Statement of UNDP/UNFPA/UNOPS/ EB President

25 January, 2016

OPENING STATEMENT OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE EXECUTIVE BOARD OF UNDP/UNFPA/UNOPS,

H.E. MR. ZOHRAB MNATSAKANYAN, AMBASSADOR AND PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE, ARMENIA
25 January, 2016

Distinguished Members of the Executive Board:

It is a privilege and an honour to be serving as the President of the Executive Board, which is mandated by the UN General Assembly to provide inter-governmental support to and overall supervision of the activities of United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and the UN Office for Project Service (UNOPS). I would like to thank the previous Presidents for 2015, Ambassador Fernando Carrera of Guatemala and Ambassador Hiroshi Minami of Japan who succeeded him later, for their excellent leadership of the Board last year.

As President, I put myself at the service of the membership. I commit to work towards consensus and confidence by sustaining an effective dialogue among member states and agencies, as we continue to take our partnership forward. The Board has an ambitious agenda to work on, and I look forward to working with all partners to promote smooth operation, awareness and visibility of our agenda.

2016 will be a no less important year as it is the first year to follow up on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. As Board Members, we were pleased to be able to sustain an active, constructive dialogue with UNDP, UNFPA, and UNOPS on the SDGs and related matters in the previous years. We look forward to continuing such discussions.

We also have important follow up to do in relation to major UN conferences. To mention but few, these relate to disaster risk reduction, financing for development, and COP21 on climate change. These agenda will provide further opportunities for the Board to engage with the agencies on specific related areas within the confines of their respective mandates.

The year will also be critical in view of the mid-term review of the strategic plans for 2014-2017, as well as in light of the upcoming discussions of the new cycle of the Quadrennial Comprehensive Policy Review, which remains the main political mechanism for member states to assess the effectiveness, efficiency, coherence and impact of the UN development system's support to national development efforts. As a Board Member and now as President, I am encouraged about the commitment of the funds and programmes toward strengthening UN coherence, transparency, and accountability. I look forward to more fruitful discussions in these areas.

We face the reality of decreasing funding. Against this background, partnerships and broader engagements will be key to facilitate better exchange and keep up the flow of information on this very critical issue. Funding, on top of everything, continues to be a core element in our partnership – a shared objective to be pursued jointly.

As we are at the beginning of this annual cycle, I want to emphasize my commitment to rally a spirit of a strong teamwork between the Board and the agencies. I particularly intend to encourage continued inter-sessional dialogue with each other beyond the 3 formal Board sessions of the year. I am confident that such dialogue would promote stronger partnership, guidance, and sharing of experience on all strategic issues of our common agenda, especially given the important topics before us. Amongst other things, it would certainly facilitate consensual decision making at formal sessions.

On behalf of the Bureau of the Executive Board, I am keen on mentioning that in order to promote and advocate for increased dialogue between the agencies and the Board, we will aim at strengthening our role as the bridge between the Board and the agencies, facilitating open and honest communication. I would want to repeat once again, that we would strictly adhere to our mandate.

In my leadership role, I will work with my fellow Bureau members to reach out to you all as we seek out opportunities, which will not necessarily increase the number of meetings between the Board and the agencies, but rather, maximize the effectiveness and quality of such meetings towards high impact results for the constituencies we serve.

We have a very busy agenda in the first half of the year. The First Regular Session will be followed by a Board field visit to Guinea, a joint Boards field visit to Kyrgyzstan, a Joint Meeting of the Boards in June, and the Board's Annual Session. This year is also important from the perspective of the leadership that the Executive Board will assume during the joint Boards field visit. The work of the agencies in the field is most critical in delivering tangible service to the member states at their national level. This is where the work of the agencies is manifest. Beyond the visits, I hope to encourage a stronger culture of dialogue between the Board and the representatives of field missions, who throughout the year will be visiting the UN Headquarters in New York. We should use such opportunities to maximize impact and step up interactions with the operators of field missions. Finally, the Bureau will continue exploring avenues of coordination and dialogue between sister agencies and bodies of the UN concerned with the development agenda.

In September we will hold a no less important season, as we are expected to examine a large number of country programme documents to be presented to the Board. It would be time and energy consuming, however, an excellent opportunity to assess deliverables to the beneficiary countries and to construct a broad picture of service capacities of the agencies through comparative examination.

In conclusion, I understand that these Board meetings require significant time commitment for both Member States and the funds and programmes. However, we, member states, commit ourselves to this membership on voluntary basis. Of course, we should continue to search for improved working methods. However, I appeal to the member states, as much as to the agencies to please commit to substance, to consensus and to the heart of the issues, far beyond the formality of reports, presentations and formal statements. The UN matters to millions in our countries, because among many things it is supposed to have a real impact on real lives, and the agencies within the mandate of this Executive Board are in the forefront of delivery.

Ladies and gentlemen,

I wish everyone, not least myself, a successful Board where the energy is kept high, exchanges are lively, and discussions are forward looking with a balance of ambition, pragmatism and inspiration.

Thank you.

MFA RA
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