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The UN Resident Co-ordinator
The system of the Resident Co-ordinator (UNRC) came into effect as an integral part of the restructuring of the economic and social sectors of the United Nations system initiated by the General Assembly (GA) resolution 32/197 of 20 December 1977. In that resolution, the General Assembly decided that, on behalf of the UN system, overall responsibility for, and co-ordination of, operational activities for development carried out at the country level should be entrusted to a single official, who would exercise team leadership and ensure a multidisciplinary dimension in sectoral development programmes.
The UNRC is the designated representative of the UN Secretary-General for development operations and leader of the United Nations Country Team, which consists of the heads of all resident UN agencies.
In Thailand, the Office of the UNRC consists of the Resident Co-ordinator, the Inter-agency Support Unit (IASU) and several inter-agency projects. Currently, two projects are in operation, namely the Inter-agency Project on the Trafficking of Women and Children in the Mekong Sub-region, and the UNAIDS project.
The Inter-Agency Support Unit (IASU)
The Inter-Agency Support Unit (IASU) is part of the Office of the UNRC in Thailand. It comprises a full time manager and support staff, and provides the UNRC the back stopping functions needed to manage the inter-agency collaboration of the UN System in Thailand. IASU is funded by contributions from the participating UN agencies, and is accountable to these agencies as a whole.
The Heads of Agency Meeting
The quarterly Heads of Agency Meeting (HOAM), which is co-chaired by the Executive Secretary of ESCAP and the UNRC, is the principal mechanism for co-ordination of UN activities at the country as well as the sub-regional and regional levels. Through the HOAM, agency heads assess needs, set policies and priorities, and review work in progress on inter-agency collaboration. Below the HOAM there are currently two Committees and eleven Thematic Working Groups.
Committees
Programme Review and Co-ordination (PRC) Committee
The PRC Committee is the forum to discuss the programmatic co-ordination of the UN system at the working level. It has done the bulk of the work in preparing this UNDAF, since the Heads of Agency are naturally preoccupied with the full span of their responsibilities in the region. The PRC is the main instrument for overseeing implementation of the Thailand UNDAF.
Administrative Management and Security (AMS) Committee
The AMS Committee oversees the coordination of administrative management and security issues for the UN System based in Thailand.
All UN agencies resident in Thailand have their headquarters in Bangkok, with a good number being housed in the UN building. Sharing common premises greatly facilitates the possibilities of co-operation. The AMS Committee which deals with procurement, training, information technology, security and use of the UN premises is attended by members of all agencies and this has led to various initiatives to rationalise and streamline day-to-day operational and administrative costs. Agencies also have access to the facilities in the UN Conference Centre (UNCC), which is adjacent to the UN building, and arrangements have been made for providing facilities for inter-agency events.
Under the AMS, four working groups have been established, dealing with the issues of Procurement, Information Technology, Training and Staff Immunities and Privileges.
Management of the UN Building (MUB) Committee
This committee is not yet convened formally.
Thematic Working Groups
The quarterly Heads of Agency Meeting (HOAM), held in Bangkok on 25 April 2000 and operating under the aegis of the annual Regional Co-ordination Meeting (RCM), decided to abolish the fourteen Sub-Committees set up under the Regional Inter Agency Committee for Asia and the Pacific (RICAP). Instead the meeting decided to form result-based and time bound Thematic Working Groups (TWG) as a Regional Co-ordination mechanism, which should focus on collaborative activities.
The eleven Thematic Working Groups (TWGs) plan and implement substantive activities involving collaboration of UN agencies. Each group spans country, sub-regional and regional collaboration, according to the needs determined by the participating agencies.
The following TWGs exist:
Development Co-operation Lunch
The Development Co-operation Lunch is a bi-monthly event that is organised by the UNRC with the purpose of promoting informal networking among UN agencies, relevant Royal Thai Government agencies, multilateral financial institutions, bilateral donors and selected international NGOs. The aim is to enhance co-operation in development-related areas through the establishment of informal contacts between the relevant actors. It derives much of its value from the fact that Bangkok is truly the “Geneva of Asia” with many development players establishing their regional offices in the city.
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