3rd meeting, UN Women Executive Board, Annual Session

Good morning, everyone. Please take a seat. We'll start today's session of the annual session. So maybe my first communication would be happy International Women's Day in diplomacy. Shout out to all of you here who are doing the job and who are making a difference here in New York, but of course everywhere in the world. Maybe you also want to say something about that?

Good morning, everyone, and congratulations On this International Women's Day in Diplomacy, I would just want to say that today and every day we honor each and every one of you and each and every one of the women who came before you and who will come after you, who are shattering glass ceilings, who are opening doors, and who are empowering young girls to see them as the role models. So together, All of us, we will continue to push forward for gender equality and for parity in diplomacy until we reach that for all women and girls. So thank you very much, and yeah, why don't you also tweet about this today? It's important. Thank you.

Thank you very much, dear Edith Bahouz, for these very kind words of encouragement. And so we start the day under excellent auspices. So Excellencies and distinguished delegates, welcome back to the plenary meeting of the 2026 Annual Session of the UN Women Executive Board. So we have, under the first agenda item today, we have evaluation, and the Executive Board will receive a presentation of the annual report on the evaluation function of UN Women in 2025, followed by the presentation of the corporate thematic evaluation of UN Women's support to intergovernmental processes. Then the Executive Board will receive a presentation on the related management response and perspective. So I'm very pleased to welcome the following UN Women colleagues to the podium. Mrs. Sima Bahus, of course, Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women, Kirsti Mahdi, Deputy Executive Director for Resource Management, Sustainability and Partnership. Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda, Deputy Executive Director for Normative Support, UN System Coordination and Programme Results. Sarah Hendricks, Director, Policy, Programme and Intergovernmental Division. Yes, over there. Lisa Sutton, Director, Independent Evaluation, Audit and Investigation Services, and Jean-Luc Bories, of course, our Secretary of the Executive Board. First, I will invite Ms. Lisa Sutton, Director of the Independent Evaluation, Audit and Investigation Services, to present both the annual report on the evaluation function of UN Women in 2025 and the corporate thematic evaluation of UN Women's support to intergovernmental processes. Then I will invite Madam Deputy Executive Director, Ms. Nyahatsayi Gumbo-Nzwanda, to present the management response and management perspective to both reports. Without further ado, Ms. Sutton, you have the floor.

Thank you very much, Ambassador, and good morning, distinguished delegates, Excellencies, dear colleagues. I have the pleasure of presenting the annual report on the UN Women evaluation function. Evaluation is an essential governance tool that enables organizations to learn, make effective use of resources, and demonstrate accountability for results. Corporate evaluations last year assessed UN Women's work in the prevention of and response to violence against women, sustainable financing, and women's participation in peacebuilding processes. A corporate evaluation synthesis of UN Women's performance against its Strategic Plan informed the new Strategic Plan, and findings from regional and country portfolio evaluations supported the development of new strategic notes. Last year also marked the development of the new Evaluation Strategy and Multi-Year Corporate Evaluation Plan. Based on an evidence gap mapping and guided by aims to strengthen countries and regions, cover the new strategic plan, and generate evidence to enable adaptive management, the strategy and plan provide frameworks for generating credible and timely evidence on UN Women's work. These were also informed by an external assessment of the implementation of UN Women's evaluation policy. I'm proud that the assessment confirmed that UN Women's evaluation function is maturing and effective, and I welcome the opportunities that it highlights to strengthen root cause analysis, prioritize recommendations, and enhance performance communication. On decentralized evaluations, IES provides technical assistance and quality assurance through its regional evaluation specialists, which helps to ensure consistency and high standards across the organization. In parallel, IES leads on strategic decentralized evaluations, such as country portfolio and regional evaluations. 13 strategic decentralized evaluations were delivered last year. In 2025, global evaluation performance indicators remained largely on track. And while global evaluation expenditure as a percentage of global program expenditure did not quite reach the target, similarly important indicators such as evaluation coverage, human resources dedicated to monitoring and evaluation, management response submissions, and evaluation implementation rates were remarkably high. We will continue to monitor and advocate for ensuring that the right evaluation activities are planned and resourced, particularly at country and regional levels where frontline programming implementation takes place. In the area of UN system coordination and partnerships, IES continues to co-convene the United Nations Evaluation Group Gender Equality, Disability and Human Rights Working Group and continued to serve as Secretariat for the UN SWAP evaluation performance indicator. IES also continued to actively participate in interagency humanitarian, UN system-wide and UN SDCF evaluations to ensure that gender equality principles were integrated and considered. In the area of national partnerships for evaluation capacity development, IES supported national evaluation capacity by providing technical support to country-led evaluations of gender equality policies and development programs in Zimbabwe, Malawi, and Mozambique. It also delivered training on monitoring and evaluation with a gender equality focus and continued global partnerships to advance learning and capacity building in gender-responsive evaluation. Looking ahead, IES will continue to deliver its core mandate, conducting high-quality evaluations, delivering technical support, and strengthening evaluation partnerships. It will continue to explore the responsible use of artificial intelligence and deploy a range of evaluation modalities such as synthesis and rapid assessments to support adaptive management. IES remains independent and professionally staffed. In line with institutional cost-saving measures, IES is managing a reduction in non-staff budget. To free up further resources to invest in other mandated oversight work, IES is pivoting 3 of its evaluators from New York to Bonn to generate approximately $150,000 annually in pro forma savings. Madam Chair, distinguished delegates, the IES evaluation model is effective and cost-efficient, retaining independent expertise in-house that enables faster and smarter analysis that is widely valued by stakeholders. Positioned within the Independent Evaluation, Audit and Investigation Services, IES maintains its unique professional identity and contributes to impactful institutional independent oversight. I extend my sincere appreciation and gratitude to my dedicated IES team and to UN Women management and personnel for their collaboration and commitment. The Board can continue to place confidence in UN Women's evaluation function as a cornerstone of accountability. And learning. And now, Madame Chair, distinguished delegates, Excellencies, and colleagues, it's my pleasure to present the corporate evaluation of UN Women's support to intergovernmental processes. The evaluation comes at a critical moment. Intergovernmental processes remain central to advancing global gender norms, yet they are increasingly complex, with pressures on multilateralism and pushback on established commitments. In this context, understanding how UN Women contributes and how those contributions can be strengthened is essential for informed decision-making. This evaluation assessed UN Women's relevance, effectiveness, added value, and adaptability across global, regional, and country levels. At its heart, it recognizes that member states retain the primary responsibility for intergovernmental processes while UN Women plays a supportive role. The analysis drew on a wide evidence base, including mapping of 29 processes, consultations with more than 150 stakeholders, and 7 in-depth case studies. Let me highlight the main findings. The evaluation identified 6 main ways that UN Women supports intergovernmental processes. I'd like to highlight 2 in particular. The first is UN Women's technical and strategic advisory support. UN Women's contributions to the Commission on the Status of Women, for example, laid the groundwork for strong outcomes reflecting recognized technical expertise and trust from Member States. Evidence-based knowledge products such as regular gender snapshots have been used by Member States to strengthen negotiations across forums such as the CSW, the High-Level Political Forum, and the Human Rights Council. Equally, research commissioned through expert group meetings has helped to inform Member States' identification of priority themes. A second high-impact enabler is UN Women's convening role. UN Women brings together governments, UN entities, and civil society to support inclusive dialogue and consensus building. This role is evident across global, regional, and continental processes. For example, supporting CSW at the global level, convening of Beijing+30 regional reviews, and supporting African Union-led norm-setting processes at the continental level. The evaluation confirms UN Women's strong normative position and partnerships. UN Women is widely recognized as a trusted and neutral broker. At the same time, there is potential to strengthen coordination, particularly connecting global intergovernmental work with regional and country-level engagement. On organizational coherence, the evaluation finds progress. Mechanisms such as regional coordination roles and cross-divisional platforms have improved alignment. Areas to strengthen are in communication, planning, and reporting. A critical issue is the translation of global commitments into country-level results. While regional work shows what is possible under enabling conditions, results can be uneven and context-dependent. The Latin America and Caribbean's CARE agenda stands out as a positive example. UN Women's co-coordination of the Regional Conference of Women in Latin America and the Caribbean alongside the Regional Economic Commission contributed to member states adopting the 2022 Buenos Aires and the 2025 Plata Loco commitments. UN Women further support led to the adoption of 30 national local care policies across 11 Latin American and Caribbean countries. The evaluation shows that UN Women has demonstrated the ability to adapt in challenging and contested environments. Through evidence-based advocacy, partnerships, and strategic positioning, the organization continues to sustain progress. Sustainability, however, remains a risk, particularly given constrained and unpredictable funding. Based on these findings, the evaluation made two key recommendations to UN Women management. First, for UN Women to develop an internal strategy for its intergovernmental work, clarifying its vision, roles, and operational frameworks. And second, for UN Women to strengthen engagement with partners, member states, civil society, and the UN system through a more systematic and coordinated approach. In closing, the evaluation confirms the critical role that UN Women plays in advancing gender equality through intergovernmental processes. It also provides a roadmap for management to further strengthen its impact in an increasingly complex environment. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Ms. Sutton. I am now pleased to invite Ms. Enyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda for her presentation. Madam Deputy Executive Director, you have the floor. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you so much, Madam Vice President and Chair of this session, distinguished members of the Executive Board, my Executive Director and colleagues. Good morning. Management really welcomes the report of the UN Women Evaluation Function and commends the strengthened coverage the depth and the strategic relevance it reflects. The report reflects sustained efforts to ensure availability of credible, high-quality evaluation evidence to inform our decision-making while also reinforcing that independent evaluation functions that contributes to the system-wide gender responsive initiatives. UN Women continues to benefit significantly from both the corporate and the decentralized evaluations carried out by IEAS. The 2020 2026-2029 Evaluation Strategy and Corporate Evaluations Plans, we really aligned with the UN Women decision 4 years ago on pivot, pivoting to countries and regions, particularly through emphasis on responding to regional and country-level demands and use of rapid assessments, enabling us to track and measure the resources related in context of results and its impact. We welcome the integration of AI tools on the 2025 evidence gap, and this is an approach that we continue to encourage. Evaluation evidence is used systematically across the organization. At the corporate level, the synthesis of the performance against strategic plan 2022 to 2025 combined the findings from other evaluations provided— provided the critical data and the evidence really also supporting the design, not just of our strategic plan, but also of the country strategy notes, the regional strategy notes, and our thematic prioritization. In 2026, UN Women will launch the strategic development results reviews, providing a structured opportunity to assess progress towards the strategic plan outcomes. We talked about this yesterday, and both Kees and myself referenced the strategic development results process that we are going through. Furthermore, in line with with the Secretary-General's Gender Equality Acceleration Plan, we will continue to build on the evaluations and really also connecting deeply with the data and the analysis coming out of WomenCount. And we know that this year is the 10th anniversary of WomenCount, so the evaluations also build on this. The formative evaluations— so just two examples. The country evaluation of Somalia, positioned UN Women strategy not for Somalia in a context of drawdown on peacekeeping and in a context where we have to look into how do we strategically position the presence of UN Women within the political context of the country and where we are not a country office. Therefore, the evaluation gives us guidance on very corporate decisions. The evaluation on sustainable financing portfolio enabled allows us to position our work around financing and linking that with the outcome of FFD4, the meeting in Sevilla, and the commitments on gender equality, and therefore positioning us for private sector engagement. So these are just two examples on both from the thematic point of view and the country point of view. Strengthening evaluation management and use will continue to be a priority as we also build on the knowledge management strategy for the organization, and indeed we'll continue to prioritize capacity building. Now turning to the corporate evaluation on the intergovernmental process, this is a timely exercise offering an opportunity to take stock of achievements and sharpen our approach. Intergovernmental support of UN Women lies at the heart of the multilateral normative work in support of the member states. It is central to strengthening the global norm standards and to reinforcing the United Nations as a rule-based and evidence-based institution. UN Women really appreciates that we had this timely evaluation recognizing that our role in intergovernmental support covers the three pillars of the United Nations. It is through our intergovernmental support that we support member states, through the General Assembly mechanisms, ECOSOC and the Commission on the Status of Women, thus driving the development pillar. The intergovernmental support that we provide together with other UN agencies supports also the human rights pillar through our work with the Human Rights Council and also our work on CEDAW. And indeed, we continue to support the peace and security pillar through our responsibility as the pan-wider on women, peace and security, and therefore the Evaluation has been so important in order for us to reposition the normative work that we support. And equally, we are also looking at how the normative work is happening at the regional level. The intergovernmental mechanisms at the regional level are making crucial decisions, as we have seen with the Istanbul Convention by the Council of Europe on violence against women, the African Union with the Convention on Ending Violence, or the work with the Pacific Island Forum Caricom. Therefore, evaluation of intergovernmental bodies is also echoing the decisions that have been made for strengthening our work with the regional commissions, and it connects with the importance of focusing on regions and countries so that we connect the country-level normative work, the regional-level normative work with the global normative work. Therefore, as UN Women in this management, we underscore the importance of deepening this work and Therefore, on the two recommendations that have been provided, we are committed to and are prioritizing, and it's a discussion we've already had at the leadership level, to prioritize the development of a corporate strategy for UN Women to support the intergovernmental process. This is so important in the context where we have backlash. Where also we have some regressions or stagnation, and also at a time where we observed in CSW7 that for the first time in 70 years, the decision on CSW was by a vote, when before it was by consensus. It means we need to strengthen our support to the member states for upholding the normative, for strengthening the normative, for holding the line, and want to say congratulations and our appreciation to the direction and the advice that you continue to provide. So we are committed to developing the corporate strategy, which would also define how our various teams at various levels would support member states. The second recommendation on strengthening and systematizing engagement— this is also a recommendation we fully accept, and it really supports us to implement the outcome of the resolution on the revitalization of the Commission on the Status of Women, which specified that we need to be very systematic with our engagement with national human rights institutions, with parliamentarians, with the media, with private sector, and with civil society, and especially with young women and with young people. And therefore, our work with the Youth Office is important in the intergovernmental work that we do with other UN agencies, therefore positioning the UN coordination mandate is going to be important in our work, and already we appreciate that we have the ECOSOC resolution last year strengthening the Interagency Network on Gender Equality, IYANWE, and will be convening at the ASG level the IYANWE as a systematic way within which we also strengthen implementation and leverage our coordination mandate. Again, we want to thank you and We look forward to the conversation on the evaluation portfolio of UN Women. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mrs. Deputy Executive Director, for your presentation. I now open the floor for member states' interventions. The distinguished delegate from Switzerland, you have the floor.

Vice President, distinguished members and observers of the Board, dear colleagues, I deliver this statement on behalf of Albania, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Kingdom of the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Norway, Rwanda, South Africa, Sweden, Türkiye, United Kingdom, and my own country, Switzerland. We thank the Director of the Independent Evaluation, Audit, and Investigation Services for the 2025 Annual Report and the —of—on the evaluation function and welcome the management response. The importance and value of quality evaluations to an organization cannot be overstated. And this is especially true in times of financial constraint and organizational change, when strong oversight and evidence-based decision-making matter most. We would thus first and foremost like to recognize the independent evaluation services the IES, for maintaining an independent, credible, and impactful evaluation function, and for all results achieved in 2025. We particularly want to highlight the strategically important contribution of UN Women to advancing global normative frameworks on gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, as affirmed by the corporate evaluation of UN Women's support to intergovernmental processes. This evaluation confirms that UN Women's technical and advisory support, its convening role, and its amplification of women's voices are high valued by Member States and have made a tangible difference in CSW outcomes and beyond. This work is more important than ever in the current multilateral context. We also commend IES for exceeding the 25% target for joint evaluations, reaching 33% in 2025. This strong performance on system-wide and interagency evaluations, including cooperation frameworks evaluations, humanitarian evaluations, and SDG synthesis work, reflects the added value of UN Women's evaluation function for the broader UN system. We welcome the new Evaluation Strategy and Corporate Evaluation Plan 2026-2029 and the clear strategic direction they provide for the new strategic plan period. We particularly appreciate the ambition to strengthen decentralized evaluations, expand evaluation use, and further integrate AI and innovation into evaluation processes. We recognize that UN Women, like the broader development cooperation sector, is operating under significant financial constraints. In this context, we note that evaluation expenditure has fallen to 1.5% of total program expenditure in 2025. —below the 2% minimum recommended by the 2020 evaluation policy. A 2-year consecutive decline despite the Board's continuous requests for an increase. Can UN Women management explain what concrete steps will be taken to reverse this decline? We also have concerns about the sustainability of the evaluation budget within the broader independent evaluation, audit, and investigation services envelope. Can UN Women management confirm whether there is a mechanism to protect the evaluation budget from competing internal demands? We note that the implementation of management response key actions remains below target. We welcome UN Women's management commitment to advancing the completion of the outstanding actions, and we will follow up on this commitment at the next annual session. We recognize the progress made in building internal evaluation capacity. However, there remains room for improvement in building a strong results-based management culture at country level., which is the foundation for quality evaluations. Regional evaluation specialists play a critical role in supporting country offices, but we encourage UN Women management to ensure that country offices themselves are adequately resourced and supported to fulfill their evaluation responsibilities. Let me conclude by reaffirming our commitment to supporting a robust, independent, and well-resourced evaluation function at UN Women. Strong evaluation generates credible evidence for learning and accountability. It drives evidence-based decision-making and programming on gender equality, not only within UN Women but across the UN system and beyond. Thank you.

Thank you very much, distinguished delegates from Switzerland. On behalf of a group of countries, I see that there are no other delegations requesting the floor. So may I invite the Secretariat to respond?

Thank you. Thank you so much to the Executive Board members and for those questions from a range of member states as delivered. I will respond to the last question and will invite my colleague, Didi Kessimadi, to speak on the issues of budgets and resources, and also for our Director, Sarah Hendricks, to speak to the issues of the country level and the implications on the points that you have raised. I just wanted to emphasize the importance of use and link with the decision on pivot. This is very important for us because the decision on pivoting was pivoting for results. It's related to delegation of authority to countries. It's related to delegation of authority and then the movement of people. The discussions that we are having and the point that you've you are raising is how we need to continue to strengthen and with the implementation of that decision. At times we reflect on it and say the whole discussions happening corporately in the United Nations now on country reset and regional reset, UN Women was already 2 years in advance of that decision. So, indeed, we did take that into account into the design of the strategic plan. What is critical then is the capacity building, the strengthening of capacities at the country level and at the regional level, and the partnerships also for the evaluation to happen. And also, as we undertake the various evaluations on the issues of resourcing and how we are positioning the evaluation function, I would like to, through you, Madam Vice President, to defer to Didi Kesimadi.

Thank you very much, and I will indeed also then invite the Director of the PPID, Sarah Hendricks, and I think importantly, Lisa Sutton, because I think it's important to hear from the Director of the evaluation function also, how they see particularly the question on resourcing. So, just to reiterate that there is a very strong commitment in the organization on the continuous learning. And we see evaluation function as not just an independent oversight function, as it is, but it is also an important function to help the organization to be more strategic and to learn. And how we can do ever better. So just to say, that commitment is always very strongly there. In terms of the financial matters and the budget, we are certainly trying to retain the necessary levels of budget. When we had to take the cost containment measures, we had to make— take those cost containment measures across the organization in all functions.. So that is the reality that we are facing. We are trying to do our best within those limits, but I would like— I would be interested in hearing from the Director of the Evaluation Function how she considers that. I think just another additional element to say from my side, there was a comment about that we wouldn't have at the country level adequately strong results-based culture.— the results-based culture and the overall— the results-based management has been very much at the core of the organization's efforts over the past years. And through the strategic plan, first of 2022-2025, and now the current strategic plan, we have really tried to bring that coherence together. From the strategic plan, then going down to the strategy notes that are being developed by the divisions, by the regional office and country offices, also to make sure that we have a clear alignment of the KPI and of the results. Again, saying there's always room for improvement, but I think also our way of now, for the regional directors, using the quarterly business review and the new process that we— by which we are now also expanding that use to the development results, it's an important step in the process so that we are not looking only at the results and progress at the global level and identifying where the challenges are so that we can address those, but the now— approach of the regional directors doing the same within their regions is also another step in really strengthening that results-based culture. So I just want to say, I think we are— there's always room for improvement, there's no question about that, but I think we have as an organization taken important steps to reinforce that. Thank you so much.

Thank you very much, Madame Chair, and thank you very much, distinguished delegates of Switzerland. On behalf of a group of countries, I really want to appreciate your— your appreciation of evaluation for accountability and learning and your feedback on our planning and on our strategy, that it is indeed in the right direction. On the point about resources, I look at it at two levels: one at the level of the independent Evaluation Service, and then one at the level of decentralized evaluations taking place at country and regional level. At the institutional level, our Independent Evaluation Service has been quite well protected in terms of resources, particularly our staffing. We are realizing some savings from pivoting some of our positions from New York to Bonn. That will free up some savings to invest in other oversight functions in— from 2027 onwards.. We have realized a budget decrease in our non-staff resources. However, we remain confident that we are able to deliver our corporate evaluation plan with what we have now. And if it ever becomes that we feel that we do not have sufficient resources, we would raise those with the executive leadership team and with the board if or as needed. Where we believe that evaluation budgets and budgets need to be preserved and augmented is really very much at the country and at the regional level. And that really comes down to ensuring that countries factor in evaluation budgets and planning into their programming processes and into their program proposals. And that once those proposals are made, that the resources are actually set aside for those evaluations to take place. And we access some of those budgets when we conduct our independent evaluation service-led country portfolio evaluations and other strategic evaluations at country or regional level. So it's really at that front line where we want evaluation budgets to be preserved. And one of the promising practices that I believe we have is the partnership with management when they are developing new country strategic notes and new regional strategic notes. We are invited to those consultations where we provide feedback on the evaluation budgets and plans that are provided, and it provides us the opportunity to to congratulate and to encourage others to budget and plan for evaluations when needed. I think that the mechanisms exist and we'll continue to monitor and report back as needed. Thank you.

Thank you so much to the Honourable Delegate from Switzerland and indeed the group of countries for raising the important issues, and in particular for reinforcing your strong support to the evaluation function and its independence in UN Women. I could not agree more, and particularly as the Director of Policy, Program and Intergovernmental, we see the criticality of evaluation across UN Women's program work in imperative ways. And we see the importance of investment, but also of use of evaluations. You've heard from the Director of the Evaluation Function that the institutional resources to evaluation are indeed protected, and indeed, sufficient. And where we see the importance of augmentation is at that country level. And the UN Women's evaluation policy, I should say, also mandates an investment, as you know, in evaluation in terms of programmatic budget. And so, we take all efforts necessary to assure that, both at the institutional level, but also at the country level. Allow me to provide you with clarity on what this looks like at the country level. UN Women has ensured that this appropriate percentage for evaluation is embedded as part of our project formulation, requiring that projects and programs are budgeted accordingly and are identifying a specific line for evaluation in every project. We have a global project oversight committee, that institutionalizes that review in order to increase the emphasis as well as the assurance of alignment of project budget to evaluation. And thus, we want to ensure that evaluation costs are increased as a proportion of overall programmatic resources, noting that the evaluation budget is measured in terms of percentage of programs. So where we see an increased investment in programs,, we should see that concomitant increase in evaluation. I will also emphasize as well that in the review of strategic notes at the country level and certainly at the regional level, this aspect of the appropriate percentage of budget to evaluation is being emphasized. And furthermore, this is incorporated in our overall corporate budgeting approach as well. I did want to, though your questions don't point to this, I wanted to emphasize the imperative of the use of evaluations, because of course it's important to invest into evaluations, but how those are translated to use is similarly important. And consequently, we see evaluation use being increasingly prioritized, not just through the design of our strategic plan, but through its implementation. DED Kirsi Mädi emphasized a new mechanism that we are now putting into place called a Development Results Framework, or our DRF, strategic dialogue. This will create the conditions for an equal attention to the DRF results as our OEE, our Organizational Effectiveness and Efficiency results, and will streamline this through existing sources of information, notably evaluations. And so we are increasing our management attention on the use of evaluations. This will be connected to our quarterly business reviews and will enable a cycle of learning and dialogue, as well as course correction on our programmatic implementation through a structured and systematic use of evaluations. Evaluations, lifting up as well, of course, the imperative of budgeting for evaluations at country, program, and project level. Thank you so much.

I thank the Secretariat for its very comprehensive response. If there are no further comments or statements on this, we can conclude our discussion on this item. I see no further comments, so thank you very much. Let's now continue our consideration of Item 6 on ethics, during which the Executive Board will receive a presentation on the report on the activities of the UN Women Ethics Function, followed by a management response. In addition to the Executive Director, the Deputy Executive Directors And the Secretary, I would like to invite to the podium the following colleagues: Mr. Mohamed Nassiri, Chief of Staff, and Mrs. Mercedes Ferrario, Ethics Analyst. Thank you very much and welcome to the podium. First, I will invite Mrs. Mercedes Ferrario. UN Women's Ethics Analyst, to present the report on the activities of the UN Women Ethics Function. Then I will invite Mohamed Nassiri, Chief of Staff, to present the management response. Without further ado, Mercedes, you have the floor. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair, Excellencies, distinguished delegates, and colleagues. Thank you for the opportunity to introduce the report on the activities of the UN Women Ethics Function for 2025 in accordance with Executive Board Decision 2022/5. Thank you. The Ethics Function is a risk management and trust-building function and a safeguard for mandate delivery, established to cultivate and nurture a culture of ethics, integrity, and accountability, and thereby enhance the trust in and credibility of the United Nations both internally and externally. During the reporting period, the function continued to support UN Women's management and personnel worldwide in embedding ethical standards and this into decision-making, policy implementation, and day-to-day operations consistent with the United Nations values and integrity standards. By the end of 2025, and despite a challenging context, the Ethics Function achieved its first 3-year goals: establishing the function, embedding ethical values into policies and decision-making processes, strengthening policies critical to the function and enhancing its visibility and engagement across the organization. Throughout 2025, the ethics function responded to 562 requests for services, representing a 2.6% increase compared to 2024. This reflects growing awareness of and confidence in the function, as well as sustained demand for its support. Confidential ethics advice remains central to the function's work, accounting for 65% of all services, primarily related to outside activities and conflicts of interest risks. This advisory role is preventive in nature and supports informed and accountable decision-making. In parallel, the ethics function continued to strengthen the policy framework for consistency with integrity standards. Recognizing that policy must be complemented by culture, the function continued where possible to deliver targeted ethics training to personnel in headquarters and field offices. An ethics segment that I delivered monthly was integrated into the global orientation session for new hires to enhance visibility and reinforce ethical expectations from the first day of service. The ethics function also administered the protection against retaliation policy and handled 11 requests for advice and 4 formal requests for Protection. UN Women continued its participation in the United Nations Financial Disclosure Program to support the identification and management of conflict of interest risks, achieving once again 100% submission rate during the 2025 cycle, although 1.4% of filers did not comply with the mitigating requirements and were recorded as having incomplete status following the closure of the filing. The function maintained active engagement with the Ethics Panel of the United Nations and the Ethic Network of Multilateral Organizations, contributed to coherence with ethical standards. During the first half of 2025, the former Ethics Advisor served as the alternate chair of IPAN, and in this capacity issued 10 determinations. The IPAN members provided crucial support to this ethics function, notably during the second half of 2025, which is appreciated. I also participated virtually at the 11th 17th annual conference in October. Throughout the reporting period, the Ethics function operated independently and without external interference, reporting to the Executive Director. Since the departure of the Ethics Advisor in July 2025, I have been delivering the full portfolio of services, ensuring continuity. In 2026, until the Ethics function structure review is completed, it will focus on maintaining timely, high-quality ethics advice sustaining awareness-raising within available resources, and completing the upgrade of the ethics intranet presence. I commend the outstanding work of the former ethics advisor until her departure in July 2025. I appreciate management's support to the ethics function. Lastly, I thank the executive board for its continued support and would be pleased to respond to any questions that you may have. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mercedes, for this very comprehensive presentation, and I now invite Mohamed Nassiri to present the management response. Mohamed, you have the floor.

Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair, Madam Ambassador. I'm pleased to share with you today the UN Women's management response to the report on the activities of the UN Women Ethics function for the period of January 1st to December 31st, 2025. Allow me to begin by expressing our appreciation to the Executive Board for its continued support in fostering a robust ethical organizational culture. At UN Women, ethics and integrity are fundamental to how we work and lead. The Ethics Function plays a vital role in supporting personnel to navigate ethical challenges manage conflicts of interest, and uphold the highest standards of conduct. I would like to recognize the professionalism and dedication of the Ethics Analyst Mercedes Ferrario, and thank you for your valuable contribution to advancing ethics and accountability within UN Women. Thank you. Management notes with appreciation the continued strengthening of UN Women's ethical framework work through a review of key policies and the integration of ethics considerations across broader institutional processes. UN Women also welcomes the Ethics Function's sustained outreach and engagement efforts with headquarters, regional, and country offices, including targeted sessions on standards of conduct, conflict of interest, and protection against retaliation. In this context, we acknowledge the progress achieved in completion rates for the mandatory ethics and integrity training, which reached approximately 84% in 2022, uh, 2025, reflecting increased engagement and compliance across the organization. UN Women also takes note of the consistent demand for confidential ethical Services, with the majority of requests received during the reporting period seeking confidential ethics advice, underscoring the confidence placed in the ethics function as a trusted source of advice and support. Outside activities accounted for the largest share of inquiries, highlighting the value of ethics guidance in supporting informed decision-making and risk mitigation. The organization also reaffirms the importance of the United Nations Financial Disclosure Program as an essential element of UN Women's accountability and conflict of interest framework. We further acknowledge the guidance and referrals provided under the Protection Against Retaliation framework, a key mechanism of ensuring that personnel can raise issues, concerns without fear of reprisal. UN Women fully supports the Ethics Function continued engagement with the Ethics Panel of the United Nations and the Ethics Network of Multilateral Organizations, which contribute to greater interagency coherence, collaboration, and knowledge sharing in spirit of the UNAT reform. Going forward, management will continue to safeguard the independence and effectiveness effectiveness of the ethics function, including through ongoing considerations of its structure and resourcing, while taking into account, of course, the broader financial environment across the United Nations system and ongoing organizational changes. To this end, UN Women has advertised a fixed-term P3 ethics specialist position. At the same time, we're entering into a hybrid shared services model with UNICEF. The approach would enhance UN Women's internal ethics capacity while leveraging the specialized expertise of UNICEF's ethics function and division. Before I close, allow me, Madam Chair, also to briefly address the question on resourcing on the evaluation function, the question that was raised in the session earlier As my colleagues have spoken to, the evaluation services play a critical role in strengthening our institutional effectiveness, accountability, and learning. As you, Lisa, noted, we have worked hard to ring-fence this function from financing outcuts, even as we continue to operate in an increasingly constrained in a strained fiscal environment, and we will continue to enhance the evaluation function. We are committed to ensuring that this function continues to have the resources it needs to discharge its mandate effectively and independently. And again, as you noted, Lisa, we will remain in close dialogue with you and the team to ensure that you have all the resources needed to undertake this work. Thank you, Madam Ambassador.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chief of Staff. I now open the floor for member states' interventions. Are there any questions or interventions? Germany, you have the floor.

Thank you very much, Madam Vice President. Thank you very much to UN Women for the presentation of the Ethics Function Annual Report. We would like to express our appreciation to the Ethics Analyst for the strong commitment and dedicated work in providing ethics services to the entire organization under particularly demanding circumstances. We highly value this important contribution. We also note with appreciation that the results from the implementation of the first, uh, 3-year strategic plan are promising. We welcome this progress as an important step in the continued development and strengthening of the ethics function. We would like to raise 2 points. First, we would be interested in understanding the outlook for the ethics function going forward. Is there an internal follow-up mechanism to the strategic plan with sufficient resources allocated? In addition, how are decentralized efforts and broader UN reform processes affecting the ethics function? Second, as it has just been touched upon in the management response, the ACO has encouraged UN Women to pursue a review of an interagency ethics function. We are supportive of this idea, as it may offer an opportunity to enhance efficiency and cost-effectiveness through the pooling of services. Could you and women share any early insights emerging from this ongoing review, including potential benefits and challenges, as well as an indicative timeline for next steps? Thank you once again for the information provided, and we look forward to continuing this for this constructive exchange.

Thank you very much, Germany. Are there other speakers' interventions? I see none. May I invite Mrs. Ferrariu first to take the floor and then afterwards Mr. Nassiri. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you to Germany for their express of appreciation and also for their thoughtful questions. In terms of strategic plan, the focus has been until now service continuity rather than plan for the future of the ethics function. So once the review, the structural review, is completed, I expect the function will create a work plan for its future activities. That's on the first That's the first part. On the second part, I'd like to say that structuring and resourcing are managerial decisions, but from an ethics perspective, the focus remains on delivering the mandate independently and in accordance with the established standards, and of course the mandate that is established in the Secretary-General Bulletin. But whatever decision is adopted, again, from an ethics perspective, it is— we would like that it's made so as to preserve its structure, its resources to be able to deliver the mandate. But it needs to ensure the independence of the function, the reporting lines that are clearly delimited. Um, confidentiality, timely, actionable, context-specific advice, and that UN Women colleagues still have a feeling of trust that they can report misconduct or wrongdoing without fear of retaliation. And those, I would be— in terms of ethics, the most important focus for this agreement., and I think I have no further comments. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Nassir, followed by Mrs. Gombonsvanda. Thank you very much.

As we have highlighted in the management response, we've upgraded the position from an analyst to a P3, but also within the spirit of the UNAT reform, we will continue to work with other agencies and leverage the resources of the system-wide, hence the partnership with UNICEF, of course, who have a bigger division than ours in, in the ethics. That is yet to be kick-started. Of course, we will be in a position when we meet in the board next year to share reflections on how this partnership is going, how effective and swift the services are being provided. But we do have high hopes that that will be the case with UNICEF. On the decentralization, I think we will continue to see how are we going to observe how we are providing these services to the different locations, but already you, Mercedes, have been providing the service for the whole organization, so not only Bonn and Nairobi, but to all our presences. Which are way beyond the 76 offices that we have. Thank you.

Yes, Mrs.

Deputy Executive Director.

Thank you so much, our Vice President. I want to just add two quick points and reinforce the points that Mr. Nassiri has raised. Context. In a context where we have less resources and jobs have to be protected and colleagues have to really make sure that they protect jobs, it's so important that we have the ethics function much stronger as part of the discussions we've been having with Didi Kesimadi on the people strategy, that the The People Strategy so much embeds the ethics function, and I really appreciate your leadership on that because of the context we are in, but also, secondly, we spend a lot of time with our teams in the countries. When countries are going through political turmoil or are in crisis, the priority that has been raised by the management response— on training outreach becomes important, because it means the individual is so much impacted by the context, and yet they are international civil servants and they have to be very ethical in the conduct of the delivery of the work. So this is one area I just wanted to reinforce as we relate the context of our work on crisis countries and the need to support the ethics function in order to enable our teams to deliver without fear, but with objectivity and with integrity. So that support to countries is important, and I just wanted to reinforce that point, building on what our Chief of Staff has raised in the management response. Thank you very much, and just to reinforce the people strategy work. Thank you.

I thank the Secretariat for its response, and if there are No further comments nor statements. We can conclude our discussion of this item. So under our next agenda item on JYU review of governance and oversight of the executive boards of UNDP, UNFPA, UNOPS, UNICEF, and UN Women, the board will receive an update on the progress so far. In addition to the executive Executive Director, Deputy Executive Directors, and the Executive Board Secretary, I am pleased to welcome the following UN Women colleagues to the podium: Mr. Mohamed Nassir, who is already on the podium, Mrs. Lisa Sutton, that I would like to welcome back, and that's it. So I am pleased to invite two representatives of the GYU, Working Group, namely the distinguished delegate of Eritrea, Mrs. Zebib Gebrekidan, and the distinguished delegate of Jamaica, Mrs. Sasha Kaye Watson, to provide us with an update on the progress made so far. After this update, I will open the floor for your questions and your comments. Please, you have the floor.

Thank you very much, Madam Vice President. Distinguished colleagues, it is our pleasure to present the interim report of the Joint Working Group established to consider the recommendations contained in the Joint Inspection Unit review of the governance and oversight of the executive boards of UNDP, UNFPA, UNOPS, UNICEF, and UN Women. As recalled in the report, in February 2023, the presidents of the three executive boards requested the JIU to conduct an independent assessment of how the executive boards execute their governance and oversight functions with a view to aligning them with international standards and best practices. The JIU responded with the review, which identified 10 formal and 21 informal recommendations across 6 thematic areas. Those areas are roles and responsibilities, board composition and structure, secretariat functions, meeting practices, oversight and advisory committees, and risk management. At the Annual Session 2024, the Executive Board established the Joint Working Group and tasked it with reviewing all 31 recommendations and developing actionable implementation pathways. The Working Group's terms of reference were formally adopted at the first Regular Session in 2025. It's important to emphasize that the Working Group advises and the Executive Board decides. Since the establishment, the Working Group has conducted a detailed assessment of all recommendations, developed a roadmap and working methods, consulted with the 5 participating organizations and their independent oversight offices, issued questionnaires to gather update information, and engage regularly with member states updates through briefings and updates at each formal session of the boards. The proposals contained in this report reflect the working group's assessment of all 31 recommendations, identifying those proposed for acceptance, partial acceptance, non-acceptance, or considered implemented. Throughout its work, the Joint Working Group has been guided by the overarching principles of strengthening and optimizing existing mechanisms of executive boards where possible, before proposing and creating new structures. This approach is deliberately aligned with the objectives of the UN80 Initiative, which calls for lean, efficient, and effective governance across the United Nations system. I will now hand over the mic to my wonderful colleague Sasha to do the, the rest of the briefing. Thank you very much.

Thank you so much, Sabib. And to continue, I will, uh, comment on the key findings and proposals, the first of which is the delegate's handbook. So among the key proposals of the working group is the development of a comprehensive harmonized informal guidance document, which is, as I mentioned, the delegate's handbook, which is to be jointly drafted by the secretariats of all 5 organizations. The handbook would consolidate the roles, responsibilities, and procedures of executive board members covering governance, oversight, oversight, risk management, and secretariat arrangements. It would address the substance of several related recommendations as well as update— as well as be updated as needed and avoid duplication. The draft will be submitted to the executive boards for consideration, allowing for structured discussion and further refinement as needed. The second key finding would be the strengthening of oversight independence. A key gap identified by the GIU concerns the reporting line between the internal audit and oversight committees and the executive board. The Working Group proposes updating existing charters and terms of reference to establish a direct reporting line to the executive boards in addition to the executive heads, including simultaneous transmission of annual reports and post-meeting summaries, and to explicitly qualify the principle of unrestricted access of oversight functions to the boards. The Working Group considers this will further strengthen the alignment and independence of audit and oversight committees. The third of which being the possible advisory subcommittee. On the recommendation related to establishment of appropriate board committees, the Joint Working Group acknowledges that current arrangements are generally adequate, but recognizes that the volume and technical complexity of documentation combined with limited session time may constrain the depth of board deliberations, particularly on oversight and finance. Finance. The Working Group proposes to explore the possible establishment of a standing advisory committee covering audit, risk, budget, and finance, composed of a limited number of member state experts with equitable geographical representation. Further consideration, including its mandate, reporting arrangements, and interaction with the boards, would take place in the context of the Working Methods Review, ensuring complementarity with existing oversight bodies and preserving the primacy of the boards in decision-making. The fourth key finding being the review of the working methods. The Working Group proposes a dedicated review of the working methods of the executive boards of the participating organizations, followed by periodic assessments at agreed intervals. The review would address the harmonization of work plans, the relationship between informal and formal meetings, the quality and clarity of board decisions, and the inclusiveness of member state participation.. It would also provide the appropriate context for further consideration of the possible advisory subcommittee mentioned above. The fifth, consultation on oversight leadership. The working group proposes a formal consultation mechanism requiring executive directors to notify the boards in writing with rationale prior to the appointment, renewal, or termination of heads of independent oversight functions and should be reflected in updated charters. And terms of references. Now, the sixth key finding being the harmonized Secretariat terms of reference. The working group proposes that the Secretariat jointly developed harmonized terms of reference clarifying roles, reporting lines, impartiality, and accountability, complemented by annual informal consultations between bureau and Secretariat heads to ensure resource adequacy is regularly reviewed. I'll now move on to the overview of proposed proposed positions. Of the 31 recommendations, the Working Group proposes to accept 15 in full, partially accept 7, not accept 7, and consider 2 as already completed. Recommendations proposed for non-acceptance generally relate to matters considered adequately addressed through existing arrangements, where the Working Group judges that intervention would add procedural complexity without coming to your benefit. I'll now hand back over to Zabib to continue.

Thank you very much, Sasha. On proposed model for ongoing implementation, the Working Group invites the Executive Board to decide on one of three models for guiding implementation: continuation of the Joint Working Group in its current or revised form, establishment of a new standing committee on institutional governance, or direct oversight of implementation by the executive boards themselves. On next steps and action requested, following the annual session in 2026, the Working Group will revise its proposals in light of member states' feedback and develop draft decision language for independent consideration at the second regular session this year in 2026. However, we would rather not present a basis for decision-making on each individual recommendation, but rather a recommendation to adopt the report in its entirety. It is thus very important that member states review the proposals in the interim reports and provide us feedback. We would really appreciate written feedback. This will also allow us to have a more efficient engagement during the informal that is going to be scheduled shortly. I know that the Secretariat has been very efficient in proposing a date, and we are in the process of figuring that out. The date for the informal will be communicated by the Secretariat very shortly. And we would also appeal to you that— to send your written inputs by the 1st of July. This will allow us to adequately prepare for a successful engagement during the informal. Finally, I want to thank my colleague Sasha, who's filling in for Annette, who is my co-chair from the Mission of Germany. I also want to thank my working group members. We have 15 members in the working group, and we really are very lucky to have had such a really good working engagement. Everybody is really excellent and constructive, so I want to thank each of our working groups for dedicating their very little time to this important process. Thank you very much, Madam Vice President.

I thank the two representatives of the JYU Working Group for their briefing and their service, and also for their concrete questions to the Executive Board. So, dear colleagues, I open the floor for member states' interventions. Are there any questions? And I see Uganda. Uganda, followed by Finland. Uganda, you have the floor.

Thank you, Madam Vice President, Executive Director, Excellencies. I have the honor to speak on behalf of the African members of the Executive Board. The African Group is pleased to receive the interim report from the Joint Working Group on the GIU review of the governance and oversight functions of the Executive Boards. We commend the amount of work that has gone into reviewing the recommendations and proposing practical ways to strengthen governance without adding unnecessary layers or complexity. We're encouraged by the focus on improving what already exists—better accountability, stronger oversight, and more coherence across the boards. The idea of refining current mechanisms before creating new ones is especially important. It fits well with broader UN initiative and the need to keep the system efficient and effective. For the African Group, governance and oversight are not abstract institutional matters. They determine whether UN Women can deliver deliver on its mandate in places where it matters most. We reaffirm our conviction that poverty remains the greatest structural barrier to women's political participation, to ending violence against women, and to men's empowerment broadly. Any governance reform must therefore be assessed against a concrete standard based on whether or not it strengthens UN Women's capacity to advance women's economic empowerment, support grassroots women's organizations that are supporting implementation— of national priorities and women's advancement and closes the financing gaps that disproportionately affect countries that need it most in Africa and developing countries as a whole. The African Group also underscores that true gender equality within the UN Women requires confronting racism and racial discrimination within the institution itself. This should be done with transparency, urgency, and accountability. We strongly believe that oversight frameworks must create the necessary space to raise these Ultimately, the real test is whether governance reform translates into stronger, more flexible partnerships with countries grounded in national ownership and the 12 critical areas of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. We welcome the Working Group's proposal for a harmonized delegate handbook. Having one clear consolidated guide on roles, responsibilities, oversight functions, risk management, and board procedures would be extremely useful. We support efforts to strengthen the independence of oversight bodies, including direct reporting lines to the board and the executive director, better and clearer— and clear reflection on which reporting in terms of reference, as well as consultation on the oversight leadership. We recognize the importance of strong risk management in a world shaped by conflict, climate impacts, and economic uncertainty, all of which disproportionately affect women and girls. Strengthening risk reporting and clarifying the board's role in risk oversight will help protect gains in gender equality and reinforce UN Women's institutional reliance Given UN Women's normative and coordination mandate, the Board must be attentive not only to fiduciary risk but to risks of policy retreat, underfunding of gender equality mandates, and erosion of the capacity to support member states in translating intergovernmentally agreed commitments on gender equality into national action. As we look at how to implement these reforms, the African Group supports keeping a member state-driven mechanism that maintains institutional memory, promotes inclusivity, and ensure sustained oversight. Continuing the Joint Working Group with any adjustments needed is a practical and cost-effective way to keep Member States at the center of the process without creating new structures and administra— or administrative burdens. We also want to underline that governance reforms must preserve the intergovernmental member state-driven nature of the Executive Boards. Any advisory bodies or committees should clearly add value, avoid duplication, respect the authority of boards and consider the capacity constraints many developing country delegations face. Madam Vice President, as I conclude, governance reform should strengthen and not hinder UN Women's normative leadership, its coordination role across the UN system, and its partnership with member states in advancing nationally owned gender equality agenda. We remain committed to reforms that enhance accountability, transparency, and effectiveness. We look forward to further discussing the interim report of the Working group during the upcoming informal consultation in order to arrive at a draft decision that can be considered during the second regular session of UN Women. I thank you.

I thank the distinguished delegate from Uganda for his comments, and the next speaker is Finland. Please, distinguished delegate, you have the floor.

Madam Vice President, distinguished members of the Executive Board, I'm presenting this statement on behalf of Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Ireland, Japan, The Kingdom of Netherlands, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Norway, the Republic of Moldova, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye, the United Kingdom, and my own country, Finland. We would like to thank the Joint Working Group and all its members for the comprehensive update and for the continued dedication and work invested in advancing this important process. We particularly welcome the interim report and the complete set of proposals for the implementation of the GIU recommendation recommendations, and appreciate the thorough assessment of the relevance and feasibility of the individual recommendations. We reiterate the importance of this exercise. The implementation of the GIU recommendations remains central to strengthening governance and oversight of the Executive Boards and to enhancing the effectiveness of our collective work. We also recognize the value of, of the structured consultation with the organizations through the questionnaires. This has been a useful and important step in ensuring that the perspectives of the entities concerned are adequately reflected in the process. We thank the Joint Working Group for the proposal to convene an informal meeting for all three boards following the Annual Sessions 2026 and look forward to a constructive and focused discussion at that time. We further welcome the proposed approach for the next steps, in particular the intention to present a draft decision language at the Second Regular Session 2026 for those recommendations where sufficient convergence emerges. In this regard, we encourage all Member States to engage actively and constructively with the interim report and its proposals. In our view, it is essential to collectively move forward in a decisive and results-oriented manner, making full use of the current momentum. This shared effort is key to advancing our common objective of strengthening governance compliance and oversight in an efficient and effective way. We look forward to continuing constructive engagement with the Joint Working Group as it advances its work. Thank you.

I thank the representative of Finland. May I invite the Working Group representatives to respond?

Thank you very much, Madam Vice President. We thank both delegations' distinguished representatives for your very encouraging statement on behalf of all the countries that you represented on your statement. We are glad that some of the key recommendations have been highlighted in your intervention, and we also So I think the— on the last intervention on your call for constructive engagement during the informal, we would just like to reiterate this fact and convey that on behalf of the Working Group that we are looking forward to engaging with you constructively on that one-day informal that we're aiming to finalize our ideas for the draft decision on. And I think this will be very useful in moving forward to the final phase of the process, so we just encourage and ask the support of all member states in the success of this process. That's all I have, Madam Vice President. I don't know if Sasha, if you have anything you want to add. So if there are no other questions, I think that's all for us. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much for your response. If there are no further No further questions or statements. I propose that we also conclude our discussion on this item. So colleagues, we are nearing the end of today's plenary meeting, but before sending you for your negotiations, I would like— and suspend the session for the day— I would like to give the floor to our Secretary for some very quick reminders. Mr. Secretary, you have the floor.

Thank you.

Thank you very much, Madame President. I'll be very brief.

So the negotiations, since we are finishing a bit early this morning, thanks to your efficient chairing, we will resume the negotiations at 1 PM at the UN Women headquarters, still Conference 1924.

We have some coffee for you there, so feel reassured, and we are looking for you there. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary. We are completely reassured. So the plenary meeting is hereby adjourned. We will resume the plenary session tomorrow at 10 AM. Thank you very much.