This is why responses to this pandemic have to not only mitigate the immediate threat to all citizens’ health and livelihoods but also make investments in ways that strengthen global resilience, prosperity and sustainability, the Dag Hammarskjold Foundation states in a recent report.
Titled ‘Staying the Course: Funding Effective UN Responses to COVID-19 While Protecting the 2030 Agenda’, aims to support United Nations Country Teams, UN Member States and their partners to effectively use financial resources to respond to the immediate impact of the pandemic, while safeguarding progress already made towards Agenda 2030.
The report shows how responses to the pandemic need to be flexible: country and location specific solutions are essential. With that in mind, it considers how at country-level the leadership role of the UN Resident Coordinator system provides a platform for effective UN cooperation with the Member State and its partners.
“This role is highly relevant to the current health emergency response and the local knowledge of the participating UN agencies is a source of strength for tackling the pandemic,” the report states.
There have been previous global health emergencies and UN Country Teams can build on prior experience to make effective responses to the current situation. The report argues that this knowledge needs to be firmly anchored with local actors and UN staff.
Funding remains a central issue in tackling the pandemic and is the focus of the report. In that vein, the report seeks to raise awareness of the Funding Compact which was welcomed by both UN entities and UN Member States in 2019.
“The Funding Compact should be seen as the foundation for scaling up the response to the pandemic in an effective and transparent manner.”
The report also asks whether current funding is sufficient and in a form that enables UN Country Teams to rapidly reallocate funds in response to the emergency. It explores the different types of funding available, the commitments of Member States to finance the various modes of funding, and the current situation regarding the funding that is actually available.
Core funding and voluntary contributions, unearmarked, are clearly the most flexible of financial resources, allowing country teams to rapidly reassess where funding is most needed and more easily reallocate to the new priorities. “The gap between intentions, commitments and funding is striking and is a challenge for the local responses to the pandemic and the longer-term challenge of building back better.”
The Funding Compact is seen as the foundation for scaling up the response in an effective and transparent manner, giving visibility to the inputs of the Member States. The report further argues that at country level the expectations of UN leadership and coordination, specifically the UN Resident Coordinator System, need to be met, with local strategizing and repurposing of funding in response to COVID-19 in rapid consultation with all partners.
There are positive reports from the country level of coordinated funding dialogues resulting in unified action. However, there are reports of the response sometimes being unilateral and uncoordinated, risking the waste of resources. Despite this, Member States’ expectations of UN coordination and leadership at country level remain high.
Finally, the report argues that the Funding Compact commitments can only be achieved through mutually responsible leadership, between funding UN Member States and implementing UN entities. “Indeed, scaling up of available funds is as crucial as optimizing available funds.”
At both the global and local level there is a need to remain focused on aligning global financial systems with the Sustainable Development Goals so that countries emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic can be supported to rebuild with resilience and the global plan for sustainable development remains in focus.
