Why Member States should support the UN regional reform

May 1, 2020

“The UN Regional Reform proposal by the Secretary-General deserves to be supported because it brings a unique opportunity to achieve what Member States have sought for many years: one system working together, with common goals and concerted action. If successful it could lead to a UN system better able to deliver effectively, efficiently and accountability, to progress 2030 Agenda on the ground”.

This series of 4 paper is intended to help UN Member States understand four aspects of the UN regional reform, and pro-actively support them. It explains how the regional system operates now and introduces the core changes that will take place if the regional reform rolls out successfully.

The UN is facing increasingly complex challenges in its task of promoting sustainable development, its entities need to adopt multidimensional approaches that can integrate multiple capacities and act at different levels. To face the challenges, the reform of the United Nations Development System (UNDS) at the regional level intends to develop a more comprehensive reform process at all levels to build a more coherent and effective UN. The reform is intended to provide the UN with new tools to fulfill its mandate, empowering people while protecting the Earth’s ecosystems, and optimizing support for Member States.

Principales hallazgos

Regional realities are different. In this context, a region-by-region adaptation of a shared reform framework is both possible and necessary. But taken together these reforms, implemented in all regions, will strengthen the UN.

The challenge to implement the SDGs and the 2030 Agenda is that as well as doing the technical support work the UN system has to take into account this political nature.

There are only 10 years remaining to reach 2030, but regardless of how well the world does on the SDGs, the international system will have to continue working towards common goals.

Main Findings

Regional realities are different. In this context, a region-by-region adaptation of a shared reform framework is both possible and necessary. But taken together these reforms, implemented in all regions, will strengthen the UN.

The challenge to implement the SDGs and the 2030 Agenda is that as well as doing the technical support work the UN system has to take into account this political nature.

There are only 10 years remaining to reach 2030, but regardless of how well the world does on the SDGs, the international system will have to continue working towards common goals.

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