds that have linked them, UNDP and the specialized agencies aim to strengthen their
cooperation, responding to the wish of all Member States to contribute towards making the United Nations
system an effective partner in the definition and implementation of joint strategies for sustainable development
requiring cross-border, cross-cutting and cross-sectoral approaches. The New Partnerships Initiative reflects a
new way of collaboration between UNDP and the specialized agencies. The traditional role of UNDP as central
funder, and of the specialized agencies as providers of know-how and programme design is giving way to a
paradigm where each partner brings both ideas and funding to the table for joint programmes. There is no doubt
that, with each partner focusing its efforts where it has maximum comparative advantage and dovetailing with
complementary activities of the other partners, the whole will be greater than the simple sum of its parts.
28.4 UNDP and its partners are convinced that the New Initiative will be a means to address the challenges of
overcoming the fragmentation of United Nations system development operations and achieving programme
coherence with a greater quantum of mobilized financial resources. The New Partnership demonstrates the
willingness to work together and to adapt to new challenges. It is hoped that this Initiative will enhance the
confidence of all States with respect to United Nations system cooperation for development.
28.5 Madam President, allow me to refer briefly to one of the most important newly developed tools for
bringing operational entities and agencies together at the country level. These tools are the United Nations
Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) and Common Country Assessment (CCA) processes. The pilot
exercise is now over, the assessment has been completed, lessons have been learnt and corrective measures
developed for wide extension of the process. UNDP highly values UNESCO’s active participation in the pilot
exercise and commends its commitment to reactivate its participation in the process. Difficulties, of course, have
been encountered and will be encountered as well in future, but we shall be resolving them together. Similarly,
the Common Country Assessment (CCA), as an integral part of UNDAF, is only possible if all United Nations
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