A high-level intergovernmental meeting of the United Nations aimed at reviewing and evaluating the ‘Delivering as One UN” initiative begins today at Kigali Serena Hotel.

The meeting which will draw participants from 11 UN member states, including the 8 pilot countries namely; Rwanda, Albania, Cape Verde, Mozambique, Pakistan, Tanzania, Uruguay and Vietnam will be opened by Prime Minister Bernard Makuza, on behalf of the President.

The host Rwanda is among the pilot countries which since 2007 agreed to work towards a common UN presence in the country while capitalizing on the strengths and comparative advantages of the different members of the UN family.

The eight countries agreed to implement different pilot models to deliver as "One”, looking at common elements, such as ‘One Programme,’ ‘One Budgetary Framework,’ ‘One Leader’ and ‘One Office.’

Other countries participating include; the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, Malawi and the Pacific Island nations of Kiribati, and Papua New Guinea.

According to Finance Minister, James Musoni, who is making a keynote presentation today, the meeting will help to deepen the reflections that emerged from the 2008 stocktaking exercise of the pilot countries.

"For Rwandans ‘Delivering as One’ has meant that we now have a much clearer overview of all UN activities in our country,” says Musoni who chairs the One UN Steering Committee in Rwanda

Countries will exchange their experiences and lessons learned during the implementation of the key pillars of the approach.

They will also discuss improved ways to monitor and evaluate the ‘Delivering as One process.’

Also in attendance is the Deputy UN Secretary General, Dr. Asha Rose Migiro.

The UN Resident coordinator in Rwanda Aurélien Agbénonci says Rwanda has played its bigger part and has led the way in implementing the delivering as one programme.

"The strong support and strategic guidance from the Government of Rwanda has been absolutely crucial for the first year of implementation of the One UN Programme” says Agbénonci

The "Delivering as one” approach originated from a high level panel report on the UN system wide coherence made in 2006.

It was initiated by the former UN Secretary general, Koffi Annan and aims at increasing the impact, efficiency and coherence of UN actions.

The approach advocates for the UN system to overcome fragmentation of its assistance by bringing all UN agencies to work together under one programme, one leader, one budgetary framework and by working in one office with a common communications strategy.

Ends