Module 1: The QCPR and the UN development system 

This module would provide an introduction to the Quadrennial Comprehensive Policy Review (QCPR), including the repositioning of the UN development system. The 2020 QCPR will guide operational activities for development over the next four years. This module will also provide some food for thought for how Member States relate the QPCR to the Decade of Action launched by Member States to accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

• “The Future is Now - Global Sustainable Development report 2019”: Implications for the UN development system 
• Speaker: Mr. Peter Messerli, Co-chair of the Independent Group of Scientists 2019 and Co-author of the Global Sustainable Development Report

Introduction to the QCPR – Evolution of Member States’ guidance to the UN development system

Speakers:

Mr. Markus Reisle, Counsellor, Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the UN

Ms. Marion Barthelemy, Director, Office for Intergovernmental Support and Coordination for Sustainable Development, UN DESA

Reading Documents

This module would target a bird’s eye view and interactive discussion of how the UN development system is responding to the guidance of Member States under the twin resolutions on the 2016 Quadrennial Comprehensive Policy Review and the UNDS repositioning,  to support the delivery of the 2030 Agenda in the context of the increasingly diverse needs, capacities and priorities of programme countries.

• Overview of the UN Reforms – where we are and where we are going

• Speaker: Mr. Jens Wandel, UN Under Secretary-General, Special Advisor to the Secretary-General on Reform

Key elements of the UNDS reform, and the relationship between the parts: what has changed and what is still needed?

• Speaker: Mr. Robert Piper, Assistant Secretary-General, and Director, UN Development Cooperation Office

The impact of the UN reform for UN agencies, funds and programmes: business models for country support

• Speaker: Mr. Ramiz Alakbarov, Deputy Executive Director a.i., UNFPA

This module will present an overview of the funding of the UN’s operational activities for development, including current trends and issues, as well as progress and challenges on the implementation of related mandates.  The session will review the Funding Compact’s objectives and key elements, which emphasizes greater transparency and accountability on the part of the system in exchange for higher quality and more predictable resources, and recent progress on the Compact’s indicators, and also delve into the subject of efficiencies that were part of the repositioning commitments.  As funding the UN system is one sub-set of the larger discussion on financing for development, an exchange of views will be promoted on the role of the UN development system in terms of supporting countries to finance the SDGs.  A discussion will follow between panelists and participants, led by the moderator.

• Latest trends and key issues in system-wide funding

• Speaker: Ms. Zina Mounla, Chief, Operational Activities Policy Branch, UN DESA

• Improving the effectiveness and efficiency of business operation: Issues, commitments and next steps
• Speaker: Mr. Lars Tushuizen, Chief, Country Business Strategy Branch, UN DCO

The final module of the UNITAR QCPR Training Series for Delegates will include a “refresher” with remarks from the DESA USG on the QCPR and highlights of the 2020 ECOSOC operational activities segment by its Chair. It will also feature a recap of key discussions held during previous modules, together with a dialogue on the overall direction and potential key elements of the 2020 QCPR. This will be followed by reflections on how to bolster the system’s support with policy options and technical advice, including on climate change, and how to reinforce a whole-of-system response. Finally, following information shared by the drafter and facilitator of the 2020 QCPR, an open discussion will be held on possible topics for the next QCPR. 

• Reinforcing a whole-of-system response 
• Speaker: Mr. Charles Katende, Chief, Policy, Strategic Information and Planning Branch, United Nations Population Fund 
• Speaker: Ms. Jessica Faieta, Resident Coordinator a.i., Colombia 

• System-wide approaches to maximize impact in the Decade of Action 
• Speaker: Mr. Haoliang Xu, Assistant Secretary-General and Director of the Bureau of Policy and Programme Support, UNDP