In view of member States requiring more joined-up UN support to progress under the comprehensive 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the regional UN entities in Europe and Central Asia continue to move closer together to meet this demand.
Gathering at the Regional UN System Meeting at the Palais des Nations in Geneva on 15 and 16 November 2018, hosted by UNECE, Regional Directors and representatives of more than 20 UN regional offices reaffirmed their commitment to deepen cooperation, seek synergies and pool expertise in support of SDGs.
The Co-Chairs of the Regional UN System Meeting, Ms. Olga Algayerova, UNECE Executive Secretary and Chair of the Regional Coordination Mechanism, and Ms. Mirjana Spoljaric Egger, newly appointed UNDP Regional Director and Chair of the Regional UN Sustainable Development Group, expressed their dedication to further develop the successful model of UN collaboration in the region and to better link up analytical, normative and operational work to maximize the concrete impact of UN activities on the ground.
This includes close cooperation of the regional UN system on a range of issues, including the next Regional Forum on Sustainable Development for the UNECE Region (Geneva, 21-22 March 2019), inter-agency Mainstreaming, Acceleration and Policy Support (MAPS) missions to programme countries to accelerate SDG progress, the ongoing repositioning of the UN Development System, the integration of transboundary issues in the new generation UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAFs), the six regional Issue-based Coalitions that serve as multi-partner platforms to tackle cross-cutting issues, and regional intergovernmental processes such as the Beijing+25 Regional Review Meeting (29-30 October 2019).
The meeting also welcomed the Director of the Regional Office for Europe of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) as a new member. With this addition, the Regional UN System Meeting now includes all UN entities with dedicated regional structures.