Enhanced Efficiency: UN Brazil Launches Common Back Office (CBO)

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The operational areas of the United Nations are the means to implement all programs and initiatives in support of Brazil's sustainable development. In a context of growing demands, enhancing the efficiency of operations is essential to expanding the reach and sustainability of these actions.

On 13 May, the United Nations System in Brazil launched its new and expanded Common Back Office (CBO). The initiative offers 70 service lines across three areas: common services at the UN House, procurement and travel, and administration and protocol. Fifteen out of the 24 specialised agencies, funds, and programmes in the country have already joined the CBO.

Since 2016, UN Brazil has been pioneering a simplified model of shared services provision, primarily focused on procurement and travel. Precisely because of this consolidated experience, Brazil was selected by the United Nations to be one of the five pilot countries in the establishment of the CBO, with a greater scope and range.

The CBO is part of the Efficiency Agenda, a strategic worldwide UN initiative to make the organization more agile and efficient and, therefore, better prepared to tackle the major challenges faced by humanity, such as the climate crisis and the fight against poverty and inequality.

“To better support countries in implementing the Sustainable Development Goals, we must continuously seek new ways of operating,” says UN Resident Coordinator in Brazil, Silvia Rucks. 

“In Brazil's case, the Efficiency Agenda is part of the commitment made to the Brazilian State through the Cooperation Framework we signed last year”.

Brazil's CBO will be led by UNDP, chosen to be the service provider in the country. “Our goal is to help make the UN System even more effective, faster, and more agile in delivering development results, as expected by member states and beneficiaries. This will be achieved through joint work with UN entities in implementing methods that improve service quality and strengthen national UN teams,” says UNDP Resident Representative, Claudio Providas.

The careful process of developing the CBO proposal was led by the Resident Coordinator and involved all UN System agencies operating in Brazil to ensure that the services offered truly meet operational demands and reduce costs. 

With the efficiency actions already implemented by the UN in the country, an annual cost saving of approximately $1.5 million has been achieved. The expectation is that with the CBO and other structured actions as part of the operations strategy, this saving will reach $3.7 million per year.

“The participation of UN agencies, funds, and programs in the process of developing the CBO proposal has been very important so far, but it will be even more so going forward, as implementation begins,” stressed Silvia Rucks.

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