Vietnam will be one of the first seven countries in the world to pilot United Nations reform at the country level.

This is said at the joint press conference held in Hanoi on December 8, co-chaired by Cao Viet Sinh, deputy minister of planning and investment and Kernal Dervis,  UNDP general director and head of the UN Development Group (UNDG), who is on a Vietnam visit. According to Mr Kernal Dervis, Vietnam is chosen as the first UN reform "pilot country" because the country has not only taken a lead in making efforts to improve the aid efficiency and UN reform, but also because of the long-term ties and mutual trust between Vietnam and the United Nations. Mr Kernal Dervis said that the model of Vietnam would help prove that UN reform could be taken at the national level.

Earlier, a task force on UN reform, which consists of representatives of the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Finance, Office of the Government, the participating UN Agencies, funds and programmes and bilateral donors, was set up to guide the implementation of the "One UN Initiative" in Vietnam. The objective of the "One UN Initiative" is to move beyond co-ordination towards "One United Nations". For the participating agencies and programmes (currently UNICEF, UNDP, UNFPA, UNV and UNAIDS), this includes working toward one programme, one office, one leader, one budget and one set of management practices and common service. To bring the best results for Vietnam, the UN needs to transform itself into a harmonised organisation with unity of purpose, coherence in management and efficiency and effectiveness in operations.

By NGOC ANH