Giving Compass' Take:

• The UN has reached agreement about changes aimed at realigning around the SDGs. 

• How can philanthropy work with the UN to achieve the SDGs? How do the SDGs relate to your area of philanthropic interest? 

• Learn about the role of community foundations in achieving the SDGs.

An important milestone was reached this at the end of May, with agreement by the 193 Member States of the United Nations on how to make it better able to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). What are the changes, what will they mean, and how do they fit into a broader plan for reform?

Repositioning the UN Development System: 

The scope of the SDGs means that the UN must transform how it works to deliver support to countries in partnership with government, civil society, business, philanthropy, and individuals. Last December, the Secretary-General set out ambitious proposals for how to do this. After extensive consultations, the 193 countries represented in the UN have now reached agreement on measures that will deliver a more efficient and coherent approach to how different parts of the UN support countries on achieving the SDGs.

Key Changes:

An important part of achieving this new approach is through transforming the role of the resident coordinator – the senior-most UN official in the field. Resident coordinators are responsible for heading up the UN’s development work on the ground in individual countries, often also encompassing humanitarian and security responsibilities. But many of them currently have the almost impossible job of doing this on a part-time basis while at the same time heading up the work of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) in that country.

With the reforms, each country will have a dedicated resident coordinator and a separate dedicated head of UNDP.

Reaching Agreement:

The successful completion of the negotiations on development reform demonstrates that despite the many differences between countries in the General Assembly, delivering the SDGs remains a common cause that 193 countries can get behind.

Read the full article about UN Reform by Wasim Mir at United Nations Foundation.