Joint Meeting of the Boards -UNDP/UNFPA/UNOPS, UNICEF, UN Women and WFP

Uh, the presidents of the executive boards of UNDP. UNFPA, UNOPS, UNICEF, WFP, and Vice Presidents. Excellencies and distinguished members and observers of the four Executive Boards. Madame Deputy Secretary-General, principals of the United Nations funds and programs and entities, ladies and gentlemen. I'm pleased to welcome you to the 2026 joint meeting of the executive boards of UNDP, UNFPA, UNOPS, UNICEF, UN Women, and WFP. We are honored to have with us today United Nations Deputy Secretary-General, Ms. Amina J. Mohammed, who is joining us to deliver an opening statement. I'm also delighted to introduce HE Mr. Comel Faruta, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Romania to the United Nations and President of the UNDP, UNFPA, UNOPS Executive Board. HE Ms. Carla Barroso Cameiro, Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative of Brazil to the Rome-based United Nations agencies and President of the WFP Executive Board. And HE Mr. Wellington Pecos, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Dominican Republic to the United Nations and Vice President of the UNICEF Executive Board. We also welcome the principals from 6 UN funds and programs and entities as below: Ms. Sima Bahous, Executive Director of UN Women; Mr. Alexander de Croo, Administrator of UNDP; MS. Diane Keita, Executive Director of UNFPA; Mr. Jorge Moreira da Silva, Executive Director of INOPS; MS. Catherine Russell, Executive Director of UNICEF; Mr. Carl Skau, Acting Executive Director of UWFP. Last but not least, I'm also pleased to introduce Mr. Dialouk Boris, Secretary of the Executive Board of UN Women, which is the coordinating agency for this year's board activities. You're all welcome. Before we begin, I would like to convey the sincere regrets of Ambassador Ebare, who is now our Minister on appointment, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uganda. He was scheduled to deliver his opening remarks today but was unfortunately unable to join us. He extends his apologies for his absence and his best wishes for the productive and successful meeting. Excellencies, distinguished delegates, dear colleagues, the annual joint meeting of the boards provides a unique opportunity for 4 Executive Boards to come together, along with the principals of the 6 UN funds and programs and entities, to discuss matters of common interest and exchange perspectives on issues with cross-cutting impact. In that spirit, this year's theme, UN80: System-Wide Perspectives and strategic considerations invites us to reflect on how the United Nations development system can, can remain fit for purpose in an increasingly complex and demanding global environment, and how we can collectively strengthen its coherence, effectiveness, and strategic direction. The breadth of our respective mandates, from development and humanitarian assistance— to gender equality, children's rights, population dynamics, ending world hunger, and operational support, among others, underscores both the strength and diversity of the system, while reinforcing the need to work together in a more coherent, strategic, and integrated manner. For UNDP, UNFPA, UNOPS, UNOPS, UNICEF, UN Women, and WFP. This means considering how we can maximize impact at country level, country level reducing fragment— country level, rather, reducing fragmentation, leveraging complementarities, and ensuring that our combined efforts deliver better results. For those we serve. As members of the Executive Boards, we each have a critical role in this process. Our responsibility extends beyond oversight to providing strategic guidance, ensuring that reform efforts under UNAT are grounded in evidence, reflect member states' priorities, and are designed to strengthen delivery across the system. This includes engaging constructively, asking relevant questions, comments, and helping shape proposals that are both ambitious and credible. Excellencies, distinguished delegates, and principals, today's meeting will be structured around two sessions exploring different dimensions of the UNAID initiative and its system-wide implications. The first session will focus on governance, mandates, and system-wide coherence, while the second will address operational deliverance, partnerships, and implementation dimensions of reform efforts. Both segments will feature introductory interventions from Executive Board presidents followed by interactive exchanges with the member states. I would also like to draw attention to the guiding questions situated as an annex to the Joint Meeting of the Boards agenda. These questions are intended to help frame, focus, and connect our discussions across both sessions. They are not directed to any particular speaker or panelist. Rather, they are meant to serve as a shared point of reference and a common thread throughout today's dialogue. Today's meeting offers an important opportunity to exchange perspectives across all Executive Boards to better understand both the opportunities and the challenges and to identify the strategic considerations that should guide the way forward. I encourage an open, thoughtful, and forward-looking discussion, one that balances ambition with realism and urgency with careful consideration. I thank you. I look forward to a rich and constructive exchange. Distinguished delegates and principals, as mentioned, Before, as I mentioned earlier on, before, we are honored that the Deputy Secretary-General is with us here today. And without much ado, I invite Her Excellency, the Deputy Secretary-General to the United Nations, Ms. Amina J. Mohammed, to deliver introductory remarks.

Madam Secretary-General.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, President of UN Women Board, Distinguished Board Presidents and distinguished members of the Executive Boards, dear colleagues, I'd like to thank the Chair for providing the space for us to speak with you today jointly. That we are gathered here today across the Executive Boards reflects the very high spirit of the collective action that this moment demands of us. We didn't arrive at this moment of UN80 without direction. The 2030 Agenda gave us that destination., and Member States have given the UN Development System clear marching orders with the adoption of the GA Resolution 72/279 in May 2018, one of the most consequential UN Development Reform Resolutions of the last decade. The resolution has called on UN Development System entities to strengthen capacities, resources, and skill sets to support national governments with the integrated responses necessary to deliver on the SDGs, to build capacities and expertise across UN agencies, funds and programmes, and to promote progress on those goals that are lagging behind, in line with the respective mandates and building on comparative advantages. It also calls to reduce gaps, overlaps and duplications across agencies. The Pact for the Future gave us a renewed commitment and provided a frank diagnosis of where the multilateral system stands. It acknowledged that the defining challenges of our time are bound together and increasingly beyond the reach of any institution acting alone, spanning from deepening inequality and fragility to climate shocks and the unfinished business of the SDGs. The Pact for the Future sowed the seeds for UN80 by calling for United Nations that is fit for the present and the future, and one that is effective, and capable, just and democratic, equitable and representative of today's world, inclusive, interconnected, and financially stable. As Chair of the UN SDG, I've seen firsthand the efforts that have been made across the UN development system to deliver on these commitments. Excellencies, the three UN80 work streams seek to translate this vision into practice by optimizing the development of resources, improving efficiency and effectiveness in mandate delivery, and examining structural reforms to ensure the organization is fit for purpose. Importantly, this is not new. Member States have repeatedly endorsed through General Assembly resolutions with the objective of a more coherent, coordinated, and effective UN system capable of delivering greater impact with the resources that have been entrusted to it. UN80 gives us a chance to finish the 2018 reforms and to raise their ambition to together. We are operating in a context of mounting crises, from economic pressures and climate impacts to conflict and humanitarian responses, while resources remain constrained. Expectation of the United Nations continues to grow, and so must our ability to respond. This context requires that we raise the ambition. We cannot do more of the same and assume that structures and ways of working designed for a different time will consistently deliver the impact that Member States expect today. To remain effective, we must adapt and respond accordingly. And that's why we're advancing the work on the Country Team Configuration, the Regional Reset, and the Expertise on Demand mechanism to translate our ambition into measurable results for people on the ground. Today, I'll focus on four areas briefly. First, the efficiency agenda, which aims to better deploy resources and reduce duplication —so that more can be directed towards mandate delivery. Second, the context and reforms to our operating model, including the regional reset, country configuration, and the humanitarian reset, ensuring our presence and capacities are aligned with today's needs and national priorities. And third, mergers and transitions, including work that is related to UNU and UNITAR, as well as transition processes such as UNAIDS and the Sahel architecture,— all aimed at strengthening our coherence, reducing fragmentation, and enhancing impact on the ground. Fourth, funding to mobilize the financing we need to accelerate the SDGs. Today's emphasis is on the agencies around in this room. We've seen remarkable results from across the system this year, in spite of the huge challenges. UNDP has been driving fiscal reform and social protection in some of our most fragile economies. WFP is moving beyond emergency response to build the kind of food system resilience that protects household incomes for the long term. UNICEF is breaking the intergenerational cycle of children— child poverty through integrated, multidimensional programming. UNOPS is turning every infrastructure dollar into local jobs and local ownership. UNFPA is connecting reproductive rights with real economic futures of adolescent girls. And UN Women is proving, country by country, that gender equality is not a downstream aspiration. It is the engine of inclusive growth. And to the specialized agencies that are not in the room, their role is critical to delivering on the 2030 Agenda, as those before you today. They've all done extraordinary work to deliver on the respective mandates, often under acute pressure and with resources that have not kept pace with the demand. Yet evidence and data tells us that we're not moving fast enough to deliver on the SDGs. You will soon hear from my colleagues in the agencies how they will intend to tackle these challenges, but I will provide some elements for consideration. On the efficiencies, a system that moves quickly, works efficiently, and draws on what every partner brings is what allows us to support countries well. You've already shown what efficiency at scale looks like. The system reported $981 million in operational efficiencies in 2025, a 65% increase compared to 2024. We now need to focus on the system-wide efficiencies through shared services, common back offices, and common premises, where these help to spend less on administering ourselves and more on the people that we serve. Efficiency also has to go hand in hand with coherent operating models. In terms of our context, what we are working towards in, in the United Nations that offers countries an integrated, tailored, and future-ready response through a new generation of UN country teams with clear criteria for presence under the leadership of the Resident Coordinator— anchored in the parameters that were set in GA Resolution 72/279. Entities fully deriving and sequencing their programming from the priorities agreed with governments in the cooperation framework. UNCTs configured to deliver on cooperation framework priorities through capacities that are present in the country and that specialize expertise from regional and global levels. Regional platforms for integration, the Expertise on Demand mechanism, and the joint knowledge hubs that we propose will serve this purpose. A recalibrated RC system will strengthen coordination capabilities for a clear gateway to easily and quickly access these capacities, tools, and platforms to ensure tailored UN responses to country needs and priorities—our LDCs, our LLDCs, SIDS, our MICCs, and countries in complex settings. This includes our continual efforts to ensure the multi-country office model that mostly serves SIDS, strengthening synergies across development, humanitarian, and peacebuilding teams, and sharpening the delivery of an integrated policy support that MICCs require. The reinvigorated Resident Coordinator System is built to help the UN development system work better together and in line with our country priorities. But it cannot do this alone. We look to member states to give clear guidance here. The General Assembly requested it in its Resolution 72/279 and subsequent QCPRs. ECOSOC reiterates it and further guides the system annually in this regard, and we look to member states to replicate that accountability across all governing bodies. The Humanitarian Reset aims to deliver humanitarian support more effectively in an era of growing needs and funding constraints through greater coherence, efficiency, and operational impact. The Shared Platform Initiative across humanitarian and development operations also seeks to do the same across these four areas. Turning to mergers and transitions, let me be clear on one point. I know it is of real concern to many of you the structural proposals under Workstream 3 of UNATI, including entity mergers, do not place mandates on the table for consideration. The Secretary-General has continued to underscore that his priority is to see a better delivery of the mandates and not an opening of them. These are proposals to strengthen how these mandates are delivered through more integrated institutional arrangements, that ensure the UN system can respond with the urgency and scale necessary to deliver the SDGs. The Sahel transition and UNAIDS workstreams seek to ensure that the UN remains fit for purpose in rapidly changing contexts by reducing the fragmentation, strengthening our coherence, and delivering support through more sustainable, integrated, and effective arrangements in the UN country teams. All of these work streams continue to include rigorous analysis and evidence in response to consultations, and we will continue to respond as we find more clarifications. On the funding, all of this requires sustainable and resilient financing models that supports effective mandate delivery in an environment of increased demands and constrained resources. We will partner better with our IFIs, our regional organizations, and the private sector to mobilize the financing we need to accelerate the Sustainable Development Agenda. We must confront the growing financial fragility that is facing many agencies, funds, and programs. Reversing the long-term decline in core funding—only at 12% of voluntary funding in 2024—will be essential to preserving the system's ability to respond strategically efficiently, and at scale. I have engaged on these questions with Member States, and we will continue to do so. We have fewer than 5 years to 2030. Needs are outpacing the resources that we have to meet them. This is about ambition and potential, the vision for serving the UN now and in the future. It's about protecting our gains and preserving the norms and principles that underpin our collective work. and we look forward to the outcomes of these discussions. Mr. Chair, let me finally say this is not the first time the UN has had the opportunity— has had an opportunity to face crisis and respond with reform. Our focus is to have a UN development system to deliver on the ground what member states have resolved in our charters, our treaties, our frameworks, and much more. The boards with oversight ECOSOC and the GA giving us the marching orders. Today we are facing a crisis of confidence and not one of trust. People still trust the UN. We are seeing a rollback on values, on the rule of law, unprecedented decline in funding, and so we must pivot to address the issue and to do so with courage and our principles. Our position in the UNIDS today is not sustainable. When the largest and most important of our agencies shows low core funding, putting its financial health and ability to deliver on the SDGs in jeopardy. And when we hear member states say to us that they are being told the cost of reform will take away from investment, from development, I would say— and I would say humbly— have a look at what it is as an investment in a system that would be reformed to bring more and not less. This is about investing in protecting the space to deliver to people. It's about investing in protecting to reach all the frameworks that we put in front of us, from the 2030 Agenda to Seville, Doha. All of these are important contributions to the 2030 Agenda. Most of my working life has been in the field, in the private sector, civil society, government, and academia, and I go back to my country at the end of this year. It's one of 243 million people. That's not a small population, but we are challenged by conflict and we are failing the SDGs. I, and we in Nigeria, will still need a UN that is fit for purpose, and I hope that we can make this happen with UNAT and with our firm belief that the UN development system, resourced and better capacitated, can deliver on 2030.

Thank you. Thank you, Madame Deputy Secretary-General. Thank you, Secretary-General, for your wonderful remarks. Thank you. And for setting the tone for today's joint meeting. I thank you once again, and please feel free to stay with us this morning as long as your availability permits. May I now invite our first principals Speaker:THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. The Executive Director of UN Women, Ms. Sima Bahaus, for her remarks. Madame Bahaus, you have the floor.

President of the Executive Boards of UNDP, UNFPA, UNOPS, UNICEF, and WFP, Madam Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, Excellencies and colleagues in New York and in Rome. It is a privilege to begin today's exchange among peers as UN Women coordinates this year all joint activities of the Executive Board of UNDP, UNFPA, UNOPS, the UNICEF Board, the UN Women Board, and the WFP Board. UN80 invites us to strengthen multilateralism for a changing world, to ensure we uphold together effective multilateralism, multilateralism that is capable of responding to new and emerging challenges. For UN Women, this effort must it mean placing the rights, leadership, and empowerment of women and girls at the very centre. Excellencies, I returned last night from Spain, Madrid, where I attended the 5th Ministerial Conference on Feminist Foreign Policy, which is gaining good momentum. There, I saw firsthand that even amid growing pushback, Member States from different regions are choosing ambition, advancing bold agendas, embracing feminist foreign policy, and reaffirming that gender equality is central to effective multilateralism. We need more countries to join this movement, and they are. I welcome the Kingdom of Morocco's role as host of next year's 6th Conference on Feminist Foreign Policy. This momentum is vital, dear Excellencies. At a time of growing resistance to gender equality and growing backlash, UN Women remains focused, present, and committed to delivering for women and girls everywhere. With the steadfast support of our partners, since 2022, we have supported 135 countries and territories in advancing gender equality and women's rights. We have supported 99 legislative changes that dismantled discriminatory laws. Through the Spotlight Initiative, in partnership with our UN sister agencies who are here today, we have supported 540 legal and policy reforms to end violence against women and girls. In conflict and in crises, UN Women advance the Women, Peace and Security Agenda across 83 countries, supporting the development of 59 action— new action plans on women, peace, and security, bringing the total coverage to 117 member states. We expanded provision of protection services, cash, and livelihoods in humanitarian and refugee response contexts to more than 2.5 million women and girls. In 50 countries, UN Women supported more than 20— 230 laws, policies, and multisectoral strategies to expand women's access to decent work, income generation, climate-resilient agriculture, and care systems. This work is reinforced by a simple truth: multilateralism is essential to a more peaceful, equal, and just world, and it must keep pace with a changing one. Excellencies, UN Women fully supports the Secretary-General's UNAT reform efforts. As the youngest entity in the United Nations system, and one itself born through reform, we understand the importance of periodically examining whether our institutions, structures, and ways of working are equal to the demands of the moment. Throughout the UNAT process, UN Women has focused on 3 priorities. First, ensuring that gender equality is fully integrated across all reform discussions and workstreams, rather than treated as a separate issue. Second, using the UNAT opportunity to strengthen the gender equality architecture across the UN system, from country-level coordination and delivery, to regional engagement, to global normative and intergovernmental functions, that remain essential to advancing internationally agreed standards. And third, ensuring that diverse voices are heard throughout the process, particularly those of national and local civil society organizations, women-led organizations, youth and feminist movements whose perspectives are indispensable to credible and meaningful reform. We do this to deliver on our primary commitment to ensure that the UN Haiti reform as a whole delivers tangible, transformative results for women and girls everywhere. Excellencies, dear colleagues, of the different work streams, we are actively engaging in the humanitarian reset process to ensure that it reinforces and strengthens the UN's commitments to gender equality, to localization, and principled needs-based humanitarian action. This includes strengthening support to women-led organizations, which are often among the first responders in crises and disasters, and ensuring that humanitarian assistance is designed and delivered in ways that addresses the specific rights, needs, and priorities of women and girls. Within the peace and security discussions, We are working with DPPA and DPO and other partners to ensure that women, peace, and security remains a central system-wide priority and that the UN's peace and security tools are used coherently to advance the agenda's shared aims. Within discussions on the UN country team configurations and the regional reset, we are advocating for dedicated gender equality capacities at local level, backed by stronger regional expertise and coordination. This is critical to ensure the UN can uphold and advance its normative commitments on women's rights where it matters most. And the work on Data Commons offers a practical opportunity to reduce duplication and costs while strengthening the UN system's collective capacity to generate, share, and use gender-responsive data and analysis. We are actively engaging to ensure that gender equality considerations are built into this work from the outset, including through sex-disaggregated data, gender analysis, data systems that can better inform planning, programming, and accountability for results for women and girls. Excellencies, it is within the broader context of the UN80 that the Secretary-General requested UN Women and UNFPA to assess the potential benefits of a merger, an issue on which you have heard considerable discussion. Both organizations are recognized for delivering important results and fulfilling critical mandates which we will be certain to work towards fully protecting as we go through this. We will also be protecting Beijing, CEDAW, ICPD, and the outcomes of CSW. The questions we are discussing are not about whether either of the organizations, the two organizations, are effective. We both are. Instead, the discussions and the questions The questions are about whether current arrangements remain the best way to advance gender equality and women's rights, or whether a different configuration could deliver more impactful, coherent, consistent, and scalable results for women and girls to accelerate the advan— advancement of gender equality and women's rights, including sexual and reproductive health and rights. In assessing these considerations, country-level impact should remain the ultimate measure of success for UNAT. Resident Coordinators, a few of whom joined our recent regional informal consultations ahead of the annual Board session, underscored the potential of a merger to strengthen the collective influence of both organizations, enhancing strategic positioning within UN country teams, deepening engagement with national counterparts, and generating cost efficiencies over time. UN Women comes to these discussions with an open mind, recognizing the potential merits of a merger, taking seriously the risks and concerns raised, and committed to being guided by you as Member States as this process moves forward. We have also heard clearly your requests including through Executive Board decisions, to develop alternative options to a merger. We are working closely with UNFPA to identify these options and present them to you by the end of this month. So Excellencies, dear colleagues, UN Women remains fully committed to the promise of UN 80 and to working with you to shape a United Nations equal to the challenges of our time and beyond. If we are bold, principled, and guided by impact, UN80 can become a defining moment for women and girls and for the multilateral system itself. I thank you.

Thank you, Madam Executive Director, for your remarks. May I now give the floor to the UNDP Administrator, Mr. Alexander de Croo. You have the floor, please.

Thank you, Mr. President, Excellencies. Thank you for this opportunity for us to talk and to listen. We have a message to give, but we are also here to listen to each other and to listen to the member states. Today, we face multiple overlapping crises: conflicts, climate shocks, economic instability, democratic backsliding. They share one common characteristic, and that is that they cannot be solved by one single actor. Countries need integrated solutions: integrated financing, integrated climate action, Integrated Crisis Response, and an integrated United Nations. For UNDP, coherence is about making the system greater than the sum of the parts. Building on UNDP's integrator function, I would like to outline what this looks like in practice, what it looks like on the ground. And some of you who joined our Executive Board field visit in Panama I think saw it firsthand. UNDP is more than a development agency. We are an end-to-end platform that embeds deep expertise and knowledge, partnership with sister organizations, and a broad country presence. We are a platform for the broader UN system to plug in their expertise and to deliver together. And let me give you I'll give a few examples of how we do this in practice. For example, when it comes to financing for development, this increase requires a range of new actors, including, for example, private sector, to make them work together. In that regard, UNDP, together with the Member States, with UNICEF, with OECD, with the EU, and with DESA, has now scaled the Integrated National Financing Frameworks, or the INFFs, INFFs across 90 countries. It brings together fiscal policy, private investment, development cooperation with a single national financing strategy. And let me give 3 examples of what these INFFs have achieved up to now. In Bangladesh, our support helped to integrate climate priorities into the national budget plans and it unlocked 1.4 $1.5 billion in IMF financing. In Indonesia, it contributed to a sustainable debt market exceeding $10 billion. And through our Climate Promise, the NDP has been directed by the Secretary-General to convene 30 UN agencies to support 65 submissions of Nationally Determined Contributions for 2025 alone. That is 70% of all developing countries' missions. Take the Dominican Republic, where UNDP has led UN support for NDC implementation. It involved UNICEF, UN Women, UNFPA, WFP, and others, with the Resident Coordinator providing overall coordination for this gender-responsive climate action. And the DSG mentioned also fiscal reform and the role we play in fiscal reform. We have, together with the country teams and with UNICEF supported 90 countries in advanced fiscal reforms within INFFs, and it has led to $179 billion being unlocked for the SDGs. System-wide coherence goes beyond the development pillar, with smarter ways of working in crisis settings. People do not experience a humanitarian crisis on Monday, a development challenge on Tuesday, and a peace peacekeeping challenge on Wednesday. They experience one reality, and our response must reflect that one reality. That is why UNDP bridges humanitarian and medium-to-long-term recovery across 17 crisis settings—for example, in Gaza, in Sudan, Somalia, Ukraine, Syria, Haiti, and Afghanistan. I saw this recently firsthand in my visits in Syria and in Gaza. In Gaza, for example, we're together with UNOPS. We work together on re-establishing energy and electricity systems. Because people need more than just survival from day one. They need a pathway back to normality. Support to safely return to their homes, to clear rubble, to open doors for their small businesses, and to provide for their families once again. Moreover, as peace operations draw down, The needs for communities do not evaporate. The responsibility shifts. It shifts from basic services to jobs to be created, to institutions that must be strengthened. Working alongside to DPO, DPBA and DCO and many others, UNDP helps to ensure that these transitions are opportunities for continuity and for recovery. Consider, for example, in Haiti, where together with the Transition with the Transitional Electoral Council and UN Integrated Office in Haiti, we helped prepare for credible elections scheduled this year that rebuild trust in democratic institutions. Our unique ability to operate in politically charged and complex circumstances means we work closely with diverse actors to deliver stability. All this is being powered by system-wide coherence behind the scenes. UNDP manages 40% of common services available to 50 UN agencies. Our Global Shared Services Centre serves 70 agencies, delivering $2.3 billion in payroll to over 50,000 personnel. Our experience hosting and closely cooperating with UNV, UNCDF, UNOSSC, and MPTF, and the MPTF Office, already shows what deeper system-wide integration envisioned under UNATI can look like. Now I think the question here is: how can UNAT take this further? System-wide coherence is working, and UNDP plays an important role as a connector and integrator across sectors, across pillars, across the UN System. But can we improve? Yes, definitely we can improve. At its heart, UNAT is about making the System deliver better outcomes for the people we serve. Better value for money. That is, for example, what an initiative like Expertise on Demand brings and why it matters so much. It is a practical mechanism that guarantees that governments can access the best that the UN has to offer without having to build duplicative infrastructure. Critically, greater coherence also requires a healthier mix of core, thematic, softly earmarked and pooled funding. Under UNHCR 80, UNDP continues to support a strong coordinating role for the Resident Coordinator System, in full alignment with the UN Assembly Resolution which has been mentioned by the DSG as well. We— that also means that the coordination and the integration that today exists between the country frameworks and the Country Programme Documents must be maintained. The Country Programme Documents, for example in the case of UNDP, 100% of them, all of them, are in full alignment with the cooperation frameworks. That is guaranteed by the fact that before a CPD comes to the Board, it requires two signatures: a signature from the country and a signature from the Resident Coordinator. So it has to be in line with the cooperation framework because otherwise we don't get that signature from the RC. It is important that you CPDs that are fully aligned with the cooperation frameworks, that they remain to be the program documents in which you work. This is what guarantees your oversight. This is what guarantees the fact that a board gives us a framework in which to work. And I think that today, that coordination between oversight of the board that we get to our CPDs, but CPDs which are fully in line with cooperation frameworks, provides the right balance and it ensures, of course, that as organizations we maintain direct access. US countries have direct access to us, to the operation that we have. National ownership, respecting mandates, it is what enables us to leverage our broad country presence. We are committed to further scaling shared service, of course. For instance, the United— Unified Service Roadmap is strengthening coherence between global shared services and common back offices. Excellencies, in short, reforms need to be looked at through the lens —of delivery. With reforms that are evidence-based, properly costed, and assessed for operational, legal and diplomatic risks. Ultimately, Member States will decide what meaningful reform looks like. It is clear that the opportunity is there: a UN Development System that is less fragmented, less bureaucratic, more coherent, more effective and firmly anchored in national priorities. Because we see the UN at its best when it works as one. UNDP is not only committed to that vision, we are built to deliver on it. Leveraging our global footprint, deep technical expertise and proven operational backbone, we connect the issues, the actors and the sectors to transform complex challenges into development that lasts. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. de Croo. I now invite the UNFPA Executive Director, Ms. Diane Keïta, to make her statement. You have the floor, Madam.

Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, congratulations on the nomination as Minister of Foreign Affairs of your predecessor. Mr. President of the UN Women Board, Chairperson of the Joint Board, Madam President of the WFP Board, Mr. President of UNICEF and of the Triple Board, UNDP, UNOPS, UNFPA, Excellencies, distinguished members of the Executive Board. UNFPA remains fully committed to the UN80 Initiative. We support the Secretary-General's vision of a more coherent, effective an impactful United Nations system. The next phase of the UNAT will be led by member states, and UNFPA is committed to providing evidence and analysis to support your deliberations. As a long-standing champion of change and efficiency, UNFPA has embraced this reform agenda proactively and constructively. We are contributing across multiple workstreams, bringing to the table our experience as a public health, population, and human rights agency. At the country level, UNFPA works closely with resident coordinators and partners to integrate demographic foresight, sexual and productive health, and population data into country planning while supporting collective response across humanitarian-development peace nexus. We also welcome expertise on demand while underscoring that highly specialized technical function, normative engagement, and rights-based work often depend on sustained country presence, institutional memory, and trusted partnership. In humanitarian setting, we are collaborating more closely through integrated supply chain, common operational services, and the revamped protection cluster as the provider of last resort on gender-based violence prevention and response services. At the same time, specialized entities such as UNFPA must retain the operational, technical leadership, and resources required to deliver life-saving services effectively, including on sexual and reproductive health and gender-based violence. At the regional level, we support strengthening surge capacity, cross-border coordination, data and foresight, and integrated support to countries. We look forward to regional arrangements that reinforce country delivery, preserve agency expertise,, and avoid creating parallel structures that dilute accountability or technical leadership. Through all the work streams, UNFPA is contributing demographic expertise, population data, and foresight as a system-wide public good that can help the United Nations anticipate risk, target intervention more effectively, and support evidence-based policymaking. We are also working to support the UN's normative role and ensure that human rights, remain embedded across UNAIDS workstreams. Rights-based approaches are fundamental to effective and sustainable development outcomes. As discussions continue regarding the UNAIDS and future institutional arrangements for HIV-related functions, it will be important to preserve critical data, analytical, normative, and coordination capacity, and ensure continuity of support for countries. Finally, impact is not just about how much money we spend. Some of the UN's most catalytic contributions generate high-impact results at relatively modest cost, including demographic analysis, normative engagement, policy support, protection services, and technical assistance. But they are built on confidence and trust from member states. Excellencies, The discussion regarding UNFPA and UN Women, as Sima said it before me, should be understood as one element of the broader UNAID reform agenda aimed at strengthening coherence, accountability, and delivery across the system. As we have constantly emphasized, the assessment seeks to address a structural question regarding future institutional arrangement rather than performance deficiency in either organization. Any future step would require careful consideration of mandate protection, operational continuity, governance arrangement, financial sustainability, and transition complexity. To support this member state-led process, UN Women and UNFPA are currently developing complementary alternative options to strengthen coherence, alignment, and impact within existing framework. In this context, it is important to recognize UNFPA's specialized role as the lead United Nations entity on population issues and sexual and reproductive health and rights grounded in the ICPD Programme of Action. Across more than 150 countries, UNFPA combines normative leadership, demographic expertise, humanitarian response, and large-scale programme delivery in support of women, girls, and young people. Excellencies, as we move forward, reform should strengthen coherence, accountability, and impact while preserving the specialized capability that enabled the United Nations to deliver results. Any decision on this process rests with member states through the Executive Board and the General Assembly. Ultimately, reform is not an end in itself. The measure of success is whether it enables the United Nations to to support you better and improve the lives of the people we serve. While this is all happening, we know one thing for certain: we are voluntary contributed fund. We are grateful to all Member States for their support. Because of that, as the UN80 process is on, our team is working tirelessly around the world. They stay and deliver, as rightly said by DSG. The 2030 Agenda is on. and we are working on delivering it. Our Executive Board is around the corner. I shall be presenting my annual report that will give the exact content of our achievement. The work we do with the High Commissioner on Human Rights and with the Emergency Relief Coordinator are critical for accelerating the 2030 Agenda. Emphasizing the country program document importance, as mentioned by UNDP Administrator, is for me a major accountability towards member state and the assurance of their acceptance of what we do respect their sovereignty. Knowing the sensitivity of UNFPA mandate, this is a great safeguard not to be overlooked at. We will continue to pursue reform with ambition and with the necessary guardrails to protect our institutional strength. Our ultimate accountability remains to the millions of women, girls, and young people whose lives depend on the uninterrupted delivery of our promise. I thank you for your kind attention.

I thank Madame Keïta for her remarks. I am now pleased to give the floor to the Executive Director of the NOPS, Mr. George Moreira da Silva.

You have the floor. Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, distinguished chairs of the Executive Boards, Dear colleagues, excellencies, I am very pleased to join my colleagues, the Executive Heads of UN agencies and also member states, on an important discussion on UN80. That's why in my intervention I will focus more on the efficiency-related elements of UN80 rather than on UNOPS activities delivering almost $3 billion of projects in 130 countries. EUNOPSY is fully committed to the UN80 Initiative. We firmly believe that the UN is greater than the sum of our parts, and EUNOPSY is dedicated to ensuring that our collective impact matches the scale and urgency of today's global challenges, already mentioned by the DSG and by my colleagues. These challenges do not exist in silos. We operate across sustainable development, humanitarian action, and peace and security, we deploy our expertise in some of the world's most complex and fragile environments. And based on this experience, let me pose a fundamental question that cuts across many of the UN AT work packages. We all want a collaborative, coordinated, coherent UN system operating at scale. We all maintain mandates mandates should be preserved. We all admit that there is probably some redundancy in the system, but I would like to argue that the solution is neither to foster additional competition, nor to create monopoly powers and structures, or to rest on incumbents. I still fundamentally believe that whilst sticking to mandates, we need to compatibilize a boost on collaboration with a marketplace to enhance efficiency, agility, and effectiveness. And nobody should be afraid of a marketplace. And I would like to illustrate this point with three examples: UN Country Team Reconfiguration, Unified Services Roadmap, and Integrating Supply Chains. Over the past months, I have had the privilege to coordinate the effort behind the reconfiguration of UN Country Teams under the leadership of the Deputy Secretary General, to ensure we collectively and progressively plan strategically, deliver accordingly to need, adapt to different environments, and we have fit-for-purpose operating models and instruments. What I heard a lot in the last 12 months of this process was, how can we have the ambition of streamlined country presence without reducing our effectiveness or impact? My response has been that, on the contrary, the Resident Coordinator, as the neutral integrator, should be well positioned to strategically plan, together with the host country and with all UN country teams, for necessary skills and expertise aligned with individual mandates through the cooperation framework. But this is not a static question of having everyone present everywhere to maintain visibility and funding, but the more dynamic question of deploying relevant expertise on demand, where and when needed, from outside the country. UN Country Teams shall work more often as a hub-like approach. This is the embodiment, for example, of how UNOPS itself operates with agility and low fees. For this system to work, introducing robust transparency standards will be critical to strengthening trust enabling accountability and ensuring compliance. Second point, on efficiency. Since 2024, as you know, we have been co-chairing, through my colleague Sonja Leighton-Kohn, the UNSCG Business Innovation Group alongside UNFPA. Building on this momentum, we are now co-leading the UN AT Work Package 14 on Unified Services Roadmap. This is a major, transformative effort to maximize operational efficiencies across the UN System. By eliminating duplication, we ensure that more resources go directly to where they have the greatest impact. To maximize operational efficiency, we must transition away from support services fragmented on an entity-by-entity basis. UN 80 provides an historical window to achieve this. The establishment of common back offices requires sustained behavioural change to shift organisational dynamics away from an opt-out mindset and towards a systemic buy-in. But this is not the same as saying we need incumbents or monopoly status for certain entities to provide shared services, and I am including on this UNOPS. I'm not pretending that we are not also one of the big agencies, so everything that I'm saying about the risk of monopolies also applies to EUNOPS. We have— which have different competitive advantage and we each need to both buy and sell in this space in line with mandates, with genuine market dynamics. This is what will drive genuine efficiency and generate savings, a marketplace. Place. I believe the same applies to integrating— integration of supply chains. UNOPS is fully committed to supporting joint delivery and stands ready to integrate our agile procurement models and digital platforms, such as the UN WebBuy, into early-stage logistics planning in complex and priority contexts. To achieve the UNAT vision of faster, more cost-efficient delivery, we must leverage the specialized operational capacities of the entire UN system based on where and how they can best add value, complementing the vital work of the traditional humanitarian responders, for example. And again, key is transparency. Strategic decisions should be rooted in transparent data and rigorous cost-benefit analysis. Mr. Chair, Excellencies, you will often hear me and my colleagues from UNOPS speak about agility. I genuinely believe that we will not confront the challenges of today, with the resource crunch we simultaneously face, without thinking more horizontally and less vertically. We need new ways of working which can drive efficiency, but also effectiveness, coherence and impact. And I think this, and a more agile UN, would go a long way to rebuilding trust.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Moreira da Silva. I now give the floor to the Executive Director of UNICEF, Madame Catherine Russell. You have the floor.

Excellencies, good morning. It's very good to be here with all of you today. At a time when development gains are under pressure, humanitarian needs are rising, and public resources are increasingly constrained, the question before us is not whether the United Nations should reform. The question is how we reform in ways that strengthen our ability to deliver for the people that we serve. For UNICEF, this means reforming to help us reach children faster, more effectively, and at greater scale. UNICEF fully supports the Secretary-General's UN80 initiative and remains committed to building a more coherent, more effective United Nations development system. Within UNICEF, we have reduced costs by 20%, established centers of excellence, and modernized our operating model. We have also adapted to in-country presence to better reflect the different realities children face around the world. These efforts show that greater coherence and efficiency are possible, focused on what matters most. For us, that is delivery for children. As discussions on UN80 move forward, Accountability to national governments and Member States must be prioritized. Each UN entity has a distinct mandate, governance structure, responsibility to support national priorities. Better alignment must strengthen those accountabilities and will make us all better and stronger. Executive Boards remain the essential link between Member States and operational delivery. Greater coherence across governing bodies can reduce duplication and improve oversight. But coherence should reinforce, not replace, the established authority of Executive Boards over country programs, resource allocation, and mandate delivery. Country presence must be determined by need, national priorities, and comparative advantage. One size clearly does not fit all. The needs of children living in a middle-income country facing climate shocks are so different from those of children elsewhere who may be affected by conflict, displacement, or chronic poverty. A strong Resident Coordinator system is essential to this effort. Resident Coordinators play a critical role in convening partners, fostering coherence, and helping countries access the full breadth of expertise across the UN system. Coordination and delivery are complementary functions. Resident Coordinators help bring the system together, while agencies provide the specialized expertise, operational capacity, and accountability needed to deliver results. Both are essential. Our ability to deliver these results depend on country program documents, which are vital instruments for program delivery focused on national priorities for children. They complement the UN cooperation frameworks by detailing child-focused commitments endorsed by governments and approved by executive boards. Strong alignment between cooperation frameworks and country program documents is essential to avoid program disruption, and we must be pragmatic to maintain program continuity. Excellencies, to deliver on our ambitious goals for children, a healthy development system requires a balanced mix of funding, including, of course, core resources. Our objective should be to improve the quality, predictability, and flexibility of funding while maintaining the mandate-specific accountability that gives Member States confidence that resources are achieving results. UNICEF is contributing practical solutions to make this entire system more effective. At the country level, the Business Operations Strategy remains a cornerstone of our efficiency efforts. Since 2019, implementation across across UNICEF offices has generated more than $100 million in savings through joint initiatives with other UN agencies. In 2025 alone, those efforts generated nearly $19 million in savings while supporting more efficiency and in delivery aligned with national priorities and cooperation frameworks. We are also helping drive greater efficiency through common premises, common back offices, and shared services. Services. Today, more than half of UNICEF offices operate from common premises, significantly above the UN system average. Through our global shared services center, UNICEF provides payment, payroll, and human resources support to other UN entities. Together with WFP and other partners, we are helping lead work on an integrated humanitarian supply chain, and we are co-leading the UN data system— data commons. These efforts demonstrate that greater coherence can be achieved through practical collaboration that strengthens delivery rather than creating new layers of complexity. Partnerships are equally important here. UNICEF works closely with WHO and UNFPA to strengthen primary healthcare, immunization, nutrition, and maternal and child health outcomes. Together with UNDP and WFP, we are supporting child-sensitive social protection systems that connect humanitarian assistance with national safety nets. These partnerships help to reduce fragmentation and support the delivery of integrated results for children. UNICEF is also working with governments and partners to support the rights of all children, to expand social protection, to strengthen education systems, to improve access to health and nutrition services, and to ensure that children with disabilities are fully included in in society. We are very proud of this work. We are helping countries protect investments in children even as fiscal pressures and debt burdens increase. And we are strengthening the humanitarian-development nexus, ensuring that children affected by conflict, displacement, and climate shocks are not forgotten and left behind. Because our measure of success is that our reforms reach the child excluded from school, the child displaced the child displaced by conflict, the child living with a disability, and the child growing up in poverty. If we do not reach them, we have not truly succeeded. As we move forward with UN80, UNICEF will continue to work with member states and partners across the system. We support reforms that make the United Nations more coherent, more accountable, and more effective. For UNICEF, that means ensuring that every reform is judged by a simple standard: Does it help us reach children faster, more effectively, and at greater scale? If the answer is yes, we should embrace it, because ultimately, for UNICEF, the purpose of reform, as it is for all of us, is better results for children. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Madame Executive Director. Last but not least, may I now invite the World Food Programme's Acting Executive Director, Mr. Carl Skjöll, you have the floor.

Thank you, Mr. President, and thanks to colleagues also for a great presentation this morning and for the opportunity to share and offer a perspective from a Rome-based agency. I will start by also adding some operational flavor, because I think it's important to illustrate the remarkable achievements that this system delivers on a daily basis. As we speak today, we are searching our teams in Ituri in Eastern DRC to respond to the Ebola crisis there, working very closely—WHO, UNICEF, and other agencies. We're doing everything we can to contain the outbreak of Ebola, of course, in hand in hand supporting local efforts. Efforts. In Gaza, WFP is delivering food to the entire population every month and has done so since the ceasefire started. And in Lebanon, when the war broke out and there was a displacement of 1.2 million people, within 48 hours we were at those shelters, again working closely with local authorities and government efforts to support the displaced, and we have done so throughout, including with convoys to the south where the active conflict is. I think it's an important starting point because this is not a broken system and we need to build from what works and what the achievements are. Having said that though, this is not enough because the context with growing needs, growing demand, and less resources demands more of us and so we have to do better. At WFP, we have basically set out a three-pronged approach to try to narrow that gap between the demand on what we can— on us, the needs, and the resources that are not enough. The first one is impact through efficiency. Over the past 3 years, we have streamlined our organizational structure, we have tightened our headquarters, we've gone from a 3-layer organization to a 2-layer organization, pushing resources as far as we possibly can into our country offices. We've taken a field-oriented approach to budgeting. We're basically only budgeting headquarters capacities as it is necessary to support our field operations, and we're tapping into technologies, AI, and every other measure to make sure that as much of the resources, the money that we have available, goes into our programmes. The second is impact through effectiveness, doing better with less, and a big part of that is targeting and prioritising. In our strategic plan that was adopted by the board in November, we have for the first time set out what we should stop doing, not doing, and we are now implementing that at country level, handing over to other agencies, and I look to my colleagues to do the same because I really think that we need to be targeted, we need to narrow down, we need to focus, and we need better complementarity as we move forward. A key element to this is also that we are changing our operating model. Our focus is always to try to break dependency, to break the cycles of dependency and try to promote self-reliance, strengthen local capacities, and frankly, with the ultimate objective of not having to be present any longer, and that is a change of mindset that is basically about working ourselves out of business. The third one is impact through partnership, and here is where our commitment, our profound commitment to the UN 80 Agenda comes in. We have actively contributed, we have been forward-leaning, and I think there is impressive progress now, at least on the three fronts where we are actively engaged. The first one being the supply chain initiative that we took together with UNICEF, but now with many agencies as part of that initiative. We are moving forward on 5 pilots, doing the procurement together, the global logs, and also now the in-country delivery. And we hope that by August we will have lessons to demonstrate so that this can be rolled out across all complex and humanitarian emergencies. The second is on the common services. Colleagues have spoken to that. What we have offered here is, of course, our strong presence in the field, but also a solution called the UN System Service Hub, where we have a coordinated access to those shared capacities, which has really brought down overhead costs and provided coherence. And the third one is on the data solutions. Again, here, fully commitment to the interoperability and the shared standards, that we're moving forward so that we can make sure that all our data is coming together and delivering for ONE. I think the most important point, though, here is that we need a culture change. We need a culture change at all levels, and not least at the country level, where the focus is on common outcomes to deliver impact together, rather than on who does what and maximizing the income and contributions to one or the other agency. But I think for that we need three things from member states. Number one is really a candid discussion on risk sharing, and this should be including the massive impact of the cuts that we've seen over the past couple of years. This is having real impact on a daily basis. We see it when we travel to Somalia. We see it when we travel to Afghanistan, and I think that's an important conversation to have and a candid one. The second one, and related to that, is the need for flexible and predictable resources. We are seeing a trend to the contrary with more earmarking and more short-term investments, and if we are to deliver on these big challenges before us, we need that flexibility so we can act earlier and be more effective in our response. And finally is really incentives, both political but also financial incentives for collaboration rather than competition. I thank you, Mr. Chair.

I thank Mr. Skau for your remarks. We have heard from all the 6 principals, so we shall now move to the first segment on our agenda item. This segment focuses on governance mandates. And system-wide coherence. I will give the floor to HE Mr. Cornel Feruge, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Romania to the United Nations and President of the Executive Board of UNDP, UNFPA, UNOPS, UNOPS, will provide an introductory remark on this item. Thereafter, we shall open the floor for an interactive discussion between member states and the principals. Mr.

Connell, you have the floor. Thank you, Mr. President. Well, a lot has been said and I'm looking at the Executives of important agencies in United Nations delivering meaningfully on the ground. I think each and every one of them represents a very good message of the United System, of the effort that mobilizes member states, and we have to value that. And I'm— I think this side that we have today is quite rare, and probably we as member states, we have to make better use of this interaction with the executives of the agencies because that's actually what brings added value and allows us also to member states to take advantage of this important potential. Now, a lot has been said. What we have to look at is exactly not to look at the work of the agencies from the New York— exclusive New York point of view. We have to take into account that these organizations operate quite efficiently most of the time on the ground. I've been having the chance to to witness that firsthand. I'm looking at— I mean, the fact that we have how many boards? 4 boards for these agencies shows that we Member States probably operate in a fragmented way, and the fragmentation at headquarters is sometimes reciprocated at the headquarters— at the underground. And I have been travelling with the board, with the Triple Board, both in joint field visits and triple board visits and sometimes it works well, some other times it doesn't work well and that's where we, member states, we need to look at. Now, it's our choice to approach this dialogue in the right way, whether we look at it in a bureaucratic format or we actually try to put to a good use the important potential of these organizations and agencies. We are in the midst of an important conversation on UN Haiti. I do identify a bit of inertia among Member States, hoping that this storm will pass with a new Secretary-General, with new debates among Member States. I don't think we have this luxury. We don't have the luxury because what is happening on the ground, it depends very much on how we are capable of supporting these important agencies and the tens of thousands of colleagues that are working on the ground to provide opportunities to many, many of the people that need that. Now, as part of the interaction that we wanted to advance to create coherence in our work, I have to say that in the process of this conversation on the mergers, we've been liaising very closely with our colleagues from the UN Women. We've been organizing a number of debates, very open, open to not only board members but to all the member states, and including in this room, I think we don't have board members, we have member states in general, and that's our focus because at the end of the day, the UN member states will be deciding on the way ahead. UN 80 involves member states and they will be the decisive factor at the end of the day, and what is important is to overcome somehow the inertia that we have identified. The message that we also send out in the system, but also the message that we send out to our capitals, is equally crucially important how we advance this conversation. This meeting will be followed next week by the triple board meetings, and then UN Women will be having later this month— actually, by having 4 governing bodies, we have 4 weeks of board meetings. Can you imagine? All of them attended by the same member states, almost. I think we member states, we have to look at that., and that's one idea that was floated in the UN80 conversations. Can we afford to multiply 4 times? Of course, CPDs are different in nature, they vary, but as we heard, some of the CPDs will be going through a system-wide process involving also the Resident Coordinator, and probably we have to look at that, and this part of the reform is also on us. Mr. President, I will stop here. And of course I look forward to the conversation.

Thank you. I thank Your Excellency for your introductory remarks. We shall now move to the interactive portion of today's meeting. Before we begin, I'd like to inform you how we shall proceed. We will first have a round of interventions from delegations And delegations who wish to take the floor may indicate their wish by pushing the microphone button just next to their microphones. We shall give the floor to the order in which the requests have been given. My first speaker Aizideh Piarova, Albania. Suela, Your Excellency, you have the floor.

Thank you, Mr. President, Excellencies, distinguished colleagues.

Albania.

Can we have the— can we— the room, the control room, kindly give the floor to our speakers. Albania. Activate the microphone, please. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. President, Excellencies, distinguished colleagues. I have the honor to speak on behalf of the members of the Bureau of the Executive Board of UN Women, the Permanent Representative of Uganda, Belgium, Kyrgyzstan, and my own country, Albania. We welcome today's joint meeting of the Executive Boards as a clear illustration of the spirit of collaboration across agencies. We express our appreciation to the Executive Directors and senior leadership teams for fostering stronger coordination across agencies and for promoting a more coherent, efficient, and responsive UN Development System. From the outset, Member States have supported the UN AT reform agenda and welcomed the Secretary-General's focus on efficiency and improved delivery. We need a United Nations that is empowered, more coherent, that delivers as one and has greater impact on the ground. As Bureau, we remain committed to supporting the Executive Board of UN Women in co-crafting meaningful reforms. We would like to highlight 4 key points. First, system-wide coherence is indispensable, and multiple tools are already at our disposal. Today is a perfect example of how existing mechanisms can be leveraged by bringing together agencies and Member States around shared agenda items, enhancing coordination, and building on each entity's comparative advantages. Second, a UN that succeeds is a UN that delivers better, faster, and more coherently in the field. Improvements in governance and coordination must translate into tangible results where they matter most. This requires clear roles effective interagency mechanisms, strengthened coordination under the Resident Coordinator System, and well-functioning governance mechanisms through the Executive Boards. As Bureau members, we stress the importance of fully integrating field perspective into UNAID discussions. There is need to reflect the views from the field into the decisions of the Executive Boards. In this regard, we look forward to the joint field visit. Third, the Executive Boards are the custodians of mandates, oversight, strategic direction, and accountability of the agencies and its leadership. As the Bureau of UN Women, we will continue to ensure this custodianship is respected. Any UNAID proposals affecting mandates or governance, directly or indirectly, must be presented in full transparency to the Executive Boards, with adequate time for consideration. As the Secretary-General noted in his latest UN80 Progress Report, the overall direction and scale of UN80 lie in the hands of Member States. UN80 reform have to remain Member State-driven, have the ambition to strengthen the implementation of the mandates of our organizations through improved efficiency, coordination, effectiveness and elimination of duplication while keeping the UN values purposes and objectives at its core. Fourth, all reforms must be firmly evidence-based and all data presented to Member States must be properly sustained. As the Secretary-General rightly noted, the purpose of the reform is not change for the sake of the change and has— he has called on Member States to consider structural proposals on their merits. As a Bureau, we are committed to assessing any proposed mergers on this basis, grounded in robust data and accompanied by thorough analysis of options and alternatives. In this context, we underline the importance of fully availing all the information requested made by the boards in relation to UNAT. In closing, the Bureau of UN Women stands ready to provide all necessary support within its mandate to ensure transparent, inclusive, and evidence-based decision making with the UN Women Executive Board on UN80. I thank you.

I thank the distinguished delegate of Albania for the comments. I now give the floor to Denmark. I would like to remind you that we have a time limit of 3 minutes. Please compress your remarks to 3 minutes. Thank you. Denmark, you have the floor. Thank you, Mr.

Chair. Good morning, Madam President, Executive Directors, colleagues. Earlier this week at the ECOSOC Operational Activities Segment, Member States expressed clear and strong support for a system-wide push to implement the Secretary-General's UN80 ambitions for a more coherent and effective UN development system. And as we've heard this morning, 8 years on from the adoption of Resolution 72/279 on the repositioning of the UN development system, Many of his ambitions remain only partially implemented, yet the urgency for systemic reform has intensified for all the reasons we heard this morning. Denmark is a strong supporter of UNADY, including the possible mergers, and we expect all our UN partners at this Joint Board Meeting to engage proactively and be fully committed. We believe that one of the most important potential outcomes of UNADY is that reforms ensure that the UN acts as one UN at country level, with a strong mandate for the resident and humanitarian coordinators to deliver impactful leadership and collective results to host countries. This does not mean that the system is broken, as Carl Skau said, but as we've also heard this morning, there is a need for a much more unified UN approach at country level to improve local ownership, efficiency, and sustainable impact with less resources available. This entails 4 strategic considerations and reform expectations from our side. First, ensure that the RCHC holds real influence over the configuration of country teams and the prioritization of scarce resources, guided as appropriate by agreed coherent cooperation frameworks and humanitarian response plans. We support this proposal to ensure that entity-specific country program instruments are derived and sequenced after the cooperation framework. Second, ensure that the UN focuses on lifting system-wide functions such as normative guidance and oversight, coordination, data, management of financing instruments, supply chains, etc., within a framework that to a much greater extent is locally led and locally owned. Third, Third, strengthen common back offices and system-wide shared services where appropriate and relevant. And fourth, monitoring and documenting results at a system-wide level as the basis for upward and downward accountability, and with a strong focus on sustainable outcomes. We look forward to further updates from our UN partners, including at the upcoming Executive Boards, on their progress to drive the full implementation of UN reform and a humanitarian reset. I thank you.

Thank you, distinguished delegate from Denmark, for your remarks. I now give the floor to Mexico, followed by France, Mozambique, Brazil, Republic of Korea, in that order. Mexico, you have the floor.

Muchas gracias, señor presidente.

Thank you very much, President. Mexico welcomes this joint meeting as a timely opportunity to discuss the UN80 initiative from a systems perspective, preserving mandates and recognizing the comparative advantages of each entity. For Mexico, UN80 should be understood as reformed— aimed at producing results. Its success will not be measured by institutions in themselves, but in its capacity to improve the response of the United Nations to the needs of both peoples and governments. Advances in efficiency will only be valuable if they lead to more effective implementation, greater accountability, and better support for national priorities. In this regard, the Executive Boards have a fundamental role to play in guaranteeing that the proposals for reform are transparent, are evidence-based, and are coherent with the mandates agreed by membership. Any proposal must be supported by clear information about costs, risks, and financial implications, and also expected results at the country level. Mexico considers that reform should strengthen the operational capacity of the United Nations, especially in fragile contexts, those with humanitarian needs and that are difficult to access. We underscore that efficiency cannot be a substitute substitute for adequate financing. Having more predictable, flexible, and sustainable resources continues to be essential to reduce fragmentation and to strengthen coherence across the system. In relation to the structural proposals under consideration, the role of UN Women, the UNFPA, UNDP, and UNOPS, Mexico believes that any possible integration of entities should be assessed on the basis of evidence, demonstrated improvement capacity, and concrete benefits for states. We support gradual and transparent processes that safeguard the impact on development. They protect existing partnerships and guarantee meaningful consultations with relevant stakeholders, including civil society. Mexico further reiterates that gender equality and human rights are absolute fundamental priorities underpinned by the Charter of the United Nations and our foreign policies. This— these principles should be protected and they should also be strengthened throughout the reform process. In this regard, our commitment to gender equality, the empowerment of women, and human rights must be fully preserved under any reform scenario. Finally, we recognize the fundamental role of the World Food Program, the WFP, in the fight against hunger and food insecurity. We encourage them to continue their efforts to strengthen resilient and sustainable food systems around the world. President, the ultimate test of UN80 will be in deciding whether the United Nations is able to be more useful, more receptive, and effective for the people and the countries that we serve.

I thank you. Distinguished delegates of Mexico, for the remarks, I now give the floor to France. France, you have the floor.

Merci, Monsieur le Président.

Thank you, Mr. President, Madame Deputy Secretary-General, directors. Given the triple planetary crisis and the many conflicts and the humanitarian emergencies and development emergencies accompanying them, we need Our development system needs to be strengthened to confront these new realities. This is one of the main objectives of UN80, which we fully support. A few points. Agenda 2030— the 2030 Agenda is the lodestar for the implementation of our mandates: eradication of poverty, democratic governance, gender equality, protection of the rights of women and Children, access to sexual and reproductive health and rights, preserving the planet and ensuring climate resilience. These are the mandates that we've entrusted to you through the General Assembly, and they are essential for peace and security development and the protection of human rights. And your executive boards are the guardians of all this. We need to work better in a system both on the ground and in New York. We welcome the work that's done to integrate the humanitarian, supply changes by relying on the comparative advantage of everyone. This has helped to curb costs, improve effectiveness, increase humanitarian aid given to populations. France and its partners in the G7 are supporting these efforts, and we encourage UN agencies to continue to make ambitious proposals. In the same vein, we support the strengthening of the UN's coherence on the ground. This means country teams that are effective and led by visible resident coordinators with stronger authority, and it should be built on the basis of the needs expressed by the host countries. The proposals to bring agencies together can help to beef up impact, efficacy, and coherence in the UN development system while respecting the missions and mandates of the United Nations, which are essential. We need to make our system more agile and facilitate flexible access to thematic expertise. The Executive Board must accompany all these reforms. They need to be involved in the discussions on the strategic decisions that are underway to best accompany the agencies and their intervention— interventions with vulnerable populations while maintaining a high level of exactitude in the management. The current context of the reform requires shared responsibility so we can reach our strategic goals. I want to reiterate France's support to the Secretariat of the United Nations and to you, the heads of the agencies, on these ambitious and necessary reforms. Thank you.

I believe you have finished your statement, France. Mr. Minister, Mozambique. Okay, I thank you for the remarks. May I now give the floor to the District Delegate of Mozambique, Mozambique.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, Mozambique welcomes this opportunity to engage with the principals and executive boards of the core development humanitarian entities of the UN system. Many of the decisions now being considered under UN 80 will fundamentally affect how your agencies organize, cooperate, and deliver. As Executive Board members, we therefore have a particular responsibility not only to receive information but to exercise genuine governance, protect mandates, assess risks and ensure transparency, and guarantee that reforms strengthen country programme delivery rather than merely reorganizing UN institutional structures. Mr. Chair, last week the Secretary-General provided an instructive clarification. Workstream II deals with mandates. Their creation, implementation, and review, while Workstream 3 deals with delivery arrangements through which those mandates are implemented. This clear distinction matters. I welcome your views on the practical feasibility of maintaining this separation in a complex reform process where structural change can easily blur mandate lines. For Mozambique, the central question is alignment— alignment between mandates, resources, institutional arrangements, countries, priorities, and results. Coherence should not mean flattening distinct mandates into generic functions. It should mean making comparative advantages work together more effectively in support of nationally defined priorities. Therefore, we have 3 critical questions for the principles. The first: What do you expect from member states, both in executive boards and in the General Assembly, to ensure that UN 80 decisions are coherent evidence-based, and genuinely supportive of country-level delivery. We need clarity on what governance support you need from us. Second, how do you intend to manage resistance to change while avoiding disruption to programs, staff morale, and field delivery? Transformation is necessary. Disruption is not. How will you manage this balance? Third and lastly, how do you see the practical application of the Secretary-General's distinction between Workstream 2, which is mandate, and Workstream 3, which is delivery arrangements, particularly where structural proposals may have implications for governance, accountability, and operational models? Where will the line be drawn and who will determine it?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I thank the distinguished delegates of Mozambique for the intervention. I now give the floor to Brazil, followed by Republic of Korea, China, India, South Africa, and that order. Brazil, you have the floor.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Mr. President. First of all, I join others, obviously, in thanking for the opportunity to engage with so many principles this morning in an attempt, again, to have a system-wide view of our challenges when it comes to system-wide coherence. Some of the principles, and I think all of them, have asked member states to have a frank conversation, and I think it's certainly the time for that. But before engaging in this frank conversation, let me acknowledge the progress that has been made, despite shortcomings, but the progress that has been made in terms of system-wide coherence and coordination and reduced fragmentation, especially at the country level. Now, I think we approach a moment where, as Mr. Cao said, a change in culture is fundamental, both in the system and among member states. He mentioned a few of the needs in terms of those contributing financially to the system to have incentives for cooperation, not competition, but— and this is the part I come with a candid observation—

Looking from a member state position, we see, or at least my delegation sees, deep divisions among the system and within the system as to the best way to go forward. That's natural.

That's not necessarily to be a source of concern because the situation is complex. and undoing things that have been there for a long time is necessarily or almost always subject to controversy.

But my feeling is that—

and I may be wrong— member states, or at least the majority of member states, are not privy to the full range of options and the implications of those options and therefore the least controversy or differences within the system will help member states give the necessary guidance. And if I were in the system, I would be working very seriously to seek as much unity as possible because if questions are put very open to member states, the unpredictability of the decisions by member states might affect or might bring undesired results. So my plea today for the principles is to continue working very hard to find common space common perspectives to help member states make the right decision for the system.

Otherwise, again, I fear that we might make not the best decisions for the system.

And on our part, at least, we will be looking very closely to continue this conversation so that we help make make the right decisions. I thank you.

I thank the distinguished delegate of Brazil for his comments. I now give the floor to Republic of Korea. You have the floor.

Thank you, President, and I also appreciate the principles for sharing your priorities and challenges as well. My delegation's primary interest in UNAID is the system-wide coherence. Much has been already prescribed at the strategic level through QCPR and at the country level through the strengthened Resident Coordinator System. We also recognize that funds and programs are working hard to collaborate and coordinate with each other, yet the problem of duplication and fragmentation still persist. Well, mandates overlap. That is a design problem on the part of member states, and we should be earnest about that and map overlapping mandates against the comparative advantages of each entity. And we now have a tool for that purpose in the new mandate implementation resolutions. On the part of UN entity, I think there must be a set of incentives and evaluation frameworks that genuinely value and reward collaboration and joint planning. And most of all, lessons learned by each entity and best practices, including on the ground, should be shared across the system, fed back into the budgeting and planning cycles, and ultimately reported to the membership for further guidance. And the letters and the intentions are all there in the QCPR resolution, but we need to think harder about whether these meaningful interactions or feedback are actually taking place and whether the GA and ECOSOC are fully reflecting them and issuing appropriate guidance in response. So— and the Executive Boards have also a role to play in this feedback group, working closely in collaboration with their respective entities and other governing bodies. I believe that the system-wide coherence can be better achieved with this full circle of interactions and feedback. And also briefly on humanitarian diplomacy, as we see the erosion of international humanitarian norm, there is a compelling case for a whole-of-system approach, one that leverages UN's collective presence to advance shared humanitarian objectives. So we would welcome greater clarity on how humanitarian coordination functions in practice and how it can be strengthened, and where feasible and appropriate, UN entities and member states can further coordinate with each other their efforts in the field, utilizing member states' political engagement with the parties to the conflict as well. I thank you.

I thank the distinguished delegate of the Republic of Korea for the intervention. I now give the floor to China. China.

Chair, I'd like to thank Deputy Secretary-General Amina for her remarks and the heads of the 6 agencies for their briefings. China would like to share 5 points. First, reform should play a guiding role. Improving the quality and efficiency of the UN is a prevailing trend, and institutional reform is an important part of the UN80 Initiative. The proposed reforms of relevant agencies should neither be rushed blindly nor remain stalled. All parties should be goal and problem-solving oriented, conduct a full and sound assessment of benefits, costs, and delivery, and identify reform options and paths as soon as possible to support UNAID implementation and improve system-wide efficiency. Second, reform should enhance agencies' ability to act. It should address issues such as fragmentation in the development development and humanitarian systems, promote complementary strengths, better mobilize funding, and enhance synergies. It should explore a more efficient command center and data hub, and improve field delivery, emergency response, and protection of vulnerable groups. Reform measures should align with the cooperation framework and each agency's country programs, and avoid disrupting the continuity of existing projects. Third, reform should mobilize development efforts. It should strengthen the development pillar and reinforce development and humanitarian systems. Reformed agencies should fully mobilize system-wide resources, coordinate global action, better support the priorities of member states, especially developing ones, and jointly advance the 2030 Agenda. Fourth, reform should strengthen governance and implementation. In the reform process, agencies should provide complete and accurate information, respond promptly to member states' concerns, and move in the same direction. As an important governance and oversight mechanism, the Executive Board should further strengthen guidance and supervision and ensure that decisions reflect member state consensus. Fifth, reform should foster internal vitality. The ultimate goal of reform is to restore system effectiveness, better adapt to the times, and better serve people of the world. While effectively protecting each agency's core mandate, reform should promote integration of functions, resources, and cultures to strengthen innovation, cooperation, influence, and risk resilience, and to better leverage these agencies as core platforms. Chair, China will continue to fulfill its responsibilities as an Executive Board member, strengthen coordination with all parties, participate constructively in discussions, and promote steady reform progress. My question is, in advancing UN EDI reform, is there a clearer reform timetable and roadmap? We've heard from UN Women that they will submit a report by the end of the month. We'd like to know the timeline of other agencies' submission of reports. Thank you.

Thank the distinguished delegate of China for his remarks. I now give the floor to India.

India, the Thank you, Mr. Chair, and we thank the DSG for her remarks today morning, and we thank the principals for their briefing today morning. At the outset, India reaffirms its commitment to humanitarian action guided by the principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence. We recognize the important role played by the United Nations in humanitarian diplomacy, including facilitating access to affected populations mobilizing partnerships across governments, international organizations, civil societies, and the private sector, and advocating for policies that protect vulnerable communities. With regard to the UN80 process, India supports efforts to strengthen coordination, efficiency, and effectiveness across the UN system. However, greater coherence should not come at the expense of the distinct mandates, governance structures, comparative advantages of individuals— individual UN entities. Reform efforts should therefore focus on improving collaboration, reducing duplication, and enhancing country-level coordination, while fully respecting the mandates and accountability frameworks that have been established by the member states. Mr. Chair, India believes that executive boards and the member states must remain at the center of any discussions concerning significant institutional changes. Proposals that may affect mandates, operational models, funding arrangements, lines of accountability, or intergovernmental oversight should be considered through established governance processes and under the guidance of the relevant governing bodies. Meaningful member state engagement is essential to ensuring the legitimacy, effectiveness, and sustainability of any reform measures. Member states should be provided with clear evidence and analysis, including assessments of operational impact, financial implications, risks, expected benefits, and lessons learned from previous reform efforts. Equally important are transparent and inclusive consultation processes that provide sufficient time for review and deliberations, regular reporting, independent evaluations where appropriate, and and continued engagement with governing bodies will be critical to ensuring transparency, accountability, and informed decision-making throughout the process. India stands ready to engage constructively in discussions aimed at strengthening the organization's ability to deliver on its mandates. I thank you, Mr.

Chair. I thank the District Delegate of India for her comments, and I'll give the floor to South Africa.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We wish to thank the Deputy Secretary-General, the presidents of the Executive Boards, and the principals of the various United Nations funds, programmes, and entities that have briefed us today. We have been presented with a great deal of food for thought today, and it warrants our careful consideration of the goals and purposes of UNATI as an initiative focused on the system-wide improvement of the United Nations. This should be to ensure the improvement of the system towards greater efficiency, sustainability, and efficacy. Mr. Chair, the Executive Boards of the UN Development System plays a pivotal role in sustainable development through multilateralism as a core pillar of the United Nations. The value of the Executive Boards in the execution of its governance function is critical to ensuring the acceleration of the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. At its core, the boards provide a conduit for interaction between member states and the United Nations development systems, and thus are uniquely positioned to foster multilateralism and drive development system efficiency through strategic direction and oversight. As time is short, we will focus our attention on the proposed mergers. At the outset, it is important to recognize that South Africa remains committed to support structural and programmatic alignment, efficiency and cost-saving measures without compromising mandate delivery, effective governance and adequate funding, and country-level delivery. We have always maintained an open mind towards considering a variety of options that would achieve the aforesaid goals. This has included, but is not limited to, possible mergers within the development system, with the provision that the mandates are not compromised Programmatic support in-country continues with limited disruption and the financing of the options is fiscally responsible. This requires a system whereby the Executive Boards give fair and due consideration and acts responsibly in reviewing all the assessments and reports on all the options as well as the feasibility of proposed measures. In line with the governance responsibility, It is important for the Executive Boards to make a recommendation on proposals for the consideration of the General Assembly, and possible action on that recommendation, to protect against any impulsive decisions without a fair consideration. Mr. Chair, South Africa remains committed to an effective and capable United Nations that is able to deliver along its three pillars: peace and security, human rights, and importantly sustainable development. In this regard, we remain committed to constructive engagement with the UN process. I thank you.

I thank the District Delegate of South Africa for his comments. I now give the floor to Nepal, followed by Canada, Italy, Germany, Micronesia, UK, in that order. Nepal, you have the floor.

Thank you, Mr. President. At the outset, Nepal welcomes the timely convening of this important discussion. We thank the principals of UN entities and Deputy Secretary-General for their thoughtful reflections. Excellencies, we recognize the important role that the United Nations plays in humanitarian diplomacy, including through engagement with governments and relevant stakeholders to facilitate humanitarian access, build partnership, mobilize resources, and support policy environments that enable principled humanitarian action and the protection of vulnerable populations. As discussions on UNAID advance, Nepal believes that it is a timely opportunity to enhance the UN's efficiency and effectiveness, foster its system-wide coherence, and make it fit for purpose to address evolving global challenges. Greater coordination, collaboration, and operational efficiency can enhance transformative impact and reduce duplication. Yet reforms should respect the diverse nature of mandates, their context, and financing arrangements across the UN system. While appreciating the significant role and contribution of UN entities including UNDP, UNFPA, UNOPS, UNICEF, UN Women, and WFE to deliver development impacts for the people on the ground. We view that the reform must strengthen their mandates, operational efficiency, and build synergies among their unique comparative advantages. Member States should be provided with rigorous data, comprehensive cost-benefit analysis, evaluation of operational efficiencies, financial implications, and clear impacts of proposed structural changes at the country level. We note preliminary assessment on potential merger of UNDP and UNOPS and UNFPA and UNWOMAN. Transparency, accountability, and confidence in the process must be ensured through regular reporting, open dialogue, and meaningful opportunities for member states to provide feedback throughout the reform process. Excellencies, for developing countries, particularly countries in special situation, the true value of reform lies in the strengthening of UN development stronger support for national development priorities, enhanced development financing and capacity building, access to UN expertise on demand, accelerated SDG implementation, and real change in the lives of the people whom we must serve. To conclude, the success of the reform must be assessed not by institutional change alone, but by whether it delivers stronger mandates and better development and humanitarian outcomes, ensuring effective implementation of national cooperation framework, and country program documents where it matters most. As Executive Board member, Nepal remains committed to engage with Member States, UN entities, and all partners to extend on the effectiveness, efficiency, and responsiveness of the UN system to deliver better on the ground. I thank you.

I thank the distinguished delegate of Nepal for his intervention. I now give the floor to Canada.

Thank you, Chair, Board Presidents, Executive Directors, colleagues. Canada remains firmly committed to a UN development system that delivers efficiently, transparently, and with real results. Under the UN80 Initiative, which we are strongly committed to, reforms must be grounded in evidence, efficiency, and strong governance. Governance. Let me highlight the following points. First, respect for international humanitarian law is non-negotiable. It is essential to protecting lives, dignity, and civilians in conflict. Humanitarian diplomacy across the UN system is critical in today's complex crises. In initiatives like the Protection of Civilians Week and the Humanitarian Diplomacy Coalition, help sustain political attention, and to drive commitments. The Emergency Relief Coordinator plays a central role in championing these efforts. On the ground, progress is visible. Resident and humanitarian coordinators are helping secure principled access, engaging all parties, and building partnerships with governments, local actors, civil society, and financial institutions to enable safe, timely and unimpeded delivery. Second, on UNAID coherence, Canada supports ambitious reform. We will continue to engage constructively to strengthen efficiency and effectiveness while protecting core mandates, including on gender equality and human rights. We know progress is possible. Shared services, common premises, and stronger coordination are delivering results on the ground. But duplication and uneven implementation persist. These gaps must be closed. Third, Executive Boards and Member States are central to UNAID. Their oversight, approvals, and follow-up functions are essential to ensuring accountability, transparency, and sound governance. And finally, on evidence and transparency, Member States need timely and complete information to engage meaningfully. UNADY proposals must be evidence-based and transparent, with clear analysis of the benefits, risks and mitigation measures, legal implications and costs, including transition costs, and the impacts on mandates at country level. In closing, Canada is ready to work with all partners to advance reforms that are coherent, accountable, and focused on delivering results for those who need them most. This is a rare opportunity. Let us not waste it, but instead use it to shape a UN system that delivers now and for decades to come. I thank you.

I thank the distinguished delegate of Canada for his intervention. I will now give the floor to the representative Italy, followed by Germany on the list of speakers, Micronesia, UK, Cuba, El Salvador, Rwanda, Burkina Faso, Lesotho. I think the list of speakers closed. I can now give the floor to Italy. You have the floor.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Distinguished principals, excellencies, as our host countries —to the UN Rome-based agencies and to the UN Global Service Centre in Brindisi, as well as to UNDP Rome Centre and the UNICEF UNICEF Centre in Florence, Italy is deeply committed to a multilateral system that delivers where it matters most: on the ground, close to the people in need. This commitment translates into to concrete action, starting from humanitarian context. When we deliver aid, humanitarian settings, when we provide medical care, protection, and education opportunities, we work in close partnership with all UN humanitarian agencies. We work with WFP, UNICEF, and UNFPA. We contribute to UNOPS humanitarian logistics, and we support UNDP recovery and rehabilitation efforts. We have done so recently in different cases, like in a recent initiative launch on integrated child protection and education with UNICEF, UNFPA, WFP. And in all this context, we promote an approach based on full interagency coordination. These partnerships show what we can collectively achieve when we work together and we support country expertise, agency expertise, integrated supply chains, and we work together aligned with partner countries' priorities. Excellency, it is precisely because we believe in what the UN can deliver as one that Italy fully supports the UNAID initiative, a process that we see as essential to make the United Nations more efficient and fit for purpose, and ultimately to reinvigorate multilateralism. In our view, UN Development System should move forward toward delivery, towards the commitment of the Pact of the Future, and towards the people we serve. In this spirit, we want to support the fact that it's important not to rush the process, but assess carefully the broader range of interconnected workstreams on the themes currently reshaping the UN development system, including the regional and the humanitarian reset, the reconfiguration of the country teams, and the recalibration of the resident system mechanism. In all these areas, you can count on our commitment and support to your work. Thank you very much for your attention.

I thank the distinguished delegate of Italy for her intervention. I now give the floor to Germany, you have the floor. Germany, please, you have the floor.

Okay, thank you, Mr.

President.

Let me begin by thanking the Secretariat and the principals for facilitating an open and constructive exchange on the ongoing UN Development System reform process. We appreciate the efforts undertaken in advancing these reforms. I would like to highlight 3 points.

First, on the role of the Executive Boards.

In the context of reform discussions, and particularly regarding possible mergers, the role of the Executive Boards is central. As governing and oversight bodies, Executive Boards have a key responsibility to provide strategic guidance, ensure accountability, and safeguard the effectiveness and integrity of the organizations under their purview. Executive boards must therefore be consulted and meaningfully involved in decision-making throughout the process. Second, on analysis and information required to support decision-making: Any decision on possible structural changes must be based on solid analysis and full transparency. We welcome the assessments that have been undertaken and appreciate the that alternative options to a merger are also being developed and examined. At the same time, important questions remain. One key issue concerns the financing of a transition process.

Our question is: Would organizations that are already operating under significant resource constraints be expected to absorb additional transition costs?

If so, what implications would this have for their ability to deliver on their mandates and maintain programmatic activities at country level? Third, on mandate protection.

Much of the discussion has rightly focused on safeguarding mandates.

It remains unclear to us how it would be ensured in practice that mandates related, for example, to gender equality and women's empowerment, as well as sexual and reproductive health and rights, would not be weakened in the course of any restructuring process. As long as there is no clear understanding of how standards and rights of women and girls can be protected in the General Assembly, we should not unnecessarily put the UN gender architecture at risk. Let me finally say that reform should be assessed not only through the lens of efficiency, institutional configuration, or coherence, but also, and foremost, by whether it strengthens delivery for people on the ground. We look forward to continuing this discussion constructively. Germany supports reform to to strengthen the UN Development System to improve its ability to deliver, in particularly for people and communities in vulnerable situations. I thank you.

I thank the distinguished delegate of Germany for his remarks. I now give the floor to Micronesia. You have the floor. Micronesia?

President, Excellencies, colleagues, Micronesia welcomes this discussion as we look toward the UN80 process and the future of the UN development and humanitarian system. On humanitarian diplomacy, we recognize the UN's essential role in negotiating access, securing humanitarian corridors, and advocating for the protection of civilians. We commend the Resident Coordinator Coordinator in Micronesia and the UN entities under the UN Multi-Country Office for the North Pacific for their swift response following Typhoon Sinlaku in April. Their rapid action was enabled by the UN's on-the-ground presence, which allows for quick mobilization when crises strike. For Small Island Developing States, humanitarian diplomacy must also address climate-driven emergencies, which increasingly define our island's humanitarian landscape. The UN support for an anticipatory action in disaster risk finance— financing remains very vital. On system-wide coherence, Micronesia supports stronger coordination while preserving each UN entity's distinct mandate and comparative advantage. Coherence should enhance effectiveness, not enforce uniformity, especially in small island contexts where duplication strains limited national capacity. Regarding the roles of Executive Boards and Member States, we underscore that governance bodies must remain central to shaping reforms that affect mandates, operational models, and accountability. In this context, the Resident Coordinator's role is also critical. Strong coordination between the Boards and RCs is, is essential to ensure that country-level leadership aligns with the strategic direction set by Member States. Without clear lines of accountability, there is a risk of misalignment between Board-mandated priorities and RC-led coordination efforts, particularly in multi-country office settings where resources and attention are already stretched. Early and structured engagement between boards and RCs can help prevent these gaps. Finally, on evidence and transparency, any significant UNAID-related proposals should be accompanied by clear analysis, cost, and risk assessments. Transparent and inclusive consultation will help ensure that reforms are equitable, data-driven, and aligned with country needs. Micronesia remains committed to a UN system that is coherent, accountable, and fit for purpose, one that can meet the humanitarian and development challenges of the next decade, especially for those most exposed to climate impacts. I thank you.

I thank the distinguished delegate of Micronesia for the Thank you for your intervention and I'll give the floor to United Kingdom.

Mr. President, Excellencies and colleagues, the United Kingdom welcomes the Joint Meeting of the Executive Boards to reflect on how the UNAT Process can strengthen system coherence while safeguarding the distinct mandates, governance structures and comparative advantages of each entity. Represented here. I have 4 points. First, the UK welcomes the ambition of the UN80 Initiative and the progress made across our work streams and the various work packages. However, we should not lose what already works. Each entity represented here has a distinct mandate. The process must ensure mandate preservation whilst building on the existing functions and comparative advantages of each entity. Throughout UNAT, we must protect human rights, the rights of women and children, and support leadership empowerment of women across all agencies. Second, the Executive Boards bear a critical responsibility for decision-making, oversight, and the governance of funds and programs in line with the General Assembly resolutions 48.162 and 52.27. 7. This includes providing recommendations on new initiatives. Member states, including the UK, take this role very seriously, and therefore the UK firmly believes that any proposals under UN 80 that may impact mandates, operational models, lines of accountability, or intergovernmental oversight should be subject to meaningful engagement with the relevant boards. Boards should then provide recommendations before such proposals are advanced to other intergovernmental bodies. The information that we have received on the merger proposals so far has not been sufficient. Third, on system-wide coherence, we urge agencies to ensure strong cooperation with and support for the resident coordinator system, which remains the cornerstone of coherence at country level. The cooperation framework should serve as the primary tool for agreeing a unified UN strategy in country, from which individual country program documents should derive. Fourth, we emphasize that evidence-based analysis should underpin all significant UNAT-related proposals. To date, materials provided on structural proposals have not been sufficient to facilitate an informed engagement. Member States require comprehensive and detailed cost-benefit analyses and risk assessments, including on normative functions, implications for delivery on the ground, transparent timelines, and consultation mechanisms. Transparency is the foundation of legitimate reform. To conclude, The UK remains committed to a reformed United Nations that is fit for purpose in a rapidly changing world. But reform conducted without adequate evidence and without genuine cooperation between agencies, without meaningful consultation and proper governance oversight, risks undermining the very system that we seek to strengthen. We stand ready to work with all partners to ensure that the UNAT process delivers reforms that are bold, responsible, and ultimately result in better outcomes for the people and planet we serve.

I thank the distinguished delegate of the United Kingdom for her comments. I now give the floor to Cuba, followed by El Salvador, Rwanda, Burkina Faso, and Lesotho.

Cuba, you have the floor.

Presidente, President, Excellencies, we are grateful for this opportunity to exchange on such important issues for the future of the United Nations Development System. These discussions are urgent given the current liquidity crisis, which is caused by a systematic failure of several developed countries and the United Nations' largest contributor, the United States, to comply with their own financial commitments. Let us be clear that the UN may today be compelled to carry out emergency reforms is the result of that country's brutal attack on multilateralism and on the basic principles of the Charter of the UN. This attack also now extends to Cuba with an intensified blockade, an energy stranglehold, and military threats, all unprecedented. Having shed some light on the reasons behind emergency enforcement of UN A/C, we consider that there is room in the system to increase its efficiency, avoid duplication of efforts and responsibilities, and to increase complementarity and reduce unfavorable competition between entities. Although UN entities must demonstrate results of implementation and make necessary changes to adapt to the new context, it is also essential for the payment of financial commitments not to become a politicized matter. Payment of dues must not become conditional in exchange for forced reforms where in fact only discussion and consensus should prevail. In this regard, national ownership of countries receiving assistance on the ground must be respected. Any changes must focus on meeting their priorities, not on interests that are unrelated to these countries' development. When faced with any merger or restructuring proposal, it is essential that we first identify its potential costs and benefits and examine them in the relevant forum. The Executive Boards could foster these type of discussions and proposals before submitting them to further scrutiny and consideration by the rest of member states. Whatever the outcome, we emphasize that strategic cooperation frameworks and country programs cannot be interrupted by structural changes. Similarly, each country should keep open the option of working directly with and having a presence on the ground of those entities that it deems most appropriate, regardless of any proposed merger. Despite the duplication of functions, it is known that each agency, fund, and program has certain specializations and advantages, and these should be preserved. —for instance, in terms of greater global presence, capacity to elaborate policy, agility in the execution of projects, or lower implementation costs. While the current financial crisis is occurring just as demand is rising, the viability of the system cannot come at the expense of decreased support on the ground, increased implementation costs, or having the Global South pay for the very assistance it is supposed to receive. Developed countries must assume their historic responsibility and honor the commitments that they have undertaken. Otherwise, Agenda 2030 will leave millions of people behind. I thank you.

I thank the distinguished delegate of Cuba for his comments. I now give the floor to El Salvador. You have the floor.

Thank you, President. My delegation is grateful for the convening of this joint meeting of the Executive Boards, and we also appreciate the presentations and information provided by all of the representatives of all of the entities present here today. These contributions are all the more valuable in the context of ongoing reform. We reiterate our support aimed at achieving positive reform on the ground, sustainability in the longer term, and change that will make an effective contribution to an organization better able to deal with the challenges of the present and the future. President, the critical importance of compliance with governance frameworks, with mandates, and ensuring coherence across distinct efforts within and across the system are crucial factors behind any action aimed at achieving greater efficiencies in the work of the organization as a whole. In 2025, the Executive Boards considered and adopted new strategic plans for each of the entities for a period of 4 years beginning in 2026. These recently published documents represent a roadmap with specific actions and approaches that were supported by member states. They are consistent with other similarly important documents such as development cooperation frameworks and the country program documents. All of these documents have one thing in common. They have a long-term approach where reform was not necessarily a feature. President, all of the actions proposed under the UN Haiti Initiative should reinforce and be tailored to efforts already underway as set out in approved documents, mandates issued, and the programmatic actions aimed at generating a profound impact on the ground rather than the other way around. In the same vein, all risks already identified in relation to the different proposals, particularly as regards potential interruption of implementation of actions on the ground, any potential loss of human capital, as well as the impact of activities under other work packages including the new humanitarian compact, the regional reset, and recalibration of the resident coordinator system, all must be analyzed in depth and serve as a starting point for the decision-making process. Furthermore, we reiterate the need for a cost-benefit analysis of the proposals to be grounded on solid evidence that facilitates comparison with other potential opportunities or alternatives that could be implemented, particularly with regard to entity mergers. In this regard, we trust that delegation's considerations on subsequent steps proposed under the framework for reform, particularly with regard to potential entity mergers, will be evidence-based and take account the benefits of the proposals together with more solid analysis that is evidence-based on data and programmatic impact. We should also take account of the messages delivered by delegations both at this joint meeting and also those messages delivered at the exchanges on the subject over recent months. Of course, future expressions under the annual sessions of various executive boards should also be taken into account. It is the wish of my delegation that feedback from member states in relation to different proposals be heard and duly incorporated into the next steps of the reform as a whole.

I thank you. Thank the distinguished delegate of El Salvador for his— for her statement. And I'll give the floor to Rwanda. Your Excellency, you have the floor.

Thank you, Mr. President, Excellencies, colleagues. My delegation thanks the Deputy Secretary-General, the executive heads, and all briefers for their insightful thank you for your thoughtful presentations. As we continue our discussion on the UN-EITA initiative, particularly on governance, mandates, and system-wide coherence, Rwanda sees an opportunity not merely to restructure but to strengthen the organization's capacity to deliver tangible results for the people on the ground. System-wide coherence is an important objective. However, coherence should not be equated with uniformity. The comparative advantages, specialized mandates, and governance structures of different entities have been built over decades to respond to diverse challenges. Any reform process should therefore seek greater complementarity and coordination rather than consolidation for its own sake. The success of UNHCR will depend on three principles. 3 goals: evidence, consultation, and accountability. We recognize and appreciate the considerable analysis, information sharing, and consultations that have already taken place as part of the UNEP process. As discussions advance, member states and executive boards should remain fully engaged, particularly where proposals may affect mandates, operational arrangements, or oversight functions. Any significant reform proposals should be accompanied by clear assessment of their expected impact, costs, risks, and implications at the country level, enabling informed and transparent decision-making. At the same time, my delegation believes that the process has now reached a stage where decision-making must increasingly come into focus. We should be prepared to take timely and informed decisions guided by evidence already before us and by a shared sense of responsibility for the future effectiveness of the United Nations. Meaningful reform will ultimately require Member States not only to shape the process but also to take ownership of its outcome. Experience has demonstrated that durable results are achieved when international support aligns with national priorities, strengthens local institutions, respects and empowers countries to lead their own development pathways. This principle should remain central to any reform effort and should guide efforts to improve coherence and effectiveness across the UN system. As we look ahead, Rwanda hopes that UNHCR will contribute to a more agile, coordinated, and accountable United Nations, one that remains responsive to evolving global challenges while preserving the trust and confidence of member states. Above all, the outcome should ensure that the UN remains fit for purpose and capable of delivering greater impact for those it serves. Thank you, Mr. President.

I thank the distinguished delegate of Rwanda for his intervention, and I'll give the floor to Burkina Faso. You have the floor.

Monsieur le Président. Mr. President, thank you very much. I also thank the representatives of the various agencies. In Burkina Faso, the issue of security and terrorism have convinced our people that they need to count on themselves because there's been a loss of trust in the United Nations. Beyond that, everywhere in the world there is a persistent perception among the peoples of the world with regard to the ineffectiveness of the UN. However, we need to commit to genuine multilateralism which will have an actual impact on our countries. The UN80 reform for us is therefore an opportunity. It's an opportunity to reassure populations, in particular on the essential issues of security, development, humanitarian, and social affairs. In that regard, the UN can win back the trust of the most vulnerable countries. This is particularly so for the LDGs, for LLDCs, and small island developing states. Turning now to the object of our discussions, Burkina Faso thinks it's necessary to put a spotlight on mandates that are working well and have already been tried and tested. Above all, we need to strengthen the development, uh, area because reform needs to yield improvements on the ground to ensure that we have an effective UN that meets the challenges at hand and works to strengthen mechanisms that have been proven. In order for us to do this, Burkina Faso calls for us to take on board the views of all states especially countries in special situations, above all as regards the configuration of presences in— at the national level. Burkina Faso stands ready to provide its contribution to all efforts underway in order to ensure that the UN is an organization that is effective, that meets the genuine needs of the populations of the world.

Thank you. Thank you, distinguished Representative Bakunafaso, for his comments. I now give the floor to Lesotho.

Your Excellency, you have the floor. Thank you very much, Chairperson. We wish to thank the Deputy Secretary-General for her remarks, which continue to give context to the UN Haiti Initiative. My delegation I express appreciation to the executive heads for their presentations, which all noted the undeniable fact that the UN needs to be efficient, agile, and fit for purpose. This meeting has also noted the importance of alignment of mandates, functions, and structures, which my delegation agrees to entirely. In this regard, the centrality of coherence at all levels is The importance of the reform cannot be overemphasized. This means that the need for uniform understanding at all levels, including at country levels, is a priority. The role of RCs in assessing the impact and feedback on time is critical. Equally, their input regarding regional reset must be factored into all processes and proposals made as they appreciate better country needs. As a member of the Executive Boards, my delegation would also wish to appreciate— to hear how member states are requested to ensure that the governance role of boards is retained and strengthened, noting the right to take decisions being a prerogative of member states themselves. My delegation also wishes to hear what the executive heads are collectively doing to ensure that governments are prepared on the ground on the potential impact of the reform and to make them ready to adjust accordingly to mitigate the effects. My delegation remains ready to support the process throughout in order to make it a success. I thank you.

I thank the distinguished delegate of Lesotho for his comments. We have had him as our last speaker. In view of the time left, we propose to move as follows. We shall move to the second segment That is our agenda item number 2. Given that we have little time left, we are supposed to leave the room by 1:15, the other speakers whom I have on the list, namely Colombia, EU, and the US, could make their interventions after the second segment, as well as the responses from the principles. Now, may I give the floor to— for the second segment, namely operational efficiency, delivery models, and partnerships. I'd like to give the floor to Ambassador Kameiro and Excellency— sorry, Ambassador Her Excellency Carla Barroso Carneiro, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Brazil to the Rome-based United Nations agencies and President of the Executive Board of the World Food Programme, to provide introductory remarks to the topic. Ambassador.

Thank you so very Thank much. you very much, Mr. Chairperson, fellow presidents of executive boards, excellencies and distinguished members and observers of the four executive boards, principals of the UN funds and programmes and entities. What I would like to do is to bring you the perspective on the field where the consequences of our decisions are felt most directly. Needs continue to rise at an alarming pace while available resources reduce. The OECD meeting held two weeks ago highlighted a 23% reduction on ODA, a contraction that directly affects the capacity of the multilateral system to respond to growing demands. In the area of food and On nutrition security, the latest figures indicate that around 700 million people face hunger worldwide. That number could increase by up to 45 million more people should the disruptions affecting the Strait of Hormuz persist. At the same time, the World Food Programme supports 150 people every year while operating under increasing resource constraints. And what we observe in the field is that these pressures do not occur in isolation. Food security, health, logistics, education, social protection, and basic infrastructure are deeply interconnected. A shock in one sector rapidly cascades into others. As the UNDP head said, You don't have an education crisis on Monday and a health crisis on Tuesday. This reality makes it clear that fragmented responses cannot meet the scale or complexity of today's challenges. This reality demonstrates that fragmented responses cannot meet the scale or complexity of today's challenges. Integrated approaches are essential to deliver sustainable development outcomes. The guiding questions before us on the humanitarian-development nexus—localization, operational efficiency, unified service maps, and joint knowledge hubs—all point towards the same imperative: we must act as one system. As the Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, just told us, and has consistently said, our success must not be measured by improved— by numbers of processes we create, but it should be measured by improved outcomes for people. But this coordination cannot be episodic. It must be continuous, structured, embedded in planning, implementation, and oversight. Oversight. It must also be embedded in evidence, as I have heard from most of you. In this regard, the most recent joint meeting of the Rome-based agencies held in Rome earlier this year underscored the potential of further integrating activities under nationally-led programs. The RBAs, which is how we call the Rome-based agencies, have agreed to pilot this approach in a set of country countries, responding to government priorities and reducing fragmentation. So reform is already underway. The direction of travel is clear. This is a form of, I would like to call, smart alignment, an alignment that enhances efficiency while respecting national ownership, but does not look at efficiency as an end in itself, but as a means to have more impact. Smart alignment means identifying directly in the field where common approaches, shared learning, and coordinated oversight can reduce duplication and strengthen accountability. However, coherence must not translate into rigidity or into creating another layer of decision-making. Our approaches must remain flexible enough to adapt to diverse national contexts, particularly in settings affected by fragility, conflict, or climate-related shocks. Chairperson, our Acting Executive Director of the World Food Programme, Karl Skau, eloquently said, "This is not a broken system. It is not. We have been doing a lot. And we already know what we must be doing more of and less of. We have to have more impact through efficiency and not more efficiency per se. The welfare program executive board remains committed to collaborate to advance system-wide coherence, operational efficiency agency and localized delivery. Our shared objective is absolutely clear: better aligned governance that enables better coordinated action and better results for the people that we serve. Thank you.

Thank you, Excellency, for your introductory remarks. May I now give the floor to His Excellency Wellington Bercosi, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Dominican Republic of the United Nations and Vice President of the Executive Board of UNICEF for his remarks. You have the floor.

Thank you, Chair. Allow me to thank the principals and all the participating entities for the continued engagement. As was mentioned by Ambassador Ferrutta, it's a great opportunity actually to engage with you, so we're particularly grateful. As member states and members of the Executive Board, We approach this discussion from a shared responsibility to ensure that reforms translate into stronger delivery for the people and communities we serve. In the case of UNICEF, this responsibility is especially clear. Our deliberation must remain anchored in the rights, needs, and future of children, particularly those who are the hardest to reach, most at risk, and too often less least visible in our systems. Operational efficiencies is therefore not simply a technical or administrative matter. It is development and humanitarian imperative. In the context of growth— growing needs, constrained resources, and increasing demands on the multilateral system, every efficiency gain should create greater space for delivery at country level. For children, this point is especially important. In many settings, operational capacity is not separate from programming delivery. A functioning supply chain can mean vaccines arriving on time. A strong field presence can mean children in crisis are reached before they fall through the cracks. Better data can mean that children with disabilities Children affected by conflict, children on the move, or children outside formal systems are no longer invisible to those responsible for serving them. We therefore welcome ongoing efforts across the UN system to advance efficiency through common back offices, shared services, integrated procurement and logistics, and more coherent data systems. At the same time, they must be grounded in evidence, country realities, and the specific mandates of each entity. Efficiency should— shouldn't strengthen delivery, not weaken the capacities, expertise, and presence required to deliver on the mandates. This is particularly relevant as we consider country typology and UN country team configurations. One size does not fit all. Country presence and delivery models must be guided by context and need, including income level, fragility, humanitarian risk, national capacities, geography, and exposure to shocks. Small Island Development States, Least Developed Countries, Middle Income Countries, Countries affected by conflict and humanitarian settings all face different realities. A dynamic, evidence-based approach is therefore essential. From the perspective of Member States, it is equally important that reform strengthen accountability. Greater coherence across the development system is welcome, and we should continue to reduce duplication whenever possible. However, coherence should not dilute mandate, as he has been stated, oversight, or decision-making authority. The Executive Boards have a central role in ensuring that each entity remains accountable for results, resources, and implementation. For UNICEF Executive Board, country programme documents remain a key accountability instrument. They translate Cooperation Framework priorities into government-endorsed and board-approved commitments for children. They provide a clear basis for programme implementation, resource allocation, results monitoring, and oversight. Finally, Mr. Chair, I wish to underline the importance of financing. Operational reform will not achieve its objective without— a funding ecosystem that is predictable, flexible, and fit for purpose. Core thematic, earmarked, and pooled resources each play distinct and complementary roles. For children and communities furthest behind, especially in fragile and under-resourced contexts, financing that is too rigid or unpredictable can quickly translate into interrupted services and lost opportunities. It is in that spirit and understanding the timing that we would like to invite the principals to reflect on two questions perhaps subsequently. First, what evidence can be shared that system-wide operational reforms, including common back offices, shared services, integrated supply chains, and data reforms, are already translated into measurable efficiency gains and stronger delivery at country level, including for children? And second, where reform proposals affect mandates, governance, country presence or financing, how will Member States and Executive Boards be engaged to ensure coherent, evidence-based and transparent decision-making across the development system? I look forward to— to continue that engagement, that productive engagement and participation with the member— with the principles and member states, and I thank you for this opportunity.

I thank you, Your Excellency, for your introductory remarks. Now, at this juncture, we shall resume our interactive dialogue. I have the following delegations on the list of speakers: United States, Colombia, Belgium, Sweden, Luxembourg, and the European Union. Thereafter, we shall get responses from the principals of the programs and entities. I now give the floor to the United States. You have the floor.

Thank you, Mr. President. The United States is taking the floor to respond to the comments from the Cuban delegation delivered in the previous session. And regrets their need to distract this forum that is already running so short on time from its intended purpose and discussion. The U.S. sanctions are legal. All countries have the right to decide who they want to trade with. It is our sovereign decision not to trade with Cuba, specifically entities associated with, controlled by, and fueling the regime. The U.S. embargo has important longstanding exceptions for exports of critical consumer goods, and the United States is a major exporter the export of food, medicine, and medical devices to Cuba. We are now— additionally, we are now offering an additional $100 million package of humanitarian assistance, food, hygiene, and water treatment supplies to be distributed directly to the Cuban people through the Catholic Church and other reliable institutions, not the corrupt communist regime.

We are also permitting fuel deliveries from the United States to private entities not affiliated with the regime.

Every year, the Cuban regime tries to convince the Cuban people and the international community that it is blameless for the chronic failure of Cuba's economy. The Cuban regime is one of the worst human rights abusers in the world. The regime's 60-plus years of oppression will continue until the international community calls for a change.

Thank you. I thank the representative of the United States for her comments, and I'll give the floor to Colombia. You have the floor.

Thank you very much, President.

Thank you for giving me the floor and also for moderating and leading this meeting with the representatives of the offices and agencies of the United Nations. I thank those who are present here for their briefings and for their updates on progress despite the challenges that remain. President Colombia decisively supports all efforts of the United Nations that serve our common purpose, which is to achieve a more efficient organization that is more internally consistent and more importantly that effectively delivers its action to those who most need it. For this reason, President Colombia, Those areas where the agencies and offices of the United Nations has had a permanent presence since 1998, we support the system of resident coordinators and the UN80 initiative aimed at improving our institutional architecture, taking into account first of all the national priorities and the challenges defined by the states who are beneficiaries and cooperation and assistance in a sovereign way. Secondly, this should be based on reliable evidence and data. And thirdly, that is inspired by the aim of non-duplication of effort and aimed at combating fragmentation without impacting achievement of the ends of the United Nations. And fourth, taking into account financial availability. In this context, President Colombia believes that any merger of United Nations Population Fund and UN Women should strengthen their respective mandates and maintain the centrality of gender equality and the rights of women. Colombia also believes that reconfiguration of country teams must be carefully scrutinized and it should actively involve the states concerned who are being called on to lead and take ownership of this process. Colombia also supports the new humanitarian compact for humanitarian assistance to become more effective. And this requires greater effort, and especially as regards the migration crisis. President— Colombia will continue to advocate for strong multilateralism and a strong United Nations. Colombia firmly believes that our credibility as an organization depends on our effective action in the furtherance of all rights in all places. I thank you.

I thank the distinguished representative of Colombia for their comments. I now give the floor to the permanent representative of Belgium.

Mr. President, Excellencies, distinguished colleagues, I have the honor to speak on behalf of the members of the Bureau of the Executive Board of UN Women, the ambassadors and permanent representatives of Uganda, Albania, Kyrgyzstan, and my own country, Belgium. We thank you for this opportunity to engage with so many principles, and we commend your work and dedication in advancing your respective mandates. Our comments are meant for session 2. The UNAT process This presents a crucial and necessary opportunity to strengthen how the UN system delivers faster, more efficiently, and with greater impact for those most in need across the globe. Four points, Mr. President. First, on integrated supply— supply chains. Enhanced collaboration across agencies is essential to optimize procurement logistics, and delivery. Pool procurement and shared logistics platforms building on existing interagency models can and should reduce duplication and costs. Strengthened collaboration between humanitarian and development actors is a key component of this effort. Second, UNAT reforms must be gender responsive, ensuring that UN operations, effectively reach women and girls, including through last-mile delivery partnerships with local women-led organizations. Strengthened humanitarian-development collaboration and localization are essential in this regard and should be embedded from the outset. It is important that these considerations are fully reflected in the design supply chain reforms combined with enhance interagency collaboration. This can better align programming, reduce fragmentation, and promote long-term sustainable outcomes on the ground. Third, operational efficiency and joint delivery in the field should be further reinforced. There remains significant scope to expand joint programming, shared back-office functions, and common country-level services while preserving the specific mandates of each agency. Efficiency gains should be reinvested in programmatic delivery. Importantly, efforts to reduce duplication must not come at the expense of specialized expertise or the visibility of priority issues, including gender equality. Fourth, tangible impact at country level must remain central to our discussions. UNAT workstreams and packages cannot be assessed in isolation. Operational reforms and structural proposals, including mergers, should be considered in a comprehensive and coherent manner. In conclusion, Mr. President, from the experience of our Bureau, the most crucial opportunity probably lies in strengthening the link between system-wide coherence and tangible real-life impact at country level. At this Bureau, we reaffirm the importance of sharing the right information at the right time with Executive Boards to enable informed decision-making and provide strategic guidance. Reforms, when grounded in careful analysis and respect for for the UN's principles and mandates can strengthen the system. Efficiency without effective delivery is of limited value. As Bureau, we will continue to support efforts to build an operationally efficient, inclusive, equitable, and impactful UN. I thank you.

I thank the distinguished Permanent Representative of Belgium for the intervention. I now give the floor to Sweden.

Sweden, you have the floor. Thank you, Mr. President, distinguished delegates. Sweden remains a steadfast supporter of the Secretary-General's UNAID initiative. As leaders of key operational organizations with broad country presence, your proactive and results-driven engagement is essential for its continued success. Sågård, success. We appreciate the progress achieved so far and expect your organizations to remain at the forefront with a clear priority on improving delivery at country level. Consultations with Swedish embassies worldwide confirm that the multilateral system remains indispensable. At the same time, they report constrained resources, limited operational capacity, and persistent coordination challenges across UN entities— factors that risk widening gaps in already vulnerable contexts. In this environment, resources must prioritize delivery and technical expertise over administrative overhead. We therefore welcome the reported efficiency gains of $981 million, as well as the expansion of common premises and global shared services. Important steps to safeguard programmatic funding. However, we remain seriously concerned about the slow progress on agreed efficiency reforms, particularly the establishment of common back offices. These delays require urgent attention and clear accountability. Joint approaches must now be scaled up. System-wide administrative platforms, joint procurement, pooled logistics and shared services are essential. The integrated UN supply chain developed by UNICEF, WFP, and the Secretariat is a promising example that should be broadly adopted. Finally, we thank you for your leadership and express our deep appreciation to your teams who continue to deliver under increasingly difficult circumstances. Thank you very much.

I thank the distinguished representative of Sweden for that statement. I now give the floor to Luxembourg.

Thank you, Mr. President, Excellencies. I have the honor to speak on behalf of the Benelux, a longstanding union with Belgium, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and my own country, Luxembourg. We thank the presidents of the executive boards for the comprehensive update on the UNAT efficiencies, delivery models, and partnerships, and commend the strong spirit of interagency collaboration that has been established across the different pillars of work. We would like to focus our intervention on the integrated supply chain approach. We welcome the ambition behind this initiative and recognize the significant potential of a more coordinated UN supply chain architecture to strengthen operational effectiveness, improve efficiency, reduce duplication, and deliver faster support to populations. We particularly appreciate the practical and phased nature of the approach, including its focus on building on existing capacities and coordination mechanisms, leveraging comparative advantages, and grounding implementation in operational realities at country level. We also welcome the emphasis on respect for mandates and service leadership based on demonstrated expertise and operational capacity. As this important work progresses, we would welcome further information on how the approach will continue to accommodate and protect highly specialized supply chains and technical mandates. We would appreciate additional clarity on how greater integration will be balanced with the need to preserve specialized expertise, robust quality assurance standards, and dedicated last-mile delivery capacities for certain categories of supplies. Especially in sensitive sectors such as health protection, gender-based violence response, and sexual and reproductive health and rights-related programming, where requirements may defer significantly from those associated with more standardized humanitarian commodities. We would also appreciate clarification on safeguards to ensure that integrated logistics do not lead to delays or deprioritization of sensitive supplies, as well as how shared systems would continue to ensure confidentiality, traceability, and accountability where needed. Additionally, we would be interested in hearing more about how governance arrangements and operational safeguards will allow for sufficient flexibility and responsiveness to different operational models as well as the humanitarian principles, particularly in fragile and politically sensitive contexts. In particular, we would welcome hearing about how the agencies assess both the opportunities and potential challenges associated with deeper integration. If you could please draw on examples from from the rollout of the strategy in pilot countries. Overall, we see considerable promise in this initiative and encourage continued transparency and regular engagement with member states as implementation advances, as well as continued alignment and coordination with the EU initiative on humanitarian supply chains and the related work.

Thank you. I thank the distinguished President of Luxembourg Thank you very much for that statement. I now give the floor to the European Union. Thereafter, we shall give the floor to Cuba and the responses. I request that we are very brief. Whoever gives their interventions makes it briefly since we are already out of time. EU, you have the floor.

Thank you, Chair, and thank you to all boards presidents as well as Executive Directors. Excellencies, colleagues, I am delivering this statement on behalf of the European Union as a donor. As discussed during the excellent ECOSOC OAS this week, the UN80 Initiative must deliver a step change in how the UN development system operates at country level. As a large donor, the EU's priority is clear: act as one, respond faster, and drive greater impact for the people on the ground. To achieve this, three elements are essential, and it is important to look at them together and not in isolation. As they are connected. First, Resident Coordinators are the gateway to the UN's country presence, yet their ability to lead is too often constrained. We expect proposals to strengthen RC mandates and authority without creating new layers of bureaucracy. The EU reiterates its commitment to engaging RCs as the main entry point for all UN development activities, and we look forward to the buy-in of the agencies. Second, build leaner, more responsive UN country teams. It is important to strengthen expertise on demand, operationalize the regional reset, and eliminate duplication in back-office functions. Finally, regarding the proposed mergers, which we'll be able to discuss further next week, the EU supports advancing merger options of UNDP and UNOPS if it preserves the service and financing models. And the EU would be ready to consider a larger unified structure for UNFPA and UN Women to deliver greater impact, but on the lines that the current mandates of both entities must be absolutely safeguarded. In conclusion, the EU looks forward to working with the agencies and their teams to deliver on these priorities together with the Secretariat in an ambitious but transparent way. We would appreciate hearing further your views on the elements presented as part of the QCPR, UNSDG Chair, and UNAIDI progress reports, and where the Board should take a position in the next weeks. Thank you very much.

I thank the representative of EU for the intervention. I now give the floor to Tchouba. Tchouba, you have the floor. Thank you so much.

Mr. President, we are exercising our right to reply. I'm going to reply in English to facilitate the translation services. To respond to the statements made by the U.S. delegation, as we all know, all Cuba's efforts to advance its sustainable development have been hampered by the U.S. blockade against my country, which has been in place for 64 years, more than 6 decades. This policy has intensified in an unprecedented manner with additional measures to prevent the entry of fuel into Cuba and the aim of provoking an economic and social collapse. It will be unfortunately— unfortunate and untrue to ignore that the U.S. blockade is the main obstacle to my country's development, recognized by various bodies of the UN system and the international community. For this reason, we call on the United States not to lie openly or to distort the reality and facts regarding my country. If they truly care about the well-being and development of the Cuban people, well, they would adopt tangible and urgent measures to eliminate the blockade and the threats of military aggression, which is the opposite of what they have done in recent days. It's pretty simple. The intensification of the blockade, including Cuba's inclusion of the— on the list of countries that allegedly sponsor terrorists, then justify smear campaign currently being waged against Cuban medical cooperation and the blocking of fuel imports seeks to strangle the Cuban economy and inflict hardship to— on the population. For that objective, the U.S. is not only not trading with Cuba, but is threatening other countries not to trade with Cuba. And we all know that there is no need to to explain more, uh, and there is no way to deny it. This unjust and illegal policy continues to represent a flagrant, massive, and systematic violation of our people's human rights and their aspiration to achieve sustainable development. It's outrageous that the country with the worst record of human rights violations in history, boasts of pointing fingers at other nations while promoting policies of maximum pressure and regime change that undermines the sovereignty of nations in the global south. Nor is it surprising that within its own borders, violence, shootings, street insecurity, and human rights violations are against of irregular migrants who are suffering mass, violent, and indiscriminate deportation are on the rise. The US has no moral standing to point any country when it is precisely the US acting in isolation that currently disregards, erodes, and undermines the work of the UN Nation— on the United Nations with an obstructionist and unilateral attitude, just like the coercive measures it imposed on the rest of the world. The U.S. government is well aware of the suffering and anguish that inflicts on the Cuban people. It is urgent that it show a basic respect for the international community and comply with United Nations decisions by lifting once and for all the criminal and illegal blockade against Cuba without conditions, and that it cease its military threat against a small country that poses no threat to a nuclear superpower and the greatest empire in history. Thank you.

I thank the distinguished Representative Uchuba for his remarks. I would like— I would, at this juncture, give the floor now to the principals to make their reactions and responses to all the interventions in both the segments. In the interest of time, I know the room is getting empty. May I give— to the ED, UN Women.

Thank you very much, Mr. President, and all presidents of the boards. Thank you. And all member states, excellencies, distinguished delegates, and colleagues. As we conclude this session, I would like to thank you for the quality of today's discussions. I deeply appreciate the frankness, the clarity, and the constructive spirit with which you have engaged with us, and also for your clear guidance. As the United Nations, we are undertaking one of the most significant reform efforts in recent decades. Through UN80 Initiative, we, led by you as member states, are considering how we strengthen coherence, improve effectiveness, reduce fragmentation, and ensure that every dollar, every mandate, and every decision delivers greater impact for the people we serve. Excellencies, distinguished delegates, I have heard your calls today for ambition and for the full implementation of reforms already agreed. I have heard your emphasis on alignment across the United Nations Development System. We are committed to continuing to identify opportunities to address fragmentation, to reduce duplication, and to strengthen collective impact across the system. At the same time, we must remain clear about how success will ultimately be measured by if the United Nations is better able to deliver for those whose rights whose opportunities and whose futures remain most at risk. Today's discussion reaffirms the central role of the Executive Boards in guiding, informing, and helping shape the UNAT agenda, including on the potential mergers. We will continue to be guided by you as Member States and by our Executive Boards as we move forward. Excellencies, if UNAT is to succeed If it does succeed, it must help create a United Nations that is not only more integrated and effective, but that is also more capable of delivering transformative results for women and girls at country level, upholding, as I mentioned this morning, upholding Beijing, CEDAW, ICPD, CSW outcomes, and every other international commitment for women and girls. In this— in that spirit, UN Women approaches this moment with ambition, purpose, and resolve to accelerate progress also towards 2030 Agenda, to meet the ambitions of the Sustainable Development Goals for all women and girls and all peoples. We stand ready to support you to drive forward a stronger, more coherent, and more effective United Nations, and I thank you.

I thank the Executive Director for responses. Maybe in any order, you can make your responses accordingly.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President. It was so well said by Executive Director of UN Women. I would like to thank all member states for their comment. They are all very well noted. I would like at this level to recognize the indispensable contribution of our partners across the United Nations system, including the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Emergency Relief Coordinator, UNICEF, UN Women, UNDP, UNOPS, WFP, and many others whose work amplify our collective impact. Our mandates are distinct, but our purpose is shared, and our success depends on our ability to act together. And in this Pride Month, allow me to remind all of us that among the most people left behind are the gender-diverse people, and I thank you.

I thank you for your responses. Any other responses? I see none. You can have the floor, Admiral Zetter.

Really short. I started my intervention by saying how important it is to talk here, but to listen also, and we really appreciated the comments that have been made by the Presidents, that have been made by the member states here. There was many questions on the timeline, and I think these are very relevant questions, I think in the timeline it's important that the established governing bodies and oversight and intergovernmental processes are being respected. That is not with the goal to slow things down, but it's just to make sure that member states are sufficiently heard in the decisions that would be made. And that oversight element, I think, is an important one related to what frames the interventions that we do. I talked about the relation between the cooperation framework and the CPDs. I think both have their role to play, but if the CPDs become only dependent on the cooperation frameworks, it's a significant amount of oversight that the member states are giving away. So I think you really need to overthink that.

Thank you. May I give the floor to Nobs and UNICEF? Nobs, you have the floor.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President. Very briefly and also along the same lines of my colleagues, this is a members-driven organization and that's why it's so important to listen to what members told us and to ensure that we integrate on the next steps, what Member States share with us. I would like to stress one point about progress. I know that we focused a lot today on the way forward, but I think it's also important to acknowledge that there is lots of progress in such a difficult context on delivery. The UN agencies are delivering despite the difficult context. There is lots of progress on the UN Development System reform from 2018. Resident coordinators have been strengthened and we are more coherently delivering within the country teams. And there is progress on collaboration. UN agencies are collaborating more and there is good data showing this, so I think that this is the first word. The second thing is about reforms. The UN Haiti is not the panacea, it's not the only reform that is happening in the system. Each of our agencies have been reformed. You remember what happened with EUNOPS in the last 3 years. We reformed extensively. Many agencies mentioned this element already today, so I think it's very important to acknowledge that reform is a verb that is happening on a daily basis and it's not just something for the future. Finally, I'm quite optimistic regarding transitions, both the country team reconfiguration. But also, in case we have mergers, I'm sure that we'll find ways to have transitions that will not disrupt the delivery. Thank you. I thank the Executive Director.

UNICEF, you have the floor.

Thank you, Mr. President. Just to apologize on behalf of our Executive Director, who had to leave for the airport a bit early. But just to say, I know we are running against time, but to echo our thanks to all the helpful, insightful interventions by member states. I think if we step back and look at all the interventions, there is one common thread that our Executive Director mentioned, and that is that the UNAT will not be judged by the ambition of its architecture. But by the UN's collective ability to deliver for the vulnerable and particularly the hardest to reach. We very much look forward to engaging with member states in our Executive Board in 2 weeks from now, where we have dedicated sessions on UNAT and UNDS reform. And so, to be continued.

Thank you again. Thank you. WFP, last but not least.

Thank you.

I would associate myself with the comments already made. Today is about—

is the time to share the reforms and efficiencies we have made both as organizations and together, but also to listen to the member states.

So thank you for the comments today.

WFP has endeavored to deliver real tangible reforms alongside our the other agencies, and we stand ready to continue this path, and we thank you, the member states, and our oversight bodies and governance bodies, and we will continue this path. Thank you.

I would like to extend my sincere appreciation to all of you, all of us, for the active engagement in this year's joint meeting of the Executive Boards. The spirit of collaboration, kanda, that has characterized our discussions reflects the strength of our shared commitments to the United Nations system. I thank you all. Thank you all. It has been an honor to serve as chair— Uganda to serve as chair of the 2026 Joint Meeting of the Boards. I now Chair at the joint meeting of the boards closed.