VIENNA, 6 April 2020 – The regional chapter of the UN reform keeps moving forward steadily. The Arab region’s Regional Collaborative Platform (RCP) met last week virtually to reach an agreement in the final configuration of the so-called “issues-based coalitions” (IBCs). The final design served to include a sub-group on economic management which will be co-convened by UNIDO’s Arab Regional Division.
The RCP fosters collaboration on sustainable development across UN development system entities operating at the regional level. UNIDO, as other UN sister entities operating at the regional level, creates regional value-added public goods by developing the necessary knowledge, data, tools, analysis, capacity building material and other instruments which are relevant at regional and sub-regional level. In this vein, IBCs will be the key mechanisms of delivery support to the UN Cooperation Framework in the various countries in the five regions and will constitute a core modality of support to member states.
At the last RCP informal meeting held on 4 April 2020, chaired by UN Under-Secretary-General (USG) and Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), UNIDO’s representative to the RCP, Bassel Al Khatib, stressed the importance of “designing IBCs in a way that reflects the inter-dimensional structure and spirit of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.,” adding “It is critical that we represent regional priorities as expressed by Member States who persistently, in the case of UNIDO and other agencies, require our technical service to advance economic development in an inclusive and sustainable manner and, by extension, to achieve inclusive and sustainable industrial development.” The IBC sub-group on economic management will be co-convened by UNIDO, UNDP, and ESCWA.
The new regional architecture of the UN development system in the Arab region will be presented to the Deputy-Secretary-General (DSG), Amina J. Mohamed, in a virtual formal meeting on 7 April 2020 by UN representatives to the Arab region, including UNIDO.