Coordination Conundrum in the United Nations Development System: Solutions from Self-Managed Organizations

Abstract

Many of the problems that international organizations are tasked with solving are interdependent and require concerted efforts. This interdependence is epitomized in the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Yet acting in a concerted manner poses significant organizational obstacles. In this paper, we focus on one of the most prominent of those obstacles, coordination within the UN development system—the collection of UN entities working on development issues. We highlight the complexity of coordination within the UN development system and the changes introduced by the latest reform. We argue that those changes are unlikely to improve the situation significantly and turn to theoretical and empirical sources of inspiration for adjusting those changes. We draw on coordination solutions implemented in nonhierarchical organizational settings, in particular self-managed organizations and humanitarian clusters, to recommend a reorientation of the role of the Resident Coordinator system.