The foundation of the One UN Initiative in Vietnam was laid in late 2005 when the UN Resident Coordinator and the Country Representative of the UNICEF wrote a paper on UN reform for Vietnam – a year before the launch of the report of the High Level Panel in System-wide Coherence.
04/06/2008 :: A tripartite national task force was established by a Prime Ministerial decree in the first half of 2006, consisting of representatives of the Vietnamese Government, the participating UN Agencies and the donor community, to oversee the UN reform process in Vietnam. Principles, objectives and instruments were agreed and a “roadmap” was adopted setting out the process towards One UN in Vietnam.
Vietnam was later in 2006 selected as the first of eight countries to pilot the implementation of the recommendations of the independent High Level Panel. The Panel concluded that the UN at country level was too fragmented and fraught with inbuilt inefficiencies. A change in the way UN operates, also on the country level was called for, and it was recommended that the UN developed One Programme, One Budgetary Framework, One Leader and One House.
For the UN to overcome the fragmentation and to deliver development results more effectively there is a need for changing the way it works. A co-location is important to maximize inter-agency teamwork, help to ensure a greater sense of being One, as well as allowing the UN Agencies to integrate their support services, which will contribute to cost-efficiency in the medium/long term. The vision of the UN House in Vietnam is to retrofit the current UN Apartment Building into an environment friendly House with eco-design and environment friendly technology. To develop an environment friendly and carbon neutral house, which will be the first of its kind in Vietnam, is seen as an important benchmark for the future development of Green buildings in the country. In this regard there is also a vision, through the One house, to transfer technology and knowledge to Vietnam in the area of energy efficiency, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and water consumption.
The Government of Vietnam strongly supports the establishment of an eco-friendly UN house as it was the Government that suggested adding the One UN House as the 5th pillar on the One UN Initiative in Vietnam. A decision was made in the spring 2007 to convert the current UN Apartment Building into a UN house.
The determination of the UN Agencies present in Vietnam on supporting a UN house is apparent as all have sent a letter of intent for a co-location.
On the central level of the UN there is an increased awareness of the Climate Change issue. In September 2007 Secretary-general Ban Ki-moon organized a high-level debate on Climate Change in the General Assembly, where he stated that the UN should contribute directly to a better environment by “promoting greener practices at its agencies and buildings around the world”. A Green One UN House in Hanoi will thus be an important contribution to overall the greening of the UN system.
Budget support from Norway: 35 mill. NOK
Contract Period: July 2007 - December 2008 Non-earmarked funding for One UN Plan Fund for the implementation of One UN Plan.