ECOSOC in Geneva: Efficiency and effectiveness in focus

The annual session of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is currently taking place in Geneva with the UN's operational activities on the agenda from 10 to 12 July 2013. With its 32 international organisations and 250 non-profit organisations, International Geneva is the ideal place to discuss issues surrounding the efficiency and effectiveness of the UN development system.

Switzerland is a leader in the global effort to achieve a more effective, efficient UN system in order to ensure that the funding is used as effectively as possible. Questions concerning the concrete design of UN programmes at country level and the nature of the UN presence in various contexts are equally important in reaching this goal. Switzerland's overriding objective is to encourage the UN to deliver better results for people worldwide with the allocated resources.

Multilateral cooperation is a key part of the work of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), pooling the strengths of the donor countries and facilitating policy coordination. Multilateral organisations such as the World Bank, regional development banks and the UN have access to significant financial resources and thus possess major leverage.