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5th meeting - Executive Board of UNDP, UNFPA and UNOPS (Annual Session 2026) — Economic and Social Council — 10 June 2026
Language: en
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President [0:03]:

Good morning, dear colleagues. I will kindly ask you to take your seats. I declare open the 5th meeting of the Annual Session 2026. Members of the Executive Board of UNDP, UNFPA, and UNOPS. I am pleased to welcome you to this UNDP segment. We will begin the UNDP segment with Agenda Item 7, Annual Report of the Administrator, and I am pleased to welcome Mr. Alexander de Croo, UNDP Administrator. He will deliver his statement to the Executive Board and then, as per usual practice, Member States will be reacting and comment. Joining us on the podium, we have Mr. Howlin Shue, Associate Administrator of UNDP, Mrs. Susan Brown, Assistant Administrator and Director, Bureau for External Relations and Advocacy at UNDP— Susan is over there— Mrs. Linda Maguire, Assistant Administrator and Director, Bureau for Management Services, Mr. Marcos Neto, Assistant Administrator and Director, Bureau for Policy and Program Support. Mrs. Ahunai Eziakonwa, Assistant Administrator and Director, Regional Bureau for Africa. And Mrs. Kani Wignaraja, Assistant Administrator and Director of the Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific. Without further ado, I would like to invite Mr. Administrator, Mr. Alexander de Croo, to take the Mr. Flores, to provide the statement, please.


UNDP · Administrator · Alexander de Croo [3:18]:

Mr. President, dear members of the board, dear everyone present here, I take that applause as an encouragement to our teams, and I think there is no better way to start this interactive dialogue by showing what our teams are doing, by showing how millions are dependent on the work of our teams, they are reliant on them, and also by indicating that our teams rely on you. They rely on your support, they rely on the structure we bring, and they rely on the policy dialogue that we will be having here. You've seen the images of what we do in the field, and over the past months I've had many occasions to see that firsthand. For example, in Syria, where a few months ago in April I was there together with our UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher. We saw together what 14 years of war delivers. It leads to flattened cities. Today, 4 out of 5 Syrians live in poverty. 1 out of 4 Syrians live with a disability. For example, because of the many unexploded devices that you have and of the fact that more than a quarter of the surface of Syria today is still full with mines. The war has ended. The danger, unfortunately, has not ended. It is another example that shows how conflict destroys, sometimes in months, what takes decades to build. It is development in reverse. And unfortunately, over the past years, we see more and more occasions where hard-worked development is being put in reverse. It is unfortunately what we see happening today because of the conflict in the Gulf region and in the Middle East. The compounding economic and military shocks are today pushing 32 million people back into poverty. I emphasize back into poverty because very often those are people that actually we have lifted out of poverty together with you and together with many actors. But Syria is also a reminder that recovery can happen even if it seems is totally improbable. And it is our assignment as United Nations that even when it looks improbable, even when people say it is impossible, it will not happen, we should be the ones that keep pushing. We should be the ones that keep convening. We should be the ones that keep believing even if it looks improbable that recovery can happen. And amidst the devastation that we see in Syria, UNDP is working together with partners. We are working together with partners and with communities to move people from survival to stability, and afterwards to move them from stability back into prosperity. And that works. When together we invest in functioning services, when we invest in trusted institutions, when we invest in creating economic opportunity, we are able to rebuild safer societies. Safer societies that in the future will be better at handling shocks and at handling adversity. Development is the first line of defense. It is what helps us to avoid instability. It is what helps us to avoid fragility and not always, but very often, is a recipe against a conflict that could develop. Development is the smartest investment that you can do if stability, security, and human dignity is high on your agenda. That is what we as United Nations should do. As I said, even if it looks improbable, we need to keep convening. We need to keep pushing. We need to keep preparing for rebuilding, even if at this moment sometimes rebuilding looks difficult. Even in the most challenging circumstances, we as development organizations and we as United Nations, we should keep pushing. Now, it's clear that the world we work in is one that is changing rapidly. We see that the development needs are growing today exponentially. And the traditional development model was one which was built on a few premises, on a few assumptions, a few assumptions that today unfortunately no longer hold. Assumptions, for example, stable growth or predictable geopolitics or rules-based world order. These were the basic premises that you need to be able to do development. All those are under pressure. And at the same time, we have seen that ODA has fallen by 23% and that has an impact on us. You have seen that our core funding has decreased with approximately the same number over the past years. And at the same time, When we see that the resources that are being provided are diminishing and that the boundary factors that we need are being pushed into instability, we also see that the needs are changing. Yes, we are being called on more than ever because of the instability and the more conflicts than ever that we have seen since the Second World War, but you ask us to play a different role, to be a partner in co-designing more integrated, more strategic policies, strengthening institutions, creating economic opportunity, integrating women in the labor force. You ask us to help in unlocking domestic resources. You help— you ask us to mobilize more private capital. You ask us to move from individual projects to enabling systems, to catalytic investment. So that means that we need to change our way of working as well, and we have been changing and we will continue changing, of course, based on the core of who we are. That will always will be— yes, we are a development organization that is present in 170 countries and territories. We built trusted relationships with governments because we are there and you know that we will stay there even in the most difficult circumstances. The past strategic plan, the last 4 years, we have delivered nearly $20 billion. We have served 1.1 billion people in 2025 alone. But certain things are changing. For example, working together with governments in their own country with their own financing. Today, that is almost 30% of the total volume we do is working with your own money and we see it as an incredible sign of trust when you ask us to work with your finances in your own country, to trust in the capabilities that we bring to the table. And we also change the way we work with the private sector. We are updating our policies to be able to work in a more flexible way, to be able to work in a faster way. We also are open to align our incentives to be able to work in a performance-based payment system. That has delivered. Today, for example, in aligning financing to achieve the SDGs, more than $380 billion US dollars has been aligned thanks to the fact that we have updated our policies and we are able to work in a more flexible way, working together with the IFIs, for example, in fragile and delicate circumstances and in crisis circumstances. Today this is a reality and we are being seen as a very trusted partner in doing that. UNDP brings something unique to development. We connect. We connect policy with programming and we connect programming with presence. And some of you have seen that firsthand. We have organized a few weeks ago a field visit to our regional hub in Panama and you have seen how we are the connector. You have seen how we work together with other partners in domains where sometimes you would not expect us to work firsthand. For example, in education and skills, where we mobilized more than $70 million in loans from the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean. And we implement that together with others, under the leadership of the Resident Coordinator. And we do that because we can leverage all the contacts that we have, the trust with local governments, the long-term local presence, the diversity of the partnerships that we have and we can combine it with core funding that you provide us. That core funding enables us to play that connector role that you expect us to be. For every dollar in core funding, we are able to leverage $10 in earmarked funding. That ability to connect, that ability to partner broadly, to engage politically and also to connect with that integrated delivery and implementation services, it is that that enables us to shift development away from something that is project-based into a delivery which is system-based, which is integrated in national political priorities and where we leverage the national leadership that is so necessary to make development successful. There is no domain where that is more necessary than in crisis and fragile settings. And development is crucial from the start in a crisis setting—on the preventive side, on the responsive side and on the stabilization and recovery side. As said, in any of the places where today you have fragility and crisis, UNDP was there before, UNDP is there, and UNDP stays there. And we bring a development perspective in humanitarian interventions from the start. If crisis response is done well, you need to keep the compass on development. I've said that recently. Recently here, the Lebanese Minister for Justice was here. He was here last week. One of the key messages that he gave is despite the very difficult circumstances in which Lebanon is living today, he said, please, can you continue with us doing the justice reforms? Can you continue to keep the emphasis on the development work that we are doing. Of course, when crisis draws down, when humanitarian organizations leave, the responsibility shifts. Responsibility shifts to governments, it shifts to UN country teams, and there very often it is being relied on UNDP as being the backbone of the development system. At that moment, recovery, peacebuilding, resilience comes high on the agenda. This is what our teams do in the field, and I would like to give you a few examples of how crisis response combined with development is done the right way. For example, in Gaza, I was able to see firsthand a few months ago the incredible work that our teams are doing in the incredibly difficult circumstances in Gaza. Providing systems such as Cash for Work, which enables entrepreneurs to restart, which enables people working to have a life that moves beyond the daily life in a refugee camp, which often is incredibly difficult. Or in Jamaica, where our teams, after the passage of Hurricane Melissa, have worked together with local communities, have worked together with governments, not only to recover, but to rebuild in a way that is more resilient would a next hurricane pass by. Or in Ukraine, where despite the fact that the war is still continuing in all its atrocity, on a daily basis we provide energy services for 6.6 million people this year alone. This is a big part of the work we do. More than 50% of the work we do, more than $2.6 billion, is being delivered in a crisis setting, and we do that together with other organizations, for example, UN Volunteers, who we proudly host, who today provide 17,000 people volunteering, working, and very often volunteering in crisis settings. We would not be able— and when I say we, I mean not only UNDP, in a broader sense many UN organizations— we would not be able to work and deliver in crisis settings if we would not have an organization such as UN Volunteers. This is one of our flagships. In making our strategic plan implementable and speeding up the implementation of our strategic plan, we are crystallizing some of our offers in what you would call flagships, and one of those flagships is Move Beyond Crisis. Move Beyond Crisis is articulated in three main phases on how we intervene in a crisis setting. First phase is preparation and prevention. That means early warning systems, that means conflict prevention work, that means building resilient institutions. The second phase is response and recovery. As I indicated before, very often when a crisis happens, UNDP is there, and very often the first response is actually using the infrastructure that we have as an organization. In crisis settings, restoring local markets, recreating circumstances in which jobs can be restarted, reconstructing essential services. We need to do it from the start, not in a sequential way, which is a bit the classic view—first you do shelter and then you do food and then you do this. No, development needs to happen from the start, even in a crisis setting. And then the third phase, after the preparation and the response, is the transition and the transformation—moving forward, learning from crisis environment and rebuilding in a resilient way, in a more stable way, to make sure that when the next crisis would happen, that stability can be provided as fast as possible. Of course, we don't do that alone. We do that together with other partners, and for example, I had the occasion two weeks ago when we were at the CEB in Japan to sign a cooperation framework together with Bahram Salih from UNHCR to really show that in crisis circumstances, by working together, by UN organizations working together, we can provide so much more than we would be able to do it individually. Revitalizing our crisis offer is one of the 5 flagship offers that we have, and that gives me occasion to highlight a few of the other flagships that we have developed based on our strategic plan. One of them is the Jobs for Prosperity facility. In the next 10 years, 1.2 billion young people will be entering the global jobs market. How it looks today, only 400 million jobs will be created. That's a huge gap that is being created if we don't intervene. What our partner countries need is scalable, practical pathways to creation of productive jobs. And UNDP is helping them in doing that. For example, in Kenya, In Kenya, together with the government, together with private sector federation, together with young people, we have created the Kenya Private Sector Alliance, a pathway to creating 150,000 jobs, opportunities for 150,000 young inhabitants of Kenya to get a first job experience. And we also do that, for example, with our Timbuktu Project Tembuktu, which is present all over the African continent and where, for example, in our Green Tech Hub, we are creating jobs that are the jobs of the future that combine job creation, economic development together with green investments. The Jobs for Prosperity Facility is about creating jobs, but not only creating jobs, It is about creating jobs that provide sufficient income. From UNDP perspective, job creation is important, but the income perspective is important as well. There is today millions of people who do work. There is not a lack of work these days. The problem is that millions of people actually work at an income which is not providing the basis for development. The basis for development is a job which leads to a surplus income, a surplus which leads to savings, savings which leads to access to financial services, to being able to borrow. That is the basis of development. So how do we do that? Yes, it is identifying those domains where job creation is the most prosperous. It is matching the skills with the ones that employers are looking for. It is addressing the bottlenecks that today are an impediment to the investment that could lead to job creation. And it is, together with partners, creating pipelines for investments. And last element, it is by integrating technology. Technology is the way with which you improve productivity. I talked about income. Jobs with sufficient income are productive jobs. And so integrating technology, from our perspective, is one of the greatest enablers that you could have in development. We have a big practice in our AI work. From our perspective, AI is an incredible accelerator for development and an incredible accelerator for job creation and for jobs that provide the decent income that is necessary. That was our second flagship, Jobs for Prosperity. The third one is the Climate Promise Forward. Now, the UNDP has launched the Climate Promise Forward in 2019. This is not a new thing. The goal was to raise the country's ambition. On the climate side, and how we have, together with you, succeeded in doing that. Today UNDP is the largest implementer of climate and nature assistance of the UN system. Today, together with you, we have a portfolio of $3 billion in adaptation and mitigation work in more than 140 countries. More than 70% of the nationally determined contributions are submit— that are submitted by the LDCs reflect work that UNDP and our partners have supported. The Nature Pledge has projects today in 145 countries, $14 billion in co-financing that has been raised. UNDP helped unlock more than $1 billion in additional financing linked to the National Adaptation Plans only in 2019. 2025. And under the direction of the Secretary-General, UNDP is federating together with 30 UN agencies to support more than 100 countries in integrating the NDC priorities into national development plans and to implement solutions. Now, there are also— how do you do that? Together with you, we do that in mobilizing resources, in collaborating together with the Resident Coordinator and the UN country teams to prioritize the NDC measures and to integrate them, for example, in the UN cooperation frameworks. We support governments to shape their policy, to increase access to financing, to implement solutions, for example, in energy, for example, in biodiversity and beyond. We support governments Now, and we support especially the government of Türkiye now in implementing a mechanism, and the mechanism is called BRIDGE, to bring a capacity to the President of COP 31 to translate global processes into local implementation. We know that in this COP year, the priority will be on the implementation side of that, and we are a proud partner of the government of Türkiye in building that mechanism to make that translation from global processes into local implementation. That was our third flagship. The fourth one is governance. Now, governance is at the core of what we do. I do not think that today we have a country office where governance is not part of the work that they do almost on a daily basis. Governance work today is being challenged. We are today in a world where there is a widening gap between institutions and population. We see that political polarization is increasing. We see that organized crime and illicit economies play more and more a role in how people feel governance and feel their access to governments. And we know that digital is transforming the public sphere. All that is being reflected, for example, in a report that we have made which is called Democracies Under Pressure. It has been made by our Latin American and Caribbean team, and it really shows that the way forward is a stronger interaction between democracy, the states, and human development. At the core, when governance, when democracy is being challenged, the only answer that we have is to deliver better on the expectation of the people. Governance works when you listen. Governance works when you see that sometimes We are not being successful. And we are not being successful, and when we see that confidence is diminishing, the only thing we can do is being pushed to stand on the top of our toes, try harder, use technology in a better way, be closer to the populations who we work with. Today, we are doing that by supporting 130 countries in digitizing the services that they provide to their population. That is how you make governance tangible in daily life services towards populations. Governance is the foundation of everything we do. I talked about job creation. How could you do job creation in an environment where there is no stability of governance? I will talk about making countries investable. How can you help making countries investible when there is not a basis of governance? I talked about crisis environment. How can you recover from crisis if governance is not one of the first things that you restore after a crisis? And today we are also working the private sector in doing that. Last year UNDP has supported more than 5,000 private sector actors in evaluating their human rights policy, in evaluating their environmental due diligence work, in de-risking investments, in responsible business practices. One could say that governance is the operating system on which we do development. If the operating system is not there, you can try to do development, but you're actually not going to be very successful. Last flagship that I would want to emphasize is our Investment Accelerator. You all know the incredible investment gap that we have today in realizing the SDGs. It is being estimated today at $4 trillion US dollars. Now, the barrier in achieving that is not the lack of capital. There's no lack of capital in the world of today. What we lack is the capability to connect that available capital with the sustainable development needs that we have. Why is that connection today sometimes difficult? Because of policy and regulatory uncertainty, because of perceived risk, which is often very different than the reality of risk, or for example, because of the lack of really bankable projects. To solve that, it requires policy choices. It requires partnerships. It requires building those public-private collaborations of which we have talked so often. That is the rationale between— behind the Investment Accelerator. The Investment Accelerator will enable us to better partner with governments, to better partner with development finance institutions, to better partner with private investors, with one goal: to translate national development priorities into financeable projects. How do we do that? Well, there's three domains in that. First one is upstream. Upstream, we work together with governments in identifying what are the policy gaps, and what are the reforms that we need to do, for example, to take away some of the regulatory weaknesses that are being perceived. That's the upstream work. It is the bread and butter of the work that UNDP classically does. It's connected with the midstream part. The midstream part is together with partners create pipelines of investable projects, of course linked to development outcomes. That will always be our perspective. What type of projects are necessary to realize development outcomes. Upstream, midstream, and downstream is linked to technical assistance— technical assistance that we can provide to sometimes close those deals which have been dragging on for a long time. We do this in partnership. We do this, for example, in partnership with Global Gateway of the European Union, We do this in partnership with the Trade Over Aid Initiative of the United States, and we do this in a longstanding partnership that we have with many of you in South-South cooperation. Other examples that serve the same goal, for example, the African Continent Free Trade Area. UNDP is working together with many partners in creating the digital public infrastructure that is necessary, for example, related to payments, create trade facilitation, create investment pipelines. Last example, working together with one, one of the other entities that we host, UNCDF, the Capital Development Fund, one of the two UN agencies that has access to the EU blended operations funding window. It has now established a capability of €150 million to start working in guarantees. The combination of what both organizations have to offer— UNDP, which is leading on policy de-risking, and UNCDF, which is able to provide guarantees to early-stage investment— that combination is really a strong combination of what is necessary to unleash the private investment capital that is necessary to attain those development outcomes built yes, for a part on public funding, but for a large part on the funding that is coming from the private sector. These are the 5 flagships that we put forward to accelerate the implementation of the strategic plan which we started this year. Now, we can only do that, of course, if as UNDP we do our internal reforms. We have been able in previous boards to always update you on the type of internal reforms that we are working on. For example, our spending controls where we have protected the oversight that is so necessary in the type of work that we do and been able to protect the accountability systems that we need. That resulted last year in a fully balanced institutional budget and we will increase the efficiencies that we can realize. Last year, $28.9 million US dollars in savings which is an increase of 55% over what we will be able to do in 2024. We will continue the workforce optimization which we have been conducting. And you know that we have begun the relocation of more than 400 posts to Bonn and to Madrid at an average saving of 17 to 20% per post that is being transferred. Our digital transformation enables us to work faster, to work closer to the population that we need. All that has led to something quite remarkable. Last year, in 2025, it was the 19th consecutive time that we have received a clean audit opinion from the UN Board of Auditors. It is something of which we are particularly proud and is the result of every one of the 23,000 people that work in UNDP. We are also 100% compliant with the financial disclosure financing requirements. We do that because we reform based on clear principles. Yes, cost containment, but always with the perspective of keeping our delivery capacity. We safeguard our strengths. We protect the people with whom we work. Investing, yes, we do it strategically in those places in the world where we know that we can have the biggest development impact. That leads to the fact that for every dollar that is being put into programming, 91 cents is effectively directly going into the programming work that we do. As said, we're able to do that Thanks to our teams, and our teams very often work in difficult circumstances and have been able to interact with many of them in the many field visits that I have done. They're doing incredible work and they deserve all the support that we can provide them and all the support that you can provide them as well, and we will continue our People for 2030 strategy to try to support them as well as possible. All these investments that I just mentioned, we're able to do it because of the core funding that we receive. The core funding is what gives us the ability to react first in a crisis without having to come to you to have fundraising. We're able to react in a much more decisive and a much more direct way. And to the Member States that champion our core funding, thank you. It is that that enables us to be that organization that is doing end-to-end development. It is that that equips us to be able to be the backbone of development that many of you expect us to be. It is what enables us to be an integrator. We do that by bringing together governments and civil society and national and local players. If development is being done successfully, it's because we are able to do it as a platform and to serve as a platform for other organizations. We are at the service of the UN system in a broad way, and all the work that we do, you know that it is being centralized in our country programme documents. All those country programme documents are fully aligned, are fully deducted from the Sustainable Development Cooperation Frameworks. That is a system that works quite well, and we think it is important to keep that system. UNDP is advancing implementation on the recommendations of the UN System-Wide Evaluation on progress towards a new generation of UN country teams. Some of you have asked specifically about sharing work plans and resource mobilization plans in practice. We already provide updates to the RCs on programming and funding gaps. We also fully support the joint resource mobilization efforts to accompany new joint work plans. That integrated work, we do it, for example, in the INFFs, the Integrated National Financing Framework. We do it in the socio-economic impact assessments that today we provide to more than 100 countries. That integrated function, that is what we do on a daily basis in PRAXIS. We do that, for example, also by hosting the Office for South-South Cooperation, which today is doing more than 1,000 projects that is coming from Southern Development Solutions. And despite the financial constraints to which all of us are confronted, We continue to contribute to the RC system. We have actually increased our contribution to the RC system. It used to be $17.3 million in 2024. Today it is $22.2 million that we provide to the RC system, and we are, as UNDP, the largest entity provider towards the RC system. That is part of our contribution to the coherence of the system, and we also do that with shared services— and I'm not going to give a long lecture of how many people we support, how many organizations we support, but you should know that a large part of the UN organizations are dependent on our Shared Services in their daily work, and I think it is something of which we are particularly proud. Let me conclude. I would like to conclude by inviting you to think differently about development. You might have heard in my introduction that I talked a lot about how we as UNDP are a connector. We are a connector of public funding with private funding. We are a connector of local political leadership with international financial institutions, with private sector. With civil society. That connector role as a development organization, it is a crucial one. But I would invite you to also be a connector of what development is today. Development successful today is connected to security. Development done well today is connected to stability. Development done well today, it is connected to trust. Stability, security, trust—these are the topics which are extremely high on the worldwide debate agenda today, and rightfully so. These are the dimensions on which there is a gap. That debate on security, that debate on stability, that debate on trust, put development as a part of that debate. We will not achieve stability, we will not achieve trust, we will not achieve security in the world if development is not part of that debate. Bring it as part of that debate and debates that you have here in the UN. Bring it as part of the discussion in the debates that you have in other multilateral systems. UNDP has a clear path on how to deliver in those circumstances. Please be part of that path and put development at the core of the worldwide debate in the next years. Thank you.


President [43:20]:

Thank you, Mr. Administrator. I have to say that even such an extensive statement doesn't do justice to the important work of UNDP. There are a number of figures that caught my attention and probably member states as well. First and foremost, I think The way you have explained the important work UNDP is doing on development, I think probably that's the best description that we could identify in the United Nations beyond any simplified approaches to development. You talked also about governance, the connection with security, which is very much important. I was looking and listening to you about some of the figures that you have provided. The fact that UNDP has helped last year 572 million people on their path to prosperity is very meaningful. The fact that UNDP has implemented in a timespan of 4 years $19.6 billion, affecting about 15% of the world population, which is very significant as well. Also,, as any picture of this nature provides good news and less positive news, it's also a trend. I would see on the one hand a trend in diminishing of ODA assistance, but also the core budget for the UNDP, but also not only for the UNDP, also for other organizations. But at the same time, one aspect that we could see indeed very well reflected in Panama when the Board visited you mentioned earlier this— was it last May? This May? This May. The support of local governments, the fact that one quarter of UNDP resources are funded by governments directly, it's an indicator of the guarantee that UNDP presents for many governments around the world, the steady partnership that it provides, and that's important work. Another figure which is very important: $2.6 billion implemented in crisis settings only in 2025. It tells a lot about the capacity and capabilities of the UNDP to adjust to this type of challenges. The unique role of the UNDP, I think, is crucially important, and we do acknowledge it. And this connection with security is at the core of the work of of the United Nations, and I may say that indeed UNDP is one of the most reliable organizations in the system. I want to share with the Board one idea because you mentioned some of the entities that UNDP hosts. I want to refer to the UN Volunteers. I've been having myself discussions with the coordinator of the UN Volunteers to create an activity for the Board, for member states, to engage in an activity of UN Volunteers to showcase the important work that this institution is providing all around the world, and also to sensitize Member States to further supporting this important work. And after this Annual Session, we'll be discussing about ways to get ourselves involved here in New York or in the area, but we'll find ways. Now, we have a long list of speakers for today, and I hope that we'll be able to go through it until the end of the session. We maintain the same protocol which you are familiar with. We'll give first the floor to Bureau members and then groups and then cross-regional statements. The speaking times are 5 minutes for group statements and 3 minutes for national individual interventions. There is no grace period at all. The microphone will be cut off. Should there be a need, of course, we will be adjusting the time limits as we advance with the list, and I count on your understanding and support, dear colleagues, to provide everyone the chance to take the floor. The first speakers I have on the list are Zambia on behalf of the African Group, to be followed by Finland Vice President, Jamaica Vice President, and then we have several group statements Uruguay on behalf of G77 and China, Nepal on behalf of the LDC Group, Belgium on behalf of Benelux, and we continue, and I will let you know afterwards. I give the floor now first to the Ambassador of Zambia, speaking also on behalf of the African Group.


Zambia · Africa Group · Ambassador [47:51]:

Please, Ambassador. Thank you, Mr. President, and thank you very much to the Administrator for a very well-articulated statement. Many of the issues that you raised resonate with the Africa Group. I present this statement on behalf of the African members of the Executive Board. The Africa Group welcomes the Annual Report of 2025 and commends UNDP for the openness with which it has presented both the achievements and shortcomings. We note that the report concludes that the 2022— it concludes the 2022-2025 Strategic Plan cycle, a period that was marked by exceptional turbulence and that UNDP nevertheless served 1.1 billion people in 170 countries. That is a record worth recognizing. There is a new opportunity before us to enhance effectiveness and deliver on the ground, and that is in the next strategic plan. Africa remains both a primary beneficiary and indispensable partner of UNDP's work, and the Africa Group is encouraged by several results highlighted in the report. Africa remains considered UNDP a trusted partner because of its long presence. As a continent, three broad priorities are present— pertinent for us. The first is that relates to youth, the youth dynamics. Africa has a burgeoning young population and tremendous potential to contribute to its development. Creating productive employment opportunities for our growing youth population remains an urgent priority. We therefore commend the efforts of UNDP through its interventions such as the government-led Community Development Program, which has now expanded to 6 Sub-Saharan African countries. It has mobilized nearly $1 billion in domestic resources since its inception and created over 6,000 jobs just in DRCE alone. Such employment-generating opportunities need to be scaled up. At the same time, we need to bridge the digital divide and harness digital technologies and AI for our achievement of advancement and creation of jobs for the youth. Second, on our continent is financing for development, financing our national and continental development agenda. To this end, we encourage UNDP to position itself to contribute to the implementation of the Xavier commitment. We welcome the work of UNDP through the Integrated National Financing Framework facility that can help countries effectively position and leverage the different financing resources. We commend the recognition of Nigeria's INFF that has been recognized as one of Africa's most ambitious financing reform agendas, supporting a 175 million SDG-aligned pipeline and a subsovereign green bond in Gombe State. This is the kind of nationally-owned UNDP-catalyzed support that Africa Group wishes to see. The third priority relates to its climate response. Africa remains vulnerable to climate change. We recognize the works done so far, including the Platform for Investment Support and Technical Assistance that directed $8 million in technical assistance to 18 countries. The UNDP should expand the geographical scope of this facility and ensure that larger African countries, including those most vulnerable to climate shock, are included in the $500 million mobilization pipeline. Mr. President, the Africa Group wishes to echo a number of concerns that this report has highlighted. The first is on energy, which is a key issue for Africa. The Clean Energy Moonshot reached only 75.5 million people. Against a target of 500 million, a delivery rate that is only 15%. For a continent where energy poverty remains one of the most acute barriers to development, this shortfall is not just a statistical disappointment, it is a daily reality for many millions of Africans and places a weight on the growth of economies and development. The Administrator rightly acknowledges that systemic market and financing reforms are required. We therefore urge UNDP to use the next strategic plan to move from project-level energy delivery to systems transformation in partnership with African governments and regional development banks. Second, the decline in core financing is deeply troubling. The report, indeed, it warns that earmarked funds cannot substitute for regular resources, so we call on all member states to reverse this trajectory and honor commitments to UNDP's core budget. Third, Africa notes that sudden funding cuts by major vertical funds and bilateral donors has exposed the fragility of national health and development systems. This must be addressed structurally in the new strategic plan. Excellencies, the group acknowledges the new— the lessons in the previous plan, and we look forward to the new digital artificial intelligence innovation hub and call for Africa to address the gaps that are— I'm running out of time— to address the gaps that are there. Let me conclude by just saying that UNDP is a trusted partner and we look forward to working together. Thank you so much.


President [53:04]:

Thank you very much, the Ambassador of Zambia, for this statement on behalf of the African Group. I give the floor to our Vice President from Finland. You have the floor, to be followed by Jamaica.


Finland · Vice President [53:14]:

Mr. President, Mr.

Administrator, colleagues, Finland thanks the Administrator for his comprehensive report and for UNDP's work in an increasingly challenging global context. Administrator, your vision for UNDP, as you presented it, was lucid and compelling. Your remarks were at the same time disheartening and encouraging. Disheartening because of the growing number of conflicts and rising development needs, and the hardship and desperation this causes for people around the world. Encouraging because of UNDP's continued commitment to deliver development results to those in need and its ability to adapt to the changing development landscape to do so. Mr. Administrator, I have three points. First, Finland greatly appreciates UNDP's work on sustainable finance, accountable governance, and domestic resource mobilization. We encourage UNDP to further integrate them into its country-level support, as well as to strengthen partnerships with international financial institutions, tax administrations, and national institutions. Strengthening partner countries' revenue base enables them to finance public services, reduce dependency on external aid, and create conditions for sustainable investment and inclusive growth. In this context, I wish to highlight the the Tax Inspectors Without Borders initiative, which Finland is pleased to support. Second, I wish to acknowledge UNDP's remarkable work on gender equality to deliver on the commitments made for the last planning period of its Gender Equality Strategy, as well as those of the UN System-Wide Action Plan. In addition to being a human right, gender equality is also a powerful accelerator of development outcomes. Third, Mr. Administrator, you are right in focusing on governance. And yes, without delivery, governance becomes theatre. But governance must also set direction, and it must safeguard integrity, risk oversight, compliance, ethics, and long-term viability. Yes, governance is about delivery, and Delivery creates trust, but that is not enough. Finally, Finland thanks UNDP staff and partners for their work. We value your active engagement in moving the UN80 Initiative forward and expect your continued contributions to making the UN Development System more coherent, agile, and efficient. Thank you.


President [55:50]:

I thank the Vice President from Finland. I give the floor to Jamaica, to be followed by Uruguay on behalf of the G77 and China. Jamaica, you have the floor, please.


Jamaica · Vice President [56:03]:

Thank you, Mr. President. Jamaica aligns itself with the statements to be delivered by Uruguay on behalf of G77 and China and Palau on behalf of AOSIS and wishes to offer the following remarks in a national capacity. First, we wish to thank Administrator de Croo for his presentation. Jamaica commends UNDP for the various programs and activities it undertook to meet the targets of the 2022-2025 strategic plan period, which culminated in the delivery of $19.2 billion to 170 countries and territories, addressing poverty, governance, resilience, climate, energy, and gender equality, all of which were mentioned in his statement. We also commend UNDP for the efforts taken on financing for development agenda, having leveraged $920 billion in public and private finance for the SDGs, including supporting the issuance of €100 million blue bond, which will mobilize finance for coastal resilience and sustainable blue economy investments in the Latin American and Caribbean region. UNDP's distinctive ability to enhance the achievement of nationally owned development priorities, as well as to increase the technical capacity, resilience, and long-term development competitiveness of developing countries remains one of its main comparative advantages. Notwithstanding, it is noted that due to the 24% reduction in core funding, 129 country offices identified financial constraints as a primary implement— implementation challenge, resulting in limited seed financing, technical support, and slowed scaling rates. In this regard, could you elaborate broadly on which programs were scaled back or delayed at the country level in each region, and how did UNDP pivot to address the gaps in implementation. Additionally, and as an annex to the Administrator's report, an update on the results achieved by UNOSSC in 2025 was presented. Of note, it indicated, among other things, that an evaluation of the UNOSSC strategic framework found that while the agency is responsive and aligned with its mandate, results have not consistently translated into visible high-impact outcomes at the country level. We therefore encourage UNOSSC, with the support of UNDP, to continue to take efforts to strengthen the linkage between South-South cooperation initiatives and its translation into measurable developmental gains, and for the provision of the necessary resources to achieve these goals. We thank you, Mr.


President [58:33]:

President. I thank Jamaica Vice President for the statement. We continue with group statements. I have Uruguay on behalf of the G77 and China, followed by Nepal on behalf of the LDC group. Uruguay, please, you have the floor.


Uruguay · G77 + China [58:51]:

Mr. President, distinguished members of the board, UNDP Administrator, I have the honor to deliver this statement on behalf of the G77 and China. Mr. Administrator, the group of the G77 and China appreciates your comprehensive statement acknowledges UNDP's valuable contributions to implementing national and regional development plans, as well as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and reiterates its full support to the vision and direction outlined in the UNDP Strategic Plan. As the largest end-to-end UN development organization, UNDP is a crucial partner in enhancing and accelerating assistance to developing countries in implementing their respective sustainable development priorities and supporting their efforts to achieve them through collaboration with the resident coordinators. The Group of 77 and China reiterates its grave concern about the decline by 23.1% in official development assistance in 2025, the largest fall on record— and by 24% in the case of UNDP's core funding over the same period. The Group extends its appreciation to all Member States that continue to provide its financial support to UNDP and reiterates its longstanding call for a significant increase in core contributions, urging all development partners to reverse the current trajectory by providing adequate, predictable and flexible funding, which is indispensable to achieving the strategic plan's objectives. As you yourself have put it, Mr. Administrator, development is the smartest long-term investment we can make. To make the returns on that investment more visible, the Group sees value in the continuous enhancement of the assessment of results and impact at country level, while promoting transparency and accountability. Sustainability within existing means and without additional cost to program countries. With less than 9% of system funding flowing through pooled mechanisms last year, well short of the 30% funding compact target, the Group acknowledges the need to continue to work to rebuild donor confidence and mobilize adequate, predictable, and sustainable financing to meet the priorities of developing countries. As we approach the final years for implementation of the 2030 Agenda, the Group of 77 and China stresses that the United Nations Development System must intensify support to programme countries to accelerate progress in line with their national priorities. This requires strengthened multilateral cooperation, fulfilment of official development assistance commitments, enhanced access to concessional financing and debt sustainability measures, technology transfer, and capacity building support. Mr. Administrator, the Group of 77 and China reiterates its general support to the UN Haiti Initiative and its overarching objective of achieving a paradigm shift in how the UN system organizes its work in order to deliver greater impact on the ground for the people we serve. The Group is of the view that any reform must be member-state-led, transparent and inclusive, and should place the views, needs and priorities of programme countries at its centre and should not jeopardize the long-standing country-level work carried out by the UN development entities, including UNDP, with which developing countries have built long-standing relationships of trust since its establishment in 1965. With regard to the proposal to merge UNDP and UNOPS, the Group of 77 and China looks forward to receiving the information requested during the UN-AT Dialogue held last Monday, 8th June, to continue to analyze the merit of the different options presented in UNDP and UNOPS' joint assessment. In addition, the Group considers any reform should remain fully aligned with the QCPR and the UNDS repositioning resolutions, which emphasize agile coordination, comparative advantage, and country-tailored models. Country program documents should remain the core programmatic and oversight framework, together with national cooperation frameworks, and any institutional adjustments should not weaken the Board's ability to guide, monitor, and hold the system accountable for country-level results. These efforts should go hand in hand with a resident coordinator system responsive to national priorities and circumstances and fully aligned with the principles established by member states in the QCPR. Running out of time, I thank you.


President [1:03:49]:

I thank Uruguay for the statement on behalf of Group of 77 and China. The following speakers are Nepal, Belgium, Palau. I give the floor to Nepal on behalf of the LDC group.


Nepal · LDCs · Ambassador [1:04:03]:

Thank you, Mr. President, Mr. Administrator, Excellencies, colleagues. I have the honor to deliver this statement on behalf of the LDC Group. And firstly, I thank you, Mr. Administrator, for your very comprehensive report. We express our deep appreciation for UNDP's steadfast support to the LDCs in advancing the 2030 Agenda and the Doha Programme of Action, often under increasingly complex and constrained global conditions. Excellencies, in 2025, development progress was severely tested by the escalating conflicts, intensifying climate shocks, and shrinking fiscal space. These pressures were felt mostly, most acutely by LDCs, which continue to shoulder a disproportionate share of extreme poverty and remain highly exposed to external shocks, debt vulnerabilities, and limited productive capacities. Against this backdrop, UNDP's grounded presence and its responsiveness through resident coordinators in support of nationally owned priorities remain indispensable. Excellencies, as the largest in-twin development organization of the United Nations, UNDP is a critical partner for LDCs in implementing national development plans and in accelerating progress across the SDGs. We deeply value UNDP's commitment to remain firmly rooted in country realities, with 91% of every dollar spent directly on programmes and services in developing countries. We also note with deep appreciation that each dollar of core resources enabled UNDP to leverage an estimated $7.4 in additional funding, demonstrating the catalytic power of flexible, predictable financing particularly in LDC context. LDC also welcomed the reported efficiency gains and entity-specific savings that can be redirected towards development results. In the meantime, Excellencies, we remain deeply concerned by the significant decline in official development assistance to LDCs, which fell by 25.8%, as well as the sharp reductions in UNDP's core resources. These trends severely constrain the organization's ability to provide the impartial, predictable, and long-term support in LDCs, which LDCs rely. While appreciating the member states that continue to provide financial support, the group reiterated its call for the substantial increase in core predictable and flexible funding. For LDCs, such resources are essential to sustaining crisis response, policy advisory services, institutional capacity building, and integrated solutions that match the scale of our structural challenges. Excellencies, the LDC Group supports efforts to enhance efficiency, effectiveness, and coherence across the UN development systems, including through UNAID initiatives. All this underscores that country program documents anchored in the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework must remain the core programmatic and oversight instrument for the UNDP's engagement at the country level. Administrator and Excellencies, as UNDP implements 2026-2029 Strategic Plan. We call for a strong and explicit focus on LDCs and full mainstreaming of the Doha Programme of Action across relevant programmes and initiatives. Priority attention should be given to productive capacity development, digital transformation, institution building, climate resilience, domestic resource mobilization, and access to innovative and concessional financing and to support sustainable and irreversible graduation pathways for LDCs. UNDP's support to expand fiscal space, to strengthen public institutions, and to mobilize finance for development is of particular importance to our group. Finally, Excellencies, as we prepare for the 2027 midterm review of the Doha Programme of Action, We look forward to deepening our collaboration with UNDP to accelerate implementation of six priority areas. I thank you. Time is running out.


President [1:09:02]:

I thank the Ambassador of Nepal for the statement on behalf of the LDC Group. I give now the floor to Belgium on behalf of Benelux.


Belgium · Benelux [1:09:13]:

Thank you, Mr.

President, and thank you, Administrator Ducrot. I have the honor today to speak on behalf of the Benelux, longstanding regional partnership comprising Luxembourg, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and my own country, Belgium. We first would like to thank the Administrator and his team for the comprehensive annual report for '25 and his presentation here today. We commend UNDP for its important work globally and express our strong support for the implementation of the new strategic plan. As this is the first year of the plan, It is a critical moment to set the right course and make strategic choices for the years ahead. At the same time, we are concerned about the global decline in ODA and in core funding in particular. This puts increasing pressure on UNDP's ability to deliver on its mandate. We recognize and welcome the ongoing workforce optimization efforts, including efficiency gains and reprioritization. Optimization. However, given the scale of the funding constraints, it is still uncertain whether these measures will fully address the challenges. We would therefore welcome continued open and timely engagement with the board on the progress and implications of workforce optimization efforts. Given the annual report's emphasis on the fact that current financing trends must be reversed to sustain visible results, We would also appreciate an update on UNDP's mitigation measures to the global decline in ODA beyond its workforce optimization. And in this context, we also encourage UNDP to prioritize those areas where it has a clear comparative advantage and can deliver the greatest impact to come closer to our collective goal of multidimensional poverty eradication. We see this comparative advantage in three areas. Areas. First, governance, institutional capacity building, and policy advice, and in particular UNDP's work on rule of law, justice, and strengthening institutions. Second, we value UNDP's continued leadership in mainstreaming gender equality, human rights, and climate and environmental considerations across its programs. UNDP should work closely with its UN partners specialized in these domains to strengthen its programs and to build on their expertise. Joint programming is essential. Third, UNDP plays a vital role in crisis response and resilience building, helping countries navigate increasingly complex and interconnected challenges. UNDP's continued engagement in LDCs is of the essence here. At a time of rising conflict, accelerating climate change, and increasing pressure— pressure on development financing, the world needs a strong UNDP more than ever. This strength also lies in UNDP's trusted partnerships and its ability to convene a broad range of actors, including governments, UN entities, international financial institutions, civil society, and the private sector. UNDP's close alignment with national priorities, as outlined in the cooperation frameworks that at the country level and its longstanding partnerships with governments must help ensure that programs are responsive to country priorities. We strongly encourage UNDP's support and contribution to enhancing the UN's effectiveness, efficiency, and overall impact, including through the UN80 Initiative and its various work packages, including on UN Country Team Reconfiguration, the Unified Services Roadmap, and Expertise on Demand. We look forward to continue our close cooperation with UNDP and to engaging constructively on the strategic choices that lie ahead. I thank you.


President [1:13:02]:

I thank Belgium for the statement delivered on behalf of Benelux. The following speakers are Palau on behalf of AOSIS, to be followed by Armenia, Côte d'Ivoire, Bangladesh, Dominican Republic, United States. I give the floor to Palau, speaking on behalf of AOSIS.


Palau · AOSIS [1:13:22]:

Mr. President, Mr. Administrator, I have the honor to deliver these remarks on behalf of the Alliance of Small Island States. At the outset, AOSIS appreciates this opportunity to engage with UNDP at a critical juncture for the United Nations development system. We recognize the need for the UN to continuously adapt and improve its effectiveness in in an increasingly challenging global environment. For Small Island Developing States, the effectiveness of the United Nations is measured not by institutional structures, but by its ability to provide responsive, tailored, and impactful support on the ground. Any reform process must therefore be guided by the objective of enhancing development outcomes, particularly for countries with unique vulnerabilities and capacity constraints. In this regard, AOSIS remains committed to engaging constructively on the UNADP process. We are not opposed to reform, reconfiguration, or efforts to improve efficiency. However, reforms must be accompanied by sufficient detail to enable member states to assess their implications, particularly for countries served through multi-country office arrangements. In this regard, we would welcome greater clarity from UNDP on how proposed reforms will affect its presence, operational capacities, and service delivery in Small Island Developing States. This includes understanding how efficiencies will be achieved while preserving the expertise, accessibility, and country-level support that many SIDS rely upon. We caution against approaches that prioritize consolidation or cost savings without a clear demonstration of how development effectiveness and country support will be maintained or enhanced. Mr. President, Mr. Administrator, for many SIDS, UNDP serves as a critical development partner, providing technical expertise, policy advice, capacity-building support, and assistance in accessing development and climate finance. These functions are especially important given the limited institutional capacities that many SIDS face. As reform discussions are ongoing, it is essential that the unique circumstances of SIDS are fully reflected in decision-making processes. Therefore, the current reform discussions also provide an opportunity to address longstanding challenges confronting SIDS. We encourage UNDP to continue supporting efforts to better integrate vulnerability into the development planning and financing frameworks, including through the support for the operationalization of the Multidimensional Vulnerability Index and broader efforts to improve access to concessional finance and development support. At a time when many states face mounting debt burdens, increasing climate impacts, and constrained fiscal space,— the international development system must become more responsive to vulnerability rather than less. In closing, AOSIS reiterates its willingness to engage constructively on the UNAD process and on broader efforts to strengthen the United Nations development system, including the UNDP. We believe that reform can deliver meaningful improvements, but only where proposals are transparent, evidence-based, and clearly demonstrate how they will enhance support to program countries. For SIDS, the ultimate measure of success will be whether reforms strengthen the United Nations' ability to deliver responsive, effective, and tailored support where it matters most, at the country level. We stand ready to work with you, Mr. Administrator, and to ensure that UNDP can continue to deliver effectively and decisively for small island developing states.


President [1:17:19]:

I thank you. I thank Palau for the statement delivered on behalf of AOSIS. I give the floor to the Ambassador of Armenia, to be followed by Côte d'Ivoire.


Armenia · Ambassador [1:17:32]:

Thank you, Mr. President. Armenia welcomes the presentation of the UNDP annual report and commends the Administrator and the entire UNDP team for the results achieved under the strategic plan 2020 to 2025. The report demonstrates the continued relevance of UNDP as a trusted development partner and highlights the value of its integrated approach to addressing interconnected development challenges through linking governance, financing, resilience, climate action, digital transformation, and social inclusion. We share the view that development action should begin from the earliest— of crisis response and recovery, helping to protect development gains and strengthen resilience. Armenia also welcomed UNDP's continued leadership in advancing financing for development. For countries such as Armenia, effective and innovative financing solutions remain essential for advancing sustainable development priorities. We further commend UNDP's work on climate action, biodiversity conservation, and sustainable energy. As incoming COP17 President, Armenia particularly values efforts to integrate biodiversity considerations into development planning and financing frameworks. At the same time, we note with concern the continued decline in regular resources. Predictable and flexible funding remains essential for preserving UNDP's integrated development model and ensuring effective country-level support. Armenia also stresses the importance of stronger alignment of UNDP country program documents with the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Frameworks to ensure system-wide coherence at the country level. We support a needs-based and country-driven approach to UN country configuration. In doing so, it will be important to preserve the balance between coordination and implementation functions, safeguard mandate-based expertise, and ensure that reforms enhance country-level impact without creating additional duplication or resource pressures. We thank UNDP for its partnership with program countries and reaffirm our support for the implementation of the Strategic Plan 2026-2029. I thank you.


President [1:19:53]:

I thank Ambassador Framinia for the statement.

I give the floor to Côte d'Ivoire to be followed by Bangladesh. Ambassador, you have the floor, please.


Côte d’Ivoire · Ambassador [1:20:05]:

Thank you, President. My delegation is aligned with the statement delivered by Zambia on behalf of the African Group and wishes to add the following remarks in its national capacity. Côte d'Ivoire thanks the UNDP Administrator for introducing its 2025 Annual Report. We welcome the results achieved despite an international context marked by conflict, climate change, economic tensions, and development financing constraints. We welcome the UNDP's achievements in poverty reduction, democratic governance, gender equality, resilience, and crisis management. In 2025, its work benefited more than 1.1 billion people in 170 countries and territories. It did so by strengthening access to services, governance, and economic opportunities. These results are evidence of the relevance of its mandate and the essential contribution it makes to meeting the Sustainable Development Goals. President Côte d'Ivoire particularly welcomes the focus on human capital development, digital transformation, innovation, and the creation of economic opportunities for young people and for women, and also for the ecological transition. These priorities are perfectly consistent with the strategic orientations of our National Development Plan 2026-2030. The goal of the plan is to consolidate structural transformation of the Ivorian economy and ensure strong, sustainable, and inclusive growth. In this regard, the government of Côte d'Ivoire attaches particular importance to economic transformation, industrialization, development of human capital, strengthening governance, stepping up digital transformation, and promoting a green and resilient economy. These priorities are fully expressed in the new cooperation program between Côte d'Ivoire and the UNDP for the Period 2026 through 2030. My delegation welcomes the strong convergence between the NDP 2026-2030 and the UNDP Country Programme. This complementarity will strengthen the effectiveness of interventions, mobilization of resources, and achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals for the benefit of the Ivorian population. In this context, Côte d'Ivoire encourages the UNDP to continue its efforts to mobilize innovative financing, strengthen institutional capacities, develop digital solutions, and to support states in the implementation of their national development strategies. President, my delegation also commends the continued efforts of the UNDP to enhance transparency, accountability, and the effectiveness of its work in a context of increasing pressure on available development resources. Côte d'Ivoire also attaches great importance to the reform of the United Nations— under the UN80 initiative framework. It supports the continuing of the dialogue between UNDP and member states in order to better understand the implications of these reforms and their implementation. In conclusion, Côte d'Ivoire reaffirms its support for the UNDP with its commitment to effective, inclusive, results-oriented multilateralism. We remain convinced that harmonized implementation of the National Development Plan 2026 through 2030 and the UNDP country program


Speaker 21 [1:23:05]:

The speaker's microphone has been turned off.


President [1:23:14]:

I thank the Ambassador of Côte d'Ivoire, and I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Bangladesh, to be followed by the Dominican Republic.


Bangladesh · Ambassador [1:23:24]:

Thank you, Mr. President. Aligning with the statement delivered by the representative of Uruguay on behalf of G77 and China, and Nepal on behalf of LDC Group, we thank the Administrator for his comprehensive briefing. Following our elections held in February this year, Bangladesh entered a new phase of stable and inclusive democratic governance. In this journey, we deeply value UNDP's partnership, particularly through the ballot project, which enabled millions of first-time voters to participate in our democratic process. We look forward to further aligning UNDP's program support with the priorities of the newly elected government, especially in strengthening institutions, enhancing governance, and upholding the rule of law. Mr. President, as one of the most climatically vulnerable countries, Bangladesh needs stronger and more accessible support. We encourage UNDP to further scale up its technical assistance, particularly in unlocking access to global finance, climate finance, including from the Green Climate Fund and the GEF. Our priorities include nature-based solutions, local climate governance, river restoration, and afforestation. The cumulative effects The complexities of the domestic situation and global shocks, including the ongoing energy crisis, have posed new challenges at a time when we are about to graduate from the LDC category. We have therefore requested for a 3-year extension of our preparatory period for graduation. We are committed to making full use of this period through a holistic approach involving public institutions, private sector, and other national stakeholders. We call upon UNDP as well as other development partners to continue supporting us in ensuring smooth, sustainable, and irreversible graduation. Mr. President, on the question of merger under the UNAT initiative, Bangladesh reiterates the importance of a member-state-driven, transparent, and evidence-based process. Mandates must be preserved, programs protected, and structural hierarchies avoided. We seek efficiency, but never at the cost of delivery at the country level. Lastly, Mr. Administrator, Bangladesh reaffirms its strong commitment to working closely with UNDP in advancing the 2026-29 Strategic Plan. I thank you.


President [1:26:05]:

I thank the Ambassador of Bangladesh Thank you very much for the statement. We'll take two more statements and then we will provide the Administrator the chance to react because we have had already a number of statements and we'll continue after that the conversation. So we have the Dominican Republic and the United States. The Dominican Republic, Ambassador, you have the floor, please.


Dominican Republic · Ambassador [1:26:25]:

Gracias, señor Presidente. Thank you, President. The Dominican Republic recognizes and appreciates the valuable report of the UNDP, it shows concrete results in a very complex environment. Despite the financial restrictions, the UNDP has achieved the majority of its development activities and has received its 19th clean audit result. And this is reflected— clearly reflects that the UNDP has been a clear ally for us through 2026 in reducing poverty, strengthening governance, and transitioning to towards cleaner energy. President, allow me to take this opportunity to share with you that last Monday, on the 8th of June, the Dominican Republic was the host of the launch of the UNDP report on Democracy and Development 2026 entitled Democracies Under Pressure: Reimagining the Future of Democracy and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean. We are pleased that this report was launched that week in Santo Domingo, and this reaffirms the commitment of our region with the strengthening of democracy from a sustainable human development perspective. President, allow me to highlight three concrete outcomes that are directly linked to the work of the UNDP and the national agenda of the Dominican Republic as reflected in the report that we are discussing today. Firstly, the launch last December of an investment of $3.3 million that launches our country and sets it as a pioneer of sustainable development in the region. Secondly, the support of the UNDP in our nationally determined contributions is an inclusive process that involves more than 330 national stakeholders. Thirdly, the strategy of the UN System for Climate Action in the Dominican Republic. This was launched in March 2025, and this coordinates interagency efforts to fulfill our commitments under the Paris Agreement and our National Development Strategy. These examples show how alliances and partnerships between the UNDP and the Dominican Republic actually achieve concrete results. They improve the lives of our people and enhance our resilience. The Dominican Republic is in favor of effective multilateralism and the UNDP that continues to deliver solutions at the intersection between governance, finance, and climate action. Finally, we would urge the board to take note of the calls of attention in the report that the reduction in 42% of resources between 2024-2025 will— could undermine the ability to deliver results. We also support the call of the administrator that if— that without regular predictable resources, we cannot have a swift response with integrated results. The Dominican Republic reaffirms its support for the UNDP and our readiness to continue to contribute to a joint roadmap for development and democracy. I thank you.


President [1:29:26]:

I thank the Ambassador of the Dominican Republic. I give the floor to the United States, and then we'll go back to the Administrator. United States, please.


United States of America [1:29:38]:

Thank you, Administrator De Croo. As we look ahead, the global landscape demands that development models shift towards supporting self-reliance, long-term resilience, and economic growth. To achieve this, the United States emphasizes a critical shift in development philosophy, prioritizing trade over aid. We must consciously move away from traditional government-to-government aid models. Instead, we call for mutually beneficial business partnership between the private sectors of partner countries. Let me be very clear about this, though. Just like America First does not mean America alone, Trade over aid does not mean no aid. America remains the world's most generous nation. Since December 2025 alone, we have contributed $3.9 billion to OCHA in humanitarian aid. We are also continuing development aid through hundreds of millions of dollars of strategic economic investments in countries around the world. But the emphasis should be on trade. True progress is achieved by enabling sovereign nations to own their development trajectories and chart their own pro-growth courses by expanding free market principles, fostering pro-business governance models, and cultivating local innovation rather than creating permanent dependency. UNDP plays a valuable role when its interventions align with these objectives, specifically by helping program countries build a robust domestic regulatory and other architecture required to attract commercial investment. We support UNDP's capacity building efforts that lower the barrier to entry for the private sector. True pro-growth reforms require a laser focus on strengthening business-enabling environments through efforts such as strengthening property rights, facilitating free capital flows, building credible, fair judicial and legal systems, a tax code that incentivizes businesses and entrepreneurs in enabling them to earn a profit and reinvest it in business in the wider economy. When UNDP works to support business-enabling environments, it unlocks the transformative scale of market-led development. UNDP must avoid, though, mandate creep and initiatives that support gender ideology and soft global government requirements like those in the SDG 2030 Agenda. We note the difficult financial and staffing decisions that UNDP has already made to meet with current fiscal reality. To demonstrate alignment with this fiscal reality and to ensure the maximum resources are devoted to development impact on the ground, we must lead by example. We urge UNEP to institutionalize stricter cost-saving measures such as an outright ban on business class travel.


President [1:33:02]:

I thank the United States. I would encourage you to distribute the statement and all delegations as well. You know, we still have a lot to cover. Administrator, before we go to you, I want to announce the next speakers after that. So we will have Nepal and then Cuba. Japan, Brazil.


UNDP · Administrator · Alexander de Croo [1:33:25]:

So, please, you have the floor. Yes, thank you. Thank you. I think great start of dialogue. Maybe a few things which you hear in many intervention. I think many of you talk about how development is part of your first line of defence, and I've used it in the introduction. I think when you have functioning institutions, when you have an inclusive economy, when you have job creation, this is one of the best stabilizing things that you can do today. Second element, yes, UNDP is transforming, transforming in our operation, also in how we bring forward our strategic plan.

I've emphasized our 5 flagships, and this is really a way of putting forward what are the key things.

We do more than the 5 flagships, but that is where everything is organized around. And we cannot do it alone. Emphasized a lot partnerships, partnerships where we need funding.

Many of you have talked about it.

We also need political will and political support, specifically on the interventions being made. First of all, Zambia, in name of the African countries, and congratulations on your Vice Presidency.

You talked about jobs.

I think our Jobs for Prosperity really is an answer to that focus that you have. Investment Accelerator, one of our other flagships, is one of the ways in which you create an environment where jobs can be created. And how you position SMEs not as beneficiaries but really as engines of development. We couldn't agree more with what you do, and we would then congratulate you also on the development progress in Zambia specifically and on the job— on the debt restructuring that we've been able to work successfully with you. You mentioned energy and why there is such I think you mentioned 25% is only being realized. UNDP has quite a broad portfolio of energy work, almost 400 projects in 130 countries that we have today. The difficulty that we often see in energy projects is that they are often not in the hand of one entity. Very often to do energy projects, you need to combine policy work and infrastructure work coming from different political entities or ministries., and this is one of the difficulties. Now, that is not a reason to be complacent, but it shows that energy work, as important and urgent it is, it is often difficult on the implementation phase. Finland, happy that you mentioned Tax Inspectors Without Borders. I think that is a great success story, more than almost $2.7 billion in tax being collected., and the leverage effect is gigantic. So for $1 that you invest in Tax Inspectors Without Borders, there's $125 in tax collection that is being done. This is really one of the best examples on how you can support domestic resource mobilization and really build capacity that is a crucial one. It is hard to finance development if you don't collect taxes. It is really one of the cornerstones. Thank you for your support to our gender equality work, and you've always been a strong driver and supporter of that. Question from Jamaica. I think Jamaica is a good example of the type of work that we do on resilience and on reconstruction after that a crisis has happened. I want to congratulate you on the legislative work that you have done and that we have done together with you in creating your national authority for resilience and for reconstruction. It is one of the ways, and we know that you are not going to move your island.

I mean, you are in a space where natural crisis can—

natural disaster crisis can happen, but you can better prepare for it. Also been doing a lot of work together with you in your recovery grants. Statement by Uruguay for G77 and China: when you say development is the smartest investment you could do, obviously we agree with that and it is core in the strategic plan that we put forward. You made some remarks on UNATI. Fully appreciate that you say that any reform should be aligned with the QCPR report and with the UN Development System resolutions that exist. The whole point is to strengthen implementation and we couldn't agree more with that. Intervention of Nepal in name of the LDCs. We work, UNDP works in every of the 32 LLDCs on many domains, on governance, on climate mitigation and adaptation. We invest in total big, big amounts in that. If you take the cumulative investment in LLDCs in a period of 10 years, it's $12.5 billion US dollars. On reforms fully aligned with the elements that are in our strategic plan, which align, for example, with the Doha Programme of Action agenda being put forward. Benelux in name— Belgium in the name of Benelux, thank you for your support. We share your concern on the decline of ODA.

You ask for mitigating measures.

One of them is cost containment that we do, workforce optimization, relocation to other places in the world. On cost containment, we've been able to increase what we have been able to contain with 55% in '25 compared to 2024. We would really would like to thank the countries that have increased core contribution last year. That was Austria, Luxembourg, Spain, and Belgium was one of them in 2025. Unfortunately, in 2026, that was not the case anymore. But there's a big increase of Denmark that took place this year, and which is a crucial one for us, and we thank you for.

Palau, in name of EOSYS, you asked about our country presence. We have presence in 36 of the SIDS and deliver more than $350 million in there.

Your new Rising Up for the SIDS strategy is fully aligned with our strategic priorities and what is being put forward in the Antigua and Barbados agenda. Your national— the national pledge on the Green and Blue Initiative is one which is aligned with what we work on. I've mentioned in my introduction that our local presence is one of the key strengths that we bring to the service of the UN system, and I think especially related to the SIDS, that is something which we will do everything to preserve as a service that we offer to the SIDS, but also to other implementing agencies. Armenia, congratulations on hosting COP17 and on the presidency that you have and the acceleration that you do in, for example, your National Biodiversity Action Plan. We work together with you on that, specifically on policy but also on implementation. Through, for example, the work that we do with the green environmental facility. Côte d'Ivoire—

As you know, we have been working together on your carbon market approach. I think that is one of the major successes that we were able to bring about together with you. We're also working with you on your Blue Economy initiative, $370 million of investment there. We're also working on the digital transformation and your youth in the area of AI and digitalization of investment in small businesses. So I think the partnership with Côte d'Ivoire is an excellent an excellent example of economic development and job creation that can be achieved.

First of all, thank you for your steady core contribution.

That is important to us and we really, really appreciate it. We have a partnership with you where we work, for example, on climate resilience. Gender strategy is a core element of the work that we do together with with you. Dominican Republic would like to highlight the importance of the work that we do with you on democracy, launch of the Democracy and Development Report that you did with your President actually this week. I think it is a great example of the cooperation between agencies, and you mentioned specifically that when it comes to the implementation of the the NDCs and, for example, consolidating private SDG investment that in total is more than $4 billion working together with you. You know that we also have a continued engagement with Haiti and we know that this is close to your heart. United States, totally agree with what you said on focusing on trade does not mean that aid needs to disappear, and really happy when you talked about the fact that both play a role.

What is crucial to us is putting trade high on the agenda.

If you look at the progress we've had in the world over the past decades, the incredible development outcomes that we've had, many have played a role in that, but free trade and investment has been one of the key elements in creating jobs and lifting people out of poverty. Putting that high on the agenda is an item on which we look forward to be a contributor and obviously looking forward to your future support in our functioning and in working on that agenda. As you know, for us, Development done well is a development where everyone is included and where every talent that you can have in a country is being included, and talent is everywhere, and talent is with men and talent is with women, and that is really the economic rationale that is behind our gender agenda.


President [1:45:04]:

Thank you very much. Colleagues, we have 36 more speakers. This morning. Let's see how we square this circle. Without further ado, so we will be— I will be giving the floor to Nepal, to be followed by Cuba, and then Japan, Brazil, Denmark. Ambassador, please, you have the floor.


Nepal · Ambassador [1:45:27]:

Nepal. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President, Administrators, Excellencies. Firstly, I deeply appreciate UNDP's for continued support to Nepal in democratic governance to reduce poverty, promote gender equality, enhance climate resilience, and to create sustainable livelihoods. I strongly resonate with the Administrator's message that development is the first line of defense against instability. As a mountainous, nature-rich, and rapidly transforming country with vibrant young populations, we see every day how governance, digital systems, and resilient livelihoods shape stability and social cohesion. Even as we confront real constraints, we also witness extraordinary potentials—communities adapting, young people innovating, and institutions steadily strengthening. It is this blend of realism and optimism that defines Nepal's development journey today. Administrators, Nepal welcomes UNDP's skills of delivery and its impact. We also commend UNDP's leadership in digital transformations, innovations, and AI. Being a country with the largest populations with tech-savvy youths, Nepal looks upon stronger partnership with UNDP to strengthen digital governance, expand digital public infrastructure, and modernize our institutions and build local digital and AI ecosystems. On poverty and inclusion, UNDP's support to women, youth, and vulnerable communities is significant. Nepal values the focus on financial inclusions, youth skills, and job creations areas that are central to our national development priorities. Similarly, UNDP's support and commitment to protecting environment and gaining clean energy access is commendable. For Nepal, a country already living the daily, daily realities of climate impacts, from melting glaciers to erratic monsoons, this work resonates deeply. While we appreciate UNDP's support to address the climate change impact in Nepal, including the Glaciers Lake Outburst Flood, we look forward to have the deeper partnership with the UNDP in the days to come. Finally, Nepal shares the Administrator's concerns regarding the decline in core resources. Nepal underlines the need to have the predictable and flexible funding that is indispensable for upstream policy support, crisis prevention, digital transformation, and institution building. I thank you.


President [1:48:21]:

I thank Nepal for the statement. I give the floor to Cuba, to be followed by Japan. Ambassador.


Cuba · Ambassador [1:48:27]:

Gracias, señor. Thank you very much, President. President, Administrator, my delegation aligns itself with the statements delivered by Uruguay on behalf of the G77 and China, and by Palau on behalf of AOSIS. At the start of this year, the Secretary-General stated that the context is one of chaos. 6 months later, the international situation is even more unpredictable and perilous. Military threats have been multiplied all over the world, and the principles of the Charter of the United Nations are being flouted, and multilateralism is under constant attack. We consider that the work of the UN entities together with that of our government is becoming even more important in terms of overcoming the obstacles that have been imposed. The difficult financial situation of the UN and associated entities is forcing emergency reforms in order to maintain the vitality of their services on the ground. However, this situation should not lead to a collapse of the fundamental entities of those projects in the most sensitive and vulnerable countries. The increase in the conditionality of financing stemming from donor countries should not endanger the mission of the UNDP in terms of driving development and the eradication of poverty, which is their fundamental objective. On the other hand, we are open to considering proposals for strengthening the UN development system, including possible mergers. However, it is important to point out that this process should not be done in haste. Member States should have all of the information and resources available in order to avoid a counterproductive outcome. We reiterate our call for developed countries to take up their historic responsibility and honor their commitments to development. The Global South and the UN entities need this support. Urgently. And we cannot wait for the developing countries themselves to pay for the help that they need. In this context, we are grateful for the support of the UNDP in Cuba and the work led by the Resident Representative Fernando Heraldo, and we recognize his outstanding work. The support of the UNDP has been fundamental in tackling the policy of the economic stranglehold imposed by the government of the United States. It has increased to extreme levels with the energy blockade and the so-called secondary measures, all of which is causing serious human harm to our people. I conclude by reiterating the commitment of Cuba to continue supporting all efforts aimed at sustainable development and implementation of Agenda 2030, and to living in a world of peace as indispensable condition so that we can leave no one behind. I thank you.


President [1:51:17]:

I thank the Ambassador of Cuba for the statement. I give the floor to Japan, to be followed Ambassador Katsuragi, followed by Brazil.


Japan · Ambassador · Katsuragi [1:51:23]:

Thank you, Mr. President. I'd like to express Japan's appreciation to UNDP for its continued efforts to deliver results at country level amid an increasingly complex development landscape. We are grateful for the opportunity to engage in dialogues with Administrator in Tokyo during your two recent visits. Your message that investment in development is investment in security along with your active engagement with the private sector, left a strong impression on the Japanese leadership. Now, let me make 4 points. First, we appreciate UNDP's commitment to listen, partner, and deliver, as it resonates well with the concept of human security. As development challenges become more intertwined and complex, Japan believes that human security, which places 'Individuals at the Centre' is more relevant than ever. Second, Japan also attaches great importance to promoting co-creation among startups and SMEs through mobilizing the knowledge and technology of the private sector. Public resources alone cannot meet today's development needs. ODA must therefore be directed strategically and catalytically, building enabling environment de-risking private investment, and connecting innovation with needs on the ground. Third, in an increasingly fragile and volatile world, the HDP nexus should be further promoted. Japan values UNDP's role in bridging crisis response and long-term development, and encourages deeper cooperation with IFIs to better connect policy support, financing, and implementation. Fourth and finally, Japan supports the objective of UNAID to make UN system more efficient, coherent, and results-oriented. At the same time, institutional reform should not become reform for reform's sake. It should strengthen implementation and improve outcomes on the ground. In considering possible UNDP-UNOPS merger, Japan attaches importance to to maintaining and strengthening field-level service delivery while preserving the mandate, expertise, and trusted partnership built by both organizations. Looking ahead, a clearer common analysis by UNDP and UNOPS, including comparative advantages, operational continuity, and transition costs, would help Member States engage with greater clarity. As we approach 2030, prolonged uncertainty should be avoided. In conclusion, Japan looks forward to working with UNDP to deliver results that people can see, trust, and rely on.


President [1:54:15]:

I thank you. I thank Japan for the statement. I have the following speakers: Brazil, Denmark, Sweden, the United Kingdom. I give the floor to Brazil. You have the floor, please.


Brazil [1:54:26]:

Thank you, Mr. President, Mr. Administrator. Good morning. My delegation aligns itself with the statement delivered by Uruguay on behalf of the G77 and China. Mr. Administrator, we do thank you for your comprehensive report. It clearly shows how relevant the program continues to be, how obviously important it continues to be. The results are impressive: 1.21 billion people across 170 countries and territories served, served total program delivery reaching $4.8 billion. Most of these resources were directed to fragile and crisis-affected contexts while maintaining a strong focus on development activities, as it should. So we all welcome these results. At the same time, as many delegates have expressed, the financial constraints affecting the multilateral system and the program remain a matter of grave concern for developing countries. Initiatives aimed at fostering new partnerships and innovative financing mechanisms are most welcome. In this regard, we take note of the Investment Accelerator and of efforts to develop bankable projects capable of mobilizing private capital. However, private finance cannot replace official development assistance, at least in the short and medium term, nor can it be a substitute for predictable and flexible core resources. The reported 24% decline in core resources between 2024 and 2025, bringing them to low— their lowest level in 6 years, must be reversed. We reiterate our call on all our donors to prioritize core funding. We also welcome the ongoing discussion on flexible or high-quality non-core resources, including pooled and thematic funds. Brazil stands ready to work with the UNDP to increase the share of funding windows in total non-core resources, which currently account for only 3% of such contributions. One specific concern, which Brazil has already conveyed to the Administrator during the last session of the Executive Boards, relates to the reduction in the budget of the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation,, as you recall. We trust that the resources currently projected for the office will be implemented in full, given its unique mandate and the growing importance of South-South and triangular cooperation in advancing sustainable development.


President [1:56:54]:

I thank you. I thank Brazil for the statement. I give the floor to Denmark, to be followed by Sweden.


Denmark [1:57:02]:

Thank you, Mr. President, Mr. Administrator, Excellencies. Let me begin by recognizing and welcoming the progress achieved over the past 4 years. Mr. Administrator, you have highlighted important results to which Denmark has contributed with predictable multi-year funding, including substantial core funding. As a current member, elected member of the Security Council, we recognize the importance of your work on governance, crisis response and early recovery. Important examples are in Ukraine, in Gaza, in Syria, as well as in Sudan. Such efforts remain of utmost importance to ensure that we leave no one behind. UNDP has now entered the implementation of its new strategic plan. We, we have equally high expectations for the results from this, including from your Jobs for Prosperity facility. Cooperation with the international financial institutions and the private sector is really key for scaling and for achieving successful impact in terms of new jobs, especially for young people, and also for green sustainable development towards 2030. As you mentioned, Mr. Administrator, 2026 unfortunately continues to unfold amid geopolitical uncertainty and a shrinking fragmented ODA landscape. This puts pressure on the multilateral system and against this backdrop the urgency for reform is clear. As also mentioned by Belgium and behalf of the Benelux, Denmark stresses the importance of an updated information on UNDP's mitigation measures in light of this shrinking core funding. Denmark remains firmly committed to the UN and to effective multilateralism as signified by our 0.7% ODA commitment and by our substantial core contribution to UNDP. The Secretary-General's UN80 Initiative is a call to address fragmentation, internal competition, and duplication in the UN development system that must— sorry— that must enable the UN to deliver as one in support of the 2030 agenda. We expect UNDP and all UNDS partners to engage proactively and to be fully committed to implementing all relevant UN-AD work packages. We look forward to a more unified UN approach under the leadership of the Resident Coordinator at the country level to improve local ownership, efficiency, and sustainable impact in a situation with strained resources. Mr. Administrator, We take note of the UNDP-UNOPS merger information received so far, but as others, we also look forward to a consolidated joint assessment as well as the Secretary-General's recommendations. Thank you.


President [1:59:56]:

I thank Denmark for the statement. I give the floor to Sweden, to be followed by United Kingdom and then Switzerland.


Sweden [2:00:03]:

Sweden. Thank you, Mr. President. Dear colleagues, Administrator de Croo, Let me begin by expressing my government's appreciation for your visit to Sweden last month and for the fruitful discussions that took place. Your visit confirmed the longstanding partnership between Sweden and the UNDP. This partnership is further strengthened by our shared goals and by the appointment of the Swedish Crown Princess as Goodwill Ambassador for UNDP and the Sustainable Development Goals. Sweden strongly supports the Secretary-General's UN80 Initiative and the swift implementation of reform measures that have already been agreed. We expect UNDP to continue demonstrating leadership and constructive engagement in this process. There should be no ambiguity: the Resident Coordinators should be the first, though not the only, point of contact for partners to to ensure continued alignment with and implementation of the Cooperation Framework. We also firmly support the Secretary-General's recommendation that entity-specific programming tools follow the design of the Cooperation Framework. Entity presence should be based on the needs identified therein and on available resources. And resources must prioritize delivery and technical expertise over administrative overhead costs. A constructive and solutions-oriented engagement from UNDP and UNOPS regarding the proposed merger would improve confidence in the overall reform process, as well as in both organizations. We greatly appreciate UNDP's commitment to its mandate and its vital role in advancing and upholding key international norms and principles, including human rights, democracy, gender equality, and non-discrimination. We are also very grateful to the staff of the UNDP for their efforts in this regard. Thank you very much.


President [2:02:14]:

I thank Sweden for the statement. I give the floor to Switzerland, to be followed by the United Kingdom. I'm sorry, I give the floor to United Kingdom to followed by Switzerland.


United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland [2:02:23]:

Yes. Thank you, Mr. President, distinguished members of the Executive Board. On behalf of the United Kingdom, I thank the Administrator for his statement and for his continued leadership at this time of global change. I would also like to take the opportunity to thank all of UNDP staff around the world working in some of the most difficult contexts for their dedication and professionalism. Conflict, climate change, and economic shocks are placing immense pressure on development progress and the achievement of the SDGs. These overlapping crises demand that we do indeed think differently through stronger partnerships and a UN development system that is more coherent, efficient, and focused on delivering greater impact on the ground. The United Kingdom welcomes the annual report, and the UK is committed— partner to UNDP. We value the scale of UNDP's delivery and its contribution to protecting development gains and building resilience. In a resource-constrained environment, sharper focus, stronger performance, and clear value for money are essential. UNDP should prioritize its comparative strength, expand its donor base, and make cost savings where it can. At the same time, UNDP must strengthen assurance, accountability, and safeguarding controls, ensuring these core functions are protected alongside delivery through reform. We remain concerned about action on preventing sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment, which UNDP has indicated is structurally underfunded and under-resourced. While we recognize the financial pressures safeguarding must be treated as a non-discretionary investment. UNDP should ensure the sufficient capacity, expertise, and resourcing to protect those effective prevention and response across all operations and programs. On UN80, the UK strongly supports the ambition of the Secretary-General's reform agenda. It should deliver practical improvements empower resident coordinators, reduce duplication, and have full alignment with cooperation frameworks and national priorities. In this context, UNDP plays a vital role in driving coherence across the system. We value its integrated role and its operational platform for the wider system and encourage it to go further, fully embracing a strengthened resident coordinator system and maximizing efficiencies in how it engages and supports other UN entities. On the proposed UNDP-UNOPS merger, the UK requires further evidence before taking a position. This includes refined jointly agreed options supported by independently verified data on costs, particularly transition costs, efficiencies, risks, timelines, and legal implications. This is a crucial step before the Executive Board can make a recommendation


President [2:05:25]:

I thank the United Kingdom for the statement.

I give the floor to Switzerland, to be followed by Georgia.


Switzerland [2:05:35]:

Mr. President, Mr.

Chair, Mr. Administrator, Switzerland congratulates the UNDP for the cumulative achievements of the Strategic Plan for 2022-2025. We welcome the tangible strides made in all the main goals and the ongoing commitment to the effectiveness program of the United Nations. We have 3 remarks. First, on the vision. We welcome the fact that the UNDP continues to prioritize gender equality. We can see that from the new gender equality strategy. We were also gratified to see the work, the trailblazing work done with the Gates Foundation on the sandbox for monitoring and follow-up, which is an important stage toward a UNDP that is more impact-oriented. Second, we can't ignore the challenging financial context. The budget cuts have given rise to significant questions. How are they going to affect the implementation of the strategic plan? Should the UNDP recenter its priorities or reduce some goals? And if so, which ones? Furthermore, with 90% of funds already committed, how can the UNDP maintain its strategic direction? We underscore the importance of ensuring that any future structural arrangement must not dilute the normative role of the UNDP, in particular in terms of democratic governance and crisis prevention. These functions are at the very heart of the identity of the UNDP and the credibility of the development provided by the UN. Third, Switzerland remains a staunch advocate of the reform of the UN— United Nations system for development and the goals of UN80. In order to ensure that these reforms fully live up to their potential, we encourage the UNDP to better harmonize the sequencing of the program documents in the countries following cooperation framework programs for sustainable development from which they must be derived in accordance with the priorities of the countries and with its mandate. The Ministry of Switzerland will continue its financial support for the regular resources of the UNDP for these next 3 years. We will maintain our commitment to ensure the organization remains adapted to its mission and can have a significant and measurable impact for populations who need it the most.


President [2:07:50]:

I thank Switzerland. Georgia has the floor. Next is New Zealand.


Georgia · Ambassador [2:07:57]:

Merci, le Président. Thank you. Distinguished members of the Executive Board, ladies and gentlemen, at the outset, I would like to Thank you, Administrator, for the thoughtful remarks and the presentation of the UNDP Annual Report, which provides a comprehensive overview of the implementation of the Strategic Plan 2022-2025, including overall progress and results achieved in 2025. UNDP's ability to deliver at scale, reaching 1.1 billion people in 170 countries and territories while maintaining a strong focus on those furthest behind once again demonstrates its unique mandate and its indispensable role within the United Nations development system in advancing sustainable development, eradicating poverty, and reducing inequalities. We particularly welcome UNDP's continued efforts in resilience building, crisis response, and peacebuilding, as well as its work to advance climate action. Digital transformation, and sustainable finance, including the mobilization of substantial resources in support of the Sustainable Development Goals. We also commend UNDP's support for democratic governance and access to justice. These achievements once again underscore the importance of UNDP's leadership and guidance in addressing increasingly complex and interconnected global challenges. Georgia has enjoyed a fruitful and longstanding partnership with UNDP for more than 3 decades across a wide range of development priorities, including democratic governance, economic development, environmental protection, disaster risk reduction, and crisis prevention. We are pleased that this strong cooperation continues to evolve in and deepen. The recently adopted Country Programme Document for Georgia For 2026-2030 stands as a further testament to the strength and relevance of the UNDP-Georgia partnership. We look forward to its smooth and successful implementation and to continued cooperation in support of Georgia's Sustainable Development Objectives. It is essential that the CPD clearly emphasizes the primary purpose of UNDP's work in Georgia's Abkhazia region, supporting conflict-affected communities on both sides of the occupation line and facilitating confidence-building. Georgia, as a member of the Board, looks forward to continued close cooperation with UNDP and fellow Board members in advancing our common objective and accelerating progress towards the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. Thank you.


President [2:10:33]:

I thank Georgia, the Ambassador of Georgia, for the statement. I give the floor now to New Zealand, to be followed by India.


New Zealand [2:10:41]:

Thank you, President, Administrator, Excellencies. New Zealand thanks you for the briefing and welcomes the report before us. We meet at a time when development gains are under sustained pressure. Conflict, climate change, and economic shocks are compounding, reversing progress, and increasing vulnerability. In this context, we agree that development remains fundamental to stability, resilience, and security, and must be at the center of the UN's work. We therefore welcome UNDP's continued efforts to evolve its approach towards more integrated, system-wide responses and towards delivering impact at scale. New Zealand strongly supports the SG's UN80 reform initiative as an opportunity to take forward meaningful reform. Alongside other member states, we have emphasized the need for a UN development system that is more focused, more efficient, and better coordinated, particularly at the country and regional level. In this regard, We welcome UNDP's role as the integrator and operational backbone of the UN development system, and its work to strengthen coherence and reduce duplication. We encourage continued efforts to ensure that resources are used as effectively as possible and directed towards delivery and results on the ground. As we consider the reform agenda ahead, New Zealand recognizes that a range of options are being put forward to strengthen the effectiveness and coherence of of the development system. It will be important that, that these are assessed holistically and not in isolation. They should be considered within the broader context of UN80 reforms, including ongoing discussions on the reconfiguration of UN country teams, the role of the Resident Coordinator System, and the regional reset, all of which are important for the UN's operating model in our own Pacific region. We also underline the important role of this The Board in providing strategic guidance on these questions. As member states, we have a responsibility not only to consider the options presented, but to drive timely decisions on the way forward. Given the urgency of the challenges we face, we believe the Board should now move beyond analysis and discussion towards clear conclusions and decisions on next steps. Ultimately, the test must be whether proposed changes strengthen coherence, improve delivery at country level, or provide clear value for money for member states and partners. We therefore support continued careful and evidence-based consideration, but underscore the importance of maintaining momentum and setting a clear path forward. If we allow ourselves to be paralyzed by indecision, we will quickly find ourselves irrelevant in creating the changes needed. In a constrained funding environment, we also underline the importance of quality core funding alongside continued prioritization efficiency, and demonstrable results. In closing, New Zealand reaffirms its strong support for UNDP and its central role in the development system. We look forward to working with partners to ensure that reforms under UN 80 result in a more coherent, efficient, and country-focused UN development system, and that we move forward with the urgency this moment demands.


President [2:13:41]:

I thank New Zealand for the statement. We have a slight change to the list. I give the floor to Norway, to be followed by Morocco, Myanmar, and Ukraine. Norway, please, you have the floor.


Norway [2:13:53]:

Thank you, Mr. President, and Mr. Administrator, of course. Norway welcomes the insights of your Annual Report of 2025, which clearly demonstrates the organization's critical role in advancing sustainable development. Strengthening resilience and supporting countries in times of crisis. We commend the UNDP for its continued commitment to innovation, partnership, and results on the ground. Norway remains a strong and steadfast supporter of the UNDP's mandate and its central role in the UN development system. We especially value UNDP's contribution to poverty reduction, climate action, and governance, which remain essential to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. At the same time, we would like to underscore the necessity of a strong, well-coordinated UN system. The UNDP plays a key role in supporting the Resident Coordinator's strategic leadership, helping to deliver coherent responses at a country level. We also highlight the importance of delivering as one. The success of UN reform depends on our collective ability to enhance efficiency, reduce fragmentation, and ensure that the UN acts with unity and purpose. Norway reaffirms its support to the UN 80 reform agenda and calls on the UNDP to continue to contribute to a more integrated, effective, and accountable UN development system. A bit more specifically now, Mr. Administrator and Mr. President, if you allow me, referring to your annual report for 2025, Norway acknowledges UNDP's strong delivery capacity and more candid reporting on underperformance. However, we do note that follow-up to last year's World Decision remains incomplete. Reporting must to better support board oversight. Norway calls for clearer integration of underperforming areas, more concrete corrective actions, and stronger analysis of financing constraints, and encourages a shift towards assessing outcomes, impact, durability, and institutional change. I thank you.


President [2:16:18]:

I thank Norway for the statement. We're going to have another rearrangement of the list, members and observers. I give the floor first to Morocco and then China. Mr.


Morocco · Ambassador [2:16:32]:

Ambassador. Merci beaucoup, sir. Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Administrator. Distinguished colleagues, we welcome this discussion held at a crucial time for the UN system and for development. This time is marked by a context of reform, but there is also an increase in the burden and the needs, and there's a proliferation of crises. There's growing pressure on available resources as well in terms of financing development. In this context, the UNDP remains an essential partner for countries of the South. Its ongoing presence on the ground, its its need for long-term accompaniment requires irreplaceable— provides irreplaceable added value for development. Morocco welcomes its longstanding cooperation with the UNDP, in particular in terms of the energy transition, climate action, the mobilization of financing for SDGs. Inter alia, Digital for Sustainable Development in partnership with the UNDP shows this dynamic. And Morocco has brought its national experience to bear and engaged in regional cooperation for the world— for the region and broader areas. For Morocco, we are aiming to achieve the empowerment of women and young people, and this is a strategic lever for development. We also welcome your interest in South-South and triangular cooperation. We fully support the creation of a Global Alliance for South-South and Triangular Cooperation, which has been promoted. This initiative will certainly play a strong role in prioritizing innovative partnerships for sustainable development. Turning now to UNAIDI, we appreciate your personal commitment in terms of the mission of the Secretary-General to transform the UN system to make it more effective, better adapted, and more capable of meeting the needs of populations. We would like to underscore the importance of predictable, flexible, and adequate financing, in particular through core resources so as to ensure the role of the UNDP. In closing, particular attention must be given to middle-income countries. These face structural vulnerabilities and limited access to concessional financing. This should be done to ensure no country is left behind in the end— the rest of the time until 2030. How can the UNDP better accompany middle-income countries given their— the microphone has been cut off. I thank the Ambassador of Morocco for that statement. I give the floor to the Ambassador of China, to be followed by Myanmar.


China · Ambassador [2:19:49]:

Thank you, President. To begin with, I thank Administrator DeCrew for the presentation. We also align ourselves with the statement made by Uruguay on behalf of G77 and China. Let me share three observations. First, China values the critical role of UNDP in the development system as the backbone of UNDS. UNDP's role and impact in poverty reduction and sustainable development are widely recognized. The present international community urgently needs UNDP to more effectively implement the Strategic Plan 2026-2029, strengthen internal management and accountability, and better address the development needs and priorities of Programme Countries. Second, it's imperative to forge innovative and diversified partnerships. The substantial decline of core resources for UNDP is a cause for major concern for us all. China calls on developed countries to honor their ODA commitments and encourage UNDP to forge innovative and diversified partnerships in order to mobilize more development resources. China's Global Development Initiative as well as the South-South Cooperation Initiatives have unique advantages in promoting capacity building and knowledge sharing, among others. We hope UNDP will continue lending greater support in this regard. Third, we encourage UNDP to continue its constructive engagement in the UAT process. Institutional reform should not only aim at cost reductions and efficiency, but also preserve mandates, ensure continuity of delivery, and maintain the capacity of institutions to execute at country levels. China supports SG's vision for UN aid reform, but the assessments— the current assessments regarding the proposed UNDP-UNOPS merger is insufficient to support member states' decision-making. Establishing a new entity will create more uncertainties in terms of mandates. Particular caution is needed here. We expect the two institutions to demonstrate good faith and come up with joint reform options as soon as possible to provide a basis for decision-making by member states. At the same time, it is important to strengthen coherence and coordination between the regional and resident levels so that resident coordinators can play their part without being subject to a cookie-cutter approach. UNDP has been a valued partner in China's reform and opening up and implementation of GEEs, China is willing to strengthen the partnership with UNDP and work together to advance the 2030 Agenda. Thank you, President.


President [2:22:28]:

I thank the Ambassador of China for the statement. I give the floor to Myanmar, to be followed by Ukraine. Myanmar. Yes.


Myanmar [2:22:45]:

Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. Administrator, I thank you for your comprehensive remarks. Myanmar aligns itself with the statements of ADC and G77 China. We reaffirm our full support to the new UNDP strategic plan, including 5 flagships to accelerate its implementation. Of particular importance to Myanmar following the military coup is revitalizing UNDP's in crisis and fragile setting. In this regard, I wish to underscore the following 3 points. First, build community resilience. Community across Myanmar are suffering not only from climate shocks and natural disaster, but also from Scottish arts policy, including indiscriminate airstrikes, bombings, and burning down villages, and ruthless violence against civilians by the military junta. Against this backdrop, Fostering community resilience through preventive and innovative measures has clearly become a strategic necessity. We are of the view that early warning systems can be transformed into life-saving tools, thus reduce vulnerabilities and protect civilians from both natural and man-made disasters, particularly in conflict-affected areas of Myanmar. Second, integrate investments in in youth. According to UNDP, Myanmar's youth are not only struggling with disrupted livelihoods and education, but also with the loss of freedom from want, freedom from fear, and freedom from indignity. Now, Myanmar is at a serious risk of losing a generation. Development, therefore, cannot be natural without investing in future generations and unlocking their full potential. Investments in economic and education opportunities, vocational training, mental health and psychosocial support can help enable young people to play an active role in shaping our country's future. Third, strengthen the humanitarian-development-peace nexus. Coupling humanitarian response with development requires sustained efforts not only to reinforce focal leadership, local leadership, but also to support relevant stakeholders that are genuinely committed to peace. The NUG and major ethnic democratic forces in Myanmar are coordinating through the Steering Council for Emergence of a Federal Democratic Union, clearly demonstrating the active face of state-building to achieve lasting peace and stability in the country. Finally, I wish to conclude by echoing Mr. Administrator, that development is indivisible from security, stability, economic growth, social cohesion, and trust. It is crystal clear that this destructive and violent military junta has no genuine role or desire to build peace and development in Myanmar. Therefore, I ask the international community to support the people of Myanmar and their efforts to eradicate the military dictatorship


President [2:25:49]:

I thank Myanmar for the statement.

I have the following speakers: Ukraine, Ethiopia, Germany, India, Laos, Lebanon. I give the floor to the Ambassador of Ukraine, please.


Ukraine · Ambassador [2:26:03]:

Mr. President, the delegation of Ukraine would like to thank the INDP Administrator Alexander de Croo for his insightful and forward-looking statement. Ukraine highly values its partnership with UNDP. Today, UNDP is the largest UN agency in Ukraine and one of the most important partners in supporting recovery, especially now during Russia's full-scale invasion. Every day, our cities face brutal Russian missile and drone attacks on homes, schools, hospitals, and critical civilian infrastructure. Ukraine deeply appreciates UNDP's comprehensive support, from restoring essential public services to humanitarian demining. I would especially like to highlight UNDP's contribution to strengthening Ukraine's energy resilience. At a time when Russia continues its deliberate attacks on energy infrastructure, UNDP support has been invaluable. The provision of power generation facilities, equipment, support for decentralized energy solutions, and efforts to help communities maintain access to electricity, heating, water, and other essential services have had a direct, positive impact on the lives of millions of Ukrainians. Dear Alexander de Croo, we hope that under your strong leadership, The NDP will scale up its indispensable support for Ukraine, especially enhancing our energy resilience. We reiterate our invitation to visit Ukraine and see with your own eyes a positive impact of UNDP work and support your excellent team. Mr. President, we are equally thankful to the donor countries whose solidarity have made this assistance possible. I would especially mention today the UNDP's top 5 donor partners in Ukraine. These are Norway, Japan, the European Union, Sweden, and Denmark. I would like to encourage today other member states to join this donor club. Mr. President, Ukraine actively participates in the ongoing discussions regarding a possible merger between UNDP and UNOPS. As these deliberations continue, We believe that any future arrangement should ultimately enhance the effectiveness, the efficiency, and responsiveness of both agencies. It is essential to preserve operational continuity and maintain strong implementation capacity on the ground, particularly in crisis-affected countries. I thank you.


President [2:28:46]:

I thank the Ambassador of Ukraine.

I give now the floor to the Ambassador of Ethiopia, to be followed by Germany. Ambassador.


Ethiopia · Ambassador [2:28:57]:

Thank you, Mr. President. At the outset, I would like to congratulate you on successfully steering the works of this Triple Board. My delegation aligns itself with the statements delivered by The African Union on behalf of the African members of the Board, and Uruguay on behalf of G77 and China, and Nepal on behalf of the LDCs. I would also like to extend my appreciation to the Administrator of UNDP, Mr. Alexander de Croo, for the insightful statement which gives reason for optimism in the context of multiple global shocks. The UNDP is delivering a range of development programmes—from supporting reforms to eradicating poverty—reinforcing the case for it to be recognized as the brand symbol of the UN development architecture. In this regard, we commend the Executive Board for adopting the Strategic Plan for the next 5 years, which coincides with the final stretch of Agenda 2030. We appreciate the focus of this interactive dialogue and the Administrator's speech on putting development at the centre of global discussion— decision-making. We acknowledge UNDP's various initiatives that resulted in promising value proposition even in turbulent times. We also encourage UNDP to continue to consolidate its role towards UN country teams and the Resident Coordinator System. Ethiopia remains committed to closely working with the UNDP in the fields of economic development, digital literacy, clean energy, and so on, among others. Our homegrown economic reform agenda focuses on key development initiatives aligned with the SDGs and Agenda 2063. Our Green Legacy Initiative, Our investment in renewable energy, our digitalization program, the construction of Africa's biggest aviation hub in Addis, sustainable urban development, food sovereignty and agricultural productivity are some of our flagship initiatives. We are pleased to continue to partner with UNDP in all this. UNDP's Regional Programme Document for Africa 2026 2039 and the Agenda 2063 of the AU should continue to serve as a basis for effective engagement. We are proud host of COP32 on behalf of our continent, and Ethiopia will continue to partner with UNDP and redouble its efforts towards environmental stewardship. In conclusion, we wish the Administrator a successful tenure My delegation stands ready.


President [2:32:10]:

Thank you. Thank you, Ambassador. Thank you to you for the statement. I give the floor to Germany, to be followed by India, and then Laos, Lebanon.

Germany, please.


Germany [2:32:21]:

Thank you, Mr. President, and dear Mr. Administrator.

We commend UNDP's achievements under its last strategic plan despite growing global crises.

We particularly value UNDP's steadfast commitment to human rights, gender equality, climate action, and inclusion. We expect UNDP to continue upholding these agreed norms and resist any rollback of its mandate. Despite declining core contributions, UNDP has maintained stable operations through stronger support from private, philanthropic, and country-level donors. These sources will become more important. Yet expenditures have exceeded revenues for a second consecutive year, which is unsustainable. We must therefore expand durable, innovative financing. In this context, we urge all member states to avoid excessive cuts to core contributions, which underpin UNDP's oversight, control functions, and flexibility. Despite fiscal pressures, Germany has maintained its core contributions to remain a reliable and long-standing partner. We also see strong value in instruments such as the funding windows and encourage UNDP and member states to use them more strategically. We commend UNDP's efforts to improve efficiency. The partial relocation to Madrid and Bonn will reduce costs and foster new and stronger partnerships. In regard to the UNAID initiative, we count on UNDP in ensuring that potential structural changes are based on solid evidence, comprehensive impact assessments, and inclusive member state consultation. Reforms must safeguard UNDP's broad development mandate and focus on improving coherence, effectiveness, and accountability. In addition, we commend UNDP's enduring support to the RC system and meaningful improvement on the completion rate of the RC feedback tool. We encourage UNDP to further strengthen this harmonization and sustain its support as the leading contributor to the RC system. For Germany, UNDP remains a key partner in advancing sustainable sustainable, inclusive development worldwide. We look forward to deepening our dialogue with you, Mr. Administrator, and your team through strategic exchange in Germany later this year, ideally alongside the opening of UNDP's new offices.


President [2:34:46]:

I thank you. I thank Germany for the statement. I give the floor to India, to be followed by Laos.


India [2:34:54]:

Thank you, Mr. President. We thank the Administrator for his comprehensive speech speech this morning. We align with the statement delivered by Uruguay on behalf of the G77, and our national statement is as follows: We meet at a time of profound global uncertainty. Conflicts, climate-induced disasters, economic unrest, and widening development gaps continue to threaten the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals. As highlighted by the Administrator, development setbacks in one region increasingly have global consequences, reinforcing the need for strengthened international cooperation and solidarity. India shares the view that development remains the most effective pathway to lasting peace, resilience, and prosperity. Investments in livelihoods, institutions, infrastructure, education, healthcare, and social protection are investments in stability and human dignity. India welcomes UNDP's efforts to adapt to a changing development landscape and its focus on integrated approaches that connect policy, financing, and implementation. We particularly appreciate the emphasis on national ownership and country-led development pathways. Mr. President, development solutions cannot be imposed from outside. They must be designed and driven by national priorities, circumstances, and capacities. In this regard, India reiterates the importance of respecting the development choices of partner countries and ensuring that multilateral support remains responsive to country needs. India's own experience demonstrates that investments in skills development, entrepreneurship, digital innovation, and financial inclusion can create transformative opportunities at scale. Through initiatives such as Skill India, Startup India, Digital India, and extensive financial inclusion programs, India has sought to empower millions of citizens to participate meaningfully in economic growth. India remains committed to advancing sustainable lifestyles, renewable energy, resilient infrastructure, and nature-based solutions. Initiatives such as the International Solar Alliance and the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure reflect a commitment to advancing climate action through international partnership and collective responsibility. India deeply values its collaboration with UNDP in operationalizing the India-UN Development Partnership Fund, recognizing UNDP as a pivotal implementing partner in translating India's commitment to demand-driven and inclusive South-South cooperation into concrete development outcomes. Through this fund, India fosters sustainable progress across more than 70 partner countries, demonstrating the transformative potential of solidarity among developing nations. India firmly reaffirms the South-South cooperation is is a cornerstone of the United Nations development system and an indispensable instrument for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, enabling developing countries to share knowledge, resources, and innovative solutions tailored to their unique development priorities.


President [2:37:55]:

I thank India for the statement. I have the following list: Laos, Lebanon, Turkey, European Union, France, Pakistan, And I give the floor to the Ambassador of Laos, please.


Lao People's Democratic Republic · Ambassador [2:38:06]:

Mr. President, Mr. Administrator, Excellencies, my delegation aligns itself with the statements delivered by distinguished representative of Uruguay on behalf of the Group of 77 and China and Nepal on behalf of LDCs. We would like to thank the UNDP Administrator for presenting the annual report for 2022. 2025 and commend UNDP for its continued dedication to advancing sustainable development in an increasingly complex global environment. The Lao PDR appreciates the remarkable achievements highlighted in the report. Despite growing challenges including conflicts, climate shocks, and constrained development financing, UNDP continues to deliver tangible results, supporting millions of people through poverty reduction governance, Human Resource Development, Resilience Building, Climate Action, and Digital Transformation initiatives, among others. These achievements demonstrate not only the enduring value of multilateralism, but also UNDP's unique role that combines policy expertise, operational presence, financing solutions, and implementation capacity. At the same time, we recognized The continued decline in core resources, predictable and flexible funding remains essential for UNDP to remain its operational capacity, respond to emerging challenges, and support countries in achieving the national development priorities and SDGs. We therefore encourage for continued support for regular resources and multi-year funding commitments. In the Lao PDR, UNDP remains a trusted and longstanding development partner, supporting national priorities and efforts in poverty reduction, governance, climate resilience, environmental protection, disaster risk reduction, and implementation of the 2030 Agenda. As discussions on the future of the UNDP development system continue, my delegation wishes to underscore the importance of preserving country ownership and the ability of program countries to shape the support for their national development priorities. We believe that reforms to strengthen the UN system should be practical, build on existing strengths while preserving flexibility, national ownership, and mandate-based accountability, and enable the UN system, including UNDP, to deliver more effectively and efficiently. In conclusion, the Lao PDR reaffirms its support for UNDP and looks forward to further strengthening our partnership in pursuit of sustainable, inclusive, and resilient development.


President [2:40:55]:

I thank you. I thank the Ambassador of Laos for the statement. I give the floor to the Ambassador of Lebanon, to be followed by Turkey.


Lebanon · Ambassador [2:41:04]:

Mr. President, Let me start by thanking UNDP for its longstanding partnership with Lebanon. We share the concerns expressed by many with regard to the growing global funding challenge facing the development system. Indeed, we are witnessing a widening gap between increasing demands on UNDP and declining flexible resources and core contributions. Despite these realities, UNDP continues to deliver efficiently and tangibly across, across the globe. President, amidst an existential crisis due to Israel's continued aggression, UNDP remains a key partner for Lebanon, supporting both immediate humanitarian recovery needs and long-term development priorities. The recent extension of the flash appeal is a clear reminder that the humanitarian situation remains severe. It identifies 1.4 million people in need and requires a total of USD 639 million throughout August 2026, with only one-third funded as of today. We call on the international community and development partners to help ensure adequate financing for the appeal and for Lebanon's broader recovery efforts. Mr. Administrator, for Lebanon, maintaining development investments is not an option. It is a necessity. Humanitarian action alone cannot address the structural challenges. Recovery requires functioning institutions, effective governance, economic opportunities, climate resilience, and social cohesion. And this is exactly what our government has been advancing.— placing reforms and institutional building at the very front of its efforts, reaffirming its commitment to the 2030 Agenda. We encourage UNDP to continue prioritizing support to Lebanon in its quest for strengthening the rule of law and public institutions, advancing digital governance and anti-corruption efforts, supporting women's empowerment and gender equality, promoting climate adaptation and renewable energy, and accompanying national recovery and reconstruction efforts. I thank you.


President [2:43:26]:

I thank the Ambassador of Lebanon for the statement. I give the floor to Türkiye, to be followed by the European Union.


Türkiye [2:43:33]:

Mr. President, we would like to thank the Administrator for his comprehensive presentation and for the Annual Report. Turkiye regards UNDP as the backbone of the UN development system. At a time when geopolitical fragmentation, conflicts, climate change, and financing constraints are putting sustainable development gains at risk, UNDP's role has become more critical than ever. We therefore reiterate our support for the Strategic Plan and appreciate its focus on resilience, prosperity, governance, climate action and investment, and we reaffirm our commitment to the unilateral development agenda. We also appreciate UNDP's efforts to adapt to a challenging development landscape. Development challenges today require integrated approaches that connect policy, financing, and implementation. In this regard, UNDP's extensive country presence and its ability to support sustainable development efforts remain unique assets for the international community. Mr. President, the partnership between Turkey and UNDP continues to grow at the national, regional, and global levels. We are pleased to witness the tangible results of this cooperation. Türkiye proudly hosts both the Regional Bureau for Europe and Central Asia and the Istanbul International Center for Private Sector in Development, which continue to contribute in a— innovative solutions to development challenges across regions. As highlighted by the Administrator, the COP 31 Presidency and UNDP have been working closely together on the Climate Implementation Bridge, which is a practical initiative that reflects Türkiye's vision for COP 31 as a COP of implementation. Bridge is designed to help translate global climate commitments into tangible outcomes on the ground. We are pleased to be working closely with UNDP in shaping and advancing this important initiative and express our sincere thanks for their engagement with us to support our COP 31 vision. Following the launch of the COP 31 Climate Action Agenda in Bonn yesterday on 9 June, we see BRIDGE as a key vehicle for supporting developing countries to translate their priorities into invest— investable projects, mobilize finance more effectively, and accelerate action on the ground. In this regard, we highly value UNDP's partnership, expertise, and global presence, and look forward to continuing our close cooperation in advancing implement— implementation-oriented climate action. And finally, we also would like to thank the dedicated UNDP colleagues here in New York for their efforts and hard work. Thank you very much.


President [2:46:28]:

I thank Türkiye for the statement. I give the floor to the European Union, to be followed by France and then Pakistan.


EU [2:46:34]:

European Union, please. Thank you, President. Dear Administrator, Excellencies, colleagues, I deliver the statement on behalf of the European Union as a donor. Thank you very much to the Administrator for his statement and to the whole UNDP staff. As a longstanding partner, the EU remains committed to a strong, effective, and reform-oriented UN development system. We would like to make 3 points. First, we strongly support the UN AT process and see it as a unique opportunity to strengthen the UN's effectiveness, efficiency, coordination, and impact. The EU advocates for an ambitious process guided by transparency, inclusivity, and evidence-based decision-making with a clear focus on better results for partner countries. In this context, we welcome UNDP's leadership within the UN Development System and its engagement in advancing reform. As one of the largest operational entities, UNDP has a key role in shaping a stronger and more coherent development architecture. We also support a more integrated UN presence at country level. Effective implementation of the One UN approach under the leadership of the Resident Coordinator remains essential to reducing fragmentation and maximizing collective impact. Impact. Second, the EU values UNDP's unique ability to deliver a comprehensive approach to development, whether through institutional strengthening in fragile states, bridging the gap between humanitarian response and long-term development in post-conflict settings, or creating the enabling conditions necessary to attract private sector financing. UNDP operates in spaces where few others can. This is not merely assistance, it is an investment, investment in stability, resilience, sustainable recovery. This aligns closely with the EU's Global Gateway strategy, as mentioned by the Administrator. We see strong potential to deepen cooperation, particularly, particularly in de-risking investments, promoting public-private partnerships, and mobilizing sustainable financing. Finally, and in this regard, growing pressures on the multilateral system make strategic prioritization more important than ever. The EU encourages UNDP to focus on its comparative advantages, its field presence, expertise in recovery and peacebuilding, and ability to convene governments, the private sector, and international financial institutions. Administrator, Excellencies, the European Union reaffirms its strong support for UNDP and for a renewed, effective, and ambitious multilateral system.


President [2:48:41]:

Thank you, President. I thank the European Union for the statement. Colleagues, for the end of this morning session, we'll be taking 3 more statements. That will be France, Pakistan and Mali. We'll give the chance to the Administrator to react to those statements so far, and we'll continue with about 14 statements in the afternoon at 3 o'clock, stretching into the session that was initially foreseen for other discussions. But this shows also the richness and the interest of the member states. So I'll give the floor to France, to be followed by Pakistan.


France [2:49:19]:

Mr. Chair, Mr. Administrator, distinguished colleagues, I thank you, Administrator, for your presentation and for the direction that you are providing to the UNDP. This Executive Board is again the opportunity to recognize that the UNDP has kept its promises despite the context and the difficult measures taken. The Program continues to work for prosperity for everyone, for a healthy planet, effective governance, and resilience to crises. From Ukraine to Lebanon, through the Sahel and South America, the program has demonstrated its capacity to be agile, to coordinate with local authorities, civil society, and UN partners to meet the needs of populations. We— I would like to hail its central role in particular in terms of early recovery The expertise of the UNDP is more needed than ever in areas where crises are starting or peace remains fragile. That's the case in the Palestinian territories and in Gaza in particular.

The—

we are supporting the means of subsistence and restoring administrative and governance systems. The Horizon Fund of the United Nations for Palestine— and France contributed $5 million to that— fully illustrates this approach. Beyond the immediate response to humanitarian needs, the fund finances early recovery, which is the only possible route toward sustainable peace. The peace-humanitarian nexus The peace-humanitarian-development nexus is important here, and the UNDP is a key actor there. In Syria also, the support of the UNDP will be vital for the country to ensure its early recovery and for its economy to recover. France has made development a priority of the French presidency of the G7 during the development ministerial, which you presented in. We sketched out the main thrusts of a new approach to development. There's a need to continue work on reforming the international development architecture. We need to marshal private and national resources, and we need to support sovereignty, resilience, and ownership. The UNDP is a vital partner in this transformation in assisting partner countries with the development of on going financial structures and creating a strong climate for private investment. The UNDP is preparing sustainable growth of tomorrow and supporting sustainable development. Finally, France supports a convergence between the UNDP and UNOPS. Analysts all agree on the savings this could represent, and France will stand by your side to identify the best possible scenario.


President [2:52:20]:

The Chair. I thank France. I give the floor to the distinguished Ambassador of Pakistan.


Pakistan · Ambassador [2:52:25]:

Thank you, President and colleagues. Allow me to thank the Administrator for his remarks. Pakistan deeply values its longstanding collaboration with UNDP, and this exchange offers a timely opportunity to reflect both on progress achieved and the challenges ahead. And from the discussion, it's clear it's all about partnership around development, which must continue to be at the center of the international agenda. For Pakistan, like many countries, the value of UNDP lies in its ability to deliver on the ground in close alignment with national priorities and in genuine partnership with governments. Our collaboration throughout 2025, for example, was a testament to this. Over 47,000 flood-affected households received livelihoods and early recovery support, and over 30,000 students benefited from the retrofitting of flood-affected schools. In the face of significant financial headwinds— across the development landscape, we acknowledge UNDP's commitment to maintaining its country footprint. However, we are extremely concerned with the 24% decline in UNDP's core funding in 2025, and we call on all member states to honor their core funding commitments. We welcome the Administrator's articulation of UNDP's flagship offers on jobs, climate, and investment acceleration, and are encouraged by their alignment with Pakistan's own development priorities. We look forward to working with you to ensure that these will translate into scaled-up, concrete, country-owned programming on ground. On the UNAT work packages that UNDP is leading, including expertise on demand, we would welcome continued and more detailed information. At a time of institutional reform, it is especially important that UNDP's core development mandate is preserved and that country-level collaboration is strengthened rather than diluted. Moreover, where UNDP serves as an implementing partner, transparency, Data sharing with host governments and accountability for results must be consistently upheld. These are some of the views that we wanted to share, Mr. President, and we look forward to continue to working closely with the Administrator.


President [2:55:16]:

Thank you. I thank the Ambassador of Pakistan for the statement. I give the floor to the Ambassador of Mali. You have the floor, the last speaker for this morning. Merci.


Mali · Ambassador [2:55:26]:

Thank you, President. Administrator, I would like to begin by expressing the gratitude of Mali and the Malian people to the UNDP for continuing to be present and committed alongside Mali in an extremely difficult context, including through through the co-creation and implementation of the Country Programme through 2030, and as well as continuing to deliver concrete results for the benefit of the Malian people. Mali thanks the UNDP for their leadership in promoting climate resilience, environmental resilience, notably through the restoration of degraded soils, strengthening our environmental protection, sustainable management of natural resources, and support for our climate commitments. We also hail the constant support of the UNDP for populations in strengthening their resilience, especially women, young people, displaced persons, and vulnerable communities. And they've done so thanks to initiatives that enhance adaptation to shocks, subsistence materials, and by enhancing social cohesion. I'd also like to say that we have a new cooperation program between Mali and the UNDP. This has been discussed with the UNDP, and for the period 2027 through 2031, this has benefited from national, national ownerships, and our national priorities are duly reflected in this program. And it is very much our hope that the UNDP and the Executive Board will approve this programme. We nationally are prepared to play our role to ensure its effective implementation. I'd also like to say that as regards reform, Mali supports reform that is tailored to the needs of the population. We would like to see less bureaucracy and more action aimed at effective implementation of country programmes. I will conclude by Once again, reiterating our gratitude to the UNDP, we will continue to play our role for the effective implementation of the programs. I thank you once again.


President [2:57:45]:

I thank the Ambassador of Mali. For the moment, we will not be hearing from any other speakers this morning. We will continue with the list of speakers this afternoon. Administrator, I will give you the floor to try and respond to the questions and comments.


UNDP · Administrator · Alexander de Croo [2:58:03]:

Thank you. I'll do my best to be succinct. On Nepal, the national statement— well, first of all, congratulations for the successful actions that took place in March, where we were a crucial partner, and we continue working with you on governance, on climate resilience, and we look forward to the continued work that we do with you on digital. You mentioned specifically that digital is a crucial accelerator to development, and we could not agree more with that statement. Cuba, we work closely with you on managing a difficult energy crisis to which you are confronted, and with the financial innovation hub that we have created, we try to mobilize funding to accelerate the transition to renewable energy, and your goal is to be 26% renewable energy in the future and to be less dependent on fossil imported fuels. Remarks by Japan, first of all, well, thank you for the very consistent financing, $240 million in total over last year. We have a strong focus with you on private sector, on on mobilizing the possibilities for small enterprises, and glad that you mentioned the Jobs for Prosperity and the Investment Accelerator as our flagship programs that we have put in place for that. Of course, we work with you closely on the AGDP nexus, which is at the core of your human security programme and which you will continue to support. Remarks of Brazil. Yes, agree that you mentioned that private capital is important, but impossible to achieve when there is no public financing at all, and the public financing is what enables us to mobilize other types of financing. We hear your concerns on the Office for South-South Cooperation. We really value the partnership of India, Brazil, and South Africa in that. We have addressed with you in one-on-one those concerns, and we will continue to take them at heart. Denmark, well, glad that you mentioned Jobs for Prosperity. You, of course, have been in the past a partner for us in the Green Growth Job Accelerator, so it fits with the things that we have done with you in the past. Really would like to take the occasion to thank you for the very consistent financial contributions. In total, you are, with more than $100 million, one of our top 10 donors, can I say, for relatively— maybe not small, but at least medium-sized country that you are, and the shift from funding window to core places you at second or third core funder overall, which is something that we really, really appreciate. Questions from Sweden. Thank you for the support to the reform agenda. Human rights, gender at the core of your of your work. You mentioned the cooperation with the Resident Coordinator. It is not by accident that in my introduction speech I think I mentioned 3 or 4 times how we work well together with Resident Coordinator, and it really is at the core of being integrated and delivering as one as a UN, that the cooperation with the Resident Coordinator for us is crucial. I also mentioned the significant financial contribution that we give to that. UK, glad that you mentioned our programme on protecting against sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment. This is something that is very important to us. More than 13,000 people have been trained on that topic. In today, in 125 of our country offices, it is very clear who needs to deal with issues on that dimension, and it is an obligation for our staff to act on that. You mentioned the Global Partnership Conference where we participate, and we think is an important segue into your future leadership leaderships of G20 and of G7. Remarks from Switzerland. First of all, we thank you for your multi-year contribution, which helps us to also do better financial planning in the future. We work with you very closely in difficult circumstances. Such as Sudan, Myanmar, and Ukraine. It is— you asked on what is the impact of the reduction of core funding. Look, in our strategic plan, we have organized it in a way that we can keep working on the priorities that have been set forward, but of course we work well when our priorities are country-driven and are nationally owned. Of course, when core funding is reduced, that makes that more and more difficult, and it forces us to work in what you would call a more narrow way, which means that we prioritize certain things, but prioritizing is a polite way for saying that certain things we will not be in the capacity to do. Remarks of Georgia: we have, I think, a broad range of projects that that we do with you, 19 million in total, 30 projects, climate and linking climate to inclusive growth, which is an important one for us. New Zealand, obviously, we share your priority that you put on SIDS, and I already had the occasion, I think in the intervention to Palau, to specifically talk on that. We would like to to thank you also for being a multi-year funder. I think today there are 10 countries that do that type of multi-year funding. We can only encourage other countries to do so because it enables us to better plan. Also, I would like to thank you on the work you did on the Mandate Implementation Review. I think that was a well-managed and well-delivered piece of work that has been done. Under your leadership. The Norwegian remark, well, thank you first of all for keeping our budget intact and being an important core contributor. You talked about the need to also report on the domains in which we where we underperform. This is a request to which we responded for the first time. We now produce an additional supplementary report that speaks specifically about those indicators where we are below 75%. We pinpoint these and we also explain what is our remedy for that. This is an annex to an annual report that you can you can download from now on. Remarks of Morocco. On travail avec vous.

We're working together with you quite a bit in the digital realm. There, we're aiming to bolster sustainability, sustainable development, with a budget of $38 million for 3 years., and you are bringing attention to bear on businesses, small and medium-sized enterprises in the area of resilience, and this is all very important for us.

Remarks of China. Well, first of all, thank you for the core and the non-core contribution. We appreciate also the China Global Development Initiative that we started 5 years ago. It enables us to really integrate the agenda of development and peace and integrate that into the work and into the funding. We work obviously together with you on South-South and on the Office for South-South Cooperation, and you have also funded in total $443 million in the period 2021 to 2025. But that attention of linking development with peace and security is one which we appreciate and share with you. Remarks of Myanmar. We work with you mostly on the local level, try as as much as possible to continue providing local-level services to populations who often are really living and surviving in crisis mode. I think what we do in Myanmar, together with UNCDF, is a good example that even in difficult circumstances you need to invest in financing to small enterprises. We have a credit facility for $3.2 million that we have created, has been able to help more than 6,000 micro-enterprises, remarkably so, 80% of these managed by women. Remarks of Ukraine, I think in my introduction I talked about the energy work that we do, the 6.6 million people that we support there. I think our cooperation with European Investment The Investment Bank is an interesting one in Ukraine, where together with you we have been able to unleash $1.1 billion of recovery financing, and the leverage effect is a huge one. For every dollar invested, $70 has been raised in financing, and together with Sweden, we work a lot on the domain of demining there. Ethiopia. We work together with you in economic growth and especially the inclusive element for that. We have with Timbuktu an important innovation manufacturing digital and AI hub in Ethiopia, and I think it is a good example to show how this Timbuktu initiative is really spread out geographically and thematically throughout the Ethiopian continent. Sorry, I was moving to Germany a bit too fast. Remarks of Germany, obviously very appreciative for you being our largest core donor and the second largest non-core. We are gearing up towards the Hamburg Sustainable Development Conference, which is taking place in a few weeks. You had specifically a question on revenues that were exceeding expenses. Overall, the message there is that it is not a structural deficit, but it is a timing issue, and to deal with the timing issue, we have been drawing on funding that was provided previously, and that is in line with the agreements that we have with our donors. We can provide you more in detail information on that, but the summary is it's not a structural issue, it is a timing issue. Marks of India, I appreciate your steady contributions in CORE. As said on other questions on the Office for South-South, good cooperation with you on that dimension and work closely with you on disaster risk resilience and other topics. Laos, we work together with you on your national planning and national strategy and do that together in some domains with you and CDF, where we work on local governance and providing resources for local governments. Remarks made by Lebanon, I mentioned also in her speech the continued work on justice and system— justice systems integration, that despite the very difficult circumstances in discussion with your Minister of Justice, we continued to put our focus on that. After the start of the military escalation, we raised $20 million in crisis response together with you, and we hope, of course, that the military escalation can be reduced as soon as possible. Türkiye, I think I mentioned amply how we work together with you in COP and in translating that to an implementation agenda. The facility and mechanism that we have set up with you, and today you are a partner for us at the national, global, and regional level, as you have mentioned it as well. EU, you mentioned the 360-degree approach, which is indeed the way we work with you, and we are looking forward in the private sector enabling work and Global Gateway, which is an and one of your own flagships and which fits with the work that we do besides biofin, majors for economic growth and so on, other domains in which we work.

Remarques de la France. France, first off, we congratulate you for the work you've done in the G7. You spotlighted the concept of mutually beneficial partnerships., and this perfectly illustrates the work we are endeavoring to do, and we're looking forward to continuing that reform work in the area of development.

Of this first session, Pakistan, we have a very close partnership with you, and we will be looking forward to do a briefing of expertise on the Mount together with Doreen from ITU, to really give you the detail on how expertise on demand specifically could function and how it will enable you to get access to the best that the UN has to offer. There is an intervention from Mali. There is a statement by Mali.

I thank you for your kind words. There with regard to the appointments of the UNDP. We will remain committed to Mali, faithful to the commitments that we have taken on with you and to the cooperation that we have with the government, also taking good note of the new cooperation program that the UNDP has with Mali. This is an important stage to deepen our partnership., and we will remain fully mobilized, working together with you in the context of your national priorities, and hopefully we can resolve things together. Thank you very much, Mr.


President [3:14:07]:

Administrator, dear colleagues. I want to thank the interpreters and the technical team for allowing us to go past 1 o'clock. We'll continue with the remainder of the list of speakers this afternoon. This meeting is adjourned. Thank you very much.