UNITED NATIONS COMMITS TO DELIVER AS ONE AT THE REGIONAL LEVEL
Five Regional Commissions Signed Cooperation
Framework with UNDP
New York and Geneva, 24 October 2007 -- Reaffirming their commitment
to work together to enhance the impact of United Nations development activities,
the United Nations Regional Commissions and the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) today signed a Cooperation Framework at UNDP Headquarters
in New York.
The Cooperation Framework is intended to build on the complementarities
between the work of the five Regional Commissions and UNDP. The Regional Commissions
and UNDP have agreed to collaborate, coordinate and complement each other
in assisting Member States achieve the Millennium Development Goals and other
internationally agreed development goals. They also commit to sharing knowledge
on policy development issues, programmes, and emerging priorities to support
sustainable human development; and to address issues likely to benefit from
regional or multi-country involvement.
Using their comparative strengths, the Regional Commissions and UNDP will
work together to encourage organizational effectiveness at the global and
regional level and also, where relevant, at the national and local levels.
Joint collaboration is expected to focus on a number of areas, including human
resources development; country-level planning processes; follow-up to United
Nations Summits and international conferences; regional coordination; knowledge
management; regional and inter-regional technical cooperation; advisory services
at the country level; and joint products and initiatives at the regional and
global levels.
On behalf of the Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), the agreement was
signed by Mr. Marek Belka, UNECE’s Executive Secretary.
Upon the signing of the new agreement, Mr. Abdoulie Janneh, Executive Secretary
of the Economic Commission for Africa, and current Coordinator of the Regional
Commissions, stressed that the implementation of the Cooperation Framework,
through channelling the comparative strengths and capacities of the Regional
Commissions and UNDP, should result in more effective and efficient support
and service delivery to the developing countries in the various regions
and to UN country development work. This should also foster more coherence
in UN development work at the country, regional and global levels.
Mr. Kemal Derviş, UNDP Administrator and Chair of the United Nations
Development Group, emphasized that strong partnerships are critical to
the provision of quality development services and expressed confidence
that the new Cooperation Framework will mark a new stage in this partnership
for results. He also pledged UNDP’s continuing support to building
a more responsive and effective United Nations at the country and
regional levels.
For further information please contact:
UNECE Information Service
Palais des Nations
CH - 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Phone: +41 (0)22 917 4444
Fax: +41 (0)22 917 0505
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: http://www.unece.org
Ref: ECE/GEN/07/P11