Regional Coordination Meetings Under the Chairmanship of the DeputySecretary-General

         One central theme of the Secretary-General's reform agenda, endorsed by the General Assembly, has been to achieve greater coherence across the Organization. Over the past few months, that theme has been effectively addressed when the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, Louise Frechette, personally led the discussions of the UN system on coordination issues and chaired inter-agency meetings in the five regions of the United Nations, as mandated by the ECOSOC resolution 1998/46. These meetings were held in: the ECE region on 9 February 1999; the ESCWA region on 1 March 1999; the ECA region on 5 March 1999; the ECLAC region on 6 May 1999; and, the ESCAP region on 2 June 1999. Representatives from the United Nations Funds and Programme and specialized agencies working in the development arena in these regions participated in the meetings

          The overall purpose of these regional meetings was to conduct a review of existing cooperation mechanisms and arrangements at the regional level with a view to assessing their effectiveness and adequacy and to propose ways of improving the collective response by the UN system to the priority needs of the five regions.

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"All United Nations organizations need to further develop a coherent UN system dialogue at the regional levels..."

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           The exchange of views in these regional meetings was rich and lively. Though the recommendations of each of the meetings reflected respective regional specificities and priorities, some perceptions common to all the regions have emerged. These are:

      To collectively improve their common understanding of each region's needs, trends, and challenges, leading periodically to a joint assessment of the economic and social situation therein.

    To sharpen policy dialogue in the region, enable promotion of shared goals and lead the process of identifying an "advocacy agenda" of the UN system in the region.

    To improve coordination at the regional level for greater support of the Resident Coordinator system and facilitate establishment of linkages between the regional and country level activities of the United Nations. If pursued, this should have positive bearing for effective implementation of CCA and UNDAF which constitutes another major plank of the Secretary-General's reform initiative.

    To forge closer collaboration with other inter-governmental organizations and for integration groupings and sub-regional groupings in the respective regions.

           Evidently, these recommendations offer both opportunities and challenges. Their true merit would, however, depend on how vigorously they are pursued. In the interim, the regional commissions have been entrusted with the task to follow-up on the conclusions of the regional consultation meetings.

          A good beginning has been made, but much more needs to be done. As we undertake implementation of the conclusions and recommendations achieved in the different regional meetings, it is essential to bear in mind that the ongoing efforts of the Secretary-General to achieve significant advances in reform at the regional level would have to be made compatible with what has already been achieved in terms of coordination at the global and national levels.

 
(Hazem El-Beblawi)
Executive Secretary of ESCWA
Current Coordinator of
the Regional Commissions

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