..Press Release................................ UNESCAP News Services

Date 25 October 2007
Press Release No. G/45/2007

United Nations Commits to Deliver as One at the Regional Level

Five Regional Commissions Signed Cooperation Framework with UNDP

New York, 24 October 2007 – Reaffirming their commitment to work together to enhance the impact of United Nations development activities, the United Nations Regional Commissions and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) today signed a Cooperation Framework at UNDP Headquarters in New York.

The Cooperation Framework is intended to build on the complementarities between the work of the five Regional Commissions and UNDP. The Regional Commissions and UNDP have agreed to collaborate, coordinate and complement each other in assisting Member States achieve the Millennium Development Goals and other internationally agreed development goals.

They also commit to sharing knowledge on policy development issues, programmes, and emerging priorities to support sustainable human development; and to address issues likely to benefit from regional or multi-country involvement.

Using their comparative strengths, the Regional Commissions and UNDP will work together to encourage organizational effectiveness at the global and regional level and also, where relevant, at the national and local levels. Joint collaboration is expected to focus on a number of areas, including human resources development; country-level planning processes; follow-up to United Nations Summits and international conferences; regional coordination; knowledge management; regional and inter-regional technical cooperation; advisory services at the country level; and joint products and initiatives at the regional and global levels.

The five Regional Commissions are: the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the Economic Commission for Europe (ECE), the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), and the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA). Signing the agreement on behalf of ESCAP was Ms Noeleen Heyzer, the Executive Secretary.

Upon the signing of the new agreement, Mr. Abdoulie Janneh, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa, and current Coordinator of the Regional Commissions, stressed that the implementation of the Cooperation Framework, through channeling the comparative strengths and capacities of the Regional Commissions and UNDP, should result in more effective and efficient support and service delivery to the developing countries in the various regions and to UN country development work. This should also foster more coherence in UN development work at the country, regional and global levels.

Mr. Kemal Derviş, UNDP Administrator and Chair of the Untied Nations Development Group, emphasized that strong partnerships are critical to the provision of quality development services and expressed confidence that the new Cooperation Framework will mark a new stage in this partnership for results. He also pledged UNDP’s continuing support to building a more responsive and effective Untied Nations at the country and regional levels.