UNITED NATIONS, (G77/IPS) — Speaking on behalf of the Joint Coordinating Committee (JCC) of the Group of 77 and the Non-Aligned Movement, Ambassador Munir Akram of Pakistan reaffirmed that economic and social development should remain the centerpiece of deliberations at the UN, and that the achievement of the Internationally Agreed Development Goals, including the MDGs, should continue to be the over-arching framework of the UN activities.
“We further emphasize the need for a strengthened global partnership for development, based on recognition of national leadership and ownership of national strategies,” he said, referring to the Secretary-General’s Report on the recommendations of the High-level Panel on U.N. System-wide Coherence in the areas of development, humanitarian assistance and the environment.
He said the JCC would like to reiterate its position that development cooperation should be demand-driven and be pursued on the basis of the national strategies and plans of developing countries.
The nature of development cooperation should be responsive to the specific needs, priorities and conditions of each country. The JCC would not support the introduction of new conditionalities through the reform process.
The JCC recalled General Assembly resolution 59/250 which remains the intergovernmentally agreed guiding policy framework for addressing the UN operational activities for development.
“It is relevant that this resolution stresses that reform efforts should enhance organizational efficiency and achieve concrete development results and that the value of UN operational activities for development should be assessed on the basis of their impact on the recipient countries,” he said.
The JCC believes that reforms of UN operational activities for development should be aimed at ensuring both the efficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of assistance. It should not be merely a cost-cutting exercise.
He said it cannot be denied that the most important component for operational activities for development is an expanding and adequate source of funding based on development assistance from the UN system and other sources that is responsive to the national development plans and programmes of countries.
The JCC expects that all these issues would also be included as important elements of the overall discussion.
“We wish to emphasize that the High-Level Panel Report should be considered with care and due deliberation. There should be no rush to take decisions against artificial deadlines”.
The process to consider these recommendations should be open, transparent and inclusive. “We look forward to further consultations on identifying the best way to consider and decide on the recommendations of the reports”.