Branding UN-DESA ....Can we succeed?

20 months on the job and we still have to see or hear details of Sha Zukang's reform (and his team).

Staff feel frustrated about our daily work, and with the myriad of UN organizations, International Multilateral and Bilateral Institutions and major NGOs, surviving in this shrinking resources environment has become a real issue, and likewise the "main-street" - pretty soon the UN and its agencies will be feeling the financial crisis effect.

While financial crisis might shrink the resources, it also bringing new global and national coalitions, which are calling for UN to bring together governments, civil society and private sector around particular issues of concern and looking for innovative ways to address them.

In this environment we all ask ourselves, about the need to BRANDING DESA, to re-focus our organization in selected areas where we could competitively showcase our strength and gain leadership.

In the last days we see that UNDP is becoming expert in micro-finance and finance taking over World Bank, while the World Bank and IMF are talking about poverty eradication and capacity building of Civil Society and Social Restructuring at country level - taking over UNDP. Same can be said about UNOPS, UNCDF, UNEP, UNFCCC, etc. Each and everyone is trying to consolidate their "territories".

In an absent of a real leadership in DESA we question ourselves on.....- "and DESA is becoming what..???"

What will a new BRAND do for us/DESA?

• Clarify role - by differentiating us from other UN Dev-agencies in this new post-financial-crisis context;
• Formalize DESA's character and affirm our values;
• Facilitate further progress;

First our leaders has to understand what BRADING means.

BRAND = REPUTATION

REPUTATION = PROMISE + PERFORMANCE

Can DESA do all this ? Well I personally believe that YES WE CAN ! Despite few "rotten tomatos", we have the skills needed for all this. We just missing leadership and guts to start all it. Failure to undertake the above will result in DESA's loss and all of us will suffer as result.

Talk with your peers and supervisors, start a discussion on BRANDING and how to go about it? What can we do and what should we give up.