The pilot Governments agreed to keep pressing forward with their leadership of the Delivering as One initiative. They called on UN agency headquarters, governing bodies, Member States, and donors to keep supporting the Delivering as One process and make changes where needed.

The meeting also launched the country-led evaluation process called for in the Triennial Comprehensive Policy Review and in the General Assembly resolution on System-wide Coherence.

“This meeting has provided a unique platform to hear from countries from all over the world,” said Rwanda’s Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, James Musoni, in his concluding remarks. “We have taken a large step forward from last year’s meeting in Maputo.”

The pilots were joined in Kigali by representatives of governments that are voluntarily applying elements of Delivering as One: Benin, Bhutan, Comoros, Kiribati, Malawi, and Papua New Guinea. Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro also attended the meeting and highlighted that many lessons are to be learned from the implementation of Delivering as One. “These lessons are valuable not just for strengthening our Delivering as One efforts but for advancing broader intergovernmental discussions on the impact of UN system development cooperation,” she said.

In an official Statement of Outcomes and Way Forward, the assembled representatives agreed that Delivering as One has increased their access to a wider range of UN system mandates and resources. They agreed that Delivering as One “has provided benefits for achieving better development results through increased national leadership and ownership in the development partnership with the UN system. Experience thus far has confirmed that this approach is better than the fragmented UN development system that existed at the country level prior to the adoption of this approach,” they said.

“The reforms undertaken have given renewed government leadership to UN programmes, brought about greater coherence to the UN’s support to addressing national priorities, and have allowed the United Nations to become a more effective partner,” participants said. “However, while commendable progress has been made at the country level, reform must now be pursued with equal vigour at the global level.”

Read the Deputy Secretary-General's statement at the meeting, the UN Rwanda news release and the Statement of Outcomes and Way Forward.