Governments, Donors and Agencies Share ‘Delivering as One’ Experiences

HANOI, Viet Nam — The ‘Delivering as One’ approach was endorsed by donors, country delegations and agencies at the conclusion of a three-day conference here. The approach, part of the UN reform process, aims to increase the UN’s impact through more coherent programmes and accelerate the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.

The ‘High-Level Tripartite Conference on Delivering as One: Lessons from Country-led Evaluation and Way Forward' was attended by delegations from seven countries that were invited to exchange experiences and 22 countries that have funded and are interested in the UN reform process, in addition to representatives of the United Nations, international organizations and diplomatic missions in Viet Nam.

The conference, according to Vo Hong Phuc, Minister of Planning and Investment in Viet Nam, has “demonstrated the realized outcome of a strong partnership between the Government, the United Nations and the donor community.”

“Pilot countries lead the way in operationalising the vision of the UN system at the country level,” said Rose-Asha Migiro, the United Nations Deputy Secretary-General. “Many of the successful changes need to be institutionalized in order to be sustainable.” Eight countries, including Albania, Cape Verde, Mozambique, Pakistan, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uruguay and Viet Nam, have piloted the approach over the past three years.

During the first day of the conference, participants took note of the findings, lessons and recommendations of the country-led evaluations carried out in Albania, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uruguay and Viet Nam. They also agreed that the Delivering as One approach is ensuring better coherence and aid-effectiveness through improved strategic focus and simplified programming at the country level.

During the opening ceremony of the high-level segment of the conference on 16 June, His Excellence Mr. Nguyen Tan Dung, Prime Minister of Viet Nam, noted that “reform is always a long and challenging process which requires great, persevering and strong commitment and efforts by all nations, as well as the UN as a whole. The important thing is that the reforms' success would surely bring about enormous benefits to the realization of national development goals and improving people’s lives.”

In an Outcome Statement adopted at the conference donors, countries and agencies reaffirmed that the old way of doing business is no longer an option, and called upon the UN system to institutionalize business and management systems that enhance efficiency and effectiveness in the countries it serves.

“Donors appreciate the way Delivering as One countries have demonstrated national ownership and leadership, and stand ready to respond to governments’ requests to work through the One UN programme," said Jostein Leiro, Deputy Director General, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway during the closing.

“The success of the conference will contribute to efforts to enhance coherence and effectiveness in UN operations, as stated in the resolutions of the General Assembly on UN system-wide coherence,” Vietnamese Minister of Planning and Investment, Vo Hong Phuc, added. “The outcome of this conference provides a significant source of information for independent evaluations on Delivering as One, which will be conducted in 2011, as well as for inter-governmental processes on system-wide coherence and professional activities to develop the UN system.”

For more information, please contact:

Ms. Nguyen Viet Lan, One UN Communications team,
Email: nguyen.viet.lan@undp.org,
Tel: +84 438224383 ext: 121

Trieu Do Kien, Foreign Economic Relations Department, Ministry of Planning and Investment,
Tel: +84 08044928