UNOG Library Talks
“United Nations Development: the Case for Reform”

Ambassador King
Ambassador Sinha
Mr. Browne
Mr. Chikvaidze
Ladies and Gentlemen:

It is a pleasure to welcome you for this UNOG Library Talk on reform of the United Nations development system. The participation of the Permanent Representatives of the United States of America and of India highlights the strong interest among our membership and beyond on this critical issue. Let me extend a special welcome to Stephen Browne who together with his colleagues at the FUNDS Project is making a most valuable contribution to the collective reflection on the future of our development system.

The research that will be presented today shows the value of direct engagement between research and policy. The United Nations Office at Geneva is pleased to serve as a platform for and a participant in this interaction. I also appreciate the opportunity to acknowledge the role of the World Federation of United Nations Associations – one of our close partners – in making the research widely available.

The Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, has made sustainable development the top priority in his five-year action agenda, and he has identified a strengthened United Nations through reform as a key enabler to achieve this aim. Our discussion today brings together both dimensions.

We are at a crossroads when it comes to the future of the United Nations development system. There is no doubt that the Millennium Development Goals have brought remarkable achievements. The global target of cutting by half the proportion of people living in extreme poverty was achieved already in 2010. Today, nearly 12,000 fewer children are dying each day than in 1990, due to targeted interventions. Among policy-makers and civil society, the MDGs have centred political and practical attention on hunger, health and education, and on the link between environment and development.

But, we must be equally clear that our work is unfinished. Our challenge is compounded by climate change, unstable markets, food insecurity and price volatility.

We now have a unique opportunity to shape the substantive content and the methods to be applied for our post-2015 development agenda. We need to draw lessons and examples both from the MDG process of implementation and the results achieved on the ground. We need a development system that is flexible, responsive and dynamic, tailored to delivering results. The United Nations in Geneva has an important role to play in this work.

Going forward, we need to ensure that the different dimensions critical to development are reflected in a meaningful way. Issues such as human rights, political inclusion, democratization and the rule of law are all key aspects of stable communities and enablers of progress. How do we integrate these aspects, and how do we quantify them to measure our progress?

Our world has undergone profound change even in the short time span since the MDGs were adopted – politically, economically and socially. Today, more than 2.3 billion people are connected to the Internet; we need to use the potential of information and communication technologies to the full. Greater knowledge of the possibilities for green growth needs to be taken fully into account.

We must also be conscious of the security dimension of development. This is a complex and sensitive area, but we should not shy away from the discussion, simply because it is difficult. According to the Small Arms Survey, based here in Geneva, armed violence kills some 525,000 people every year. More than three-quarters die in non-conflict settings. Apart from the unacceptable human cost of each life lost, this impacts negatively on long-term development and severely disrupts social and community relations.

The review of our development frameworks should also include consideration of military spending. In 2011, global military spending reportedly exceeded 1.7 trillion dollars. This amounts to more than 4.6 billion dollars a day – almost twice the United Nations’ regular budget for an entire year. Against a background of continuing development challenges and a global financial crisis, we have to ask whether this level of military spending is a sustainable choice.

The research before us today certainly provides food for thought, and I welcome the emphasis on practical conclusions for possible reform.

As noted in Stephen Browne’s paper, “Making Change Happen”, development activities account for about 60% of total annual United Nations spending, employing a majority of the Organization’s full-time staff. It is our obligation to ensure that these resources are spent in the most productive manner, making a real difference on the ground.

While we should not confuse perceptions with real impact, the survey gives important indications of where we need to focus our efforts. I believe that the differences in perceptions by developing and by donor countries were of particular note. As we work to implement a real partnership, with shared responsibilities for development, we need to ensure that the perspectives and priorities of all partners are considered and accommodated.

I was interested to learn that United Nations respondents are the harshest critics of the system. Mr. Browne suggests that this could reflect inter-system competition. From my point of view, I see this as a readiness to be critical in the review of our own efforts, and a collective recognition that we can always improve. This is the necessary and indispensable foundation for continuous change.

I look forward to today’s discussion in that spirit and I thank you for your attention.