(2nd plenary meeting) UNICEF Executive Board, 2025 Annual Session

Excellencies, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. We have a packed programme, so I would suggest we start now. I am pleased to be chairing this meeting for the remainder of the day, and I will begin with a procedural note. Delegations are once again kindly reminded that their statements should remain within the agreed time limits, which is 3 minutes for individual delegations speaking in their national capacity and 5 minutes for delegations speaking on behalf of the, of United Nations regional groups or for joint statements of 2 or more member states. Microphones will start blinking to alert speakers 1 minute before the end of their allotted time, and speakers will be muted within 1 minute after their time has ended. Distinguished delegates, we will now turn to consideration of Agenda Item 5 on the agenda, the Annual Report on UNICEF's Humanitarian Action, contained in document E/ICEF/2025/19. Mr. Ted Chalban, Deputy Executive Director, Humanitarian Action and Supply Operations, will introduce the report. followed by Ms. Lucia Elmi, Director, Office of Emergency Programs, who will present the Annual Report on UNICEF's humanitarian action. Mr. Chairman, you have the floor.

Thank you, Mr. President. Distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen. In 2024, more than 183 million children required humanitarian assistance. UNICEF, in collaboration with local, national, and international partners, Responded to 448 emergencies in 104 countries, an increase of 36 emergencies compared to last year. 2024 was an unprecedented annus horribilis, with an increase of 25% of grave violations against children when compared to 2023, and with too many crises aggravating the suffering of children. Families and communities in Gaza and the West Bank, Sudan, Haiti, Myanmar, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to name a few. Today's crises for children is the result of increasing conflict, the widespread disregard for international law, climate shifts, the growing frequency and severity of public health emergencies, deepening economic disparities, and mis- and disinformation that undermine our humanitarian mission. These trends have been exacerbated by widespread funding cuts that further limit the ability of the humanitarian system to adequately respond and uphold child rights. Despite these challenges, UNICEF has continued to stay and deliver, especially in complex and high-threat environments, with resolve and courage. Special tribute goes to our colleagues in the field who are risking their lives every single day. With increasing needs and reduced resources, the work of the Humanitarian Reset, UNAID, and updated Grand Bargain commitments are critical. UNICEF is fully committed and engaged in these reform initiatives, contributing to reform efforts on prioritization, cluster reform, combining humanitarian, diplomacy, and access services, innovative financing solutions, and a proposal being developed with WFP, the UN Secretariat, and others on consolidated supply chain services in humanitarian settings. Thank you.

I thank Mr. Chaiban for his introductory remarks, and I now give the floor to Ms. Elmi for the presentation of the report. Madam, you have the floor.

Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Didi Chaiban. Good afternoon, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, and dear colleagues. Today, I will focus on 3 things: highlights of the humanitarian action for 2024— you have all the report that was submitted to the Board— a few highlights on innovative financing and anticipatory action, and finally, UNICEF's strategic priorities moving ahead and looking ahead with also the different reform streams of the Secretary-General and of the Emergency Relief Coordinator. I hope—

yes.

Let me first do a highlight of the situation of children, where because of conflict, climate-related and public health emergency, and severe economic shocks continue to jeopardize the lives of millions and millions of children, their families, and their communities. Over 473 million children, one in More than 1 in 5 children globally now live in conflict. The percentage of children in conflict zones has doubled from 10% in the '90s to almost 19% today. Grave violations continued to increase in 2024 at an unprecedented level, with an increase of 25% compared to 2023, which was already the highest number of grave violations recorded in the history of the monitoring reporting mechanism for the children in the armed conflict agenda. State and non-state actors hinder humanitarian access, showing a disregard for international humanitarian and human rights law. And yet, at the same time, resources continue to decrease. Last year Last year, more than 183 million children, over half of them were girls, required humanitarian assistance. UNICEF, as you can see from the chart, from the graph, responded to 448 humanitarian crises in over 100 countries. By the end of the year, UNICEF had received less than one-third of the resources in our humanitarian action for children, and with more restrictions and limitations. We continue to be grateful to our partners who contributed quality funding, especially the Global Humanitarian Thematic Fund that is the most flexible after the regular resources, including the government of the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, and the national committees. Let me highlight a few results that you can find in the report that we were able, despite all the challenges, to achieve thanks to the work also with our partners and UN sister agencies on the ground. For example, we did manage to reach 3.6 million households with UNICEF-supported humanitarian cash and 9.2 million children and adolescents with access to education in 2024. However, our achievements were constrained by limited resources, inadequate humanitarian access, insecurity, and a challenging humanitarian environment. From the 17 million children remaining out of school due to war in Sudan, to Haiti, where the nutrition treatment results fell far short of their targets due to violence and insecurity, the results are— the gaps in those results are measured in preventable suffering and lost futures. A malnourished child in Gaza, a girl in Ukraine not receiving mental health, or a disabled child in Burkina Faso. Not having access to services. Let's turn now to the work that we have been doing, and there was a lot of interest this morning in your intervention, in terms of humanitarian financing and anticipatory action. In the current resource environment, with more and more constraints, those are becoming even more important partnerships that are joining together innovative approaches, the public sector and the private sector. To give an example, the Today and Tomorrow Initiative, that is the world first public-private climate risk financing solution for children, successfully assessed risk insurance coverage up to $100 million from the private sector insurance company, benefiting over 13 million children in 8 countries and financing UNICEF in action related to water and sanitation, community resilience, healthcare, schools, and other critical services. Also, the work that we have been doing on anticipatory action has been critical in terms of innovative programming, where over 350,000 children benefited from schemes led by UNICEF or together with other UN agencies in anticipatory action. In Madagascar alone last year, we were able to build resilience and protection systems for communities affected by drought. Finally, let me turn to the priorities looking ahead. The current resource constraints have triggered accelerated reforms for the whole humanitarian system. But this is an opportunity to look beyond the funding cuts and promote an agenda that is transformative for more impactful, efficient and effective humanitarian action. UNICEF remains committed and fully engaged in the Humanitarian Reset and we are leading or co-leading in many of these work streams. These include the work with the Emergency Directors Group to reprioritize humanitarian response, and we are sharpening also the focus of our humanitarian action for children. We are also co-leading the work on the humanitarian— the transformation of the humanitarian cluster system, and we'll hear more about that in the next section. We're also ensuring that there is coherence between the Humanitarian Reset and the UNHCR 80, making sure that we are contributing to proposals together with other agencies for a common humanitarian platform, a common humanitarian diplomacy platform, and also driving with WFP and the Secretariat a more streamlined and consolidated chain service, supply chain services in humanitarian settings. With programmatic presence in over 190 countries and territories, UNICEF will bring its full strength to the interagency supply chain collaboration, both for the humanitarian and the development sector. UNICEF continues to be the largest end-to-end supply chain agency in the UN system and operates one of the most agile humanitarian supply networks in the world, comprising of 4 supply hubs and global supply hubs, and 270 warehouses in over 100 countries. In line with our strategic plan, UNICEF will continue to leverage our thought leadership to promote a more effective humanitarian system, sustain the quality of our humanitarian programming, and work with partners across our dual mandate to promote more sustainable solutions to crises. Thank you.

I thank Ms. Elmi for the presentation, and I now open the floor for discussion. I give the floor to the distinguished Chargé d'Affaires of Sweden.

Thank you, Mr. President, and thank you, UNICEF, the whole team, for your presentations. I present this statement on behalf of Australia, Canada, Denmark, the European Union as a donor, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Luxembourg, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and my own country, Sweden. We thank UNICEF for its important work in responding to the multiple humanitarian emergencies affecting an unprecedented number of children globally. We salute the courageous efforts of UNICEF and its local partners, especially in hard-to-reach areas where the most severe needs for protection and assistance usually exist. The growing gap between the vast needs and the available funding represent urgent challenges to the humanitarian system. Bold and far-reaching reforms are necessary, while ensuring that humanitarian principles and international humanitarian law are upheld. We welcome UNICEF's commitment to the humanitarian reset. The reset must be closely aligned with a broader UNAID reform process. Achieving efficient coordination and avoiding duplication between humanitarian actors must be key objectives. Strong determination to drive reform on behalf of all the members of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee will be necessary. We would also like to underline the need to set clear priorities, not least in terms of, first, focusing on reaching the children most at risk; secondly, placing child protection at the center of UNICEF humanitarian response. We encourage you to step up efforts to develop and implement your policy on the centrality of protection. Thirdly, continuing to prioritize children in armed conflict, including monitoring and reporting on grave violations against children by implementing the monitoring and reporting mechanisms mandate set out in Resolution 1612. Fourth, prioritizing frontline capacity and presence in the field. And enabling local actors to participate in operational decisions and coordination mechanisms. Focusing on prevention, increased resilience, and sustainable solutions, including with development partners, is more relevant than ever. UNICEF should make full use of its dual mandate to strengthen integrated programming across the humanitarian-development development-peace nexus. UNICEF's involvement in setting up frameworks for anticipatory action and the continued progress in this regard is commendable. Limitations on humanitarian access and attacks on aid workers are regrettably an increasing obstacle to reaching children in need. The international community must continue to press for humanitarian access and protection of civilians, including humanitarian, UN, and associated personnel, also including national and locally recruited personnel, in line with international humanitarian law. We welcome UNICEF's advocacy on respect for the humanitarian principles. The role of UNICEF in setting and protecting universal normative standards, including as related to human rights, international humanitarian law, gender equality, and sexual and reproductive health and rights, is important. We acknowledge the importance of flexible, predictable, and multi-year funding to help humanitarian actors, including UNICEF, respond effectively to crises. We invite more member states as well as the private sector to take steps to increase quality funding. We appreciate UNICEF's engagement in developing innovative financing and greater public-private partnerships. The increased cooperation with international financial institutions is also important. We stand ready to support UNICEF in this time of transition and reforms. Let us work together for a humanitarian system that can respond in the most effective way and under the most difficult circumstances to the needs of children. Thank you for your attention. Thank you.

I thank the distinguished chargé d'affaires of Sweden, and I give the floor to the distinguished delegate of Oman.

Mr. Chair, ladies and gentlemen, I am honored to make this statement on behalf of the delegation of the following countries: Algeria, Bahrain, Belgium, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Colombia, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Iceland, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Morocco, Norway, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Slovenia, Spain, Russian Federation, Syria, Syrian Arab Republic, Turkey, Yemen, in addition to the delegation of my country, the Sultanate of Oman, as part of the discussion relating to the humanitarian action of UNICEF work. We express our sincere appreciation for the indispensable role of UNICEF as a global leader in safeguarding children's rights amid some of the most complex and protracted emergencies of our time. Throughout the year, UNICEF responded to 448 emergencies in 104 countries, delivering life-saving assistance to millions of children impacted by armed conflict, forced displacement, natural disasters, and escalating food insecurity. We recognize with deep concern the growing challenges and threats facing UN humanitarian agencies and their partners in civil armed conflicts, particularly in response to ongoing humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. The humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip— the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip has reached yet another unacceptable breaking point with unprecedented severity and magnitude due due to relentless airstrikes, forced displacement, and Israeli blockade on humanitarian aid, including food, medicine, risking the life of more than 2 million people. Civilian shelters, including makeshift homes where families sought refuge, have been bombed, underscoring the continuing threat to civilian lives. The situation is further exacerbated by halted aid deliveries and the disabling of critical infrastructure such as the main desalination plant, depriving the residents of access to clean water. The UNICEF Annual Humanitarian Action Report 2025 highlights that since January 2024, children in Gaza, already living at the sharp end of an unrelenting war, have faced a growing threat of famine and disease, driven by a complete lack of safe water and adequate nutrition. Today, the entire child population of Gaza, more than 1 million children, face critical level of food insecurity and risk of famine. According to UNICEF, more than 50,000 children have reportedly been killed or injured in Gaza since the beginning of the war. And UNRWA Director of Affairs in the West Bank confirms that while West Bank is not a war zone, 137 Palestinians have been killed there since January 2025 in occupation-related violence. Furthermore, the situation of children in West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is appalling as Israeli military incursion and shelter violence continue to subject Palestinian children to violence including killing and maiming, detention, and forced displacement. Mr. Chair, we reiterate our urgent call for immediate, safe, and unimpeded humanitarian access to, to and throughout the Gaza Strip in full coordination with the United Nations and in accordance with international humanitarian principles. It's imperative to ensure that It's imperative to ensure the safety and freedom of movement of humanitarian workers, including UN personnel, across all areas of Gaza. In conclusion, we call for immediate and permanent ceasefire in line with UN Security Council 2735 and a complete halt to all Israeli military action and operation in West Bank, including East Jerusalem. We call on Israel to uphold its obligation under international humanitarian and human rights law, including its responsibilities to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure across the occupied Palestinian territories. I thank you.

I thank the distinguished delegate of Oman for her statement, and I give the floor to the distinguished Deputy Permanent Representative of Belgium. I don't see where they are.

Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. President, Madam Executive Director. We align ourselves with the statement we just heard by Oman, and I deliver my own statement on behalf of Ireland and Belgium. We thank you for the Annual Humanitarian Report for 2024 and pay tribute to the frontline staff on who the humanitarian system relies. We remain committed to protecting children without prejudice, from the horrendous effects of violent conflict for every child. In 2024, UNICEF humanitarian appeals amounted to almost $10 billion, but only reached 30% of their targets. This is in the context of a deeply troubling UN Secretary-General annual report on children and armed conflict, which highlights the staggering number of verified grave violations. The situation is worsening, with some crisis appeals that are less than 10% funded and only a fraction of the actual violations are verified. Today, children bear the brunt in armed conflicts in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Ukraine, Palestine, Sudan, and many more crises that never make it to the front page. All vulnerable people must be protected, and differential gendered needs taken into account. Every death of a civilian or humanitarian worker reminds us again that we have a lot of work to do to ensure full compliance with international humanitarian law. All parties who disregard it must be held accountable for violations. Even war has rules. UNICEF holds a dual mandate, where humanitarian work accounted for more than 60% of the budget. While the humanitarian sector has been hit severely by funding cuts and stop orders, we'd like to understand how UNICEF is approaching the humanitarian reset in parallel with UNAID and other reforms. How will the difficult choices be made to deliver for every child in these challenging times? We applaud your strong commitment to localizing 45.5% of transfers to local implementing partners. Exceeding the Grand Bargain target. This support is the backbone of the system— local humanitarian actors who often continue to work the front lines when others have to leave. We urge that the transfer of resources supports equal and meaningful partnerships with local actors. And we seek to understand how management intends to address these challenges ahead, and we reaffirm our unwavering support for UNICEF and its staff during these very turbulent times. I thank you.

I thank the distinguished Permanent— Deputy Permanent Representative of Belgium for his statement, and I give the floor to the Permanent Representative of Mozambique. Ambassador.

Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, I wish to start by thanking Ms. Lucia Elmi, for her comprehensive presentation on UNICEF's humanitarian response. Mr. President, in 2024, the humanitarian caseload reached historic levels, and Mozambique was no exception. Cyclones, drought, and displacement affected over 4.8 million people, including 3.4 million children. UNICEF's support, especially in Cabo Delgado, Nampula, Zambezia, and Sofala, was instrumental. Despite a constrained funding environment, UNICEF delivered clean water to hundreds of thousands, distributed life-saving vaccines, and restored learning space for over 350,000 crisis affected children in Mozambique. We especially commend the innovative financing tools deployed and the expansion of the zero-dose vaccination campaign, which contributed to Mozambique no longer being among the top 10 zero-dose countries globally. As outlined in our 2022-2026 country program document, UNICEF's role as clusters lead in child protection, WASH, education, and nutrition, and its coordination with national entities such as the ministries of health, education, and the national water directorate is central to our response capacity. Mr. President, before concluding, I wish to respectfully request further details on 2 issues. First, key lessons learned from bottlenecks, bottlenecks in humanitarian access in 2024. And lastly, how UNICEF will strengthen anticipatory action and community-based resilience in high-risk settings like Mozambique. I thank you, Mr. President.

I thank the distinguished Permanent Representative of Mozambique for his statement, and I give the floor to the distinguished Permanent Representative of Czechia. Ambassador.

Well, thank you, Mr. President. Madam Executive Director, members of the Executive Board, dear colleagues, allow me to begin by commending UNICEF's tireless efforts in responding to 448 emergencies across more than 100 countries in 2024. Despite an extremely challenging operational environment marked by armed conflicts, natural disasters, disease outbreaks, and alarming restrictions on humanitarian access, UNICEF has delivered critical life-saving services to millions of children and families. Czechia appreciates UNICEF's principled approach to humanitarian action, including its leadership in child protection, prevention of gender-based violence, and disability-inclusive programming. We particularly welcome progress in advancing accountability to affected populations and in strengthening humanitarian diplomacy to uphold children's rights in complex settings. We are, however, deeply concerned by the sharp rise in grave violations against children, the shrinking humanitarian space, and the severe underfunding of humanitarian appeals. In this regard, we support UNICEF's commitment to the humanitarian reset and the strengthening— and the strategic emphasis on localization, anticipatory action, and innovative financing. Czechia also welcomes UNICEF's efforts to strengthen partnerships with local actors and to leverage public-private collaboration to increase impact and sustainability. As a longstanding supporter of multilateral humanitarian response and the rights of children, Czechia calls on all member states and stakeholders to ensure predictable, flexible, and unearmarked funding to sustain UNICEF's ability to respond swiftly and equitably to emerging needs, while also stepping up peace and stabilization efforts and humanitarian advocacy. We reiterate the importance of impartial, needs-based humanitarian assistance and call for unhindered access to affected populations in fragile and conflict-affected settings. Finally, we commend the UNICEF teams on the ground and at headquarters for your professionalism, courage, and dedication in the face of daunting challenges. Czechia remains committed to supporting UNICEF's mission to protect every child, everywhere, at all times. I thank you.

I thank the distinguished Permanent Representative of Czechia for his statement, and I give the floor to the distinguished delegate of New Zealand.

Thank you, President. New Zealand welcomes the Annual Report on UNICEF Humanitarian Action. In a year categorized by surging global, global crises, reductions in humanitarian funding, and worsening risks to the safety and security of humanitarian workers. We acknowledge the incredibly difficult context in which UNICEF and its staff faithfully protect the rights and well-being of all children in humanitarian emergencies. New Zealand is pleased to have supported in 2024 UNICEF's humanitarian responses to Typhoon Yaagi in Vietnam, to flooding in Bangladesh, and to the conflict-related crises in Gaza and the West Bank, Lebanon, and Syria. As I mentioned this morning, the Pacific is one of the most disaster-prone regions in the world. As a Pacific country, New Zealand commends UNICEF's recent responses to significant disasters in the region, working alongside affected Pacific countries. In 2024, this included responding to the May Engel landslide in Papua New Guinea, And the December Port Vila earthquake in Vanuatu. We also acknowledge UNICEF's work in other Small Island Developing States. New Zealand welcomes the strategic priorities outlined in the annual report, and we are encouraged by UNICEF's commitment to engaging constructively in the humanitarian reset and to deliver efficient and effective results for children. New Zealand remains committed to supporting UNICEF's humanitarian action for children and young people.

I thank the distinguished delegate of New Zealand for her statement, and I give the floor to the distinguished delegate of Israel.

Mr. President, Madam Executive Director, Ambassadors, and colleagues, we wish to express our deep appreciation to all those who work tirelessly to safeguard the welfare of children around the world, particularly in the face of increasing challenges posed by conflict and violence. We thank the authors of the report for acknowledging the Israeli children's casualties on October 7th and since, including the murder and abduction of children, as well as the ongoing toll of Palestinian terrorism on children in Israel. With regard to the humanitarian situation, Israel is operating fully in accordance with international law and is making significant humanitarian efforts, working with a newly established humanitarian mechanism. This new mechanism is designed to bypass Hamas, thereby weakening its grip on the population and contributing to the end of hostilities. The mechanism is rooted in a clear legal and moral principle: humanitarian aid must not be delivered to support or finance a terrorist organization. Continued delivery of aid through certain UN agencies, while well-intentioned, has unfortunately enabled Hamas to seize supplies, exploit resources, and fund its continued militarization. By contrast, the new mechanism is designed to circumvent Hamas. First, by enabling certain UN agencies, UNICEF included, to deliver aid and distribute it. Although we still witness looting cases and we urge the agencies to coordinate with us to enable the safe delivery of aid. Second, it includes in its initial phase the operation of 4 humanitarian distribution centers in secure areas, serving hundreds of thousands of Gazan residents. Encouragingly, many civilians in Gaza are accessing these centers despite Hamas's attempts to block them. We're also witnessing public demonstrations against Hamas, reflecting the population's growing discontent with its brutal rule. These developments, made possible by Israel's efforts to diminish Hamas's military and financial capabilities, have the potential to break the stranglehold the organization maintains over the civilian population in Gaza. We urge the international community to give this initiative a fair opportunity before passing judgment. Constructive engagement will support real and lasting change for the children of Gaza, and the broader region. Every life is sacred, and every child deserves protection. Israel remains committed to cooperating with the international community to ensure that all children, wherever they live, are safe, supported, and given the chance to thrive. Thank you, Mr. President.

I thank the distinguished delegate of Israel for his statement, and I give the floor to the distinguished delegate of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Thank you, Mr. President, Madam Executive Director, Excellencies. The Kingdom of the Netherlands aligns itself with the joint statement delivered by Sweden. We would like to make 4 additional points in our national capacity. First, we note with deep concern the increasing dangers of doing humanitarian work. We wish to express our gratitude to UNICEF staff and partners for their life-saving humanitarian work, often undertaking a great personal risk. Humanitarians are doing crucial work, and targeting them cannot go without consequences. How can member states further support your humanitarian diplomacy efforts and ensure the safety of humanitarian workers? Second, we are all aware that we are in unprecedented times with regards to funding. In light of the humanitarian reset and broader UN reforms, radical change will be necessary, and we need to be equipped and ready for the future. It is key that UNICEF works together with other UN agencies on these processes. What is UNICEF's view on critically assessing mandates and organizational structures for more efficiency? Third, as donors, we also have to be critical to ourselves and provide multiannual flexible funding. As funding restrictions only lead to less efficiency. As the Kingdom of the Netherlands, we remain strong supporters of the Global Humanitarian Thematic Fund. Could you elaborate on the risks of a lack of quality funding and highlight steps that you are taking to improve the visibility of this kind of quality funding? Fourth, locally-led humanitarian action is integral to quality programming and increasing efficiency. We want to thank UNICEF for its commitments on this, and we want to encourage you to continue these efforts during this funding crunch. The voices of partners in locally-led humanitarian action need to be at the forefront of the reform process and future of humanitarian action. Do you have any concerns about the impact of the humanitarian reset on locally-led humanitarian action? And if so, how can we mitigate these concerns and keep localization at the center of humanitarian action and the reform process? In conclusion, we welcome the report and today's presentation, which have once again demonstrated the importance of UNICEF's work and its integral part of the humanitarian community.

Thank you.

I thank the distinguished delegate of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and I give the floor to the distinguished delegate of the United Kingdom.

Thank you, Mr. President. The United Kingdom thanks UNICEF for their annual report on humanitarian action. We align with the joint statement delivered by Sweden on this item and would like to make some additional remarks. These are indeed unprecedented times for people living in humanitarian crisis and for the humanitarian system. How we continue to meet the needs of people whilst prioritizing those in the greatest levels of severity and making progress on reform efforts matters more than ever. Across initiatives, it is important to maintain a focus on putting local voices at the heart of implementation and reform decisions, delivering upon the mandate and the unique value-add of the UN in responding to crises, supporting governments, and undertaking technical and normative work, and becoming more efficient through the consolidation of functions including on data, procurement, logistics, office footprint, administration. This must be done whilst focusing implementation to ever more closely align with agency mandates and targeting interventions which have the strongest evidence base and right-sizing global presence. We've learned from previous reform initiatives that sequencing, streamlining efforts and consultation, including with member states, are critical to building the momentum needed for implementation and would welcome further information information on this. Turning to the content of the report, we have some specific comments. It is encouraging to see UNICEF becoming increasingly active in the innovative finance and anticipatory action space. AA has emerged as a key UK humanitarian reset priority, given that it helps humanitarian funds be used more efficiently and effectively. Innovative finance mechanisms such as UNICEF's Today and Tomorrow initiative, providing cyclone risk insurance coverage are a critical element of a reformed international crisis architecture. This work brings together development, humanitarian, and climate actors and funding mechanisms to ensure early and coordinated action to deliver better outcomes for vulnerable communities and build more resilient and stable societies. Prearranging crisis finance is fundamentally about making scarce resources work more effectively. We have some questions on this work, as well as on the AA frameworks, which I have shared separately, and we look forward to engaging further with colleagues on these. And we also have some remarks regarding the specific humanitarian context referenced in the report, but in the interest of time, I'm going to share these separately also. Finally, we'd just like to offer our sincere thanks to all of UNICEF staff and your partners for continued efforts to support the world's children in these most challenging of times. Thank you.

I thank the distinguished delegate of the United Kingdom for her statement, and I give the floor to the distinguished delegate of the European Union.

Thank you, Chair. I'm speaking on behalf of the EU as a donor. We thank UNICEF for the presentation of the report, and we align ourselves to the joint statement delivered earlier by Sweden. We would like to reiterate our support to UNICEF and our appreciation for the unwavering commitment of its staff and partners in your humanitarian work in the field. Especially in a context where it has become increasingly difficult to assess children due to unhindered humanitarian access, violation of international humanitarian law, with increasing numbers of 6 grave violations against children and a decline in funding. We do regret that by the end of 2024, UNICEF had received only 31% of its total requirements, with the top 6 crises accounting for 52% of contributions. Private sector support also fell by 35%, returning to pre-COVID and pre-Ukraine levels. In this constrained environment, we welcome UNICEF's transfer of $850 million in cash to humanitarian partners, notably with 45.5% to local and national civil society organizations, including 19% to women-led ones. We encourage continued progress on this front, especially given the serious funding challenges women-led organizations face in the field. We also strongly support UNICEF's steadfast humanitarian diplomacy on behalf of children, and commend its determination to speak out and overcome access obstacles, including in Gaza and Sudan. We welcome the impact achieved across UNICEF sectors, notably that 9 million children gained access to education, reaffirming the EU's strong commitment to education in emergencies. We also note progress in disability inclusion and in gender-based violence response, with nearly 90% of country offices ensuring core GBV mitigation services. We encourage UNICEF to enhance innovative finance for children, including the UNICEF-WHO polio vaccination mechanism developed with the European Investment Bank, Commission and the Gates Foundation. In today's funding environment, mobilizing capital is more urgent than ever, and we look forward to UNICEF's outlook for 2025. The humanitarian system is undergoing systematic change and must increase focus on life-saving programs. The EU supports UNICEF's efforts to prioritize acute needs, place country programs at the center, and expand the role of local actors. At the same time, we count on UNICEF to continue advocating for the protection of girls and boys and to build strong partnerships that reduce needs address root causes, and reinforce the humanitarian-development-peace nexus. If there's time for answering of questions, our question would be, in the light of current funding challenges, how does UNICEF plan to further strengthen its collaboration with local and women-led organizations and scale up innovative financing to ensure the continuity of life-saving programs in 2025? Thank you.

I thank the distinguished delegate of the European Union for her statement. This concludes the list of delegations that wish to take the floor on this item, and I would now invite the Secretary to respond to the comments and questions that we have heard during the discussion. Ms. Elmi, you want to go first?

Yes.

Okay, thank you. Thank you for all of the very encouraging statements, support, and appreciation to our colleagues We will definitely make sure that we pass on your words of appreciation. Our regional directors are here as well, so they will make sure that our teams on the ground who are facing enormous challenges, they are part of— they will receive your words. We know that you are supporting us and it is very much appreciated. Overall, in terms of localization, because there have been a lot of questions on that, I know also that the Chairman will continue to elaborate on that in his effort that he's doing leading the reform of the cluster system for the entire humanitarian community and the Interagency Standing Committee as part of the Humanitarian Reset. Localization is not only for us measured in the benchmark of the Grand Bargain, but it's really that we have actually superseded. We are now in 2024. Reach over 45% of transfer of resources to local actors, including out of which 19% are for women-led organizations. So that was to respond to the question from the European Union colleague. So it's also making sure that we are shifting the center of gravity, and the Humanitarian Reset is part of that, supporting systems that are more prepared for shocks, for increased climate change events, for increased vulnerabilities. As the distinguished delegate from Mozambique has mentioned, last year we were able together to work on it, not only with the cluster colleagues and the cluster coordination system that is quite well-defined, including in Mozambique, but working hand in hand with the sectoral ministries. You mentioned the Ministry of Health, the the Ministry of Education. This is really at the core of the Humanitarian Reset. How do we make sure that coordination is fit for purpose, is based on local context, and it helps countries transition out of crisis in a faster and more predictable way? We can no longer have cluster systems, particularly in protracted crises, activated for over 10 years, as we are living in some contexts. So, how do we make sure that also in our work in the development areas, We work with the sectoral ministries and the development actors to take on those responsibilities and be ready to be prepared, to have stockpiles, to have a system in place that monitors certain levels of risk and triggers a response. And how do we make sure that whenever there is a need for additional coordination structures, those are much more flexible, time-bound, and anchored in the support of local actors. So both at national and subnational level, we will continue to promote systems that are more working with the local actors and area-based coordination and using the tools of the cluster system. In terms of the centrality of protection, also for the joint statement delivered by the distinguished director of Sweden, we are now working on our first policy, global policy on the centrality of protection in line with the IASC requirement. We're advancing quite rapidly and we hope to be able to present something to the Board in the next sessions, keeping in mind that already the new strategic plan has those principles already mainstreamed into the strategic plan and in the change strategies. We continue, of course, to invest as part of our localization agenda as well on the accountability to affected populations. We are now conducting a pilot in 2 countries for UNICARE, that is a common complaint mechanism, complaint and feedback mechanism, where we are hearing and and to the feedback provided by the communities— we have a number of examples— to inform programming, and how this tool, that it was born out of one of the Grand Bargain agenda principles, can also be applied to development contexts and really make sure that philosophy behind that informs programming with a two-way feedback mechanism. And actually, in a number of humanitarian contexts, including Sudan, Chad, and others, this mechanism has been adopted not only by UNICEF but by the larger humanitarian community. So, even before the humanitarian reset asked us to work more closely together with the other UN sister agencies and NGOs in making sure that we share a common platform and common services. With respect to the increase of grave violations. We continue to be very committed together with the larger UN family, UN community, to the children and conflict agenda in terms of making sure that we have the teams on the ground to do the monitoring and reporting in an environment that is more and more concerning, with more and more restrictions to our colleagues, to the number also of partners on the ground, because because of the funding constraints. And in the next 2 weeks, the Secretary-General will present his report to the Security Council on the balance for 2024 and the action also that member states and all parties to the conflict will be asked to comply with, including developing the action plan to prevent and end violations. On the questions on lessons learned, also from the distinguished delegate from Mozambique, we are continuing to work with the Evaluation Office in major humanitarian evaluations. So all the L3s, and in 2024 we had 8, we continue to have solid and robust evaluations where we can draw those lessons. And many of those lessons have been also fed into the new strategic plan. So it's really a culture of continuous evaluation and learning, including also more flexible tools like after-actions review that the teams are doing on the ground to inform the immediate response. This is something as well that we will continue to invest and work on. On all of the questions related to anticipatory actions and innovative financing, this is something that has proven to be a very valuable tool, has proven to be effective. We are now, for 2025, increasing the number of countries part of those schemes, reaching out to new partners, including the international financial institutions, and including introducing 2 new triggers for those anticipatory actions, one related to drought and one to heavy rainfall, really to make sure that we cover a wider gamut of triggers that can help us be better prepared and be better also resourced in face of natural disasters. In terms of some of the radical changes that also the distinguished delegate of Netherlands was calling of, We continue to be at the forefront of all the debate of the humanitarian reset. I'm part of the Emergency Directors Group. The IASC principal will discuss next week in Geneva the broader agenda of the Emergency Relief Coordinator and how we can move forward on certain important decisions. UNICEF is co-leading with Save the Children in the IASC OPAC group. and Didi Chaiban is the force behind that on the reform of the cluster system. So those are very tangible things that actually will lead to radical changes, including some of the common platforms that I mentioned, the Common Global Humanitarian Advocacy Platform and also the supply chain management with WFP and the Secretariat. Lots of appreciation for the support on those 2 critical areas that continue to remain and will continue to remain life-saving, that are child protection and education in emergency. I know that sometimes there is the risk when we prioritize for life-saving to apply a very narrow definition of life-saving, but life-saving for us is very clear, is education in emergency as well, is child protection, and is making sure that children can resume learning as quickly as possible. in a protected environment and in a protected space. I'll leave the floor to you, Ted.

Thank you.

Thank you, Lucia, and thank you, Mr. President. Let me start by really thanking all of the partners that support UNICEF's humanitarian action, including through financial resources, and specifically to thank all of you who support us through flexible resources, including to the Global Humanitarian Thematic Fund. I'd like to complement some of the responses from Lucia with a couple of additional points, and I want to first start with a point that many of you raised around localization, and we are absolutely committed to localization. Several of you mentioned that we've far exceeded the Grand Bargain target; we're at 45% of resources transferred to local and national CSOs, but I also want to say that if you include government in that figure— and I think you should include government in the localization figure— that's another 30% of resources that are transferred to government where it's appropriate. So I think it's quite a significant commitment on our part. There was a question also earlier today from the United Kingdom on our position on country-based pool funds. And I'm a member of the Grand Bargain Caucus with several of your colleagues that is looking at the issue, and as part of an updated, if you will, quid pro quo between donor partners and humanitarian agencies, we have agreed that we need to move the target from what's now 5% of total country-level commitments to 15%, which will be a significant increase. But we're also saying it all needs to fit together. country-based pooled funds, the CERF, support to the mandate of agencies like UNICEF, and it all needs to be part of a whole that provides the best results for children and their families, the best possible humanitarian action at country level. There was a number of questions around anticipatory action and resilience, and again, Lucia spoke to this, but I want to come back to a point that Mozambique and the EU made. I mean, for me, the best form of anticipatory action is to in fact invest in basic social service systems and to do so on a continuous basis so that when a shock happens, the systems are ready to respond. The national systems themselves are ready to respond. You know, if you have a strong health system, you have a strong social safety net, that's really the best anticipatory action that we can have. And I think it's critical, and this is my point to respond to the EU, especially in situations where increasingly humanitarians are going to be prioritizing and focusing on a much tighter set of situations, much tighter set of countries, we're going to need to work on the development side with government at the centre, because government is the first duty bearer, the host government is the first duty bearer, to work on these issues in a systematic manner and organize ourselves better so that in humanitarian responses there's earlier action and, you know, we only have a humanitarian response where it's strictly necessary for a strict duration of time or an acute peak in a complex emergency. Finally, I need to speak to the situation in Gaza. Several of you spoke to the situation in Gaza. We had a statement from Oman, there was comments from Belgium, the government of Israel spoke, took the floor. The situation in Gaza is unprecedented. I mean, for 80 days, nothing went into Gaza, and that should never be the case. It should never be the case that humanitarian assistance is subject to, you know, the political context. You know, under international humanitarian law, people need to have full, unimpeded access to humanitarian assistance. As you know, because these numbers have been often discussed, On average, the population needs around 500 trucks a day going into Gaza. Right now, there's between 100 and 150 trucks a day going into Gaza from the humanitarian community, and that includes whatever the GHF is able to provide. The GHF is providing 4 distribution points. The UN was working with 400 distribution points.

400.

when it was able to. And I heard the concern about diversion of aid, and there we would say to Israel, please come to the UN with your concerns so that we can find ways to address them. But the UN does need to be able to do its job. Families should never put themselves at risk to feed their children. And what we need is for all border crossings to be open, for all types of assistance to be able to go in, including fuel, for the private sector to do its contribution, because the private sector played a very important role in getting the supplies in that were needed by the population. Right now, there's not enough going into Gaza, and the situation on the ground is unacceptable and continues to be unacceptable.

Thank you.

I thank the Secretariat for their remarks. Right now, I didn't see any further delegation wishing to take the floor on this item. I will thus consider this I would like to put this item point as— what is it? No, so far we keep it on the agenda under item 20 for adoption of draft decisions, but for the time being I would stop the discussion now. And this then concludes item 5 and we would move to item 8. Item 8 on the agenda is the update on protection from sexual exploitation and abuse contained in document E/ICEF/2025/16. The report describes how UNICEF is preventing and responding to sexual exploitation and abuse in its policies, procedures, and operations at headquarters, regional, and country levels. Miss Vidya Ganesh, Director, Division of Data Analytics, Planning and Monitoring, will present the report. Madam, you have the floor.

Thank you very much, Chair, and I'm presenting this important report on behalf of a very large number of teams and divisions and offices that work around the world on the protection against the sexual exploitation and abuse. So just to say that, you know, PSEA, or Protection of Sexual Abuse and Exploitation, is really contextualized within a broader framing of safeguarding and enterprise risk management, and that the PSEA and safeguarding as an individual and corporate accountability, and that it contributes to both programmatic and operational excellence. This overall framing is extremely important so that it is seen— so that it is all of UNICEF response, and it also ensures that at an interagency level, we are well harmonized. Let me just quickly walk you through to some— what our achievements and results have been. In terms of programmatic response, UNICEF has scaled up access to safe SEA reporting channels. From 7 million people in 2018, when we started this work, to 79 million in 2024, an 11-fold increase in reach. And this reflects a major expansion of the efforts across the organization. This also reflects the number of country offices that are scaling up PSEA, including reporting channels that increased just from 14 to 125. So, you kind of see both in terms of numbers of countries and the areas and that— and the numbers of children that they're able to— and families that the services can be accessed. And this is a 9-fold increase, shifting from an initial focus on humanitarian context to a broader institutional commitment, including development context. In terms of the actual services, that's bullet number 3, and I'll come to bullet number 2. The program includes a survival-focused, victim-focused support, including those children born of SEA and provided with assistance. And this takes a two-pronged approach. One is UNICEF provides support and assistance for victims as part of the UN Victims Assistance Protocol, and that includes medical, psychosocial, security protection from retaliation, legal aid, socioeconomic support, support and education assistance. I would also like to proudly add that UNICEF systematically provides assistance to any victim of SEA who comes forward to UNICEF, irrespective of the organization or the affiliation of the perpetrator. The next point I really wanted to say is the process of how the cases are reported, reviewed, and assisted, and then you finally see the numbers reported to the Secretary-General, it now stands at 111 allegations, the majority from the implementing partners. So how do we do this? So this is really the SEA prevention and the management that we work through with the CSOs. All implementing partners are assessed under a common UN approach. Their capacities are strengthened and expanded to include also safeguarding, working with UN government through joint frameworks have been finalized in 2024. And also, we are working to ensure that the vendors also have strong safeguarding risk management capabilities, including to address the PSEA. Within UNICEF, we have a very comprehensive system in place in 100 country offices, which is 78%, and which is up from 72 countries in 2023 and 65 in 2022. So, here again, you see a strong commitment and scale-up of capabilities within the office, within UNICEF, across all levels. And over 500 staff engaged in community— in this community of practice. 95% staff members have completed the PSEA training. And we continue to use ClearCheck and performance management baseline assessment of human resources, and including commitment to the management disclosure scheme, as we heard this morning, as the request was made. Finally, as we move forward, we need to continue to strengthen, of course, the human resources safeguarding practices. We will continue to roll out the UN Government Joint Framework. We need to continue to strengthen the capabilities and capacity, including the rollout of the safeguarding supply resource package, both also at the interagency coordination levels. And I want to also really make a plea and an important point that there's an also urgent need to further strengthen the GBV programming and the services and programming across and referral pathways through the health and education sector for a much more systematic approach so that the vector consistent victim-focused support is really a reality. And at the moment, that is going to be our biggest challenge going forward. So I really want to appreciate all your support and all your continued commitment to this issue, and we look forward to continue to scale up both in terms of coverage and also quality and timely support. Support to the victims, including the children. Thank you so much.

I thank Ms. Ganesh for the update, and I now open the floor for discussion. The distinguished delegate with the Kingdom of the Netherlands has the floor. Madam?

Thank you, Mr. President. I deliver this statement on behalf of Albania, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, the Republic of Moldova, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye, the United Kingdom, the EU as a donor, and my own country, the Kingdom of the Netherlands. We would like to thank UNICEF for their continued efforts on ensuring the protection from and response to sexual exploitation, abuse, and sexual harassment. Important steps have been taken to reinforcing a survivor-victim centered approach and zero tolerance for SEA. We underline the responsibility of leadership in continuously setting the tone. Additionally, we recommend— we welcome the efforts of UNICEF to ensure an inclusive, diverse, and safe organizational culture in order to help address the root causes of sexual exploitation and abuse. We will ask some specific questions on the information shared in the report, but first we would like to take a look at the bigger picture. With current funding cuts leading to resource constraints, we understand that decisions have to be made. In our view, preventing and addressing sexual exploitation and abuse remains essential and should be treated as a core function. And responsibility rather than as an optional activity. Protecting and serving marginalized populations should be at the core of the UN's work. We therefore expect UN agencies to continue to protect and prioritize the prevention and response to sexual exploitation, abuse, and sexual harassment. This includes ensuring that sufficient resources, both human and financial are structurally made available to effectively prevent and respond to sexual exploitation and abuse, especially at the country level. Our first question is, how will UNICEF ensure sexual exploitation and abuse prevention and response continues to improve amidst funding pressures? Secondly, collective actions to streamline work reduce fragmentation and realize efficiencies is more relevant than ever. Further resource pooling, collective tools, and harmonized approaches can be instrumental in achieving further efficiencies and impact. Interagency collaboration on, for example, risk analysis, community engagement, and implementing partner capacity assessments and training are positive examples. Our second question is, Where does UNICEF see further opportunities for interagency collaboration in a manner that is both efficient and effective? Can UNICEF elaborate on analysis that is currently being carried out together with other UN agencies regarding shared challenges? Additionally, we would like to emphasize the importance of drawing from existing expertise within agencies. And the system as a whole, specifically on gender-based violence. Survivor victims of sexual exploitation and abuse suffer from the same root causes and are in need of the same services. Therefore, the mapping and further expansion of gender-based violence services, especially in those areas where services are not easily accessible, would be helpful. Beyond UN interagency efforts, broader multi-stakeholder tools and resources, such as the Common Approach to Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse and the Misconduct Disclosure Scheme, can help. Noting the positive signals in the Secretary-General's 2025 Special Measures Report on CAPSEA, we encourage all UN agencies to consider formally endorsing it. We have noted that UNICEF is currently assessing the feasibility of implementing the misconduct disclosure scheme. The third question is, what is the status of this? Considering other agencies have already implemented a pilot, when is UNICEF planning to start piloting the scheme? Mr. President, please allow us to highlight a few elements based on the report provided. First, we recommend UNICEF We commend UNICEF for its efforts to roll out the policy on safeguarding. How will UNICEF share this policy and lessons learned related to it with other UN agencies? Second, UNICEF's Audit Advisory Committee and the Office of Internal Audit and Investigations raise concerns regarding replacing existing sexual exploitation and abuse complaint mechanisms that are working well with a new all-inclusive complaints, feedback, and redressal mechanism. How is UNICEF mitigating the risks? And finally, we appreciate UNICEF's effort to ensure implementing partners and vendors have adequate systems in place to prevent and manage sexual exploitation and abuse risks.

How would you—

I tried to get you 30 seconds. Go ahead.

So that was the end. How is UNICEF working with other UN agencies on this? Thank you.

You're too precise for me, sorry. That was really exactly 5 minutes. I thank the distinguished delegate of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and I would like to give the floor now to the distinguished delegate of Oman.

Mr. Chair, distinguished delegates, good afternoon. The Sultan of Oman would like to praise and commend UNICEF's strategy to protect against sexual exploitation and abuse. UNICEF participates in the United Nations Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Working Group, the Implementing Partner Protocol Working Group, the Protection Against Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Training Working Group, the Commercial Partners on Protection Against Sexual Exploitation and Abuse and Harassment Working Group. Furthermore, the vision of the UNICEF Child The vision of the UNICEF's 2021-2030 Child Protection Strategy is a world where all children are free from violence, exploitation, abuse, neglect, and harmful practices. UNICEF's 2021-2030 Child Protection Strategy provides a clear vision and strategic framework for UNICEF's work in child protection for the decade— for the decade to 2030 to meet this challenge. In addition to that, UNICEF also assisted child victims of sexual exploitation and abuse referred to UNICEF by other United Nations entities in line with its accountabilities as the provider for— of last resort. The Sultanate of Oman promotes protection principles within the national legislations and in line with the international instruments ratified on the rights of children and persons with disabilities and the Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict and the Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Pornography, and Child Prostitution. Accordingly, the Sultanate of Oman would like to emphasize the potential of creating the conditions for senior leadership, as UNICEF contribution is highly important in strengthening the following major pillars of protection from sexual exploitation and abuse: protection from online exploitation, advocacy and communications, data research, evaluation, and knowledge management.

Mr.

Chair, the Sultanate of Oman will continue its support and unique partnerships toward sophisticated and state-of-the-art UNICEF strategies on protection from sexual exploitation and abuse for safer and protected environments. I thank you.

I thank the distinguished delegate of Oman for her statement. I see no further requests for the floor, and I would now invite the Secretariat to respond to the comments we've just heard. Ms. Ganesh, would you go ahead?

Thank you. Thank you so much to the colleague from Netherlands and all the others. Honestly, all your questions are absolutely spot on and the ones that we are also very, very focused on, and we Thank you for really highlighting, continuing to give us exactly those points that require further strengthening, deepening coordination, both within UNICEF and across the agencies. On the budget cuts and how do we protect this, it's— yes, that is definitely one of the many areas that we are working towards to ensure that the capability that is already in place is not only continues to be there, but it also starts to take on much more broader approaches, and we prevent fragmentation and continue to consolidate. So, there are many approaches to how we approach— how we look at using existing resources, but also ensuring that this core function continues to be well executed. Regarding the rollout of the safeguarding and sharing, in fact, this is something very— an exciting area of work. Many other UN agencies have approached us, and we are— we will be, you know, finding the relevant forums, but with already where we are working with them on PSEA, and it is into everybody's advantage to have an overarching safeguarding framework, of which SEA is obviously a critical part of. On the building capacity of the vendors, that's ongoing work. We are well advanced in terms of the protocols and the tools that are needed, and also the process of building the training and capacity and ensuring the accountability that are there. In terms of the concerns expressed around if the existing procedures for reporting incidents and if CFM will be— will cause some confusion, we don't believe so. This is something that we have been working extremely carefully with the Office of Internal Audit and all the other relevant parts of UNICEF. We are harmonizing on the principles, ensuring that we can get as much harmonization and reduce fragmentation. But the stream of how the information goes, the triaging, the confidentiality will be maintained. And that's why I mentioned that 111 figures really comes from a very detailed process through which the OIAI receives the incidents and does the assessments and the investigation. But we will continue to ensure that this, both conceptually and in terms of its implementation, the confusion doesn't exist. On the misconduct disclosure scheme, yes, we will be piloting, and we'll have to ensure that we will have the right approaches and the and the resources to do that. I know our colleagues from the Division of People and Culture are committed to it. Sajid is there, and I'm sure we can also provide you with more details on the exact nature of the piloting. Thank you very much to the delegate from Oman. Both your support and the far-reaching and forward-looking statements on how this should be addressed both internationally and within your own country. What you're doing is very encouraging. We very much— thank you for that support and the kind words. I think I'll stop there. Thank you.

I think the Secretariat Thank you, Ms. Ganesh, for your remarks. If no other delegation wishes to take the floor at this time, we shall consider the report Update on Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse later on under Item 20, which is the adoption of draft decisions. Distinguished delegates, the Executive Board will now consider Agenda Item 7, the extension of ongoing country Programs, which is document E/ICEF/2025/P/L8. In accordance with Executive Board Decision 11 of 2009, the Executive Board is informed of the first 1-year extensions of the country program for Guatemala and South Sudan, which were approved by the Executive Director. We shall consider this matter Later, under Agenda Item 20, the adoption of draft decisions. This will then conclude Agenda Item 7, and before we adjourn the day, I believe that the Secretary of the Executive Board, Mr. Andres Franco, would like to make an announcement. Mr. Secretary, you have the floor.

Thank you very much, Mr. President. Just to remind delegations that we We will have this afternoon's informal consultations on the draft decisions in this room from 5 to 6, and then later at 6:30, the President and the members of the Bureau have offered a reception which will be hosted in the UNICEF House from 6:30 to 8:30. Those are my 2 announcements, Mr. President.

Thank you.

Thank you very much. So I do hope that you work hard now in the informals and that I see you all punctually at 6:30 at the reception. Thank you very much for your attention and patience, and with this, this afternoon meeting is adjourned.