ECOSOC Operational Activities Segment

11 - 13 July 2006

The 2006 operational activities segment was held from 11 July to 13 July at the United Nations Palais des Nations in Geneva . This substantive session of ECOSOC coincided with the mid-cycle review of implementation of the General Assembly resolution 59/250 of the Triennial Comprehensive Policy Review (TCPR) of operational activities of the United Nations system. The Council begun its deliberations in the morning of 11 July with an opening statement by the Vice-President ( Haiti ), followed by the interactive panel on the review of trends and perspectives in funding for development cooperation.

On July 11 (10:00 am – 1:00 pm and 3:00 – 6:00 pm) an Interactive panel on the “ Comprehensive review of trends and perspectives in funding for development cooperation” took place in the morning (10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.), followed by an informal debate in the afternoon (3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.). A number of senior government officials and senior officials of United Nations funds, programmes, agencies and other key development actors debated these issues in an open discussion forum.

On July 12 (10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.) annual “ Dialogue with the Executive Heads of the United Nations Funds and Programmes (UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF and WFP )” was held. This was an opportunity to address issues that affect coherence and coordination of the United Nations system at the country level including: (a) progress on strengthening the Resident Coordinator system (with emphasis on the role of the Regional Directors' Team and RC/UNCT performance appraisal review); (b) streamlined country presence (with emphasis on the Joint Office initiative); (c) coordination during transition from emergencies to recovery and development; and (d) simplified country programming to support achievement of the MDGs.

In the afternoon of July 12 (3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.), panel by the UN Country Team (UNCT) on “ the role of United Nations development cooperation in pursuit of employment creation and decent work: results, coherence, and system-wide support through the UN Development Assistance Framework ” was held. The purpose of this panel was for the UNCT and national counterpart in government to share with the Council their experience from the country-level on how the UN development assistance has contributed to addressing the challenges of productive employment and decent work.

The session on 13 July, 2006: (10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.) provided an opportunity to delegations for a debate and general discussion on operational activities for development of the UN system: evaluation of implementation of Assembly resolution 59/250 . Paragraph 102 of Assembly resolution 59/250 provides the mandate for this evaluation: the Assembly “ invites the Economic and Social Council, during the operational activities segment of its substantive session of 2006, to examine the operational activities of the United Nations system in order to evaluate the implementation of the present resolution with a view to ensuring its full implementation ”. Council resolution 2005/7 added specific requirements for the Secretary-General reports submitted in the context of this agenda item of the Council. The session was an opportunity to orient the formulation of a resolution in the area of operational activities for development. This resolution offers further guidance to the UN development system for the review of the full implementation of Assembly resolution 59/250 and the preparation of a comprehensive analysis of implementation of the resolution to be submitted to the Council in 2007 in the context of the TCPR.