PRESS RELEASE

UN General Assembly Co-Chairs commend
UN Reform efforts in Malawi

(From left) His Excellencies Augustine Mahiga, Paul Kavanagh and Stephen Matenje, the Permanent Representatives of the United Republic of Tanzania, Ireland and Malawi, respectively, to the United Nations at their end of their mission in Malawi to assess progress on UN Reforms. (Right) His Excellency Stephen Matenje, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Malawi was also present at the briefing.

Lilongwe, 27 May 2008 - Co-Chairs to United Nations General Assembly Consultations on System-wide Coherence, have commended increased coordination and harmonisation among UN agencies in Malawi. The Ambassadors ended a two-day mission to assess progress being done by the Government and the UN country team in relation to UN reform.

H.E. Augustine Mahiga, Permanent Representative of the United Republic of Tanzania to the United Nations and H.E. Ambassador Paul Kavanagh, Permanent Representative of Ireland to the United Nations have met with representatives of the Malawian government including with the Ministers for Foreign Affairs, Honourable Joyce Banda, and Finance, Honourable Goodall Gondwe, Principal Secretaries and development partners.
 
The reforms involve an overhaul of the UN’s country approach towards a more efficient and effective collective system, that delivers development assistance in line with national development priorities.

Ambassador Mahiga said, “Malawi is spearheading one of the most important initiatives which the UN has undertaken in relation to reform. It is in a unique situation because the government has initiated these reforms without the support associated with being a pilot. For this reason, many other countries are looking towards Malawi for inspiration as they begin their own reform process. Many of the member States in the General Assembly have shown a keen interest in the developments here and it is for this reason that we wanted to come here to learn more about the process, so that we can report it back to the broader membership of the United Nations.”

Mahiga attributed the remarkable developments in Malawi and the pilot countries to the enthusiasm and creativity at the country level, under the critical leadership of Government.

“Change is going into the unknown... There can be a combination of resistance which is the natural process of uncertainty. But if change is to be successful it has to be translated into a programme. It makes sense if all stakeholders are involved.”

The UN Reform, he said, is a “gradual incremental process”; it has been an inclusive progression, involving dynamic consultation and debate from the General Assembly, to the actual implementation at the country level. The ultimate success will be gauged by the greater participation of beneficiaries and the tangible impact of programmes at the grassroot level.

Ambassador Kavanagh highlighted the importance of improving the ability of the UN to deliver effective and efficient development assistance. “Malawi is a pioneer of UN reform.  The Government of Malawi has exhibited great leadership in this area by deciding to implement these reforms, which we hope will assist all the United Nations Funds, Programmes and Agencies in delivering assistance in a way that is more efficient, more effective and more strategic.”

He said reform process is gaining momentum through the hard work of the Government and the UN Country Team and clearly articulated in the UN’s Development Assistance Framework and aligned to the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy and which will form the basis for all the UN’s work in Malawi supporting the Government to achieve the MDGs

The UNDAF is anchored on the principles of greater coherence – One Programme, One Budgetary Framework, One Team and under the strong stewardship of UN Resident Coordinator.

His Excellency, Ambassador Stephen Matenje, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Malawi to the United Nations attended the briefing session at the end of the mission. He said the reform process, which received renewed impetus at the 2005 World Summit, is on track and the UN is strengthening its position as the key strategic development partner in Malawi.

Also at the briefing were Dr. Naomi Ngwira, Director of Debt and Aid Department under the Ministry of Finance and the UN Resident Coordinator Michael Keating.

For more information, contact:
For more information, contact:
Susan Muguro, Communication Officer, UN in Malawi on (265) 09967 991, susan.muguro@undp.org.

Editor’s Notes
The Permanent Representatives of Ireland and Tanzania in New York were appointed, by the President of the United Nations General Assembly, as Co-Chairs for consultations on System-wide coherence in January 2008. Following in the footsteps of the High Level Panel, the Co-Chairs seek to take an empirical, practical approach to the consultations on UN reform, taking the progress made in each of the ‘Delivering as One’ Pilots as their point of departure. In the course of their consultations they have looked at the progress being made in the increasing number of countries which are implementing aspects of ‘Delivering as One’. They have also held consultations on the issues relating to Governance, Funding and Gender within the UN.

The Co-Chairs will submit a report on their consultations to the President of the General Assembly by June 2008.
For more information on:
The UN in Malawi, visit www.unmalawi.org
Progress on the UN Reform and the pilot countries visit www.undg.org