Business Reformation

  Reform and Efficiency
 

The UN General Assembly has, especially in its two most recent resolutions on the quadrennial comprehensive policy review outlined the need for UN to implement changes to pursue “more cost-efficient support services, by reducing the duplication of functions and administrative and transaction costs through the consolidation of support services at the country level; and the requirement for integrated support across the United Nations system for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development." 

Based on estimates of potential efficiency gains from various sources (GA Resolution 67/226 and 71/243), the Secretary-General set the target for the efficiency agenda at a dollar value equivalent of 310M USD developed and implemented by a wide range of actors within the UN System: 

1. Business Operations Strategy (BOS);
2. Common Back Office (CBO);
3. Common Premises (CP);
4. Regional and Global Shared Service Centres;
5. New Generation UN Country Teams; and
6. Integration of UN Information Centres into RC Offices. 

These efficiency interventions are supported by three key enablers defined by the UNSDG Business Innovations Group (BIG): 

1. Standardized Client Satisfaction principles to safeguard minimum quality standards of services provided;
2. Standardized Pricing and Costing standards to establish common standards defining how the price and costs of a service are established across the UN System; and
3. Mutual Recognition, which, once endorsed, allows one UN entity to obtain services from another UN entity if the latter can provide services more efficiently.

Other current projects that contribute to efficiency ultimately can be tied back to the above. For example, the Multi-Country Office (MCO) review may realize efficiency gains if the new design incorporates service delivery either through Common Back Offices or Regional and Global Shared Service Centers. The Regionalization project focuses on the design  of a new regional architecture, which may deliver efficiency gains if it leverages the concepts of the regional and global service centres for location independent services. 

Collectively, these interventions are referred to as “the Efficiency agenda”. Over time, as more projects may be added to the above, to increase efficiency gains for the UN System, the Efficiency agenda may expand to react to efficiency opportunities identified throughout the UN System.
 

UNSDG Business Innovations Group (BIG)

In line with the United Nations Secretary General’s report on the development system of 30th June 2017, UNSDG/BIG’s commitment is to demonstrably increase value for money in the UN system through transformational change in management of back office functions, as outlined by the 2016 UNSDG Vision Paper on Business Operations and HLCM’s strategy. 

​​UNSDG/BIG membership is open to UNSDG and HLCM Members and Observers at the ASG/decision-making level. The two co-chairs are HLCM members. 

UNSDG is primarily focused on delivering results at the country level and recognizes that UN system’s transformation of business operations cannot happen without top-down policy making. UNSDG/BIG will pro-actively engage with HLCM on innovations that may lead to policy decisions. Working as a client of HLCM, UNSDG/BIG will seek to solicit HLCM’s capabilities for policy decisions and present its results to the HLCM in a structured manner. To facilitate this relationship, one UNSDG/BIG co-chair will serve as liaison with HLCM and make sure an effective two-way communication with HLCM is maintained.

Principles of engagement for UNSDG/BIG 

• Results optimisation. Results at the country level is the litmus test.
• Bringing down silos. The aim is to overcome fragmentation within and/or between UN organisations to leverage economies of scale and achieve efficiency gains.
• Transformational, not incremental. The work will proceed on the assumption that efficiency gains in business operations, from a UN Country Team-led efforts, are near-exhausted. Reaching maximum available gains requires transformation, which in turn requires full engagement and decision-making at headquarters level.
• Opt-in. Ambition and engagement will drive the reform. Organisations should be enthusiastic to collaborate on a reform that benefits all.