UNITED NATIONS, Nov 9: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said on Thursday that the `high-level panel’ on UN reforms set up by the secretary-general had endeavoured to propose a bold but realistic agenda to ensure that the world body is well-governed, well-funded and responsive.

He was addressing a press conference with Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, co-chair of the panel appointed to report on `Systemwide Coherence to the UN system’.

Mr Aziz said the sprawling UN system must be radically revamped. “Any organisation in time needs to re-invent itself and do things better and differently," said Mr Aziz. "The United Nations needs cohesion and coherence.

“We have proposed that it should ensure that the UN is well-governed, well-funded, and can respond more effectively

to the needs of countries and communities everywhere,” he said.

Currently, the panel’s report concludes, the UN’s work in development is fragmented and weak and not properly structured to meet country needs.

More than one-third of UN country teams have 10 or more agencies on the ground. Several have 20 or more. This has led to `incoherent’ programme interventions and `excessive’ administrative costs.

Mr Aziz said the panel proposed that the country-level operations of a large number of specialised agencies, funds and programmes should be placed under full country ownership and brought together by the leadership of a resident coordinator appointed independently of any one agency.

The country team ideally would operate with a unified budget geared to achieving the MDGs (Millennium Development Goals) and other internationally agreed development targets supported by a new multi-year mechanism to ensure adequate funding.