Small in size but not in commitment: Cape Verde kicks off its “One UN” with impressive participation of non-resident UN Agencies
Cape Verde, a small archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean 500 km off the coast of Senegal, has taken the lead in driving the much talked about UN Reform at country level. Cape Verde has already seen, as the first country in the world, the successful establishment of the so called “Joint Office” of the agencies of UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF and WFP. These agencies have been working together since January 2006 with One Programme and One Budget (with one set of business practices) under the leadership of One Representative, sharing One Office. The gains of working together have been evident, and this model has provided valuable lessons learned for the rest of the UN system. Now this process is being taken one step further, following the recommendations from a Report prepared by a High Level Panel that was commissioned by the former UN Secretary General. The report aims to help the UN fulfill its potential in supporting countries reach the Millennium Development Goals, by streamlining the currently large and diverse UN family. The report highlights that the UN must be radically revamped to “deliver as one”, in particular at the country level, where the UN could have a much greater impact if it were less fragmented. As a result, eight countries are now acting on the recommendations of this report by pioneering in “Delivering as One UN” – among them, Cape Verde. In light of this, the Government of Cape Verde, together with the United Nations in Cape Verde and UNDGO, organized a two day retreat on 15-16 March in Praia, the capital of Cape Verde. The objective of the retreat was to discuss a strategy for “Delivering as One UN” that would respond to the national developmental priorities in an increasingly harmonized and coherent way. In his opening statement, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Victor Borges, reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to UN Reform as this would better position the UN System in assisting the country in its preparation for graduation from the group of Least Developed Countries (LDCs), scheduled for 2008, and in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The Minister encouraged the participants to have an open discussion to find ways of working together that would be accepted by all. The 8 different pilot countries will all have their country specific ways of Delivering as One, but the common notion is that this reform initiative will rest on the four pillars of One Leader, One Programme, One Budgetary Framework and One Office. Cape Verde has already come a long way by the establishment of the Joint Office – which will remain at the core of the UN’s work in the country – but is now looking at how to expand this success to include other agencies. Being a small country and having only six resident UN Agencies (FAO, UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF, WFP and WHO), this is all the more important. It was therefore very encouraging to see the active and high level participation of many of the non resident agencies at the meeting: ILO, ITU, UNAIDS, UNDGO, UNESCO, UNHABITAT, UNIDO, UNIFEM, UNOCHA, UNODC as well as the World Bank. They all showed a genuine interest in the process and gave a firm commitment of seeking strategic ways to work together with the resident agencies to help the Government of Cape Verde attain its development objectives. Several Government priority areas where also the non resident agencies could become partners to the Government were identified, among them Youth, Employment and Gender. It was agreed that priorities in the UNDAF were still very relevant, but a strengthened focus on vulnerability issues such as security, drug trafficking and migration would be welcome. This retreat, the first of its kind in the country, has kicked off the Delivering as One UN in Cape Verde to a promising start. Drafting of the One Programme has already begun, and in May all the agencies will meet again, this time in Dakar, to review progress and to discuss how to move forward in Delivering as One.
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