UN programme launched to harmonize development efforts, eliminate inefficiency

The head of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) today announced the start of a pilot scheme called “One UN” that seeks to better coordinate development activities at the country level and avoid duplication.

Eight countries – Albania, Cape Verde, Mozambique, Pakistan, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uruguay and Viet Nam – volunteered last year to participate in the programme, which aims to speed up development operations to help achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), eight targets for tackling poverty, hunger and other social ills by 2015.

“We look forward to assessing the success of these pilots to learn valuable practical lessons which can inform the broader debate on strengthening the UN’s development activities,” UNDP Chief Kemal Dervis stated in New York.

In each of these eight countries, the reform projects will consolidate the UN’s presence by replacing current structures with one leader, one programme and one budget, thus allowing various UN agencies to play to their strengths.

“These pilots show the UN’s commitment to bring together the expertise, experience and capacities of the entire UN family to support national development strategies,” Mr. Dervis said.

Several donor States have also indicated that they will pool funds at the country level to pursue a more coherent approach to development.

The creation of these pilots was suggested in Delivering as One, a report by the UN High-Level Panel on System-wide Coherence that was released last November.