2002 Annual Overview Report

This report provides an overview of major developments in inter-agency cooperation during the year 2002 within the purview of the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB).

During the year, Executive Heads in CEB focused on guiding the system’s contribution to the development of strategies to review progress, and to advocate and assist Member States in the implementation of the development goals embodied in the United Nations Millennium Declaration; gave special attention to the follow-up to the objectives and goals of the Millennium Declaration relating to “the treatment and prevention of diseases, including HIV/AIDS and malaria”, and “preventing armed conflict” — the two themes selected for greater in-depth treatment in the 2002 report of the Secretary-General to the General Assembly on the implementation of the Millennium Declaration; reviewed the progress being made in providing coherent, system-wide support to the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD); and considered ways of fashioning an integrated follow-up of the three major conferences held during the course of the year: the International Conference on Financing for Development; the World Food Summit: Five Years Later; and the World Summit on Sustainable Development.

On the first theme, CEB provided a system-wide perspective for the report of the Secretary-General to the General Assembly on the follow-up to the United Nations Millennium Declaration. In formulating United Nations system responses, CEB re-emphasized the multisectoral challenge of achieving the health goals of the Millennium Declaration and took steps to promote mutually reinforcing actions in a number of areas. In relation to “preventing armed conflicts”, Executive Heads decided that the central component of the United Nations system’s strategy should lie in the promotion of development and the eradication of poverty; and adopted measures to ensure that the conflict prevention and development agendas would be mutually reinforcing. With regard to United Nations system support for Africa, CEB decided to use, to the maximum extent possible, NEPAD as the framework for maximizing the effectiveness and impact of its contribution to the sustainable development of Africa.

Supporting the work of CEB, and acting on its behalf, the High-level Committee on Management (HLCM) in 2002 made progress in promoting converging action within the system in a number of key areas of common concern, including: information and communication technologies, and staff security and safety. In the programme area, the High-level Committee on Programmes (HLCP), in addition to preparing CEB deliberations in the areas outlined above, particularly the follow-up to the Millennium Summit and system-wide support for NEPAD, pursued, during the year, inter-agency collaboration in areas ranging from information technology for development, with the World Summit on the Information Society in view, to trade facilitation.

The report also provides information on assistance to countries invoking Article 50 of the Charter of the United Nations.

The report is available in other UN official languages at the UN Official Documents System.