Satatement by H.E. Mr. Paruyr Hovhannisyan, Permanent Representative of Armenia to UN, at the UNGA Informal meeting on the UN80 Initiative: SG report on Changing Structures and Realigning Programmes

15 October, 2025

Madam President,

I thank you for convening this important meeting. We welcome the “Shifting Paradigms” report of the Secretary-General that focuses on structural reforms and programmatic realignments across the UN system in response to pressures facing the organization: budget constraints, liquidity challenges, fragmentation across agencies and calls for greater coherence.

We are pleased no note a greater cross-pillar cooperation aimed at more coordination, maximized impact and effectiveness within peace and security pilar, notably between early warning and early action mechanisms, peacebuilding and peacekeeping and most importantly in their interaction with the bodies that bear primarily responsibility for maintaining peace and security.

Being strongly convinced that both progress and setbacks in the area of peace, security and development are conditioned by our ability to uphold fundamental human rights and prevent gross violations of international law, we hope that the proposed new Human rights Group will be fit for purpose to strengthen the human rights pillar of UN. Adequate financing of Human rights pillar is important to guarantee its regular mandated activities and also its ability for rapid reaction to the most acute cases of violations.

We recognize the key role of Resident Coordinators in enhancing coordination, transparency and efficiency of UN Country Teams. At the same time, efficiency gains should not come at the expense of substantive engagement or the quality of technical support, particularly for countries in special situations and middle-income countries.

We took note on the proposals on Secretariat support realignment as well as the creation of a single-entry point for macroeconomic analysis. While coherence and coordination are important objectives, it is equally vital to safeguard the distinct mandates and expertise of these entities. Any realignment should therefore reinforce, not dilute, these mandates and preserve their analytical independence and intergovernmental character.

Armenia attaches particular importance to the financing dimension of the reforms. Expanding core and pooled funding can enhance predictability, flexibility and collective impact, but such resources must be governed transparently and allocated equitably, ensuring that the most vulnerable countries and communities are not left behind.

We align ourselves with the recommendations laid down in the report on more integrated back-office functions, shared database and services, common support functions, cost reduction through efficient use of IT ad AI aimed at reducing duplications and raising effectiveness.

To conclude let me express our readiness to engage in the UN80 process with the view to strengthen the capacities and efficiency of the Organization based on the recommendations of three workstreams and the deliberations of the discussions set to be converged towards a unified reform package.

I thank you.

MFA RA
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