The General Assembly will be adopting new guidelines for UN development activities in the autumn. Minister of International Development Hilde F. Johnson is meeting Secretary-General Kofi Annan on 22 June to present a proposal from Norway and six other countries for reform of the UN’s development work.

Together with the Netherlands, the UK, Sweden, Germany, Denmark and Switzerland, Norway has drawn up a proposal for strengthening the UN’s work for development and human rights and making it more effective.

The proposal advocates that to simplify and improve the administration of development activities decisions should be taken at joint board meetings. Guidelines and procedures should be harmonised and simplified in order to promote closer co-operation in the field.

A number of reform measures are proposed to improve the adaptation of UN activities to the recipient countries’ own poverty reduction plans. Co-operation between the UN and other donors should be strengthened. To facilitate this UN activities at country level should be strengthened and the UN Resident Co-ordinator should be given greater authority.

Finally, measures are proposed to strengthen the co-operation between donor countries in order to ensure more funding and more predictable financing of development work for UN agencies that show a willingness to undertake reforms. This work is mainly based on voluntary contributions.

“Promoting development and poverty reduction in developing countries is a key task for the UN. If the organisation is to do this effectively it will require large-scale reforms, as the Norwegian government has emphasised in its white paper on development policy. This proposal is the first step in our implementation of the white paper,” said the Minister.

The proposal will be followed up in connection with the adoption of the new guidelines at the UN General Assembly this autumn.

Press contact: Deputy Director General Per Egil Selvaag, mobile 90 04 56 51

Read the proposal here.