(4th plenary meeting) UNICEF Executive Board, 2025 Annual Session
Economic and Social Council
Date: 11 June 2025
Language: English
Transcript: https://transcripts.un.org/en/asset/k1n/k1nx8civ3u
Transcripts available through this tool are created by using automatic speech recognition and are not official records nor official documents of the United Nations. Official records and official documents are available on the Official Document System of the United Nations.

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UNICEF · Principal Advisor, Division of People and Culture · Sajid Ali [0:02]:

Thank you very much, Madam President. Distinguished delegates, it is an honor to update you all on UNICEF's efforts to address racism and racial discrimination. Next slide. UNICEF's vision is to create a workplace where all colleagues are treated with dignity and respect, irrespective of any characteristics. In doing so, preventing and responding to discrimination remains a priority for our work, including discrimination on the basis of race. Next slide. Here is a timeline of key initiatives that helped us achieve our vision. In June 2020, the Executive Director commissioned the Internal Task Team on Anti-Racism and Discrimination, who hosted multiple regional focus groups digital enhancements, and a Global Month of Dialogue during the COVID pandemic years. The final report by the task team was delivered in May 2021, and in September that year, UNICEF responded to the recommendations and developed an action plan. In the following year, in March 2022, the Joint Inspection Unit concluded its review of measures for addressing racism and racial discrimination. It was very positive to note that most recommendations were already addressed or at a very advanced stage, given the work of the task team. Next slide. The task team developed 87 recommendations across 8 categories, as shown on the slide. We are pleased to report significant progress in 2024. 32% of recommendations have been completed compared to 19% in 2023. 58% of recommendations are in progress compared to 41% in 2023. And only 3% of the recommendations have not yet been initiated compared to 33% in 2023. While we recognize that a lot still remains to be done, we are realistic about structural changes that need to occur to properly implement the recommendations and also taking into consideration the environment of our declining resources, and the increased uncertainty. Racism is a pervasive issue that cannot be solved in a few years or months. This plan reflects both our ambition and the complexity of the work ahead.

Next slide.

Here are highlights of the progress we've made since 2023. Number 1, awareness raising. We launched resources on addressing discrimination and updated the Spectrum of Behaviors tool content on racial discrimination. Number 2, capacity building. The Managing People with Purpose program included modules on addressing racism. Our staff counselors have also received specialized training on the topic. Number 3, accountability and protection. UNICEF continues to contribute to the review of policies on retaliation and discrimination. Number 4, data and monitoring. The Global Staff Surveys in 2022 and 2024 included disaggregation by racial groups, allowing for further analysis and trending. While disaggregated data did not show us meaningful differences across different racial groups, further analysis needs to be done at the regional and country level. Next slide. Number 5, communications and branding. We continue to raise awareness of resources on anti-racism in communications and the use of respectful imagery. Number 6, program and procurement. We monitor global spending and procurement that involves South-South contracts. Number 7, recruitment and career development. We remain committed to fair and transparent processes that uphold the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity. Number 8, at the UN system level, we co-led with UNHCR and remain a contributor to an informal interagency group on anti-racism. Which has worked on proposals for a joint learning package and a roster of anti-racism experts.

Next slide.

Lastly, an update on the Joint Inspection Unit's recommendations. As reported, we have implemented recommendations 2, 3, and 4 by working on an integrated curriculum on anti-discrimination, which included racism. We have dedicated capacity in the Division of People and Culture, which is working on this topic. And having the Anti-Racism Task Team recommendations as our accountability framework. Recommendation 1 on a UN-wide racial categorization system remains outside our sole remit and is a bottleneck to the proper collection of data and assessments of results, including for Recommendation 6 of the GIU report. However, progress is being pursued in the High-Level Committee on Management, HLCM, which will continue these discussions in the Human Resources Network possibly addressing recommendation 4. As an active member of the network, UNICEF continues to share its experience, the action plans, and the racial categorization used in past surveys as a background for discussions. We are grateful for the continued support and engagement of the Executive Board and member states and look forward to your questions. Next slide. I thank you, Madam President. Thank you.


UNICEF Executive Board · President [5:32]:

I thank you, Mr. Ali, for the update and now open the floor for discussions. I give the floor to the distinguished delegate of Mozambique.


Mozambique [5:46]:

Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you.

This statement on behalf of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Czechia, Denmark, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Kingdom of the Netherlands, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Luxembourg, Moldova, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Republic of Korea, Senegal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom, European Union as a donor, and my own country Mozambique. We thank UNICEF for this update and efforts to prevent and address racism and racial discrimination in line with the recommendation of the Joint Inspection Unit on addressing racism and racial discrimination. In United Nations organizations and the Internal Task Team on Anti-Racism and Discrimination 2021 report. Madam President, while we acknowledge the considerable efforts undertaken to eliminate racism, we must confront the sobering reality that racial discrimination still persists. We condemn racism and racial discrimination in all its forms and manifestations and categorically declare that racism and racial discrimination should have no place in UNICEF, in the wider UN system, or anywhere. We need comprehensive equality policies to ensure non-discrimination. All actors, including multilateral organizations, must take targeted, inclusive, and participatory actions to address all forms of racial discrimination and intolerance. The UN system must be empowered and equipped to effectively raise issues and non-compliance in its constructive dialogue with member states. Madam President, We commend UNICEF for making progress and identifying gaps. For instance, we note gaps in fair representation identified following the implementation of the World of Diversity approach in 2024 and need for talent outreach based on workforce data. We encourage transparency around the challenges in addressing racial discrimination. In this regard, we would appreciate the reporting on complaints of racial discrimination received by the Office of Audit and Investigation under this agenda item. Madam President, implementation of recommendations that require urgency efforts keep falling behind. We therefore encourage UNICEF to prioritize efforts address recommendations 1 on a common set of categories for voluntary self-identification and other efforts to strengthen collaboration on anti-racism in line with recommendation 4. UNICEF plays an important role in guiding and strengthening the implementing partners, including as part of the localization agenda. We would like to understand what UNICEF is doing to ensure that racism and racial discrimination is also prevented and addressed within implementing partners— implementing partner organizations at country level. Ending racism and racial discrimination is essential for upholding fundamental human rights and for leaving no one behind. It is an issue that must be addressed continuously in a holistic manner and at all levels. It is about fostering culture of respect, accountability, and zero tolerance for misconduct. Thank you, Madam President.


UNICEF Executive Board · President [10:19]:

I thank the distinguished representative of Mozambique. And I don't see any other requests for the floor. I now invite the Secretariat to respond to the comments we have heard.


UNICEF · Principal Advisor, Division of People and Culture · Sajid Ali [10:35]:

Thank you, Madam President, and thank you, distinguished delegate from Mozambique, for your message on behalf of many delegates. See, the points that you have made right now I think are very valid. That the UN system is not moving as fast as we would like it to on recommendation 1 on the categorization. And UNICEF has actually been the one pushing the most and to get this in motion, and there is a commitment from the Secretariat and also from HLCM that there's— this agenda will be looked at. There's a pause right now according to the HLCM on this topic, but they will definitely look at it and UNICEF will keep pushing. We do not want to do anything in isolation too. We do want to work as a system-wide effort to cater to this very important and sensitive issue. I think your message on having our compliance and having a report specifically on compliance on racial discrimination. And you have mentioned that the Office of Internal Investigation and Audit, so I'll leave it for them to— maybe we'll ask them if they could look into it and respond to that when they next speak. And on the implementing partners, also there, It's not part of what the organization internally is doing, but it's definitely part of our processes of safeguarding. So I think that's something that needs to be looked into too, but these are 3 points that I would definitely look into, and we will respond to that at a later stage. So thank you very much.


UNICEF Executive Board · President [12:36]:

I thank the Secretariat. If no other delegation wishes to take the floor at this time, we shall conclude our consideration of this agenda item. Distinguished delegates, We now turn our attention to item 9 of the agenda, the update on organizational culture and diversity contained in document E/ICEF/2025/17. The report provides an update on ongoing efforts by UNICEF to strengthen its organizational culture and further integrate its core values into the delivery of results, with the vision to create a workplace where all colleagues are treated with dignity and respect. We will again ask Mr. Sajid Ali, Principal Advisor, Division of People and Culture, to kindly present the report. He will be followed by Mr. Patrick Watt, Ombudsman of the United Nations Funds and Programs, who will provide comments on the 2024 Annual Report of the Office of the Ombudsman for United Nations Funds and Programs. Mr. Ali, you have the floor.


UNICEF · Principal Advisor, Division of People and Culture · Sajid Ali [14:02]:

Thank you again, Madam President. Distinguished delegates, at UNICEF, we believe that a values-driven organizational culture is not only an ethical imperative, but it's essential to delivering results for children. I'm pleased to update you on UNICEF's work on organizational culture and diversity. Our vision is clear: to create a workplace where all colleagues are treated with dignity and respect. To fulfill the United Nations' commitments to workforce diversity, UNICEF continues to uphold Article 101 of the Charter without any compromise in hiring staff who uphold the highest standards of efficiency, 3.43% of our Global Staff Survey participants identified as persons with disabilities. The average age of staff members in UNICEF is 45.6, highlighting the importance of succession planning and upskilling of colleagues to retain institutional knowledge and the critical skills to best serve children around the world. The representation of different groups in our workforce is not an end in itself. We need to see how they are equipped to participate and share our culture in a constructive manner. Looking into workforce experience, UNICEF conducted a Global Staff Survey— we call it the GSS— in 2024, which had a strong response rate of 79%, with over 15,000 respondents. While positive feedback was received in the areas such as staff security and standards of conduct, The Employee Engagement Index declined from 3.94 to 3.81, with persistent gaps between men and women and between senior and junior staff. UNICEF continues to address these differences with follow-up sessions with offices and the Global Staff Survey action plans, which are monitored globally. Next slide, please. Psychological safety is the cornerstone of a healthy workplace culture, and UNICEF keeps a close eye on this indicator. While we observed an improvement of psychological safety in 2024 compared to 2023, the indicators remained lower than it was in 2022, with 38% of all UNICEF offices reaching a 70% agreement in this specific survey question. While we are moving in the right direction, we recognize that men reported more positive experiences than women and staff with disabilities, while within different racial groups, perceptions were similar. This finding is aligned with reports from the Ombudsman's Office and the Ethics Office, who both remain trusted partners in our work to improve psychological safety, adopting formal conflict resolution first and openness to honest conversations without fear of retaliation or retribution. Next slide. Aligned with UNICEF's commitment to an evidence-based approach, the Human Resources Management Evaluation emphasized the importance of aligning culture, values, and leadership by including organizational culture as a critical pillar to this evaluative process. The evaluation inception report, which is based on key informant interviews, indicates positive perception— perceptions of the progress being made towards an organizational culture characterized by transparency, openness, and trust, while also recognizing that much work remains to be done. UNICEF looks forward to receiving the final evaluation report later in this quarter. Under capacity building— next slide— under capacity building and behavioral change, UNICEF keeps a solid collaboration with the Global Staff Association and employee resource groups to inform our efforts in building and enabling workplace for all. In 2024, analysis and missions were conducted to provide technical assistance to regional offices in having targeted outreach to qualified professionals, and reach a balanced workforce representation. Lastly, UNICEF is proud to have implemented a multi-rater feedback in the performance review of staff. With this, we hope to make such process more comprehensive and horizontal to gather views of peers, supervisors, supervisees, and counterparts on one's performance and promoting a growth mindset and continuous learning by all colleagues, including senior leaders. We look forward to continuing the collaboration with the Executive Board members on this important agenda, especially in such a challenging moment for UNICEF staff. Next slide. And thank you very much, Madam President.


UNICEF Executive Board · President [19:10]:

Thank you, Mr. Ali. I now give the floor to Mr. Voigt. No?


UN · Ombudsman · Mr. Voigt [19:19]:

Dear Madam President, distinguished members of the Board, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to thank the Board for its invitation to present the annual report of the Office of the Ombudsman that is covering 5 organizations: UNICEF, UNDP, UNFPA, UNOPS, and UN Women. It's our first time appearing here, so thank you for the invitation. The total workforce covered by my office is about 62,000 individual members of personnel. The purpose of the Office of the Ombudsman is to make available impartial and confidential services to address work-related issues and conflicts. And according to our terms of reference, a conflict is to be construed in its very broadest sense. It includes anything related to employment conditions, administration of benefits, managerial practices, professional and staff relations. Whatever comes, we have a philosophy: nothing too big, nothing too small. We're happy to look at informal resolution. We have guiding principles. Those are informality— we do not trigger any formal processes— confidentiality, neutrality, and independence. We also internally work on the principle of lowest intervention level, which means we address the conflict where it occurs and where it can usually be most effectively addressed. Our services include providing a safe and confidential space for colleagues to be heard, identifying and exploring options, conflict coaching, shuttle diplomacy, mediation and team processes, restorative processes. And as we do in this report, for example, we're providing feedback on observations and trends and systemic issues, as well as recommendations. In 2024, our office handled a total of 712 cases, which posed an increase of 26% compared to 2023. And of these 712, 215 were related to UNICEF, which for UNICEF means an increase of 32.7%. Now, here to clarify that a growth in cases is a good thing. We welcome a growth in cases because it indicates that personnel and the organizations are increasingly familiar with our services and put trust in the informal-first approach that is also championed by the General Assembly. For 2025, so far, 5 months in, we have about 95 new cases relating to UNICEF. Which more or less keeps us on track of a similar tone. In the meantime, there may be more cases coming. We don't know yet. We're certainly preparing for it. The training and outreach activities in 2024 reached more than 9,600 personnel, where we enhanced awareness and provided capacity growth for conflict resolution, but also conflict prevention, which is at the end our primary goal, if we can get there. Our mediation cases increased in 2024. with 119 new mediations received and 128 mediations that go across the annual cycles that were closed in 2024. That is a 30% increase in mediation cases, and the outcomes achieved a 67% fully satisfaction resolution rate. Of these 119 mediation cases, 42 involved UNICEF, and we have post-mediation surveys that very clearly evidence a very high level of satisfaction with all respondents who would recommend a mediation to a colleague independent of the outcome of the mediation. And here, my first thanks to UNICEF. UNICEF is a key, if not the key supporter to our Office's mediation program. As per our mandate, the report highlights the systemic observations and recommendations, and I will address a few of these here. As my colleague Sajid Ali from the people and culture— no, wait, DPC, change the name— raised already. We also see cases in increase that relate to psychological and mental safety. These include feelings of exclusion, feelings of public ridicule, criticisms in public in front of others, mental strain from unclear role expectations, job descriptions, job insecurity linked to funding cuts. as well as increasingly so hostile communications among colleagues. Crisis-related stress, including in conflict zones, also increased in 2024, and the Office provided confidential support, workshops, neutral facilitation, and referral to the available mental health support resources that UNICEF has and the other organizations. We believe more targeted support may at times be needed, especially in high-stress and crisis settings. We found that supervisory relationship remains an issue, a key issue, and individuals reported real or perceived misuse of power ranging from threats to micromanagement to biases used of performance tools. Some supervisors also felt themselves harassed when their well-intended and good-faith feedback was misinterpreted by their supervisees. We've seen entire team breakdowns when managers joining new teams received induction briefings with preformed views of on how to shape a just-joined team rather than giving time to get to know the team themselves. Some lacked the skill to manage complex team conflicts. We recommend a broader use of people management training, including on the use of responsibility, and I understand that UNICEF has also already rolled out people management training broadly to all colleagues in supervisory roles, and these efforts are going on. We've seen cases related to office restructuring. Personnel facing unclear communication. This is described by them. I'm not saying this is happening. We always report on what people report to us, but these are systemic observations. Unclear communications, perceived favoritism, job insecurity. Some staff shared that they felt marginalized or were too afraid to raise concerns because there were discussions about new job structures, et cetera. We as office offer mediation, coaching, clarification support. And hope that further structural exercises will be guided by transparent communication and early engagement. I'd like to then point out we've addressed more findings, of course, in the report. Overall, I would like to thank UNICEF and my own team— my own team for working out of hours almost regularly because people feel safe on weekends and outside of working hours— but UNICEF has been a trusted partner in our work And it's one of the key supporters of our office, and I wanted to recognize their responsiveness to our inquiries also expressly here. You can find more details in the report. Thank you for inviting us to your session.


UNICEF Executive Board · President [25:44]:

I thank you, Mr. Voigt, and I now open the floor for discussion, and I give the floor to the distinguished representatives


Finland [26:00]:

Thank you, Madam President.

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the following countries: Australia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Israel, Japan, Mexico, Kingdom of the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Republic of Korea, Rwanda, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tanzania, Türkiye, the United Kingdom, and my own country, Finland. I would like to begin by congratulating UNICEF for its impressive results in the year 2024 in advancing the rights of persons with disabilities. Last year, UNICEF and partners reached 5.2 million children with disabilities through country programs and humanitarian action, up from 4.7 million in 2023. These results provide further evidence of the remarkable progress that UNICEF has made to safeguard the rights and well-being of persons with disabilities. In due time, we would welcome a comprehensive update on how this work is progressing, especially as many of the goals that UNICEF has set for itself have 2025 as their aspired year of completion. Through the whole of the organization approach to disability, UNICEF has been able to develop strong internal capacities and integrate disability inclusion in its work in a cross-cutting manner. We also want to note the importance of the UN Disability Inclusion Strategy that pushes for similar outcomes system-wide. At these times of uncertainty, we encourage UNICEF to maintain this course, preserving and nurturing its achievements, and ensuring that any changes and reforms are implemented with a continued commitment to advancing rights of persons with disabilities. In addition to systemic change, we also reiterate the importance of continuing to integrate disability mainstreaming within UNICEF programmatic work. Ongoing armed conflicts and humanitarian crises jeopardize the well-being of children with disabilities, who are among the most marginalized people in such contexts. In addition, conflicts and humanitarian crises create an elevated risk of physical and mental long-term impairments to all children upon whom these circumstances have been imposed. We also welcome the work UNICEF has been carrying out in advancing inclusive education and utilizing digital technologies AI and assistive device innovation, improving access and participation. Digital technologies hold significant promise for making services such as healthcare and education more accessible and improving independent living conditions for persons with disabilities. Finally, we commend UNICEF for the focus it has placed on persons with disabilities in its draft strategic plan and results framework. Ensuring that disability focus is systematically addressed and applied across all impact results through disaggregated data and specific targets will meaningfully contribute to lifting children out of multidimensional poverty, as well as to other goals of the next strategic plan. To conclude, we commend UNICEF leadership for their longstanding support to the work on children with disabilities. UNICEF's commitment to persons with disabilities, both in its operations and within the organization, is exemplary, and we encourage you to keep strong focus on this when going forward. I thank you very much.

Thank you.


UNICEF Executive Board · President [30:19]:

I thank the distinguished representative of Finland, and I now give the floor to the distinguished representative from the Kingdom of the Netherlands.


Netherlands (Kingdom of the) [30:31]:

Thank you, Madam President. Um, and in addition to the statement that was just delivered by Finland, I delivered a statement on behalf of Switzerland and my own country, the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Thank you very much, Mr. Ali and Mr. Voigt, for your presentations. We welcome UNICEF's consistent commitment to improving its organizational culture and diversity, equity, and inclusion. Only in a workplace with strong and value-driven culture, where all colleagues are treated with dignity, integrity, inclusion, and respect for all, can staff effectively deliver on UNICEF's mandate for children. We would like to ask 3 questions. First, the findings from the 2024 Global Staff Survey reveal that concerns persist in a number of important areas. We appreciate that psychological safety and trust have increased, but there are ongoing challenges. We're also concerned about the recurring issue of women sharing less positive feedback and resigning at higher rates than men, often citing issues linked to career mobility, work-life balance, and the broader workplace environment. These are not isolated data points, but signals about how culture is experienced throughout the organization. Could UNICEF elaborate a bit further on how it plans to address these disparities and further improve psychological safety and trust among staff? Second, last year, the Culture and Diversity team moved from the Office of the Executive Director to Human Resources. Despite some inherent links between people management and organizational culture, Diversity, equity, and inclusion, there is still also a range of work outside of the people management sphere, for example, related to risk management, audits, and intersectional programming support. How is the team still able to ensure the whole-of-UNICEF approach? And third, we regret that the culture audit did not take place since we were very much looking forward to the results. Is UNICEF still planning for this audit to take place in the future. And on a final note, we would like to recognize the major— that the major organizational restructuring underway inevitably brings uncertainty to a lot of staff. We therefore call on UNICEF to ensure that its personnel are placed at the center of this transition. We reaffirm our support to UNICEF's continued work to strengthen its organizational culture and diversity, equity, and inclusion. UNICEF's dedicated and hardworking staff are the organization's most valuable assets, enabling UNICEF to achieve impactful and sustainable results for children around the world. Thank you.


UNICEF Executive Board · President [33:11]:

I thank the representative of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and I now invite the Secretariat to respond to the comments report.


UNICEF · Principal Advisor, Division of People and Culture · Sajid Ali [33:20]:

Thank you, Madam President. Thank you to the distinguished delegate from Finland and their message on behalf of a group of countries. And thank you for appreciating and recognizing UNICEF for the work that is being done on disability inclusion. And as you rightly said, that this is an area of work which is taken very seriously with a lot of efforts made both on the programmatic side and also on the operational side, so within the organization and also while implementing our programs. And the mention of the UN Strategy on Disability Inclusion, we in UNICEF have disability inclusion policy and strategy ourselves, which has many different actions and targets to be met, some by 2030 and some before that. And one of them is definitely focused on having more persons with disability in the organization and the support that can be provided to existing staff who have identified with— as persons with disabilities. So we really appreciate all the recognition that we get in in this area of work. To respond to the 3— at the end, there was one more comment made by Finland, was about getting a comprehensive update on disability, and that will go both in as part of the Deep Pass that we call our own policy and strategy. We have targets and we will be monitoring that and and we report back to the organization on how that is progressing. Now, to go to the distinguished delegate from the Kingdom of the Netherlands, you had 3 questions. The first one was on the 2024 Global Staff Survey results. You are right that there are areas where we need to improve, and what we have done, centrally monitored and supported by the culture team, the organizational culture team which sits in the Division of People and Culture, is to have conversations and guidance and help to those divisions and countries who scored low in the survey and on certain areas and how we can ensure that they have action plans in place and very manageable action plans, not having 5 or 10, but just having maybe 3 targeted actions to taken to improve the culture in their offices. On the experiences of women, definitely you've seen on the scores, and we also look back at our separation report for 2021, and we are now finalizing our separation reports for 2022, 2023, and 2024. So those— we have the results. We will be releasing the reports in the coming weeks or months. We can see the trend that is consistent from 2020, 2021 onwards. We see more women leaving the organization at different levels, not at the national officer level, but we see that more happening at the GS, general services level, and the IP level. we do have a high percentage, but also the representation of women in the IP level is higher than men, so there's some correlation to that. And some of the issues, as you mentioned, coming through exit interviews were the work-life balance, the work-life harmony issues that were cited, and also on career progression, career development. So we do also have policies now which are supporting more family work arrangements like our flexible work arrangement policy, which has— which the uptake of which is very high. And for that, it is one of our, I would say, flexibilities that we provide to our staff, whether men or women, it's the same, that they do avail it and it has been a retention tool for us, a policy for us.

When—

Talking about what we are doing more, I think through the surveys we do get indications, but at the same time we do work also with other offices. And we see that the— whether it's the Office of Ethics or the other offices, we do have programs in place which help building those safe spaces for our staff to be able to discuss issues that they have and to make sure that there is peer conversations but also influencing of our policies through our employee resource groups, whether they are for gender or for persons with disabilities or for young individuals in the organization. So we have those open channels where we do consider the opinions and voices of all when having these really staff or people-centric policies that we are developing. There is no plan at the moment for an audit of our culture, and this is a question that the Office of Internal Audit and Investigations will come up— will be responding to more in the future. But for the time being, the evaluation that is going on right now, the evaluation for human resource management also includes culture in it. So we are first waiting for those results to be released, and I hope I answered all your questions.

Thank you.


UNICEF Executive Board · President [39:12]:

I thank the Secretariat for their remarks. If no other delegation wishes to take the floor at this time, we shall consider the report update on organizational culture and diversity later on under item 20, the adoption of Distinguished delegates, we will now move to the first— to the next item on the agenda for this afternoon, Item 17, Private Fundraising and Partnerships, Financial Report and Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2024, which is contained in document E/ICEF/2024. This report is presented annually to the Executive Board for review and comment in accordance with Annex 1 to General Assembly Resolution 48/162 of December 20th, 1993. The Deputy Executive Director for Partnerships, Kitty van der Heijden, will introduce the agenda item and will be followed by the Director of Private Funding, Fundraising and Partnerships, Ms. Carla Haddad-Mardini, who will present the report. Ms. van der Heijden, you have the floor. And sorry if I butchered your name.


UNICEF · Deputy Executive Director for Partnerships · Kitty van der Heijden [40:39]:

Thank you.

I know it's a difficult one.

Thank you very much, uh, Madam President and It's great to see all our friends and colleagues here, and I don't know how many times in recent weeks you've been in meetings that started with the words, we are living in unprecedented times. I'm afraid it's a little bit true, though. As UNICEF, as you've heard in the speech by the Executive Director, we are witnessing an unprecedented— literally unprecedented funding crisis. The full breadth of it will hit us next year. But we're also living another crisis, and that is a crisis for children, as we ended 2024 with a campaign stating that across almost all metrics, 2024 was the worst year for children in the history of UNICEF. Those 2 things combined don't augur well for the future of children and the mandate for this organization. And quite frankly, our mandate is under threat because core resources, which are the bedrock and the foundation of how we operate, are insufficient, and by next year will be at $250 million. This will constrain in a very significant way our ability to reach children in an equitable and sustainable way especially in places with long-term development crises and the many, many places with underfunded emergency contexts. For us, core resources are the most important expression of our mandate to be there for every child everywhere. Thank God we have UNICEF's private sector fundraising and partnership who now provide nearly half of the core resources. Next year, in 2026, that proportion will change because of the nosedive in public sector core resources. However, we should see it as a positive development in the sense that this reflects really the strength of our global private sector ecosystem that comprises of PFP, our wonderful national committees, some of whom are here, and our country offices in the South that undertake fundraising operations. That ecosystem, that one UNICEF, is the one who has helped us diversify our fundraising bases to absorb a multitude of shocks. And in the past years, we have, together with this family of operators, invested strategically in, for example, digital fundraising, in innovative finance, in cultivating long-term partnerships to sustain our income. And that is how we will pull through. But we cannot forget, as we are sitting here in the Board, that we are a member state organization. We are the United Nations Fund for Children. And we need you, the member states, to help us Raise more core resources because we cannot function properly without it. We need your help in a supportive, enabling environment for us to unleash the power of innovative financing which we desperately need. We will need to really work together. I am deeply grateful to all of our member states, but I am also deeply grateful to our private sector partnership, our foundations, our corporate sector, the individual people— 10 million of them across the world— high-net-worth individuals, our national committees that keep us agile, mandate-driven, and able to reach children that need us. You will now hear, Madam Chair, from Carla Haddad-Mardini, the Director of the Division for Private Sector Fundraising and Partnership, on the results in 2024.


UNICEF · Director, Private Fundraising and Partnerships · Carla Haddad-Mardini [44:43]:

Madam President, esteemed delegates, I'm pleased to present the Private Fundraising and Partnerships Financial Report for 2024. Next slide, please. In 2024, we have mobilized $1.85 billion from the private sector across our ecosystem. While this was lower than our target, still, our private sector income settled at a higher baseline than in pre-pandemic years. In other words, we are trending higher than 2019 on the curve, but not as high as 2021 and 2022. We have fundraised $725 million in core resources and mobilized $1.1 billion in other earmarked resources, including emergency contributions. It is important to note that around half of UNICEF's total core resources come from individual supporters. In other words, UNICEF is people-powered by over 10 million citizens from around the world who are driving core funding for underfunded humanitarian emergencies and long-term development priorities. No matter how turbulent the environment is, we must tap into new sources of private sector funding. It is essential that we build an unshakable fundraising model, expand revenue channels, and implement laser-focused strategies to generate additional core and flexible resources. Next slide, please. UNICEF has a uniquely decentralized private sector model with spider-like epicenters, mainly in Geneva, Panama, Bangkok, Nairobi, Dakar and the Gulf, the GCC, working together with our national committees and country offices to drive a diversified and multi-year pipeline. In 2024, national committees raised $1.47 billion and country offices raised $379 million in private sector income. Despite a decline from 2023, most fundraising markets kept a healthy financial position. Country office fundraising remains critical for sustaining country programs, particularly in countries transitioning to middle and high-income status. Next slide, please. UNICEF continued to scale innovative financing to unlock new capital. The award-winning Today and Tomorrow Initiative for climate risk financing disbursed over $7.9 million in insurance payouts in 8 countries since its creation. Also, the outcome-based financing model in partnership with the Gates Foundation, the European Commission, the European Union, WHO enabled over 45 polio outbreak campaigns and the procurement of 1 billion oral polio vaccine doses in Africa. Another one, new one is the Child Lens Investing Framework, developed with the US Fund for UNICEF and our Innovative Finance Hub in Helsinki, supported by the Government of Finland. This Child Lens Investing Framework, or the CLIF, was awarded Time magazine's Best Social Good Invention in 2024. Finally, a debt swap agreement between Egypt and Germany will help strengthen Egypt's ability to provide essential services to refugees from Sudan and host communities. Our Egypt Country Office led on the design and execution of this deal. Next slide, please. Our mantra, income plus influence drives impact for children, is more relevant than ever. On income, we continue to drive the diversification of our private sector donor base. In 2024, we launched an audience-informed private sector engagement strategy across our ecosystem. Also, legacy giving, or planned giving, when people decide ahead of time that when they will leave our life, our world, their funding, their legacy will come to UNICEF. This space of work reached a historic milestone marking the highest ever income from this channel. At $129 million in 2024, with US, Japan, France as leading markets. And finally, the International Council for UNICEF, a global collective of ultra-high net worth individuals and billionaires from the Global North and the Global South, has surpassed the half billion mark in cumulative giving since its creation in 2017. Now, on influence, we maintain strong leadership in key advocacy platforms, and advanced policy impact at scale in high-income countries with National Committee presence. In 2024, the UNICEF-led Global Coalition for Youth Mental Health grew to 7 partners: Jo Malone London, Lululemon, Pinterest, Sony, Spotify, Z Zurich Foundation, and Zurich Insurance Group. And the 8th member, Rituals, was recently announced. Also, National Committee advocacy triggered tangible policy changes in priority areas ranging from child rights legislation to climate and mental health, while also expanding commitments to child rights education and the Child-Friendly Cities Initiative. With our cross-cutting enablers, we have strengthened capacity building across the ecosystem and invested in fundraising in the Global South. Next slide, please. In 2024, our division continued to operate on a zero-growth, are our budget. We saved 2% through internal trade-offs and disciplined cost management. The Division remained lean, trying to do better with less. Next slide, please. Chair, esteemed delegates, we extend our heartfelt gratitude to our National Committees and Country Offices, our Regional Offices, to our supporters around the world, and our deep bench of high-value partners across the private sector. I thank you.


UNICEF Executive Board · President [51:01]:

I thank Ms. Haddad-Mardini for her presentation. I now open the floor for discussion, and I give the floor to the distinguished delegate of Germany.


Germany [51:14]:

Madam President, distinguished members of the Executive Board, I have the honor to deliver this statement on behalf of the following countries: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Ireland, Japan, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and my own country, Germany. We extend our appreciation to the Director of Private Fundraising and Partnerships, PFP, for the presentation of the financial report for 2024, as well as for her dedicated work and the efforts of her entire team. PFP plays an indispensable role in sustaining UNICEF's operational capacity and advancing its global mandate for children. Its work not only secures important financial contributions, but also positions UNICEF, as we heard, as a trusted partner and advocate within the private sector. In a time of growing financial uncertainty, such trusted partnerships between UNICEF and the private sector are more vital than ever. As public budgets tighten and global needs continue to rise, innovative financing and collaboration with private actors can offer powerful solutions to protect and advance the rights of every child. We thus commend the PFP team for their continued success in mobilizing significant private sector resources, even in the face of a difficult fundraising environment. As we heard, nearly $1.85 billion were raised in 2024. While this represents a decline compared to the previous year, the figure underscores the strength of UNICEF's private sector engagement. The work of national committees and country offices lies at the heart of this success, and their contributions are key. The high share of unearmarked funding, as we heard, particularly from national committees, reflects the deep trust placed in UNICEF's mandate and its ability to deliver for children. We particularly welcome the integrated approach UNICEF is taking through its new private sector engagement strategy. By connecting fundraising, partnerships, advocacy, and communications in a more targeted and strategic manner, UNICEF is setting a strong foundation for future success. The emphasis on innovation and diversification of funding sources is both timely and necessary. Equally important is the role of country offices in developing new partnerships and entering into emerging markets. Particularly in middle-income countries. We remain committed to supporting UNICEF's efforts to expand and strengthen its collaboration with the private sector and to explore new instruments of innovative finance, and also to scale up those that are already successful in line with the rules and regulations. We see this as a critical pillar for ensuring more flexible, sustainable, and impactful support for children worldwide. Unlocking the potential of private financing is not just about filling gaps; it is about rethinking how we solve the world's most pressing challenges for children together. I thank you.


UNICEF Executive Board · President [54:43]:

I thank the distinguished delegate of Germany, and I now give the floor to the Standing Group of National Committees.


National Committees for UNICEF · Chair [54:52]:

Madam President, Executive Director Russell, Executive Board members and delegations, as the chair of the Standing Group, I have the privilege to represent the entire community of National Committees for UNICEF. While we are 32 independent civil society organizations operating within our own countries, we are a global community that works together in a variety of ways to strengthen our collective advocacy for Child Rights in support of UNICEF's mission and work. This community of National Committees for UNICEF remains a longstanding and indispensable partner to UNICEF, and our role in the global ecosystem is increasingly important. For instance, we are collectively the largest single source of resources for UNICEF. The report on the implementation of the Integrated Results and Resources Framework of the UNICEF Strategic Plan 22 to 26 lists UNICEF's top 30 resource partners for 2024. National committees are listed individually, and looked at that way, we account for 9 of the top 30 partners. Collectively, however, we would be first on that list, providing $1.466 billion to UNICEF in 2024. With the ODA cuts that have been announced from multiple governments, it's possible our community will comprise an even greater share of UNICEF's overall revenue in the coming years. The financial resources we provide, though, are only one reason we are essential to the success of UNICEF's mission. We contribute so much more. Through our public education campaigns, we champion the cause of child rights in our societies. Our close engagement with incredible young people motivates the next generation of leaders and supporters. Our domestic important activities extend UNICEF's universal mandate into our countries. Our advocacy supports our government counterparts in improving policies for children globally, in our countries and communities. Our brand marketing and communication work ensures UNICEF remains visible, relevant, and respected in our countries. Our engagement with the private sector crowds in private sector energy, expertise, innovation, resources to support children. UNICEF is going through unprecedented challenges at this moment. As UNICEF contracts and reorganizes, we hurt deeply for the children and families whose lives are negatively impacted. Our challenge now, as an indispensable partner to UNICEF, is to expand our reach and influence, unlock more resources, and contribute even more to the cause of the world's children. Please know—


UNICEF Executive Board · President [58:01]:

I thank the distinguished representative. I thank you, sir, the Standing Group of National Committees, for your remarks, and I now invite I invite the Secretariat to respond to these comments.


UNICEF · Director, Private Fundraising and Partnerships · Carla Haddad-Mardini [58:22]:

A special thank you to the representative from Germany on behalf of all the other countries in the statement. Perhaps just to reiterate that what you have said is music to our ears. We thank you for the support and the positive feedback, which we will share with our teams across the board. We're fully with you on investing in the Global South, emerging markets, and to generate future revenue. It's about investing regularly and now and sustaining it. So we not only acquire new donors, we retain them over time. And to retain them, you need to keep investing market by market and be very close to where they are and go where they are. So as much as we're global, we're also very much market by market in our Perhaps just to say that we all know that there is massive potential with the private sector, but the private sector will not replace the public sector, and we count on you. Also, the private sector is interested to knowing how strong is the public sector in its support to UNICEF, and so it's really that sweet spot of having both hand in hand, leveraging the support to the organization. Finally, with the private sector, it's not just about getting their resources, financial resources, it's also about leveraging their core expertise, and you've mentioned it, in really solving for the global problems and challenges that we have programmatically, and we have had very strong experiences with multiple private sector entities. in that respect, and they work very closely with our program team. So there's really potential for more. Thank you so much for your statement, and looking forward to future work together.


UNICEF Executive Board · President [1:00:18]:

I thank the Secretariat for their response. Are there any more delegations seeking the I don't see any. As no additional delegations have signaled their wish to comment, we shall consider the Private Fundraising and Partnerships Financial Report for the year ended 31 December 2024 later on, on— under Agenda Item 20, the adoption of draft decisions. Distinguished delegates, We will now turn to item 11 of the agenda, the update on implementation efforts of the repositioning of the United Nations Development System. Presented for decision by the Board is an information note which is accompanied by the United Nations Development Systems Reform Checklist as an annex. The information note updates the Board on the implementation of General Assembly Resolution 72/279 provides updates on Resolution 76/4 on the review of the resident coordinator system in the context of the General Assembly Resolution 75/233 on the QCPR and addresses the requests contained in Executive Board Decision 2024/ The checklist is being presented to the UNICEF Executive Board in conformity with its decision 2023/15. It provides a comprehensive overview of UNICEF's compliance status with the UNDS reform mandates and the management and accountability framework. Its standardized format will facilitate the monitoring of UNICEF results over several years. The Deputy Executive Director of Partnerships, Ms. Kitty Vander Heijden, will introduce the agenda item and will be followed by the Director, Public Partnerships Division, Ms. Mandeep O'Brien, who will present the update. Ms. Vander Heijden, you have the floor.


UNICEF · Deputy Executive Director for Partnerships · Kitty van der Heijden [1:02:32]:

Thank you, Madam President. Thank you, Mr. President. It's a pleasure again to engage with your dear friends, dear board members. This is on a really critical topic, I think, that engages all of us, and that is not just how we are right, but how we get it right together as a UN system as a whole. This is something that we care deeply about. It's about strengthening the UN development system as a whole, advance results for children, UNICEF can never do that alone. It is at the heart of what we need to do— a functioning, effective, agile UN system at country level and at global level, where we synergize and work based on comparative advantages. Now, children are at the heart of our mandate, but to effectively address all the challenges, we need all of the UN to focus on what is needed for them. For us, as UNICEF, and you will have seen that in the draft strategic plan going forward, a well-functioning UN system is at the core of what we need to achieve the goals for children. It's also at the core of our engagement strategy on US development system reform. We believe it's critical now, but always has been, to have a future-fit UN that is well-positioned to effectively address evolving and increasingly complex challenges in the interest of every child, everywhere. We are committed, in the truest sense of the word, to transparency and to accountability. We are not yet in reform nirvana. We know that. But we are determined to get there together with our partners in the UN system. We count on you as Member States to support us to overcome the remaining challenges that we have. Nirvana isn't there yet, but we shall get there together as a UN system with the Member States. I would now like to give the floor to Mandeep O'Brien, the Director for the Division of Public Sector Partnerships, to introduce the report on on 2024. Thank you.


UNICEF · Director, Public Partnerships Division · Mandeep O'Brien [1:04:52]:

Thank you, Madam President, distinguished delegates. I'm very pleased to share an update on UNICEF's continued journey on implementing the mandates of the UN Development System reform stemming from the General Assembly resolutions, including the 2020 QCPR. This progress is confined to 2024 as requested. Important to bear in mind that for a 5th consecutive year, we are very excited that we are guided in our update by rich country-level data. This is internal data from our annual survey of all the UNICEF country representatives across the globe, offering us a bottom-up perspective on UNDS reform implementation. I will focus my presentation on 5 key messages. Next, please. The first message is around strategic alignment, and there are 3 points. The first is, let's start where it matters the most, which is at the country level. Since the new UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Frameworks were introduced, UNICEF has rigorously aligned its country programme documents, that is CPDs, to these cooperation frameworks. In fact, on an annual basis, we conduct an internal quality review of all our CPDs to make sure that we are walking the talk on this alignment. Second, our CPDs, which are approved by yourselves as Executive Board, make up the primary strategic planning instrument at the country level, firmly anchored in the UN cooperation frameworks. That being said, they move beyond the cooperation frameworks by A, making sure that they are rooted in national development priorities for children; B is alignment with the mandates of the QCPR; C is specific contributions to our corporate strategic plan; D is humanitarian action commitments; as applicable, and most importantly, the mandates of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. So, in short, the CPDs constitute our critical accountability instruments which legitimizes our presence, our programming, our access to national line ministries in charge of children, as well as our ability to directly fundraise for children. The last point on this slide is really about good news, which is in 2024, almost 100% of our country representatives reported having actively contributed to the shaping of common country assessments and UN cooperation frameworks wherever they were developed. However, from UNICEF perspective, we are strongly pushing for not just a mechanical alignment, but looking at meaningful contribution to tangible outcomes for children and communities that we serve. Next, please. The second message is on comparative advantage, and 3 points here. The first is UNICEF brings its unique triple mandate of development programming, humanitarian action, advocacy on child rights, through its massive global presence, as well as global networks of alliances and partners that can be leveraged by the rest of the UN system. Second, in 2024, we have made concerted strides in expanding our partnership with agencies funds and programs. For example, in 2024, we stepped up our joint program with WFP in the Sahel region. This is the Resilience Partnership Program for delivering resilient social services, and we were able to reach 3.5 million vulnerable people, including 2.7 million children. Similarly, We worked with specialized agencies such as WHO, as well as UNFPA, to build digital systems that can support village health workers and volunteers in Laos and other parts of the world. The third point is we have benefited hugely from participation in joint programs and pooled funds. In fact, 86% of our country offices, that is 110, in 2024 participated. That said, we do face practical challenges, for example, stiff competition on limited resources as well as cumbersome processes around pooled funds. But we are also working hard to find practical solutions, for example, working with UNCTs and RCs to make ensure that the resources are not spread too thin. In fact, there is a laser refocus on comparative advantage so that we are aligning resource allocation to strategic outcomes. The third message is on impact, and 2 quick points here. The first is one of the critical aspects of UNICEF's contribution to UNDS reform is mainstreaming child rights. In fact, we co-lead with OHCHR the implementation of the SG's guidance on child rights. Second, we count on the leadership of the Resident Coordinators as well as support of UNCTE agencies to make sure that child rights are embedded in national instruments. That being said, in 2024, the annual survey data shows that one-third of our country representatives, that is 28%, believe that these collaboration processes are not necessarily boosting the collective impact for children. This means we have ways to go and harder to work. Next, please. The fourth message is around efficiency savings. 2 quick points. The first is that in 2024, we accrued a total amount of around $95 million as efficiency savings at the country level. This is accrued given our active participation in business operation strategies at country level, as well as our co-leadership in common back offices in more than, more than 6 countries and our co-leadership in over 54% of common premises. The second point is, that said, practical challenges remain and we are working with our sister agencies and RCs to champion greater mutual recognition, simplified processes, as well as a more equitable burden sharing at the country Finally, the 5th message— next, please— is on the funding of the RC system, and 3 points here. The first is, in 2024, UNICEF remained one of the top contributors to the RC system. We contributed through the UN SDG cost share a total of $8.1 million, combined with $9.6 million million through the application of the 1% levy. That said, we remain concerned about the financial sustainability of the Resident Coordinator System. Given that the global development funding is reducing and agencies are downsizing, it will be very hard for us to continue to maintain the current levels of financial contributions. So we count on you as member states for your support to identify a viable and predictable funding model for the RC system. Second, we look forward to using the UN80 as an opportunity to take a critical hard look at our coordination systems so that we can refocus our limited resources to where the coordination needs are the greatest, which is low-income countries and least developed countries. Let me conclude, Madam President and distinguished delegates, from where Kitty started, which is these are unprecedented times. 2024 has been the toughest year for children on record. 2025 is not looking any better. As UNICEF we are doing everything in our power to make sure that we repivot ourselves for the future, a future that is fit for children and where we are delivering on what truly matters for children. I thank you.


UNICEF Executive Board · President [1:14:36]:

I thank Ms. O'Brien for the presentation and now open the floor for discussions. I give the floor to the The distinguished representative of Switzerland.


Switzerland [1:14:55]:

Thank you, Madam President. I deliver this statement on behalf of the following group of member states: Austria, Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Luxembourg, the Republic of Moldova, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Türkiye, the United Kingdom, the European Union as a donor, and my own country, Switzerland. We are pleased to see that the UN development system reform is showing results. The UN, however, is operating in a context of growing demands and declining resources. This makes full implementation of UNDS reform indispensable to build trust in the UN system and safeguard its global legitimacy. Ongoing reforms must continue with urgency and ambition. We welcome the Secretary-General's UN80 initiative and see clear opportunities to consolidate the learning and gains of the UNDS reform. We must ensure that the UN80 initiative builds on, not bypasses, the reforms already underway. We would like to emphasize the following points. In light of persisting funding constraints, we see great potential in the further consolidation and increased use of shared services, common back offices, and common premises. These are not just essential for efficiency gains, but also for further coherence and credibility. Cost reductions cannot be short-sighted and must lead to increased system-wide coherence and efficiency gains. Which actions is UNICEF taking to further consolidate and improve joint businesses— business operations with the wider UN system? Can UNICEF elaborate how they will keep member states informed of how current cost reduction measures are impacting further colocation and consolidation. Transparency and accountability are key to improving performance. We therefore note with concern that the SG has signaled that progress in implementing the management and accountability framework has stalled. How will UNICEF ensure improved implementation of the MAF. The dual reporting model is not yet sufficiently implemented, especially the number of resident coordinators that are requested to provide input on performance appraisals of heads of agencies lags behind. Can UNICEF share what challenges you are facing in this area? We would like to see full participation in this model. What can the Board do to facilitate compliance? The system-wide evaluation on progress towards a new generation of UN country teams confirms that RCs estimate that 79% of entity-specific programming instruments are aligned with the cooperation framework. However, this alignment is very soft and does not translate into genuine derivation from the cooperation frameworks into agency-specific plans. We reiterate the importance of ensuring derivation of country programs from the cooperation frameworks. We request all agencies, including UNICEF, to submit a letter to the board from the respective RC confirming that the respective CPD is derived from the respective cooperation framework. Last year, the Board requested agencies to take further steps to ensure effective information sharing with RCs. We are pleased to note improvements in this regard. However, more work needs to be done to keep RCs better informed on agencies' outreach to funding partners. How does UNICEF plan to improve this? And finally, preliminary findings of the system-wide evaluation indicate that while more and more country configuration exercises are undertaken, they have not created a more tailored, needs-based country presence. This is concerning. We call on all agencies, including UNICEF, to connect ongoing business model reviews and reorganization exercises to the goal of needs-based country presence, rather than treat these processes in isolation. Madam President, we acknowledge that there has been a lot of progress. However, in light of the current challenges and in the context of UNAID, we call on all UNAID entities to go the extra mile together to increase collaboration, joint programming, and integrated approaches in an ultimate effort in this last stretch to achieve the SDGs. Thank you.


UNICEF Executive Board · President [1:20:38]:

I thank the distinguished delegate from Switzerland, and I now give the floor to the distinguished delegate from France.


France [1:20:48]:

Thank you, Madam President, Executive Director, Ladies and gentlemen, many thanks for the update on UNICEF's efforts to reposition the United Nations system for development. We particularly welcome the cost efficiencies accomplished in 2024. I'd like to emphasize the following. First, coordination of the development system that would be responsive and responsible. Resident coordinators must play a key role and work as a team with the priorities at the forefront. In this regard, UNICEF is a key agency, and the integration between RCs and country program delivery is very encouraging. Next, UNAIDS is a unique opportunity to focus our energy on implementing these mandates. One of the principal advantages of the system lies in the capacity to link the normative role of UN agencies to operational work. France will contribute to work on the ground, and this is something we plan to accomplish going forward. Third, as we approach the Seville Conference, France underlies, underlies the urgent need to introduce an innovative financing system. The partnership, private-public partnerships proposed by UNICEF are particularly encouraging in terms of accelerating these efforts. Finally, visibility of strategic communications must be strengthened in the UN development system. Multilateralism can never be considered as already a fait accompli. We must involve citizens to a greater extent, make sure they understand the actual impact on the ground. France wants this work to continue and to be increasingly visible to achieve greater clarity for our citizens. Thank you.


UNICEF Executive Board · President [1:23:10]:

I thank the distinguished representative of France, and I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Norway.


Norway [1:23:21]:

Thank you, President. Norway aligns itself with the statement given by Switzerland on behalf of a group of countries and would like to ask 2 brief questions in our national capacity. Both relate to the information note provided by UNICEF to the Executive Board. First, the information note states that the satisfaction rate among UNICEF's country offices with the Resident Coordinator's support for UNICEF's work and mandate has dropped to 41%. We'd appreciate your elaboration on possible reasons and suggestions for measures to improve the situation. Clearly, it's not tenable for a long duration if the satisfaction level remains so markedly low. Secondly, the Information Note also states that there is dissatisfaction with the country pooled funds. Particularly, it is noted that UNICEF representatives find the means of accessing the funds too cumbersome and that priorities among agencies are misaligned. We'd like to ask what can be done to improve the situation. Clearly, for a coordinated country team to function properly, the issue of joint financing is of great importance. Let me close by clearly reiterating that Norway recognizes these great strides that have been made by UNICEF and the UN system in general toward increased coordination and coherence, both on capital and program country level. Norway fully supports this process, as we have consistently done for a long time, and which is of course in line with the QCPR.

I thank you.


UNICEF Executive Board · President [1:24:44]:

I thank the representative of Norway, and I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of the United Kingdom.


United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland [1:24:54]:

Thank you, Madam President. We support and endorse the joint statement delivered by the representative from Switzerland and wish to add the following comments. The 2024 QCPR provides a clear roadmap for an impactful, coordinated, and efficient UN development system. The focus must now shift to delivery. In particular, we would like to highlight the need to align all activities with the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework at the country level. The cooperation framework should act as the single guiding plan to unite UN country teams, foster collaboration, and avoid duplication in activity. In the broader context of UNAID and a rapidly evolving global landscape, this is the time for the system to work together, uphold commitments to normative standards, and pool resources to catalyze results and impact, rather than splinter into silos. We welcome the efforts by UNICEF in this regard. However, now is the time to go further, including to do more to generate efficiencies. As noted in the joint statement, we would like to see further consolidation and increased use of shared services, common back offices, and common premises. This requires full buy-in from entities across the UN development system, and we count on UNICEF to lead by example in their commitment to making these goals a reality. The QCPR reaffirmed the central role of the Resident Coordinator System at the heart of the UNDS. In-country, the RC must play a critical role in ensuring coherence and tailored UN support to achieve national development goals in line with the SDGs. We are therefore concerned by reports of agencies considering to reduce RC funding via the cost-share mechanism. The RC system is a shared investment with strong backing from UN and Member States, and the cost-sharing arrangement is a critical pillar of the funding model that must be protected. Now is the time for agencies to fully back the RC system on the ground. Donors must also keep up their share of the bargain, as the UK fully intends to do. Through the QCPR and UNAID, we are committed to working together through executive boards and beyond to build a stronger, more unified system which provides the greatest and most urgent support to accelerating delivery of the SDGs. Thank you.


UNICEF Executive Board · President [1:27:31]:

I thank the distinguished delegate of the United Kingdom, and I now invite the Secretariat to respond to these comments. Ms. O'Brien?


UNICEF · Director, Public Partnerships Division · Mandeep O'Brien [1:27:42]:

Thank you. Thank you, Madam President, and I really want to extend our deep appreciation to Switzerland for the very helpful joint statement, as well as distinguished delegates of France, Norway, and United Kingdom for your interventions, which is appreciated. Maybe just before, because there have been a number of questions, I'll try to cluster them. But before I dive into the questions, 2 things to just say overall, as we stand back and look at the progress on UNDS reform. I think the first is that, as UNICEF, we're working very hard to make sure that reform is embedded in our ways of working and in the mindset that we are nurturing across the organization, starting from the top and right to our frontline teams, and this is important for us as we look at the next phase ahead. The second is, I think, as the distinguished delegate of France acknowledged, there has been a lot of success that, as a system, that we need to celebrate. I think it is fair to say that the UNDS reform is still evolving, and we are also striving to do better. This is not necessarily a sign of failure, but actually a testimony to the fact that there is strength and resilience in the reform commitment. That being said, very quickly, first is on UNAT, since both Switzerland and France have highlighted this. As was mentioned by our Executive Director in her opening remarks, UNICEF is very actively engaging in the UNAID. We believe it is an opportunity for us to get even better, but as the Executive Director has highlighted, we are very much supportive of reform, of practical, results-driven reform through the UNAID. We are, secondly, co-leading 2 of the 7 clusters. That is the development and the humanitarian. You've heard from DED Ted Chaiban around the humanitarian reset and how we are shaping that, and we continue to do so in the development side as well, under the leadership of DED Kitty. The third is we are also working with our sister agencies, including WFP, UNDP, and several others, in terms of bringing some concrete offers and ideas to the table, including, for example, lighter coordination models in certain smaller country settings, as well as global shared services and procurement and supply chain innovations. The second is, again, on UK and Switzerland's reflections on shared services. Maybe just very quickly, the first is we are actively engaging. In fact, the director of our Global Shared Service Centers is in the room, and we are working very, very closely with our sister agencies, including ITU, to whom we are already offering shared services. We're ready to expand beyond that, and we are in active discussions discussions around service level agreements and what have you. Secondly, concretely on the ground, as I had mentioned that we are participating in over 54% of common premises, we feel we can do a lot better and we are very committed there. We have co-led 6 common back offices. The target is 50. So these are just some specific examples. Let me just conclude the second point by saying that it's not just us offering our services to others, we are also benefiting from services provided by others. For example, Sudan, which was my last posting, we have the whole UN booking hub which is led by WFP, something very practical and tangible. Similarly, UN Fleet led by HCR. CR and WFP. The third is a number of questions around the management and accountability framework and some of the specific aspects of dual reporting, etc. Just to address these points, firstly is on the MAF. As the Board knows, UNICEF was one of the early adopters of the UNDS reform checklist. For us, this is a very tangible tool to track the progress we are making along the different parameters of the MAF. We are getting better as we move from one year to the next. The second point is that the MAF for us really is not so much of a process and compliance framework as much as it needs to be an impact-driven and partnerships framework. I think in this regard, we are really looking forward to working with other sister agencies and DCO in the next iteration of the MAF, where we can move from the processes to results for the most vulnerable. To conclude the point on the MAF, I would say I've lived personally, as a former rep, lived through the MAF 1.0 and 2.0, and as we embark on 3.0, I would say that this is really about how do we leverage the RCHC system to coordinate, to convene, to bring all our complementarities and the richness in all of it. So it's all about coordination and convening to maximize results rather than about control, and we look forward to engaging in the version 3.0. There was a specific question raised by Switzerland on dual reporting. We are 100% committed to the dual reporting. In fact, our Director of Division of People and Culture repeatedly and regularly sends guidance to all our country representatives to contribute to the performance appraisal systems of the Resident Coordinators, and vice versa. We have opened up our performance systems to collect feedback from the RCs on the performance of the country reps. Indeed, some of the percentages have been on the lower side, and this is also one of the factors contributing to it, is the turnover both on the side of the resident coordinators as well as transitions on our side. But we remain very committed to take this forward to the next level, including in MAF 3.0. Since the question was specifically asked on how the Board can help to facilitate compliance on dual reporting. Just allow me to say that more than compliance, this is really about a dialogue that is pivoted towards impact and taking the partnership to the next level. In this regard, we would like to practically suggest a triangular dialogue among member states, heads of agencies, resident coordinators around how to make this even better, as well as look forward to engaging in the annual RCHC retreats as another practical forum where we can discuss how to take this to the next level. There were some specific questions around the map on information sharing. We're happy to take this up offline, but just to say that At the end of the day, it is also about mindsets and personalities, and this is a growth journey for all of us as leaders across agencies, across the system, and at all levels. I have to say, also having been an RCHC acting for a good few months in my last couple of assignments, that it is possible to take this to the next level, to transparently share information from both sides and to commit ourselves to the collective outcomes. I believe that the UN Country Team results reports, which are prepared on an annual basis, are an excellent practical way in which the RCHCs are able to work with the UN Country Team to showcase results. Of course, information sharing is a two-way street, and we are working hard to make sure that we are taking steps on both sides. Moving on to the question around— from Norway about impact and why is it that the satisfaction rates are at 41% as far as the RC's support to our work and mandate is concerned. Again, I gave the example of child rights in the presentation, where a third of our representatives feel that we still have ways to go for these collaboration processes to translate to collective impact for children. We are working hard to make sure that this happens. There are also examples of countries where coordination models have actually yielded some really good results. I think more of lessons learned and sharing across the board and then looking at how we can replicate those models is something that we would like to bring to the 3.0 version of the MAF. I'm just about trying to conclude. The next cluster of questions, which is third, is around the CPD UNSCDF alignment and configuration. As was mentioned, the most recent data from 2024 shows we have 100% alignment of our CPDs with the UN cooperation frameworks. That said, we acknowledge that we need to move beyond mechanical alignment to some meaningful impact-driven results. and we're working hard on, on this matter. The letter from the resident coordinator is something that is already a requirement, and we already meet this requirement. In fact, none of the CPDs can come to the board, to yourselves, without that step. And if I may, just to add, another very important step is the clearance of the host government, because CPDs are nationally driven and nationally led. So just again, we were happy to engage to see how we can improve and what is it that we can do better. On the country configuration, I think just to say that 45 UNICEF country offices participated in this exercise in 2021. Before, we've had a bit of mixed results. We do believe that this requires a proper constructive discussion across the system on how we can get better. We, of course, have some practical results, for example, improving our subnational operations in Central African Republic through the configuration exercise, as well as giving even much more cohesive policy advice in Costa Rica, but we have ways to go in this regard and certainly we acknowledge the points made by both Norway and France in terms of doing better. I think I'll leave it at that. I know that Kitty would like to come in on the pooled funds and some of the other points. Madam President, with your permission.


UNICEF Executive Board · President [1:40:19]:

Yes, I thank you. Yes.


UNICEF · Deputy Executive Director for Partnerships · Kitty van der Heijden [1:40:22]:

Thank you, Madam President.

I will—


UNICEF Executive Board · President [1:40:24]:

I want to butcher your name again. You have to tell me how to pronounce it before we leave today.


UNICEF · Deputy Executive Director for Partnerships · Kitty van der Heijden [1:40:30]:

We'll do that.

First of all, I wanted to really thank the colleagues that spoke on behalf of groups for the recognition of how much our country teams work in the context of UN development system reform and really trying, honestly, to contribute to the best of our abilities. It struck me that the UK spoke of the need for UNICEF to take a leadership role, and if I just take one example, I just want to point to the far end of this table to my dear colleague, Hanan, who has really been leading in the UN development reform context on everything that is efficiency, in working better together, in common back-office structures. We have 6 of them now. UNICEF participates in all of them. We are 100% compliant. You've heard how we work on common premises, on the GSSE, but we're also looking at what can we do together. I recognize another colleague there, not just GSSE, but on supply division. How can we use our procurement expertise and that center that we have and enable other parts of the UN to benefit from that. That is in the interest of making all of us work better together. That's multilateralism that's at stake. I do want to point out that efficiency cannot just be on us. We strive to be as efficient as we can be because every dollar, euro, yen, or whatever we save, we can put to children. And we can achieve results. And I'm asking you here to also reflect on how donors engage with us on these efficiencies, because the number of reports that we have to write now because of very tightly earmarked resourcing is creating inefficiencies in the system. If I just highlight the increases in the number of donor reports since 2018, they went up from 5,100 to 12— over 12,000 in 2023. That's a 134% increase. A 47% increase in the number of earmarked grants, all of which require processing. A 118% increase in the number of donor financial statements from 2,900 to well over 6,400. So these are also efficiencies that we would love to harness. We want to be lean, we want to be agile, we want to be responsive to the need to be more efficient. But I'm also asking you to dance along with us, not just in the interest of us being agile through core resources, but also because it just saves a lot of money, and that is absolutely crucial in the time we're in. On the cooperation framework, I do want to say that I I regret seriously and sincerely if there is any perception of a weak or total misalignment of UNICEF CPDs with the cooperation framework. In the system that we have, that is simply not possible. No CPD leaves the country office before it has a letter from the RC that it has been seen and that alignment has been verified. It then goes to the regional office And the regional office does a quality check and again checks, is that RC letter there? And then it comes to headquarters and we have our own process to verify and we stimulate— and that's the very diplomatic word I would say— that this is being complied with. So I'm asking respectfully also here in the interest again of efficiency, we can ask for those letters to be submitted to you, but it requires again translation in all the UN languages. You can also ask us for— we can ask you for trust. We have been 100% compliant, and if we are not, it is because the cooperation framework wasn't ready yet. So let's also see how we can perhaps inform you better around the processes that we have, that we adhere to, and that we comply with, because we want these cooperation frameworks. To inform, and our CPDs are drawn from that. On pooled funds, very briefly, and then perhaps a last word on the RC funding, if I may. Look, pooled funds are an absolutely critical part of stimulating, inspiring, and allowing the UN at country level to come together, to work together based on comparative advantages, and to find those synergies where they are. But we also have to be honest that not everything is duplicative at country level. That's why we have many different agencies. And so pooled funds are not a— they are a means to an end. They are not an end in itself. So they are a wonderful mechanism to bring us together and we stimulate them. We actually benefit from that a lot. But they are one part of the funding And I just want to remind colleagues of Article 4 of the Funding Compact, where the member states themselves have said that pooled funding should come third after core resources and flexible funding. So it's a part of an essential puzzle, but it is not the only piece of the puzzle. So it cannot be an exclusive form of fundraising. Lastly, perhaps on the RC funding system. As, as has been said, we deeply believe in the RC system and that we need to come together at the country level. We have always played our part and paid up as per the agreement that we have with the member states given through the QCPR. However, we also need to be honest and realistic that if you have a levy percentage and the absolute base from which you take that levy goes down, that that overall sum of money goes down. That if you have a cost-sharing formula that is based on the earmarked resources and we go down €3 billion in earmarked resources, that that will go down not by intent but because we comply with the formula that you have agreed with. And it will have consequence. It's not by design, it's not by intent, it is a consequence of the way we are funded and an application of the formula that you have agreed with that we comply with. So I just wanted to explain that because we agree that the RC system should have sustainable, viable funding. It can't just depend on us, and as we are all going down in funding, that unfortunately has consequences. And we are working together with our friends in DCO and across the UN system. How do we deal with that? So I just wanted to explain Those few points, and I with this give it back to you, Madam President.


UNICEF Executive Board · President [1:47:33]:

I thank the Secretariat for their remarks. If there are no additional comments, we shall consider this matter later under Agenda Item 20, the adoption of draft resolutions— draft decisions, sorry. Before we adjourn for the day, I believe that the Secretary of the Executive Board, Mr. Andrés Franco, would like to make an announcement.


UNICEF Executive Board · Secretary of the Executive Board · Andrés Franco [1:48:05]:

Yes, thank you, Madam Chair. Just to remind delegations that immediately following this meeting, we will have our informal consultations on the draft decisions being considered. It will be in this conference room in And we will have it until 6:00 PM.

Thank you, Madam Chair.


UNICEF Executive Board · President [1:48:25]:

I thank the Secretary for his announcement, and the meeting is adjourned. Do I get to gavel?