United Nations reform

The ILO supports and actively participates in current United Nations reform processes, including in the eight “One UN” pilot countries.

Decent work has become a global goal whose achievement needs a reformed and better performing United Nations and a stronger, more coherent multilateral system.

The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) resolution of July 2007 requests the funds, programmes and agencies of the United Nations system to continue their efforts to mainstream the goals of full and productive employment and decent work for all in their policies, programmes and activities. The ILO is strengthening its capacity to assist other United Nations agencies and its constituents to mainstream the Decent Work Agenda in their operations.

The ILO supports the principles of the High-Level Panel Report on System-wide Coherence, and was the first United Nations agency to discuss the full report and analyse its implications in its Governing Body (GB.298/4/3, March 2007).

The ILO's tripartite structure is a major asset and represents an opportunity for other United Nations agencies to connect with important economic and social actors. The ILO is investing in ways of building the capacity of its constituents to take part in, influence and benefit from United Nations reform processes.

The Directors-General of the ILO and WTO led a review of the Chief Executives Board (CEB) in 2007. Senior ILO officials take part in meetings of the CEB High-Level Committee on Programmes (HLCP) and High-Level Committee on Management (HLCM), as well as the many working groups of the United Nations Development Group (UNDG). The ILO is also part of the informal “Group of Ten” United Nations agencies, which meet regularly to discuss “redline” issues related to United Nations reform processes. The ILO is increasingly active in the revived financial and budgetary network and related UNDG working groups.

The move towards a more coherent, integrated United Nations framework is in harmony with ILO efforts to improve the delivery and focus of its own integrated and coherent agenda at the country level. Decent Work Country Programmes (DWCPs) constitute the main vehicle for ILO engagement with other United Nations agencies at the country level with a view to improving ways of “delivering as one”.

In addition to stronger collaboration between the major specialized agencies (ILO, FAO, WHO, UNESCO and UNIDO), the UNDP Administrator and ILO Director-General signed a new partnership and agreed on a joint Plan of Action in January 2007.

The partnership, which is aimed at strengthening the Decent Work Agenda in UN programmes, is not conceived as a memorandum of understanding, but rather expresses a strong commitment by each organization to actively seek opportunities for enhanced collaboration at all levels by leveraging their relative strengths and competencies. Joint policy analyses are foreseen to deepen policy advocacy on inclusive growth, and to develop jointly policy guidance on the role of employment (including youth employment), governance and social development. Initiatives will be taken to make knowledge management across organizations a mutually enriching reality. The core is an action plan which identifies an extensive range of specific areas and activities at global, regional and country levels, and spanning from joint advocacy and action-oriented policy research to specific projects, with a focus on some 20 priority countries, selected because of high demand and opportunities identified for collaboration.

The ILO has established an internal Task Force on the Implications of United Nations reform, which is supported by a Core Group and Task Teams that focus on reform issues of key importance (human resources, programme and management, empowering constituents, finance frameworks, and funding issues). The ILO has also established DWCP Quality Assurance Teams, as well as a system for monitoring developments in the eight pilot countries. The work of the teams is supported by a knowledge and information management system.

The ILO has also begun a process of empowering its managers. ILO directors from the field and headquarters meet in Geneva as the Decent Work Global Management Team, which focuses on the delivery of DWCPs with constituents in the context of United Nations reform. The ILO has also developed a training programme for its constituents and its directors and managers on United Nations reforms, DWCPs, results-based management (RBM), evaluation, and programme and project design and delivery. At the same time the ILO is working to ensure the effective participation of the social partners in national development policy-making.

In the field of technical cooperation UN reform is centred on the eight One UN pilot countries (Albania, Cape Verde, Mozambique, Pakistan, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uruguay, and Viet Nam). Like other specialized agencies, the ILO is closely monitoring developments and helping develop new arrangements for coordination at the country level on such issues as governance, reporting, programming, financial procedures, post-conflict issues, business operations, human resources, training, and the role of the Resident Coordinator.

The pace of reform is however fast, and action is needed rapidly on priority issues. One example is the harmonization of DWCP cycles with UN country programmes and Development Assistance Frameworks (UNDAFs), on which guidance has been prepared and made available to field offices. Similarly, the ILO has made a supplementary allocation in the current biennium to reinforce ILO staff and presence in "Delivering as One" pilot countries.