(3rd meeting) UNICEF Executive Board, First regular session 2026 - Economic and Social Council

Good afternoon, Excellencies, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen. We will continue this afternoon with a presentation of the general national statements. Delegations are once again kindly reminded that their statements should remain within agreed time limits. 3 minutes for individual delegations, 5 minutes for delegations speaking on behalf of the United nations regional groups or for joint statements of two or more member states. Microphones will start blinking tolerance speakers one minute before the end of the allotted time, and speakers will be muted after their time has ended at end of three minutes or five minutes.

So I now give a floor to European Union.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, Madam Executive Director. I'm speaking on behalf of the EU as a donor in this unprecedented period for the humanitarian system. I would like to reiterate our support to UNICEF and our appreciation of its staff and partners in the field who continue to respond to children's needs all over the world with fewer resources and much uncertainty. Despite funding cuts, it is crucial that UNICEF can continue protecting children, including those on the move and in accordance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, ensure that the rights of any child are upheld.

We welcome UNICEF's commitment to the humanitarian reset and UN80, which are key processes to join up capacities, remove duplications, achieve economies of scale and increase cost efficiency, notably with regard to supply chains. And we look forward to the management's brief during this board and would appreciate receiving regular updates about their implementation. We have also followed closely the bold internal reorganization which is being put in place by your organization, with decentralization of core functions and the creation of centers of excellence. And we hope this will allow UNICEF to pursue its mandate in a qualitative way and continue being a driving force in child protection, notably for children affected by armed conflicts or the climate crisis, and children immigration, as well as in education in emergencies and gender equality. And we would appreciate receiving reassurances from you that these priorities will continue to be at the core of UNICEF activities in synergy with the EU actions and policies in the context of the current prioritisation exercise.

We would also like to recall the good work done these past years by UNICEF on the protection from sexual violence and abuse. And we encourage you to not lose momentum and to continue contributing to the wider UN and global work on this crucial topic. We understand that humanitarian system is under unprecedented strain and public funding alone will not meet the scale of the crisis. In this regard, the EU has taken action and has committed an initial 1.9 billion euros in humanitarian aid for this year. And we welcome UNICEF's commitment to further develop its outreach to the private sector, including through innovative tools.

In parallel, we encourage UNICEF to continue diversifying its donor base and attract new public donors. And we support your commitment to further localize efforts as country ownership and domestic resource mobilization are crucial for sustainability. The EU will remain a major and principal donor to UNICEF and we continue, and we look forward to continue working with you together and we stand committed to child protection, gender equality, human rights, principled humanitarian action and multilateralism. Delivering on the Agenda 2030 commitment.

I thank my distinguished representative of the European Union. Next speaker is International Federation for Family Development

Mr. President, the International Federation for Family Development operates in 68 countries focusing on skill building programs for parents, recognizing them as the first layer of protections for children. IFD aligns strongly with UNICEF Strategic Planning 2026, 2029 and its emphasis on equity systems strengthening and reaching the most vulnerable children. From our experience, these priorities cannot be achieved without placing parenting and childcare at the center of national strategies. Some weeks ago at the World Summit on Social Development in Doha, Qatar, and this past week during the Commission on Social Development here in New York, IFD highlighted the need to advance public private partnerships that enable childcare and parenting.

Engaging businesses as partners can help expand access, mobilize additional resources and integrate family friendly solutions with workplace and communities, while strengthening national efforts to support children and caregivers. In this context, policy choices matter more than ever. We just participated in the Global Caregiver Forum organized by UNICEF and the World Health Organization in Madrid. The outcome document stress that governments and partners should prioritize interventions that are preventive, scalable and embedded in national systems. Parenting and childcare support meet this criteria.

They strengthen family resilience, reduce violence, improve mental health outcomes and amplify the effectiveness of investments in health, education and social protection. Integrating parenting support into existing public systems offers a cost effective way to maximize impact, reach the most vulnerable and sustained results over time. With fewer resources and higher risks, prevention must take priority. Parenting support offers one of the most scalable and cost effective pathways to prevent violence, strengthen nurturing care, improve caregiver well being and build resilience. Finally, with our strong commitment to family friendly policies and parenting support, IFD stands ready to work alongside UNICEF to accelerate progress and ensure a better future for every child.

Thank you, Mr. President.

I thank a distinguished representative of the International Federation for Family Development. I now give a floor to SOS Children's Villages International.

Mr. President, Madam Executive Director, Distinguished Member of the Executive Board, Civil Society Colleagues SOS Children Villages International is an organization working in more than 135 countries and territories. We work to strengthen families to prevent unnecessary child family separation.

Ensure care and protect when children have lost parental care. Working with governments to improve children's care standards. We thank Madam Executive Director for her statement on the topic of UN 80 initiative. We call for the children and their rights to become embedded in the UN forms and to ensure child specific mandates are protected on the strategic plan. While SOS Children Villages is working on all five of impact results, I would like to focus on two of them today.

1 Impact result 3 On poverty we know that one of the main drives of the children family separation is poverty. We push for governments invest in social protection system. Also our family strengthening works aimed to increase families resilience to economic risk through our parenting programs. Providing access to service etc. On impact result 4 on children protected from violence.

Investing in children's care reform. Providing of overarching framework for transforming child protection and care system so that fair children are unnecessarily separated from their families and those who enter care are protected and supported. To give one example for our community level work in SOS Armenia, we work closely with the government to phase out the institution of the children and in partnership with child protection and social protection actors, we have supported the transition toward family and community based care models. Armenian experience demonstrates that deinsterization when lead by the government and supported by civil society is powerful to remaining national ownership. Protecting children from violence and the breaking cycle of vulnerability as civil society is one of the engagement strategy partners of the Strategic Plan.

Please count on us to support in this implementation. We're looking forward continuing our collaboration with UNICEF member state and civil society partners to develop for all children. Thank you.

I thank the distinguished representative of SOS Children's Villages International. I now give a floor to World Vision.

Mr. President, Madam Executive Director, Excellencies, distinguished representatives. World Vision remains deeply concerned that cuts to global assistance combined with the UN 80 reforms and the humanitarian reset risk further progress made in realization of children's rights at a time when when the number and scale of crises affecting children continue to rise during this challenging period. We extend our sincere appreciation to UNICEF and its global staff for their steadfast commitment to children's well being, protection and rights. We welcome the priorities outlined in UNICEF's Strategic Plan 2026-2029 including the shift towards outcome level results in a strengthened focus on national systems and government capacities to uphold children's rights and advance the 2030 Agenda. We are encouraged that humanitarian action remains central with strong coordination across the humanitarian Development Peace Nexus With 673 million people facing hunger and 2.3 billion experiencing food insecurity and more than 830 million living in extreme poverty, we appreciate UNICEF's sustained commitment to nutrition.

This aligns with World Vision's Global Enough campaign to end child hunger and malnutrition by 2030 as well as our engagement in the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty to elevate evidence, scale proven models and strengthen collaboration with governments, UN agencies and development banks. Declining ODA and rising debt continue to constrain countries ability to invest in essential social services for children. We therefore welcome UNICEF's focus on financing and call for innovative approaches including partnerships with private sector that complement ODA and expand national fiscal space for children through diversified financing and debt relief strategies. Finally, we wish UNICEF every success as the future Focus Initiative advances, ensuring the organization remains fit for purpose to deliver on its strategic plan. World Vision is committed to strong partnerships with UNICEF member states, NGOs and our faith based partners to uphold and advance the rights of all children.

Thank you. I think A distinguished representative of World Vision. I now give the floor to PLAN International.

Mr. President, Madam Executive Director, Catherine Russell, distinguished members of the Board. Good afternoon. I speak today as a representative of PLAN International, a humanitarian and development organization working with children and girls in over 80 countries to help create a world where we are all equal. PLAN International welcomes the UN 80 reform and stresses the need to keep the most vulnerable children, girls, women, people with disability and other marginalized groups at the center. All three pillars, development, peace and security and human rights must be adequately funded if they are to be effective.

Cuts to any mandates covering children's rights and gender equality would yield minimal savings but cause disproportionate harm to the world's most marginalized people, especially children and girls. We believe that the UN 80 reforms should be gender responsive and inclusive of adolescent girls and young women, especially those who are affected by armed conflict, displacement, humanitarian crisis and climate related disaster. Member States should commit to integrating gender and age responsive approaches into climate financing, adaptation strategies and resilience building efforts to ensure that girls rights, leadership and protection are prioritized. The consolidation of UN mechanisms must reinforce, not dilute mandates on gender equality, children's rights and youth participation. Investment in girls and young women are investment in economic growth, conflict prevention, global health, in sustainable and peaceful states and in a transformative multilateral system.

Thank you.

I thank a distinguished representative of the PLAN International. Next speaker is Nigeria.

Thank you. Mr. President, Excellencies, the Executive Director. Distinguished colleagues. Nigeria would like to thank the Executive Director and UNICEF team for their comprehensive work and reports. We recognize UNICEF as a valued partner in national efforts to promote child survival, education, protection and development.

We appreciate UNICEF Nigeria, their partnership, which spans health and immunization, education, nutrition, WASH programs, child protection, social protection, emergency response and policy support with joint efforts at both federal, state and local levels. Nigeria acknowledges the increasing complex challenges facing children in Africa and Sahel including protracted conflicts, insecurity, climate induced shocks, food insecurity, public health emergencies and displacements. These interconnected crises continue to disproportionately affect children, especially girls, requiring integrated, context specific and resilient oriented responses. We further underscore the need for predictable, flexible and sustainable financing to support humanitarian and development responses, particularly in protracted crises. We encourage UNICEF to continue to promote humanitarian development, peace, coherence, capacity building and regional cooperation.

Nigeria emphasizes the need for UNICEF programs to continue prioritizing the most vulnerable children, including those affected by conflict and displacement, while strengthening resilience, preparedness and sustainable development outcomes through data and evidence generation that would inform planning, monitoring and capacity building. We underscore the importance of nationally led programs that reinforce local capacity, promote sustainability and align with national development plans while ensuring that humanitarian responses remain principled, timely and responsive to the needs of the most vulnerable children.

I'm sorry, I think that you exceeded the time that was allowed for your statement. Thank you. Thank you very much. To distinguished representative of Nigeria. Is there any other delegation wishing to take a floor?

I don't see so. As no additional delegations have signaled the wish to comment, we shall conclude Representations of General National Statements. Let's move to agenda item 12. Distinguished delegates, we will now turn to consideration of Agenda Item 12, the UNICEF Financial Report and audited financial statements for the year ended 31st of December 2024. End report of a Board of Auditors and Management Response respectively contained in documents A85 Addendum 3 and E ICEF 2026 AB L2.

The document on the UNICEF Financial Report and audited financial statements and report of a Board of Auditors is presented to the Executive Board annually. The report is presented at the first regular session so that the Executive Board may take into account any comments made by the Fifth Committee of the United Nations General Assembly. During the current session of the General assembly, the Committee considered the UNICEF Financial Report and audited financial statements for the year ended 31st December 2024 and report of a board of auditors on 8th of December 2025. A draft decision associated with a report is being submitted to the Executive Board for adoption. In addition, the following related reports are available on the Executive Board.

A Implementation of recommendations of a Board of Auditors contained in its reports on the United Nations Funds and Programs for the year ended 31st of December 2023 report of the Secretary General, document A80 353, addendum 1B. Financial reports and Audited Financial Statements and Reports of a Board of Auditors for The period ended 31st December 2024. Report of Advisory Committee on Administrative and budgetary questions, document A80, 485. I now invite Mr. Wanderlei, director of External Audit, Brazil, to present the Report of the Board of Auditors. Sir, you have a floor.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Good afternoon, distinguished madam executive director of UNICEF. Distinguished members of the Executive Board, It's a pleasure to me to be here for this meeting. On behalf of the United Nations Board of Auditors, I will present the results of the external audit of UNICEF's financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2024.

Today, presentation will focus on three elements, the audit opinion, the main finding and the status of implementation of audit recommendations, highlighting the points that I believe are the most relevant for the governance and oversight role of the Executive Board. Next, please. For the financial year ended 31 December 2024, the Board of Auditors issued an unqualified audit opinion on UNICEF's financial statements. This means that the financial statements present fairly in all material respects UNICEF's financial position, financial performance and cash flows in accordance with international public sector accounting standards. Next, please.

The audit was conducted as a global risk based audit focusing on areas of higher risk materiality and relevance to UNICEF operations. Our approach combined interim and final audit work, including substantive substantive testing on transactions, assessment of internal controls and review of accounting policies and key estimatives. Next, please. Audit missions were carried out. Headquarters in New York and the Global Shared Service center in Budapest and the Supply Division in Copenhagen where key financial and operational processes are centralized.

In addition, the audit included visits to selected country offices such as Brazil, Malawi, Pakistan and Ethiopia. In this office, the audit focused on implementing partner selection and procurement given their importance to program delivery and financial risk. Next, please. I start presenting findings related to implementing partners just to highlight the context. In 2024, UNICEF implemented programs through more than 4,000 implementing partners across 1, 190 countries.

Program delivery through implementing partners totaled approximately $3.9 billion, representing about 46% of UNICEF's 2024 expenses. This scale and decentralization explain why implementing partners are a central focus of the audit Findings that follow. Next, please. The fourth main finding that I'd like to bring to our attention relates the timing of expense recognition for program supplies. UNICEF recognizes supplies as expenses when they are transferred to implementing partners, even though the goods may not yet have reached final beneficiaries.

In many cases, UNICEF retains elements of control through contractual arrangements, meaning the current approach may not fully reflect the point of service delivery and and limits visibility over losses, delays or diversions. Next, please. The second main finding concerns of the use of open selection as a default approach for selecting implementing partners. The audit found extensive use of direct selection by some units and country offices in some cases without sufficiently documented justification. These reduce transparency and competition and may affect cost effectiveness and innovation.

Next, please. The third main finding relates to timing misalignments in cash assistance expenses. Recognition expenses are recorded based on the approval date of the phase form rather than the date services are delivered. This resulted in a $27.6 million timing difference in 2024 with activities recorded in periods different from when they were implemented. Next.

The fourth main finding concerned limitations in overseeing last mile supply delivery. While UNICEF has visibility up to handover to partners, there is no standardized tracking beyond that point, leading to reliance on ad hoc and manual monitoring. This increases risks of inefficiencies, diversions, data inaccuracies and limits accountability and transparency. Next, beyond delivery through partners, the audit also examined supply management as a whole. At the end of 2024, UNICEF managed inventories of approximately $626 million.

This scale makes effective inventory control and storage conditions critical to safeguarding resources and program outcomes. Next, the audit identified weaknesses in inventory control and storage conditions for ready to use therapeutic food at a contracted warehouse in Pakistan. Control relied on manual processes and supplies were stored outside appropriate temperature controlled environments, creating risk of spoilage and reducing nutritional quality. Next, as at 1st, 31st December 2023, there were 31 outstanding recommendations from the 2022 and 2023 audits. Of these, 84% had been fully implemented.

That's a very high level. 13% were under implementation and 3% were overtaken by events. The Board considers that the implementation of 26 recommendations within the audit period to reflect a solid commitment by UNICEF management to strengthening governance and internal controls. Next, please. Finally, we thank UNICEF management and staff for their cooperation and collaborative environment that was established and the Executive Board for its engagement.

Thank you so much and we are pleased to answer any question the Board may have.

I thank Mr. Wanderlei for his remarks. I invite Deputy executive director management Ms. Suleiman to make Some introductory remarks before the presentation of the report and audited financial statements and the management response to the report of the Board of Auditors by the Comptroller. You have floor.

Thank you, Mr. President.

Mr. President, distinguished members of the Executive Board, representative of the United Nations Board of Auditors, Ladies and gentlemen, I have the pleasure to introduce the management response to the UNICEF audited financial statements for the year ended 31st December 2024. Please allow me to begin by thanking Mr. Wanderley, Director of External Audit, and his team representing the United Nations Board of Auditors, the UNICEF staff across multiple offices that provided support and the offices of the Controller that engaged with the Board of Auditors and coordinated the audit globally. The Board of Auditors issued an unqualified audit opinion on UNICEF financial statements for the financial year 2024. This is yet again a remarkable accomplishment that we're very proud of. UNICEF is committed to maintaining high standards of financial stewardship through professional financial management and reporting, as well as continuous improvement in his performance and accountability.

And we take very seriously the implementation of audit recommendations. UNICEF appreciates the value added of the Board of Auditors recommendations and we are very committed to their prompt implementation. Mr. President, with these remarks, I wish to hand over to UNICEF Comptroller and Director of the Division of Financial and administrative management, Ms. Diane Kepler, to present the highlights of the financial report and audited financial statements, as well as the management response to the report of the auditors. Thank you very much. Thank you very much.

Ms. Kepler, you have a floor.

Thank you, Mr. President.

I see the PowerPoint is loaded. Mr. President, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to introduce to you today the UNICEF financial report and audited financial statements for the year ended 31st December 2020, 2024. And also our management response to the report of the Board of Auditors. Next slide, please. Key highlights for 2024.

UNICEF has once again, as you've heard, received an unqualified audit opinion on our financial statements. The audit opinion provided by the Board of Audit gives assurance that the financial statements are free of material misstatement and present fairly the activities of UNICEF. Second highlight, in 2024, UNICEF recorded voluntary contribution revenue of $8.13 billion, which is a modest 4% decline from that recorded in 2023. And third, highlight. Among the 18 United nations organizations audited in 2024, UNICEF prides itself as the organization with the highest implementation rate at 84%.

Next slide, please. A few highlights from the 2024 report. You've already heard, Mr. Vanderly talk about how there's areas for improvement. But let me start off by saying how all three documents are available to you on the Executive Board website and that the audited financial statements were transmitted to the UN General Assembly. They've been examined by the ACABQ and they've also been considered by the fifth committee.

So they've undergone quite a bit of scrutiny. Eight of the 36 recommendations were classified by the BOA as high priority. These eight areas for improvement include two key ones. The first is the direct selection of implementing partners and the second is the last mile supply monitoring. Next slide please.

This gives you an overview of the status of implementation of recommendations. The 2024 audit resulted in the issuance of 36 new recommendations, as you can see on the table. And if we add to that the four recommendations not implemented from previous years, we have a total of 40 recommendations that remain outstanding. The good news is that of these 40, 15 have already been implemented by UNICEF and we have submitted information to the BOA requesting closure of the remaining 25. We plan to submit evidence of closure when the Board of Audit does their final audit in April 2026.

So we're hopeful that all will be promptly closed. Regarding the two recommendations dating back to 2022, one is regards the spot checks of implementing partners and this has been implemented. And the other one is the update of the UNICEF Enterprise Risk Management Policy which will be implemented in 2026. Next slide please.

Moving to the Statement of Financial performance, as mentioned, UNICEF there's a modest decline in revenue in 2024 compared to 2023. This decline is mainly attributable to lower contributions related to humanitarian responses, in particular for Afghanistan and for Ukraine. Cash assistance to implementing partners and beneficiaries continue to comprise the largest expense category and transfer program supplies experience the largest percentage decrease again due to larger supply smaller programmatic activities in response to humanitarian crises. Lastly, other program Support expense includes 27 million of write offs of supplies. This includes 18 million related to PPE which was procured at the onset of the COVID crisis and the remainder roughly 9 million was for other supplies and this portion was fully covered by insurance proceeds.

And of this 9 million, roughly 5 million related to Sudan. Next slide please. My last slide which has to do with the statement of financial position. As noted in this slide, our overall assets are very stable and I will just highlight a few items. The first one is that funds held on behalf of others decreased by 15% which is driven mainly by reduced premium procurement services following the scale down of large pandemic and emergency programs and this was partly offset by higher GABI related cholera vaccine procurement.

A key highlight on the slide is that funding for ASHE reached an unprecedented 98% which is the highest level ever recorded, resulting largely from continued high interest rates in 2024. And I'll conclude with a few comments on our UNICEF net assets which totaled 13 billion at the end of 2024, which was a slight increase. And as noted on the slide, we have segregated the net assets between earmarked resources and this relates to voluntary contributions for signed donor agreements where we spend the resources in compliance with donor agreements and in compliance with the deadline set in donor agreements. And then the last one is unearmarked resources which is about consists mostly of program related regular resources, 1 billion in other and 0.2 billion in revolving funds and reserves. That concludes my presentation.

I'd be happy to answer questions. Thank you

I thank Ms. Kepler for presenting the UNICEF financial report and audited financial statements for the year ended 31st of December 2024 and the management response to the report of the Board of Auditors. I now open the floor for discussion. I give the floor to distinguished delegate of Netherlands

Mr. President, Madam Executive Director Excellencies, I deliver this statement on behalf of Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Ireland, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, the European Union as a donor, Ukraine and my own country, the Kingdom of the Netherlands. I'd like to start by thanking the Board of Auditors for their very diligent work and I would like to commend UNICEF once again for receiving an unqualified audit opinion for 2024.

This reaffirms our confidence in the organization's sound financial management. Out of the 18 UN entities under review, UNICEF reached the highest implementation rate of audit recommendations. This sets an example that we greatly value. We are equally encouraged by the continued strengthening of integrity and anti fraud frameworks, including the issuance of the revised policy on anti fraud and corruption. This reinforces tone at the top and accountability across the organization.

The years ahead will present greater financial challenges. We underscore the importance of prudent and proper financial management and fiduciary in oversight. Ongoing reforms cannot compromise these principles, and continued implementation of audit recommendations must remain a priority. The report contains some important recommendations on key issues which ultimately impact how many children UNICEF can reach. We'd like to highlight a few topics.

In particular, the Board identified significant limitations in the ability to oversee the last mile of supply delivery, highlighting gaps in the monitoring of supplies after handover to implementing partners. This leads to a higher risk of aid diversion. UNICEF may face challenges in verifying whether critical program supplies effectively reach the intended final beneficiaries. We are pleased to note the planned broader rollout of the pilot program that was implemented in Somalia. We ask UNICEF to continue to share updates with the Executive Board on this process.

The audit also noted the extensive use by some units and countries offices of direct selection of implementing partners with limited justification and the lack of registration of partnership opportunities in the United nations partner portal. Open announcements will enhance transparency, reduce the risk of financial irregularities and help UNICEF to find the best qualified implementing partners. We call on UNICEF to use open announcements as a default when implementing partners are invited to work with unicef. We're interested to know what concrete measures UNICEF is putting in place to support country offices in strengthening procurement practices and ensuring consistent use of the UN partner portal. We note that in 2024 UNICEF had written off 28 million UN US dollars in assets and I was wondering could you share a breakdown of this number?

Looking ahead, we'd appreciate hearing how UNICEF is strengthening last mile delivery and tightening supply chain controls to help prevent similar losses in surplus inventory stock in the future. The 2022 recommendation on spot checks remain under implementation. Considering UNICEF has a significant amount of implementing partners, what will you do to decrease the time gap between expenditure reporting and spot check execution? And last but not least, the net assets are still high and have increased contrary to the expected decrease in 2024. Could UNICEF provided detailed breakdown of the approximately 2 billion US dollar unearmarked component of the total net assets and share the reasons behind this increase?

Considering the financial volatile times, maintaining a reasonable surplus is important without losing track of operational effectiveness and implementation of funding. I thank you very much.

I thank the distinguished representative of Netherlands. I now give a floor to United Kingdom.

Thank you Chair and thank you to the Deputy Executive Director, the Director and to the Board of Auditors for their presentations. The UK would like to thank the Board of Auditors for the thorough 2024 financial report. We commend UNICEF for receiving an unqualified audit opinion. We are pleased that UNICEF has implemented or is in the process of implementing all of the 31 relevant recommendations from the 2023 financial report. And we are also pleased that UNICEF is committed to implementing the 36 recommendations from the 2024 financial report.

We thank the Board of Auditors for highlighting four areas of key findings, all of which need to be taken forward by unicef. We highlight in particular in the summary Key finding three on the limitations in overseeing the last mile of supply delivery and the related recommendations in paragraphs 159 to 162. We note that in the management response to the Board of Auditors document, UNICEF has committed to develop guidelines related to the last mile of supply. We appreciate this commitment but would like to hear more detail what specific tools, for example Digital delivery, confirmation, GPS proof, photo evidence with consent are being implemented to close gaps and reduce risk? We underline that we expect to see standardised and systematic tracking approaches as highlighted in the report.

More generally, what detailed measures are being taken, particularly around selection and performance follow up? Also, how is UNICEF benchmarking partner capacity and tailoring oversight for high risk contexts?

We also note key finding four on shortcomings in the use of open selection as the default partner selection approach. We note and appreciate UNICEF's commitment to tackle this in Brazil where it was flagged, but we also expect to see the consistent application of open selection where possible. We would be interested in hearing from UNICEF management if they have anything further to add on these specific recommendations. The UK also notes that in paragraph 261 of the Financial report, the number of reported or presumptive cases of fraud closed has fallen from 120 cases in 2023 to 73 cases in 2024.

How does UNICEF explain the reduction in these numbers? In conclusion, we once again thank the Board of Auditors for their rigorous work. We note the clear recommendations in the 2024 financial report. We expect UNICEF to implement these recommendations fully and we look forward to further updates and reporting on these issues. Thank you.

I thank our distinguished representative of the United Kingdom. Next please. Speaker is United states.

Thank you, Mr. President and thank you to the Board of Auditors and to UNICEF for the responses. We take note of management's account of how UNICEF responded to the recommendations by the Board of Auditors and for the summary of Progress in addressing 2024 audit recommendations.

We note UNICEF received an unqualified audit opinion. Management should continue to build on this achievement and continue to prioritize trans transparency and accountability of all efforts. We also note ongoing efforts to implement recommendations from previous BOA reports and we stress that these recommendations be addressed with the greatest urgency possible. The United States is alarmed that UNICEF struggles to track supplies after handover to implementing partners. UNICEF must implement a standardized process as soon as possible.

American taxpayers deserve to know their contributions reach their intended beneficiaries. We support the Board's recommendations to develop integrated last mile tracking systems. UNICEF must prioritize extending last mile monitoring to all priority countries and products. We request timeline and resource requirements for full implementation The United States is also pardon. The United States also expresses concern with UNICEF's partner selection process.

It is decided to disturbing to us that UNICEF is not consistently using an open selection process as a default for choosing partners. In many cases where an open process was not followed, most cases lacked justification. Open selection ensures transparency, competition and best value for money. Direct selection without proper justification raises concerns about favoritism. We expect UNICEF to strengthen compliance with its own partner selection guidelines.

Thank you.

I thank the distinguished representative of the United States. I now I don't see any other delegations willing to take a floor. So I invite the Secretariat and or the Board of Auditors to respond to the comments we have heard. Over to you.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President. Excellent comments and questions. Thank you very much. And in case I didn't make it clear earlier, I mean we do really value the work of the Board of Audit.

And you've read the report, you've seen the key recommendations and I'll expand a little bit further on how seriously we take them and what we're doing to respond. So starting with the questions and comments from the Netherlands on behalf of quite a few other countries, thanks very much. I think I made note of 6 comments or questions and they're repeated a little bit also with the comments from the UK and the US So let me start with the last mile monitoring. I know for the UN Board of Audit this was an area of particular interest as it is for all of us. I mean, we all of course want to make sure that program supplies reach the intended beneficiary.

And until we started this project, you know, the focus was more on making sure that they reached the implementing partner. But now we couldn't agree more. The criticality of making sure that we have systems in place to make sure that supplies actually reach the beneficiary and there's no aid diversion. But just to give a little bit of background on the solution that we've developed. As you've seen, it's been implemented in Somalia prioritizing on nutrition.

And we are now looking at implementing it in several other high priority countries. And again, mostly focused on nutrition, but moving to other supplies. But just to note, it's expensive and that's not an excuse, but it's just to let you know that the solution, because it requires UNICEF working very closely with our implementing partners, whether those are governments or NGOs, who are often the ones who are actually delivering the supplies on our behalf, but they need to use the system as well. So it's not just unicef, it's UNICEF working with our implementing partners who deliver the supplies. So that's partly to give you a little bit of context why it's not as simple as just saying, okay, global rollout, you know, we'll do it tomorrow because we need to work very closely and train our partners, give them the tools and the mechanisms and a lot of it.

In response to the question from the uk, how do we do it? I'm not the expert, but I know it involves tagging of supplies. And so we have to make sure that right from the manufacturer that the supplies are properly tagged and that all partners in the supply chain are able to monitor and basically using barcodes, monitor where the supplies end up. So it's super important, but it's also quite challenging. So in 2026, we will be looking at where the highest priority countries, where we see the biggest risks and we will prioritize those.

And let me just conclude by saying that, you know, not only did we very much value the Board of Audit recommendations, but for UNICEF this is a strategic priority and it will be led by our supply division, but with the support of all of unicef. The other key challenge that we have is the direct selection of implementing partners. This one should be more straightforward for UNICEF to implement. It doesn't require any big investments, but it does require a behavior change and a very important behavior change. As the Board of Audit has rightly noticed.

We haven't always and direct selection is allowed to be clear as per our policy. But the Board of Audit has pointed out that we need to do better at making direct selection more the exception and that we have to make sure that when we do use direct selection, it's properly documented. In my experience, direct selection tends to be used when, you know, in an emergency situation where we are in a hurry to deliver. But again, still we need to make sure it's remains exceptional and it's properly documented. So we have already implemented this recommendation, the related recommendations we've gone to not only the country offices concerned, but more globally to share clear guidance, clear direction in terms of, you know, for our country offices to make sure that we direct selection becomes, you know, the exception.

And we will be monitoring very closely as well. So, so it's training, it's follow up and it's monitoring to make sure that direct selection becomes truly something that is only exceptional. And we are also making sure that more of our implementing partners are on the UN partner portal, which then makes it easier then to make sure that as much as possible, the selection of implementing partners is an open Transparent process rather than direct selection. Moving to the write offs of 28 million. Yes, I know it's a big number.

It's a little bit worrisome, especially when you compare it to the previous year, which is about 6 million. But the context here is that most of it, about 18 million was related to pre positioned PPE that was procured in the early days of the COVID pandemic. You're probably wondering why are you only seeing the write offs now in 2024? And that's because it does take, take quite some two to three years for us to, you know, do whatever efforts we can to transfer these supplies, these PPEs to partner to our partners and then to go through, and then to go through all the diligence, the due diligence that's required for write off process. And so these write offs are.

They hit our records, if you will, our accounting records in 2020, looking at 2025, we expect the write offs to be to go back to what I'll call normal levels, to be much lower. So this is really a one off related to. Yes. PPE for the accountants. It's not property plant and equipment, it's personal protection equipment.

So it's the masks, the gloves that were procured in the early days of COVID when this was seen as, and was of course absolutely critical to reducing the transmission of COVID The spot checks. Yeah, the 2022 implementation of spot checks, it's now been fully implemented and we're confident that the Board of Audit will agree that this recommendation has now been fully implemented and we've reduced the time gap. And lastly, on the first set of comments on the net assets being too high. Too high. It's a judgment call, to be very frank.

You know, what is the right number of net assets? And I think that question came up at the informal. There's no, you know, perfect answer. I would say that if it was, you know, negative would be very bad. We wouldn't want to have negative net assets.

But to give a bit of context as well, yes, I think a year ago I probably did say I expected the net assets would be lower, this lower in 2024. So we didn't get it. Our projections didn't quite meet the actual. But projections are projections. You know, actual is reality.

But we deliberately are being conservative. And if you remember at the, when we present the updated financial estimates to the board in September, I did talk a little at that session about how we're deliberately going into this current quadrennial where we're in now with slightly higher net assets than we would normally, or sometimes we call it our regular resource reserve. And the reason is that as we enter a very difficult funding environment in 2026, we want to enter this in a pretty healthy position financially so that we can then make sure that we protect as much as possible our country programs, our global regional programs that you know, that the key activities that we undertake globally that they don't suffer any sharp increase or decrease any sharp fluctuation in the allocations. So we're deliberately trying to smooth the expenditures in this current quadrennium. And you will see when we provide you with our updated financial projections, you will see that at the end of each year in this current quadrennial we're projecting slightly lower net assets or what we sometimes call our regular resource reserves, slightly lower each year.

But we're doing that in order to smooth out the expenditure in the current quadrennium. So yes, we've been a little bit conservative, arguably a bit too conservative, but I think in these very uncertain financial situation that we're in now, it's prudent to be entering this current quadrennium with perhaps a slightly higher net assets than we would have previously. If there's anything else.

On the reports of the. I forget what it was. The went from 120 to 73. I think that was the reports of suspected presumptive fraud. Yeah.

And I remember this question came up at the end formal as well. And again it's a little bit like what's the right number? Zero would probably seem too good to be true. 500 probably seems like there's something strange going on. So yes, it went from 120 in 2023 down to 73 in 2024.

I'm reading the notes from the comments from the UK. I think we just have to keep an eye on it. To be very honest. Whether the number goes up or down isn't necessarily an indicator of problems increasing. It might be an indication of people, you know, better transparency, a better openness, a more willingness to speak up.

I think what's more important is that we act promptly on any allegations and they're brought to a conclusion and that we look at, you know, in trends. We look at is there a trend overall? I don't get too concerned about trends year on year and us. Thank you for your questions. I mean honestly, we couldn't agree more that, you know, we must prioritize the last fully implementing the last mile supply monitoring.

And you wanted to know the resource requirements off the Top of my head, I don't know what it is other than it is expensive, as I mentioned earlier, but it is a top priority for unicef. And. Yeah, and it's just, it's so important to consistently track supplies. Thank you. Thank you very much.

Any other comments, please?

Thank you. Mr. Chair, just to first of all, to thank you for the compliments on our work. From audit perspective, I could say that the four key findings that we highlighted, including last mile delivery and the partner oversight, do not point to systemic control failures. It's more gaps in standardization, documentation, consistency, particularly in high risk context, that UNICEF sometimes operates.

While the issues were observed in specific settings, they are operationally important and therefore warrant target recommendations. And I'm very glad to see that the UNICEF administration is committed to implement the recommendations from our perspective. We will continue to audit these issues. We are going to follow up all the outstanding recommendations in our next audit that will be carried out in April. And we are going to, for example, next month we will be in Mozambique and we are going to be in Afghanistan as well to check the assurance process of the implementing partners delivery.

So we are really concerned to give an assurance for you about the financial statement numbers about the procedures. So I think that we could. We are very happy to see that the UNICEF administration is implementing or trying to implement these recommendations. And as Madam Controller has said, sometimes it includes a cultural modification, a behavioral modification. So it's not easy.

But it's very important to strengthen the communication process, the management, a commitment to this issue, for example, the portal not to use their direct selection. So I think that we can have better results for the UNICEF. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you very much.

Is there any other delegation who would like to take a floor?

I don't see. I don't see anyone. So if there is no delegation willing to take a floor, we shall consider this matter later on agenda Under Agenda Item 16 when we consider the adoption of the draft decisions. And this ends agenda item 12. So we'll move forward with the next agenda item.

So, distinguished delegates, we will turn now to Agenda Item 13 of the Agenda, Private Fundraising and Partnerships to 2026 Work Plan and Proposed Budget contained in Document E, ICF 2026 AB L1. Under this Agenda item, the Executive Board has also received in advance of a session, an informational update on the World bank instruments to facilitate sustained investment in private sector fundraising.

And an oral update on the work of national committees for UNICEF will also be presented under this agenda item. The Deputy executive director, partnerships, Ms. Vander Heiden, will make Some introductory remarks before the Director, Private fundraising and partnerships. Ms. Mardini presents the Private Fundraising and Partnerships 2026 Work Planning and Budget and the update on the World bank instrument. She will then be followed by Ms. Nien Huis, President and Chief Executive Officer of UNICEF USA and Chair of the Standing Group of National Committees for unicef, who will update us on the work of the committees. So, Ms. Van der Heyden, you have the floor.

Thank you, Mr. President and members of the board, it's a pleasure to see you. And I don't think I'll bring a surprise when I say that we are facing the most crippling crisis in our sector and in UNICEF's history. As the needs of children are rising, the resources are tumbling down, and it's precisely in the eye of the storm where children find themselves. And we know that children will not be able to survive, let alone thrive or live a life in dignity if we do not invest heavily in their present and their future. Right now, every dollar we invest in a child will Yield on average, $10 in societal return.

It's a worthy project. And the private sector, across the global north and the Global south, our 32 national committees, our country offices, have supported us for decades. More than half of the core resources of UNICEF now come from individuals, your constituents, to unicef. And the message that they are sending us is very clear. They want UNICEF to continue to support children.

And from our side, we will continue to build alliances, we will continue to build partnerships, including with young people. Innovate in new private sector partnerships, explore new opportunities while managing risks through robust governance. But private sector funding and financing is not and should not be seen as a substitute for oda. We are, as unicef, after all, a member state organization. And we need member states to walk the talk on the funding compact on core resources, on pooled resources, while we will continue to raise complementary resources from private sources.

And we're proud, we're very proud of our highly diversified funding model. Our 10 million individual givers every month, the corporate partners, ultra high net wealth individuals, faith based organizations, membership, member state organizations, innovative finance, all of these sources together bring us on an annual basis now $2 billion. This is a testimony to how much people actually want UNICEF to deliver what we do for children. And if we were to be able to complement that with adequate public funding, we know that we have the expertise and the financing tool to deliver exactly what is needed. The present that each child wants and the future that each child deserves.

Thank you, Mr. President.

I thank Ms. Van der Heyden for your remarks. I now Invite the Director, Private Fundraising and Partnerships, Ms. Haran Mardini to present the Private Fundraising and Partnerships 2026 Work Plan and proposed budget and the update on the World bank instruments to facilitate sustained investment in private sector fundraising. Ms. Mardini, you have a floor. Thank you, Chair. Esteemed delegates, I am pleased to present the 2026 Work Plan and proposed budget for our private sector fundraising and partnerships work.

Next slide, please.

In recent years, our private sector ecosystem writ large, including our 32 national committees for UNICEF, our own PfP division, our regional offices, our country offices as well as our multi country clusters have achieved tangible progress in both income and influence. 2026 marks the start of a new four year cycle of the PFP Office Management Plan that is aligned with the Strategic Plan. Our plan reflects our ambition and the results we aim to deliver by 2029 as fleshed out under the four outcomes you can see on the screen. Our operating model is a 3D business model. It is decentralized, distributed and diversified, tested to adapt and withstand shocks.

We will continue to radically diversify income and influence across all markets. This will help us weather the permanent volatility. Influence plays a critical role in protecting the generation of future income and advocating for long term investments for every child. Financing is now a standalone outcome in line with strategic plan impact result 5. The outcome results are complemented by transformational strategies that will be refined over time.

Next slide please. We have highlighted here the key results we aim to deliver under each outcome in 2026 along with the corresponding budgets. Over the past two decades, we have progressively built a resilient and sustainable income generation model. Influence and income are complementary and reinforce each other. This has become our defining comparative advantage.

Public trust is fundamental to our efforts and to our brand. We need to stay attuned to the evolving needs and expectation of our diverse audiences, especially young people. We will be laser focused on unlocking more value across income and influence as well as leveraging financing at the intersection of the private and the public sectors. Next slide, please. We are encouraged that the preliminary 2025 private sector results have reached over 2 billion in US dollars.

We have mobilized these resources collectively during an exceptionally difficult year while navigating uncertainty, organizational changes and cost cutting exercises. Bearing in mind that there were no significant peaks in emergency funding, as was the case from 2021 to 2023, which are outlier years when we had major emergencies such as the pandemic and Ukraine, these results do not happen overnight. It takes many years of ongoing and continued investment in people and systems. This underscores the Importance of sustaining these investments in the future. Private sector revenue for 2026 is projected at around 1.9 billion, showing stable growth at a higher operating baseline.

Next slide, please. We aim to achieve the 2026 revenue target with a budget that was cut back to 230 million USD. Investment funds for RR generation reverted to 2024 levels, maintained at 85 million while or expenditure in country offices has decreased. Next slide, please. We made difficult but necessary choices and decisions to reduce our workforce by 80 positions in 2026.

We have deliberately preserved a globally distributed model with 66% of PfP funded positions remaining in regional support centers and country offices. Budgetary cuts were concentrated at headquarters and further savings will be realized from relocating over 90% of our Geneva based staff to Rome, Italy this summer. Next slide, please.

The pilot World bank instrument that was approved by the executive board in 2021 has enabled UNICEF to invest in private sector fundraising with 50 million USD benefiting 24 new markets. This resulted in new fundraising efforts to increase flexible private sector income for country programs locally and globally. The World bank funds complemented other direct investments. As of September 2025, cumulative pledge donations have reached $655.5 million. UNICEF has implemented strong governance of the instrument and has fully met all financial obligations.

A final financial assessment is planned after the conclusion of the instrument and we will share the insights and lessons learned. Next slide, please. Chair. Ladies and gentlemen, our deep gratitude goes to our private sector partners and our 10 million individual supporters for their trust and solidarity with children. I thank you.

Thank you. Thank you very much. The Board will now receive an oral update on the partnership of UNICEF with with a national committee for UNICEF. I invite Mr. Nahos, president and chief executive officer of UNICEF USA and chair of the Standing Group of National Committees, to present the update. You have the floor, Sir.

Thank you, Mr. President, Executive Director Russell, Executive Board members and delegations for this opportunity to speak on behalf of the national committees. In perhaps the most difficult, difficult financial year in the organization's history, our UNICEF colleagues have made painful choices to cut programs, merge operations, reduce and relocate staff. The 32 national committees felt a great sense of urgency to respond with support from our individual donors and private sector partners. We are proud to have increased our financial support by 18% over 2024 to a preliminary 2025 figure of more than $1.7 billion. UNICEF enjoys broad popular support in our countries, which we see as an argument that our governments should also invest more, not less, in UNICEF.

While we remain focused on UNICEF's present needs, we are Also building for the future, the world's children will need UNICEF support 10, 20 and 30 years from now, as well as today. This is one important driver of our work with young people in our countries. We are preparing the next generation who will one day lead global philanthropy, private sector institutions, governments and even UNICEF by instilling in them a passion for the just cause of child rights. Across the national committees, we have strong programs to engage children and youth. In 2020, five national committees reached at least 6.5 million children through their child rights education activities.

Another 1.4 million were engaged directly in our advocacy and communications work here in the United States. The National Committee sponsors UNICEF clubs at high schools and universities across the country, involving thousands of students who educate their campuses on the situation for children globally, advocate with government officials, volunteer in their local community and hold fundraisers for UNICEF. UNICEF Australia has nearly 300,000 children and young people engaged in advocacy and communication activities and has reached more than 1 million young people through its Pass the Mic campaign. In Poland, the National Committee held the country's first Children and Youth Citizens assembly on online Safety. Working with the Ministry of Digital affairs, young people produced model recommendations that directly inform legislation on protection from harmful online content.

UNICEF Sweden launched a a reverse mentorship program pairing leaders starting with its own management team with mentors aged 15 to 20. The initiative has fostered new partnerships and enabled youth mentors to engage with the Swedish Parliament and government officials. One day these young people will be sitting in my chair and in some of yours. We are committed to continue to invest in them. Thank you.

I thank Mr. Nienhuis for his remarks. I now open the floor for discussion on the Private fundraising and partnerships 2026 work plan and proposed budget, the update on the World bank instrument to facilitate sustained investment in private sector fundraising and the roll update on the work of national committees for unicef. I give the floor to a distinguished delegate of Dominican Republic, Senor, Mr. President, executive director, distinguished colleagues. I have the honor of speaking on behalf of Antigua and Barbuda, Bolivia, El Salvador, Guatemala and my own country, the Dominican Republic. The Gulag would like to recognize UNICEF's effort to present a Work Plan 2020 that seeks to support private fundraising in a context characterized by cuts and restructuring under the initiative Future Focus.

We specifically value the continuity of the strategic vision and the commitment to innovation in mobilizing resources. However, we'd like to focus our statement on the regional impact and the equity of the strategies proposed. First, we welcome that the PLACE plan includes references to financing instruments that are innovative and have a transformative potential for Latin America and the Caribbean such as the Future Bank. However, could UNICEF please detail how within their model for resources and partnerships, it will prioritize middle income countries as well as small island developing states in the Caribbean that are facing financing gaps which are critical for children children despite not being low income countries. Second, we also note that the reassignment of key functions in the Division will also affect our region where several national committees have shown notable capacities when it comes to fundraising as well as political influencing.

How will UNICEF guarantee that this restructuring strengthens and does not dilute leadership and strategic autonomy of national committees in Grulak when it comes to mobilizing resources and promoting national public policies? Third, although the document does mention growth in private income, the operative budget is concerning what specific measures does UNICEF foresee to keep and ideally expand technical support and capacity building for country offices in in our region which depend increasingly on private funding for social protection programs, education and emergency responses? Finally, we would like to reaffirm the importance for UNICEF's architecture for fundraising is not just effective but balanced and takes into account the realities of all regions. We trust that a constant dialogue with GRUELAC will allow us to better align these global strategies with the needs and spin opportunities in Latin America and the Caribbean. We would like to thank the Division for its work and we reiterate our commitment to collaborate for the benefit of children.

Thank you. I thank a distinguished representative of the Dominican Republic. Next speaker is Switzerland.

Mr. President, Madam Executive Secretaries, distinguished colleagues, I'm honored to deliver this statement on behalf of Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Finland, Georgia, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, the Netherlands, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Norway, Slovenia, Sweden, Turkey, the UK and my own country, Switzerland. We thank UNICEF and the Division of Private Fundraising and partnerships for the 2026 work plan and budget. We commend the strong alignment with UNICEF's Strategic Plan 2629 and the continued focus on digital transformation, diversified income streams and strengthened high value partnerships in a challenging environment. We acknowledge that UNICEF is facing significant budget cuts and is navigating organizational adjustments under the future Focus Initiative. This entails substantial structural changes for PFP as well, including reductions in budget and staff and the relocation of key headquarter functions.

While these reforms aim to enhance efficiency over a long time, they inevitably create pressures on capacity and continuity. At the same time, projected private sector revenue for 2026 remains broadly aligned with the 2025 approved budget. Against this backdrop, we would welcome clarification on three how does PfP intend to sustain current revenue levels with reduced resources? How does capacity and relocation Related risks are are factored into the 2026 deliverables and what mitigation measures are planned to safeguard continuity, institutional knowledge and fundraising performance during the transition. Given these anticipated changes in PfP's operating model, it becomes all the more essential to maximize complementarity with the national committees.

We therefore encourage UNICEF to ensure that their important work in resource mobilization, lobby and advocacy is fully leveraged at all times and adequately reflected in the work plan. In light of the relocation of UNICEF staff to several NATCOM countries, we would also welcome an update on how coordination and division of labour will be managed to ensure complementarity and maximize collective impact. Systematic partnerships between development actors, including the IFIs and the UN agencies, are crucial in order to increase effectiveness, efficiency and development impact and work as a system. In this regard, UNICEF's work in innovative financing and private sector engagement is exemplary. We welcome an update on the World bank instrument and the encouraging results achieved so far.

We look forward to receiving the instrument's final assessment. Now that the attribution model is operational, could UNICEF share how much additional revenue has been generated to date? Furthermore, we would welcome information on UNICEF's plans regarding the pilot beyond 2026 as well as insights on how UNICEF will promote and share lessons learned from this pilot to foster innovative financing initiatives across the UN system. In conclusion, we wish to underline that we remain committed partners in UNICEF's mandate to protect and advance the rights and well being of every child. We thank the PFP Director and her team, the National Committees and UNICEF country offices for their dedication in these exceptionally challenging times.

I thank you. I thank you. A distinguished representative of Switzerland. Next speaker on my list is United States. You have the floor.

Thank you very much, Mr. President. The United States strongly supports UNICEF's efforts to leverage know how of the private sector. The the United States encourages the Executive Director to identify and respond to new market opportunities should they arise between Executive Board sessions and to notify the board accordingly. We believe the PFP work plan and budget for 2026 demonstrates fiscal responsibility. The proposed 20% reduction in total expenditures while maintaining revenue projections show strong cost management.

The net private sector surplus is projected to increase by 1% despite lower spending. This efficiency aligns with our expectations for responsible stewardship of resources. The US Supports the emphasis on digital innovation and the expansion of the Salesforce platform to 40 markets reaching 10 million supporters and shows as it shows scalability. The United States also supports the proposed leveraging of AI and emerging technologies to offset staffing reductions. We support the hard decisions made so far to reduce staff and operational costs, but have questions on managing the impact of reducing 80 posts 11% of the workforce?

How do you ensure business continuity during the transition, particularly with staff relocations from Geneva to Rome? And what specific metrics will you use to monitor whether reduced capacity is affecting fundraising momentum? What is your contingency plan if digital transformation cannot fully compensate for reduced human capacity? The 2026 revenue projection of 1.96 billion represents only a 2% decrease from 2025 approved budget. Yet the document acknowledges significant operational risks.

Are the revenue projections sufficiently conservative given acknowledged risks? What assumptions underpin the medium scenario and how realistic are they Given staffing constraints, should the Board consider approving closer to the low scenario given uncertainties? The United States recognizes the challenging environment facing unicef. We support approval of the medium scenario with the following enhanced monitoring and reporting to the Board, clear risk mitigation strategies and flexibility to adjust if projections prove overly optimistic. Thank you.

I thank our distinguished representative of the United States. Next speaker is Sweden.

Thank you, Mr. President. Sweden is aligned with the statement of Switzerland but would like to make a few additional remarks. We welcome the Private fundraising and partnership 2026 work plan and proposed budget. We appreciate the continued efforts of UNICEF to strengthen the work and the methods within this area. We would also like to commend the key contributions of the National Committees in raising revenue and advocating for children's rights in Sweden and globally.

We acknowledge the progress accomplished by PFH during the 2022-2025 strategic plan period, not least in terms of increasing private sector income and the development of innovative financing. The contribution of the private sector to regular resources is highly important and we appreciate the efforts made to maximize the giving to regular resources. We may ask one question about making humanitarian funding from the private sector a priority as indicated in the report. While funding for humanitarian needs is essential, how do you see the trade off between that and raising revenue for regular resources? Do you agree that raising revenue from regular resources should be the foremost priority?

Thank you. I thank the distinguished representative of Sweden. I now invite the Secretariat to respond to the comments and numerous questions we have heard. Please. Sorry.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And I will start by thanking the esteemed delegates from the Dominican Republic for your kind words and your encouragements. I will start just by reacting on your point about investing in our offices in the Latin America and Caribbean region in terms of their private fundraising and partnerships efforts. This is part of our model.

We have our Regional Director here. Our Regional Directors have a role also within the architecture of the private fundraising and partnerships model and they also steward this work in their regions. And our model, as I said earlier, is decentralized in the sense that when we applied the cuts, we made sure headquarters took the brunt of the cuts and we maintained the investment that we have made in a region like LAC so that they can continue their partnership and fundraising efforts there. There is huge potential in the region to support our operations there and also to contribute in terms of global solidarity. So this is part of the strategy and we will continue spearheading our efforts.

The bulk of the World bank investment that was injected, was injected in those mature markets in Latin America and the Caribbean. And so we will continue finding solutions to continue investing there. And so we take your point as part of our future strategy on the small island states and middle income countries and how we can use financing and public private sector approaches. When I finish with, with the other comments, maybe the DED could come in on that because she has been involved in this. More specifically, I will now move to the questions and comments from the esteemed delegates from Switzerland.

Thank you on behalf of all the other countries. Thank you for your support, all of you, in our work. I will start with the first point on how PFP intends to sustain current revenue with reduced resources. So when we had to apply the cuts on positions and on budgets, operational budgets, we tried not to have a haircut approach or a linear approach. So we tried to have a targeted and strategic cut in the sense that we contracted the whole line of work without completely destabilizing the, the machinery of PfP.

Because this is a machine, if I can use that word, that has been established years ago and is being invested in year after year. And so we tried to do it in a way that it created a contraction without completely disrupting the line of work, because it's a very decentralized model and we made sure headquarters were more hit than our regional offices and country offices that are engaged in that work. So it's a downsizing of the business model, but in a way that maintains operational continuity. I want to also take this opportunity to thank my own leadership here on the podium for protecting our investment funds pillar. It is stable at 85 million.

And the bulk of those investment funds will be injected in the most mature markets that generate maximum core resources. And the bulk of the investment funds is invested in national committee markets where they can hone their skills, move into new areas to increase income and core resources to the organization. And these investment funds are critical for the future revenue. Maybe to add on this that we had to put on hold Some activities we might reignite them in the future. But there were certain activities or initiatives that we could afford in the past that we can't afford with these cuts that we have put on hold.

And one area we will absolutely keep investing in is legacy giving through our country offices and national committees. As you may have seen, they will be the largest transfer of wealth, intergenerational transfer of wealth in the coming 10 to 15 years. And we need to be well positioned as UNICEF to capture that and to be best in class in terms of making sure this intergenerational wealth transfer is channeled towards children rights and well being. So this is part of where we will also target the investment funds. You had a question on relocation related risks and how we have factored this into the 2026 deliverables.

So when we started looking into the cuts and the relocation, we very quickly put in place a risk register. So of course first top risk is decrease in quality income and the quantity of funding. And the second risk was business disruption. So what we've done is manage this in a phased transition. So the first wave of cuts was done, our staff have left.

It's been a very difficult period for the entire organization over the past weeks. And now we are preparing for the relocation from Geneva to Rome for the Geneva based staff. And this is done in a phased transition. It will happen over the summer from 1 June to 31 August and in a way that we do not disrupt. And those who will decide not to relocate, we will have to recruit.

So we'll have to manage this very carefully so there is no disruption in the work and we will relocate in WFP premises. Their representative from Italy mentioned that this co location is part of also our contribution in terms of UN collocation and UNDS reform. On the question related to to mitigation measures and how to make sure we safeguard continuity. You said institutional. I mean we need to protect institutional knowledge and the performance.

PFP has a role of sort of conductor in chief or a role of capacity building and making sure we crossfit fertilize across the ecosystem between country offices, national committees, PFP in this ecosystem you have areas of excellence and expertise, whether it's a country office or a national committee. A country office can be best in class in digital fundraising, a national committee in corporate fundraising. We look into this as a whole ecosystem. So we protected within the cuts our plans for PFP Academy which will be a capacity building effort that will create knowledge management lessons learned, cross fertilization of expertise across the ecosystem and this we have protected because this is a very important contribution to the future. You have mentioned the complementarity with the national committees and you're spot on on that.

We have built together with them what we call the oca. It's a one country approach that is kind of a principles document that explains how we should operate when we are in the same country in an outcome context. Because we have several global assets that have moved in countries where you have a national committee and we needed to manage how we complement each other there. And this is important for the UNICEF NABCOM partnership. And we would like to see this OCA implemented, respected, referenced, and this is what we're clearly working on on the World bank instrument.

So we are on schedule to pay the 50 million by end of this month back to the World Bank. We've paid all our obligations. Now the final assessment will be important. So. So we see where we stand.

We think it's been a successful. We'll share the figures when we calculate them because what we have done based on your request is to build attribution model. So this attribution model is ready. And now that we're closing our books from last year, we will start the calculation based on this attribution model and we'll be able to share with you how much is attributed to the World bank injection of 50 million over the past five years. So the cycle is coming to an end and we'll be able to share that.

As to the future of this instrument. This was a pilot that you have supported. We will need to see the assessment and based on the assessment discussed next steps on innovative finance. Very quickly we've been testing new approaches. You may have heard of the Today and Tomorrow initiative which is the first child focused disaster risk financing solution that has created returns for more than eight contexts cyclone affected countries.

This is going into the third phase and we are expanding it. So this is one where we really learned a lot, where you connect private, public and the insurance in this field. And then we're very keen to share with you one important aspect of our work. And perhaps Kitty, you could say more on that. It's the child lens investing space.

You may have heard of the Gender lens investing space and other investing spaces. UNICEF is very keen on seeing child lens investing breakthroughs and we've created that space. We owe a lot to the support we got from Finland as a government and from our national Committee in Finland and. And we think that member states have the power to mobilize their development finance institutions and IFIs to work with us to adopt a child lens investing framework in their value chain. So like Finland did with its own dfi, the fin fund.

So there are several spaces in innovative finance where we can connect the dots across private and public. And the funding not necessarily comes to you UNICEF directly, but is channeled towards better outcomes for children. I will move to the question and comment from the United States where you are mentioning the esteemed delegates from the United States you were mentioning how will we sustain the income with these cuts? And is the scenario too ambitious? Should we move to a more conservative one?

We have adopted a conservative scenario. This is based on, you know, forecasting is not rocket science. It's a mix of data, of intuition, of ability to deliver. And based on all the information we had at the time, this is a conservative sense scenario where we think we can deliver because we know the rest of the organization is planning against it. Now I have to say the teams have stretched targets.

They're very ambitious. They have stretch targets, but we don't plan against them. These are stretch targets that they use to really stretch and try to connect the dots and create new income streams and revenues. So we're very confident as we stand and thank you for your kind words on the work we've done. It's been a painful period but I think we're now moving into delivering and there are trillions out there in private sector capital.

The question is how do we channel them and crowd them towards outcomes that benefit the well being of children.

There was a last comment from the representative from Sweden. I think I've covered it through through the different responses, but if anything we can come back to it. Thank you. Back to you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you very much, Katie. Thank you, Mr. President. I would like to be very brief but I do want to mention the importance of the child lens investing framework first of all in how it was designed and this is how we work. It really is an ecosystem approach. So it was an idea that came from an innovative finance hub.

Then it was worked through with the U.S. national Committee. We tested it out with the private sector and then we launched because that is how we make impact happen. And one of the biggest impacts we have just recently achieved. I was in Panama two weeks ago was the launch of the Banco Futuro Lac. To your point, from the colleague of the Dominican Republic.

How do we help countries that have achieved already a certain level of development but that still have gaps in terms of inequality, vulnerability, unemployment issues, skilling issues and what Banco Futuro lack that was launched at UNGER last year, and I'll come to what we did in January actually was a promise to use what is called the child lends investment framework to mobilize 5 billion over the next five years to reach 50 million children. And what it does is using the resources of one of the major development banks in in this region to have a child lens focus not just to avoid harm, but to actually make sure you steer resources towards children. And as the president of the CAF has said, children are an investable proposition. Every dollar you invest in early childhood education will bring you anywhere between $4 to $16 in revenue. Every dollar in education will bring you $20 in future GDP growth.

So the Latin American and Caribbean Development bank has embraced the concept will free up $5 billion to invest in children. It is not funding for UNICEF, but it is finance for children. And that is also the way we want to impact at scale. It doesn't all have to run through our veins as long as the child rights and approaches that we have are embedded in the system. So we're involved from the design to the implementation with technical expertise, with quality monitoring.

But it is implemented largely by governments themselves. And two weeks ago the first ever social bond was floated on the Swiss market. It was a youth and child bond, 200 million. It was immediately over subscribed. So this is a concept that not just we understand as members, as people committed to child rights and child well being, but even the capital capital market is seeing that this is an investable proposition.

So I think if we work together and crowd in the financial resources from the capital markets, we can make impact at scale. Otherwise we will simply be too late to bring well being to children around the world. So just wanted to mention that. And we will be working not just with CAF and Fin fund, also other development banks to ensure that corporates and development banks integrate this lens into their programming for the well being of children. Thanks.

Thank you very much. Carla, you want to take the floor? Yeah, please.

Thank you Mr. Chair, and apologies to the representative from Sweden.

You made a critical point that deserves attention. You mentioned the fact that humanitarian funding in emergencies can be seen seen as competing with RR fundraising or core resources fundraising. That's a critical point. So what we've seen is when you have humanitarian emergencies that hit the headlines in the media, there's a spike, but there is fatigue now. And even if you have some that are protracted, it doesn't create that same effect.

In general, when this happens, we can acquire new donors digitally. It's an important moment. But the private sector and private sources are today bringing more than 54% in core resources to the organization. So the fundraising in core resources is supported when there is a peak in an emergency, where we get, of course, earmarked funding for the emergency, but they support each other. And maybe just to conclude on that point, our approach with our private sector partners is a portfolio approach.

So we need to educate each other. So when we're discussing with a partner who only gives earmarked support, we tell them, okay, we understand your interest there, but would you like, and we always use that term in our team, would you like to include in your portfolio of giving a small window of equity to support children elsewhere? And oftentimes it's yes. So we need to ask and not just react to what's happening. We need to negotiate and ask and also educate each other on that sweet spot between their interest and where they want to channel their giving and our needs for the organization.

And it's having the right balance between all of these and income streams. But thank you for raising that critical point.

Thank you very much.

I thank Secretariat for the answers to the numerous questions and comments by Member States. Is there any other delegation willing to take the floor at this point? If not, we shall consider the private fundraising and partnerships 2026 work plan and proposed budget later on Under Agenda Item 16, when we consider the adoption of the draft decisions. This brings us to the end when it comes to agenda item 13. Ladies and gentlemen, before we adjourn this afternoon, I believe that Secretary of the executive board, Mr. Andreas Franco would like to make an announcement.

Mr. Secretary, you have a floor.

Thank you, Mr. President. Just to remind the delegations that we will do the informal consultations starting at 5 in this conference room. And as I said, in the morning, if we need more time after six, then we will move to the UNICEF house, to the 13th floor. And in this room we will have Executive Board member States, member State observers, the facilitators of the draft decisions, focal points of UNICEF with relevant experts available during the informals, and the staff of my office. Thank you very much, Mr. President.

I thank the Secretary for his announcement. This brings us to the end of this afternoon meeting. Thank you very much. And I suspect that we will see tomorrow. Thank you.