Members of the Advisory Group to the IPU Committee on United Nations Affairs travelled to Tanzania for a visit that lasted from 8 to 10 September to get a first-hand understanding of progress and challenges in the implementation of the Delivering as One reform of the United Nations system.
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Due to a dynamic UN team in Dar es Salaam and the firm commitment of the authorities of Tanzania to the successful reform of UN operations at the country level, the parliamentary fact-finding mission - made up of parliamentarians from Norway, Belgium, Burkina Faso, Pakistan, South Africa and the host country of Tanzania - went away with the conviction that such reform is not only possible, but also recommendable for the broader UN community.
Basically, the overall purpose of this UN country-level reform is to unify and align UN action in order to more effectively deliver results in support of national development priorities. With One Leader, One UN Programme, One UN Budgetary Framework and One Office, the United Nations will seek to position itself as a strategic partner for Tanzania as it builds its national capacities and sets forth ambitious development plans. It should also lead to greater predictability and coherence in the disbursement and execution of international funds for development. The task is not an easy one, as it currently involves no less that 17 UN agencies and presupposes a fundamental shift in the way the UN system organizes its work at the national level.
One of the key messages that the members of the mission shared with their interlocutors in Dar es Salaam is that, in order to ensure national ownership and accountability, the active involvement of parliament is indispensable. Several recommendations were formulated in this regard. Among these, regular meetings should be instituted between the Finance Ministry and the National Assembly to discuss matters relating to the development budget. Parliament should also gradually increase its involvement in the up-stream planning of the national budget. The Global Forum on Aid Effectiveness held recently in Accra, Ghana, explicitly called for 50 per cent of all official development assistance (ODA) to be captured by the national budgets by the year 2010, something that all parliaments will need to monitor closely.
The Report of the Mission will be circulated widely among IPU Member Parliaments and discussed on the occasion of the forthcoming IPU Assembly in Geneva (13-15 October). It will also be brought to the attention of the broader United Nations community with a view to garnering support and helping build political momentum in support of the One UN agenda.
