Transcript Mr. John Hendra

Country-level Capacity:
A “Delivering as One” UNCT
Perspective
John Hendra
UN Resident Coordinator, Viet Nam
ECOSOC Roundtable 9 July 2010
Presentation Overview
• Presentation will respond to two key questions
posed this afternoon, from the UNCT in Viet
Nam’s perspective:
– Question One: To what extent do UN Country
Teams currently have the mix and expertise and
skills to adequately respond to needs and priorities
of programme countries?
– Question Four: How well do the UN Country
Teams work in addressing gender equality and
women’s empowerment as a cross-cutting issue?
UNCT Capacity
• UNCTs have key expertise and are
responding to national needs and priorities:
– BUT experience from DaO Initiative shows that
reform – enhancing effectiveness; moving
“upstream”; adjusting our skill mix - is required to
ensure relevance and fully realize this potential.
– “No one size fits all”: as Viet Nam becomes a MIC
country, multi-sectoral, cross-government
challenges are increasingly evident (climate
change; social protection; quality of basic services).
– UN needs to play a greater policy advisory role to
support VN in this transition.
UNCT Viet Nam Response
• From Agency-based approaches to thematic
clusters – UN-GoV Programme Coordination
Groups (PCGs):
– Involve staff of different UN and GoV agencies
working together to jointly plan, monitor and review
One Plan implementation.
– Facilitate joint advocacy, policy advice and dialogue,
and research, and will be the basis of UN thematic
teams in a co-located One UN Green House.
– Are “the most radical initiative” and have “enabled
an orientation towards outcomes, new collaborative
ways of working, and a changed awareness of
accountability”. - Country-led Evaluation (CLE) report
UNCT Viet Nam Response
• From Agency-based service delivery to
coordinated policy advice:
– Greater ability to help address cross-Gov’t, multisectoral issues which will predominate in MIC
environment (demographic transition, climate change)
– Conducting policy research that informs and
influences policy views, creating space for policy
dialogue (multi-dimensional approach to poverty;
support to national socio-economic planning)
– Agencies changing staff profile and skills to support
normative policy role: e.g.: “The creation of policy
advisory positions has allowed UNDP to develop its
comparative advantage further to include policy
analysis and advisory services.” - CLE Report
UNCT Viet Nam Response
• From many actors to One Voice:“Singing from
the same song-book”
– One Communications Team, the “Pilot within a
pilot”: 11+ communications staff from 5 agencies, a
single manager, co-located and clustered by
activities, using a common JD format and
performance review system.
– Stronger advocacy and joint communications on
key development issues (maternal health, HIV and
children, impact of the economic crisis, GBV).
– Recognized as an “integral part of the One UN …a
bold and imaginative way to test more far-reaching
ideas of institutional reform.” - CLE Report
Challenges
• Need to find ways to fully maximize UNCT’s
policy, normative and TA role, building on
reform.
• UNCT needs to move quickly to re-profile staff
to meet growing demand for upstream policy
and technical advice.
• Currently “staff profile of the UN in Viet Nam is
not significantly different from the staff profiles
in pilot countries with LDC status” - CLE Report.
• Need to take change management process
further. Challenging to change staff profile and
skill mix: investment and time required.
Gender Equality
• DaO does make a difference to UNCT
approach and performance on gender equality
and women’s empowerment:
– DaO allows the UN system “to address crosscutting issues such as gender equality, HIV/AIDS,
environment and others” - Hanoi Conference
Outcome Statement.
– In Viet Nam, UNCT has been “walking the talk” by
raising the profile, boosting advocacy, and
deepening policy engagement and support on
gender equality.
Gender Equality
• $4.5m JP on Gender Equality supports GoV to
implement new Gender Equality & Domestic Violence
laws: recognized as “a practical example of new
programming which is explicitly designed to support
policy” - CLE Report.
• Additional $15.5m in OPII on gender priorities
(women’s leadership; maternal health; GBV; CEDAW;
women’s economic rights; etc)
• Gender PCG provides substantive and functional
support on gender equality; including joint advocacy,
research, policy advice, and support for gender
mainstreaming.
Gender Equality
• UNCT 2008 Gender Audit provides a baseline on
performance on gender equality.
• UNCT Gender Mainstreaming Strategy 2009-2011,
building UNCT and staff capacity and accountability for
gender equality.
• Supported by dedicated staff resources (Gender
Adviser in RCO; 6+ agencies with gender specialists, +
gender focal points).
• Greater visibility, voice and impact on gender equality
evident (ie GBV; SRB; gender & climate change); UN
comparative advantage on gender recognized by
stakeholders.
THANK YOU