Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explains about the UN development system (UNDS). System is more of an aspirational term, and in that sense it has meaning: if everything that the UN does outside its other functions of international peace and security, human rights and social justice, and humanitarian action could be brought into self-reinforcing alignment. Since 2000 the millennium development goals (MDGs) have provided the basis of a development agenda for the UN. The book examines two dimensions of reform, namely, coherence and capacity and summarizes the changing awareness about the current system's shortcomings. It reviews the evolution of the security development nexus and the attempts at aligning the UN's various operational pillars. The human development metrics featured in the MDGs are important symptoms of progress, and they will doubtless continue to be a key feature in future lists of goals.