(9th meeting) Executive Board of UNDP, UNFPA and UNOPS (First regular session 2025)

A very good afternoon. I call to order the 8th meeting of the first regular session of 2025 of the Executive Boards of UNDP, UNFPA, and UNOPS. Distinguished representatives, friends, delegates, we will now proceed to our final item of the joint segment with agenda item 8, which is field visits, and it includes the report of the joint field visit of the executive boards of UNDP, UNFPA, UNOPS, UNICEF, UN Women, and the WFP to Cambodia. It will be followed by a presentation on the field visit of the executive board of UNDP UNFPA and UNOPS, to the Republic of Moldova and to Ukraine. Please note that the official report on the field visit to the Republic of Moldova and to Ukraine in December 2024 will be reviewed at the annual session of 2025. I now have the pleasure of giving the floor to His Excellency Ambassador Cornel Furuta, Permanent Representative of Romania to the United Nations, Vice President of the Executive Board, and member of both the Cambodia and the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine field visit delegations, to introduce the report of the joint field visit to Cambodia. Before His Excellency's presentation, Please allow us to show a brief video of the visit on the screens. Please, can you play the video?

Arex Mai, a 10-year-old girl living in rural Cambodia. Her future faces the challenges of poverty, inequality, and climate change. UN entities including UNDP, UNFPA, UNOPS, UNICEF, UN Women, and WFP are all working together to improve the life of Arex Mai and her peers. In November 2024, a delegation of 17 members from the 4 Executive Boards of these 6 UN entities visited Cambodia to gain a deeper understanding of how the UN's joint efforts support national development plans and advance the Sustainable Development Goals. I was particularly impressed about how some activities that were initially led by the UNCT, in close cooperation with the government, were eventually taken forward by the government itself. We had fruitful exchanges with the 6 entities and the RC. Our impression is that the coordination and collaboration is really strong, and it will continue to do so in the future. Like most people in Cambodia, Arek Sme's family depends on agriculture, but unpredictable weather and explosive remnants of war threaten their livelihood. UNDP and WFP work with the government and UN partners on social protection and disaster preparedness. UNDP supports mine clearance. All of these efforts build resilient communities. UNICEF works with the government to improve education quality, ensuring children like Arokzmai stay in school, where she receives school meals from the government with WFP support. UNFPA's work links health and education. Providing reproductive health information to youth. We have impact in nutrition, but we also have impact in education. So it's an example of how this collaborative act can work between UN entities.

I would say that the development plan and the way they cooperate with Cambodia is a success story.

UN entities working together to improve access to healthcare is also vital. UNFPA focuses on maternal health, UNICEF on neonatal care, UNOPS strengthens malaria control and communicable diseases, WFP supports nutrition efforts, and UNDP works with the Ministry of Health on health system strengthening. These joint efforts create better healthcare for Oryx Maya's community.

UN agencies and the government are aligned to the objectives that are set, and the collaboration for the couple of days that I've seen is both All UN entities work towards advancing gender equality and to leaving no one behind.

UN Women, UNFPA, UNICEF, and UNDP support initiatives that address gender-based violence, remove barriers, and promote equal opportunities.

If you look at the Sustainable Goals, they're all cross-cutting.

Of course, we got—

we numbered them, but none of them is isolated. So the important thing is that the UN entities are working together and should work together for the cross-cutting issues.

Youth are Cambodia's largest population group. UNFPA, UNICEF, UN Women, UNDP, and UNOPS invest in young people along with governments. civil society, and the private sector, focusing on inclusion for marginalized groups.

The impression of the women's organizations that we've met, there's a lot of resilience, there's a lot of ingenuity, there's a lot of innovation and determination to bring the country to the next step.

We are impressed to see that Indonesia's entities have identified some key areas of importance like climate change, resilient health Health and education, women empowerment, gender-based violence, youth empowerment, and also demining activities. And we can see the positive changes taking place in the Cambodian society.

RXMA's story reflects the UN's collective impact in Cambodia. With the guidance of their Executive Boards, UNDP, UNFPA, UNOPS, UNICEF, UN Women, and WFP will continue working together to change RXMA's life, support national priorities, accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals, and build a more sustainable and inclusive future for all.

With that, I have the pleasure of giving the floor to the Vice President to present his report. You have the floor, sir.

Thank you very much, Mr. President. And I think board members have received a more formal report of this visit. I think the video is also quite telling. The fact that the last image of the video is the Angkor Wat Temple in the background of the group indicates somehow that whenever we talk about Cambodia, we're probably thinking about tourism and of course genocide. And having been in this group visiting Cambodia with a quite extensive delegation of UN agencies operating there and with a quite extensive delegation from all the boards, cross-geographical, cross-regional. I think it is quite telling and allowing us to measure the impact of the work that we do on the ground. So the agencies— I'm not going to name them again— is the agencies that are part of this board, but we also had the World Food Programme, and UNICEF, UN Women, the— yes, and our own organizations. Now, Cambodia itself, the way the UN is implementing programs, it could be almost a standard case and probably the best practice case of how the UN implements the SDGs, because you have organizations that work very coherently on the ground, and that's one of the first lessons that we have to keep in mind, that should be mobilizing others to have the same level of cooperation, so including the RC system, the way the UN agencies manage to coordinate among themselves, and and how we are able to interact with the local governments, central and local as well, in addressing these challenges related to reducing poverty, combating climate change, promoting health, empowering women, preserving clean water, social protection and inclusion. The visit covered all of the angles and there were different groups that we actually were able to get a complete sense of how the UN as a whole operates in that country. I would just like to highlight 2 issues: education, which is one very important one. We know, and we insist quite a lot, creating development through education is always key. Of the total population of Cambodia, 15.6 million citizens, I think the median age of the population is 27 years old, and 30% of them are aged 15 years or younger, compared to, let's say, Europe, the continent that I'm coming from, which is about 8.9% of the population being 60 or older. In Cambodia— in Europe, we have quite a bit of the population above 60%. A quarter of the population is above 60 years old. And we have to imagine actually the importance of education in a country like Cambodia where the young population and the segment of the young population is very high. That's why UNICEF is doing an important work. The other one is some of the challenges that are not conceivable in this boardroom when we discuss about implementing the UN mandate. The echo of the genocide, the terrible tragedy that Cambodia was, uh, went through. Very cruel, very brutal. We could— we did visit the, the genocide museum, but I think it's something that reverberates and within the society, and we need to continue to provide support to Cambodia to overcome the trauma that still exists. And UNDP is supporting very efficiently, I would say, demining efforts. The demining effort in Cambodia is huge, and we cannot even imagine how much work is still needed in, in that country. So, um, all in all, I think that visit managed to showcase that important dimension, the practical dimension of the work that we are discussing here in New York in the boardroom. And how these debates make a difference in a country like Cambodia, and also a good example of excellent interaction between our UN agencies. Thank you very much, Mr. President.

Gracias a usted, Vice President.

Thank you very much to you, Vice President, for the report that you just briefed us on and.

Thank you very much, sir.

Thank you very much for the video. That was very enlightening. And for your words, sir. I think that your words reflect just how important these field visits are. So thank you very much once again for your briefing. I will now open the floor in case anyone would like to take it. Since there are no requests for the floor, I thank you once again for your presentation. And if there are no objections, I will take it that the Executive Board takes note of the report of the joint field visit of the Executive Board's of the UNDP, UNFPA, UNOPS, and UN Women and the WFP to Cambodia. It is so decided. I now give the floor back to His Excellency Ambassador Cornell Faruta for the presentation on the field visit of the Executive Board of UNDP, UNFPA, and UNOPS to the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine. You have the floor.

There is a video for, for you. I think it's, it's now, right? So you were right. Thank you very much for, for letting me know.

Please, the video.

We are the members of the Executive Board of the UNDP, UNFPA, and UNOPS in New York. We are here in Moldova to see by ourselves how the UN entities, and particularly the UNDP, UNFPA, and UNOPS, are supporting the Government of Moldova in promoting various issues ranging from health to education to environment to economy to refugee.

Es muy importante que lo que hemos desarrollado en este hospital siga siendo el objetivo principal humanizar la salud frente a la diferencia que puedan encontrarse en los diferentes escenarios de este país y del mundo.

So I would say it's an excellent investment that is worth doing and making, and that's an encouragement for all of us to continue member states the UN system, the UNFPA, empowering younger generations and youth and making such important statements about their contribution to our societies.

It's a hugely important part of the environment here in Moldovata and for the wider Moldova community. The UNDP and the UN organizations here are working very closely with local government and with civil society to assist that really, really important work.

I think what holds societies together and communities together is projects like this where you do something together, it changes the economic conditions, it creates livelihood through strong women in particular. And I think this is something where you can start creating new stability for this country and particularly for the rural areas.

This project is an excellent example of our efforts to support Support energy efficiency, energy security as well, for the benefit of the patients around the Republic of Moldova. But I think it's quite impressive to witness that added value of the work of the UNDP and its colleagues on the ground.

Okay, the Executive Board of the UNDP, UNFP, and UNOPS I would like to commend the Government of Moldova for adoption of this national program on active aging. We are very happy and impressed to visit this active aging center, and also we're really— it is satisfying to see the support provided by the UNFPA in its work.

Implementing projects, especially in times of war, it's extremely challenging. And discovering here on the ground the important work that our agencies, UN agencies, are doing in implementing their mandates, I think is impressive. And providing hope, but also a future for different categories of the Ukrainian society— youth, women, elderly, disabled people— I think is extremely important. And this work needs to be thoroughly supported by all of us.

Very happy to see the partnership between the UN entities and also the government of Ukraine, and particularly this Odesa city. And we are also very happy to see that this whole process is being led by the Ukrainians in terms of the recovery and resilience of the society. What we're seeing is that sense of real partnership with the people of Ukraine, driving forward, preparing for the future, recovery, resilience, and again, looking to the future. So very, very impactful and really great to see the strong support that the UN system is giving the Ukrainian people here in Odessa and across Ukraine.

I think it's been impressive to see how much on the development side we are actually working with and through local structures. This country needs attention and solidarity. As a UN team on the ground, we wouldn't be able to do all this impressive work without massive support of member states, and we are very grateful for that.

So now I do give the floor to you, Chairman— President.

Mr. President, I think again our colleagues that attended the trip explained very well the logic of this visit. I have to say that as this visit was construed around the agencies that are part of this— the activity of this Board, I have to say that they do tell a very good story on the ground and a very solid one. And this visit showed most vividly probably this connection between development and security, how important it is to create the conditions for peace, how important it is to invest in development to maintain or to create peace. In the Republic of Moldova, we've been looking actually at all the facets of the UN work, witnessing the very good cooperation between the local authorities, the central authorities, with the organizations, and getting a real sense of the impact from the individuals, the beneficiaries of this important work, whether it's healthcare or education or the more vulnerable people, the elderly or women. I think that was very much important. You also get a sense of how climate change, for example, influences the type of work and the projects that we do implement on the ground. Energy security, a major issue as well, and the type of vulnerability exacerbated in the Republic of Moldova because of the security environment. And I think we also saw a different, different story in, in Odessa, in Ukraine. As the country is still in the middle of a war. And then again, the notion— and that was echoed in the comments of some of our colleagues— the resilience and how you continue creating, as a matter of fact, value and development in these circumstances. And I was amazed with the dedication of the local staff of the UN agencies, with the work of our own staff that is working there in quite challenging circumstances, but nevertheless always having the approach that we need to create something more and the enthusiasm to implement the mandate and the objectives that we discuss about and we decide here. I think I would highlight very importantly from both the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine the energy of the youth and the expectations as well they have from the United Nations in general. They are very knowledgeable. I mean, we may operate in our work without that knowledge that we create hope in many segments of the population in the countries we operate, and I think we have to keep that in mind. And I think I would leave it at that because that was a very good visit. And I would definitely, for both trips, both the joint field visit and our board trip, I would definitely encourage a close, close look into mobilizing political attention because that's the link that we need here. The reality check on the ground that is important to inform debates and decisions here in the board. Thank you very much. Gracias.

Thank you, Mr. Vice President, for your presentation. I'll now open up the floor for the Permanent Representative of Moldova.

Mr. President, Excellencies, distinguished colleagues, I would like to begin by expressing our appreciation for the productive visit paid to the Republic of Moldova by the honorable members of the Executive Board from 2nd to 4th of December. The rich agenda of the visit comprised meetings with the Prime Minister, several ministers, representatives of local authorities and other national partners, including site visits offering the opportunity to assess the contribution of UNDP UNOPS and UFPA in advancing national development priorities, managing existing challenges, and the alignment of the concerned UN entities' country programs with Moldova's assistance needs. As the Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova, Dorin Recean, has mentioned during the meeting with the honorable members of the Executive Board, And I quote, the assistance we received is important not only to face current challenges, but also to capitalize on development opportunities. To achieve our strategic goals of European integration, multiple transformations are necessary, and the expertise provided by the UN agencies for the implementation of the Communauté Acquis helps us to advance faster on this path. We appreciate the partnership with the UN Country Team and respectively the 3 UN entities in the implementation of key reforms, the Sustainable Development Goals, as well as the European Integration Agenda, with the aim to ensure a prosperous and inclusive future for the Moldovan people. On behalf of the Government of Moldova, I would like to thank UNDP, UNOPS, and UNFPA for the support provided in pursuance of strengthening the capacities of public institutions, the inclusion of refugees, improving social cohesion, promoting demographic resilience, economic development, and social protection, to name a few. We also express our gratitude to the United Nations Development Programme, which continues to be a trusted development partner for the Republic Moldova in the pursuit for the better and dignified life for its own citizens, exemplified by important projects implemented in strategic areas such as access to justice, digitalization, cybersecurity, energy efficiency, water resource management, as well as the confidence-building measures. Likewise, we appreciate the constructive and productive partnership with UNFPA in several critical fields as employment, linkages between the education and labour market, family-friendly policies, digital transformation of social protection, gender-based violence, maternal health, as well as women and youth empowerment. Furthermore, we acknowledge the dialogue and cooperation with ENOPS, with a view to supporting important infrastructure projects in the country, which would help to advance our development objectives in important areas such as judiciary, health sector, and public procurement. In closing, I would like to reiterate our gratitude to the distinguished members of the Executive Board for the visit paid to our country, which serves as proof of continuous commitment towards the the development needs of the Republic of Moldova. The Moldovan government remains unwavering in advancing the productive partnership with UNDP, UNFPA, and UNOPS, as well as with the entire UN country team, with a view to advance the sustainable development priorities and the European integration agenda of my country in the pursuit for a better and dignified future for Moldovan people. I thank you.

Gracias a usted por—

Thank you very much, sir, for your statement. And I'll give the floor to the distinguished representative, the distinguished permanent representative of Ukraine. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Mr. President. Let me thank Vice President Ambassador Cornel Feruta for the insightful presentation on the recent visit of the Executive Board to Moldova and Ukraine. Ukraine welcomes and appreciates the decision by the Bureau to visit Ukraine, particularly in light of the ongoing and unprecedented challenges faced by my country. The presence and active engagement of UNDP, UNFPA, and UNOPS in Ukraine has been vital in supporting our efforts to recover and rebuild amidst the ongoing war and its devastating consequences that the distinguished members of the Executive Board were able to witness during their visit. We would like to acknowledge the efforts made by the personnel of all 3 agencies who continue to carry out their duties in conditions of shelling, air raid alerts, and other security threats. These challenges not only endanger the lives of Ukrainian civilians but do pose significant risks to the safety of the UN personnel working on the ground. The scale of the destruction in Ukraine is unprecedented. Critical energy infrastructure, schools, hospitals, residential buildings, and the tragic loss of life continue to be a daily reality for our people. The work that UNDP, UNFPA, and UNOPS are undertaking in these circumstances is crucial, and we are very much grateful for their continued support. Mr. President, we hope the visit to Ukraine was useful in gaining a deeper understanding of the needs of our country for the recovery and of the ongoing projects implemented in my country. Ukraine remains open to receiving future visits with a broader program that could encompass more areas, including those connected to youth, and further strengthen our partnership with these agencies in rebuilding our country.

Thank you.

Thank you very much for your statement. If there are no objections, I'll give the floor to the distinguished representative of Germany. I see there are no objections, but I see you're asking for the floor, so go ahead.

Thank you, Mr. President.

speak, but as I had the honour to participate in that war trip to Moldova and Ukraine, I feel compelled to say at least a few words. And of course, I can only join what Ambassador Ferutti has already said, and many thanks for the presentation, the video. It is a truthful reflection except for one thing: it was really cold. And you can only see it once when I spoke because I was shivering when I made this statement. Otherwise, I think it is a very good reflection of what we saw. I've been working many, many years with the UN, mostly in the humanitarian field. I was always a relative sceptic of engagement with middle-income countries if resources are so scarce, but travelling helps a lot and I really— I'm utterly convinced of the necessity of why the UN is engaging with middle-income countries. I mean, what we saw on the ground was an interagency cooperation in both countries which is exemplary. I thought we saw a unified country team that really works together. Most of the projects were completely integrated amongst various agencies, and we saw that leadership matters. I think we saw extraordinary leadership in the agencies, but also with the RCs. I think something that really compels me. That we must invest in leadership. And we saw true partnership with both governments. I mean, I could— you could really feel this was a symbiotic relationship between both governments and their respective country teams, including civil society. I think I really had the impression that both country teams are deeply embedded in both societies. And we can really see see the impact. I want to conclude with 2 things. First of all, I said this morning for UNFPA, but I think it particularly applies to these country teams. They both work under exceptionally difficult circumstances. Just travelling back and forth from Odessa is amazingly complicated, and I know what these 2 teams are achieving day in and day out, and I just want to really acknowledge their commitment, their professionalism, And their really, the word is rightly chosen, resilience under extremely difficult circumstances. And finally, I want to say thank you to the Secretariat. This was an excellently prepared and very well conducted trip, and I wish I could do it again. Thank you.

Muchas gracias.

Thank you very much, and I'm glad that you took the floor. Thank you for those comments.

Right.

Now, if I hear no objections, I will take it that the Executive Board takes note of the presentation on the field visit of the Executive Board of UNDP, UNFPA, and UNOPS to the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine. It is so decided. With that, we conclude our discussion of the joint segment. We will now proceed with agenda item 16 on other matters with the adoption of decisions. Before that, though, we will just change the podium seating arrangements. Okay, like I've just said, we'll proceed to Agenda Item 16, Other Matters, with the adoption of decisions. On the podium, I have Ms. Mahsa Jafari, Secretary of the Executive Board of UNDP, UNFPA, and UNOPS. We will now Proceed to agenda item 16, other matters, adoption of decisions. Before we proceed with the adoption though, I would like to briefly give the floor to the facilitators so that they can brief us on their decisions and provide comments, and it would be fantastic if you could all do it in 1 minute each. To show the example, I'll give the floor to Elizabeth Mendez of Ecuador, who's the facilitator of the decision on the recommendations of the Board of Auditors. You have the floor.

Muchas gracias.

Thank you very much, sir. I was tasked with facilitating. Agenda item 2, on the implementation of the recommendations of the Board of Auditors for the year 2023. We saw a constructive spirit and commitment from the member states of the Executive Board, and we were encouraged at how they participated in the negotiations and creativity and good faith in the process. As a result of that, today we are adopting a decision that recognizes the efforts of the UNDP, the UNCDF, UNFPA, and UNOPS to implement the decisions, the recommendations of the Board of Auditors that includes guidelines on improving procedures for investments and encourages the agencies to consider said recommendations during the processes to draft the strategic programs 2026 to 2029. Finally, I'm grateful for the guide and the efforts made by the Secretariat, in particular the impeccable work carried out By the auditors' team, thank you very much.

Muchas gracias a usted.

Thank you very much to you. If I hear no objections, I will take it that the board wishes to adopt the draft decision on item two recommendations of the board of auditors. It is so decided.

Ahora me complace darle la palabra.

I'm. Now giving the floor to Andrei Furuta of Romania on governance and oversight functions. You have the floor.

Thank you very much, Mr. President, for giving me the floor. I was facilitating the item 4, decision item 4, update on the assessment on governance and oversight functions. And I have to admit, I was very pleased with the result. I think it was a joint effort. All the delegations were very keen in reaching the consensus. It was a longer process than seen by the delegation since we negotiated also the TOR on GIU and the long process on identifying the colleagues and the members of the GIU group. But bottom line, all the planets aligned themselves, and now we had everything we need to start the work. And again, a big thanks to Secretariat who assisted us in, in all the, um, on the matters. Thank you very much.

Muchas gracias.

Thank you very much, madam. And if I hear no objection, I will take it that the board wishes to adopt the draft decision on agenda item 4, the update on the assessment of how the executive board executes its governance and oversight functions. It is so decided. I'm now delighted to give the floor to Mr. Soyong Korbanov, of Tajikistan, who's the facilitator on the draft decision on risk management. You have the floor.

Thank you, Mr. President. It was my honor and privilege to facilitate the draft decision under agenda item 5 entitled Risk Management. So before presenting the draft decision for the adoption by the Executive Board, I would like to seize this opportunity to thank the delegations for their active engagement during the consultations as well as showing flexibility. I wish to express gratitude to the Secretariat and highlight your appreciation to the Mission of Ecuador for hosting us for consultations. Mr. President, the draft decision entitled Risk Management passed the silence procedure and is ready to be adopted by the Executive Board. I thank you, Mr. President.

Gracias a ustedes.

Thank you. And if I hear no objections, I will take it that the Board wishes to adopt the draft decision on item 5, risk management. It is so decided. It's my pleasure now I would now like to give the floor to Mr. Kurabashef Dabesa of Ethiopia, the facilitator on the decision on organizational culture. You have the floor, sir.

Thank you so much, Your Excellency Ambassador Montalvo, President of the Executive Board, distinguished members of the Executive Board, Excellencies. I would like to express my sincere appreciation Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to extend my appreciation to all Member States who actively engaged in the negotiations on the Joint Update on the Organizational Culture decision item for the agencies. I'm delighted in facilitating this draft decision. The interactive and cooperative spirit demonstrated throughout the discussion was truly commendable. I also extend my gratitude to resource persons across all the entities for their invaluable inputs and expertise during our informal consultations. I would like to thank the Executive Board Secretariat, Ms. Mahsa, Ms. Danita, and all the entire team for their tireless efforts for the smooth functioning of the process. I would like to also thank the editor, Ms. Gretchen, for her hard work. Mr. President, allow me to appreciate the Permanent Mission of Ecuador not only providing conference room for the evening informal sessions, but also yesterday's pizza has helped a lot in moving forward. I'm grateful and would like to thank particularly for the hospitality and role of leadership the Office of the Presidency, the Permanent Mission of Ecuador has demonstrated in this regard. Mr. President, with candid and thorough discussions, we have reached consensus on the draft Decision on joint organizational culture, thanks to the collective efforts of all delegations. The Permanent Mission of Ethiopia is also pleased to introduce this draft decision that has successfully passed the silence procedure, which is now ready for adoption by the board. I thank you, Mr. President.

Muchas gracias a usted.

Thank you very much, sir. When I left quite late yesterday, yesterday evening, I unfortunately missed the pizza. I'd left before it arrived, but I'm sure that it was really good, that it was delicious. Anyway, if I hear no objection, I will take it that the board wishes to adopt the draft decision on agenda item 6, organizational culture. It is so decided. It's now my pleasure to give the floor to Marie Greffstad of Norway, facilitator on the decision on UNDP evaluation. You have the floor.

Thank you, Mr. President. I had the honor and privilege to facilitate item 11 on UNDP evaluation, which is now ready for adoption. I would like to thank all delegations for their constructive engagement. I would also like to thank the Secretariat for great support. And finally, I would like to thank the Mission of Ecuador for hosting the negotiations.

Thank you.

Gracias a ustedes.

Thank you very much. If I hear no objections, I will take it that the Board wishes to adopt the draft decision on item 11.

UNDP evaluation.

UNDP evaluation. It is so decided. I take it that Mr. Frans van der Straten of the Netherlands and facilitator on the decision on the UNOPS response to external review is not here in the room, but I'd like to extend congratulations to him for the excellent work carried out. If I hear no objections, I will take it that the Board wishes to adopt the draft decision on item 14, the comprehensive response plan in response to the recommendations on the 2 independent third-party reviews of UNOPS. It is so decided.

Now, I offer the floor to the Permanent Representative of Iceland who will make a presentation on behalf of a group on Decision Item 6, Organizational Culture. You have the floor.

Thank you, sir. Thank you, President, for giving me the floor. I deliver this statement on behalf of Albania, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Mexico, Republic of Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the European Union as a donor, and my own country, Iceland. In the spirit and with the goal of maintaining this Board's consensus, our delegations demonstrated maximum flexibility to reach this decision on Item 6, Organisational Culture. While the language does not make it as clear as we believe it should be, our firm expectation is that the agencies will continue, in accordance with the previous Board decisions, to do all they can to eliminate all forms of discrimination, including through combating and preventing racial discrimination and racism, and ensure disability inclusion, to promote and protect diversity, equality, and inclusion in all its forms and at all levels. As the Secretary-General has said, achieving gender equality and consistently delivering for women and girls is a collective responsibility shared by every entity within the UN system and a cornerstone of the QCPR and current reform efforts. It requires collaboration and emphasis at every level. We look forward to continuing to work in partnership with UNDP, UNFPA, and UNOPS on these issues to ensure that all personnel are respected, feel safe, and have equal opportunity to thrive And succeed. Thank you.

Le agradezco a usted.

Thank you very much for your statement. I think now we can go back to agenda item one, which is organizational matters. Next, we will consider the tentative work plan for the annual session 2025. And for that, I give the floor to Ms. Mahsa Jafari, Secretary of the Executive Board, to introduce the tentative work plan for the Annual Session 2025. You have the floor.

Thank you, Mr. President. Good afternoon, distinguished members of the Executive Board and observer delegations. As we conclude the first regular session of 2025, allow me to provide a brief overview of the upcoming Annual Session scheduled from 2 to 5 June. Please note that these dates have been adjusted from the original schedule of 2 to 6 June due to the designation of the 6th of June as an official UN holiday of Eid al-Adha. The tentative work plan for the Annual Session 2025 has been circulated for your consideration. It aligns with the 2025 Annual Work Plan of the Executive Board, which was approved on the first day of this session. As previously communicated, the tentative work plan has been reviewed by the Bureau and remains subject to further adjustments if necessary. The annual session will begin on Monday, June 2nd, with organizational matters, during which the Board will consider the adoption of the work plan for the session and approve the report of the first regular session 2025. This will be followed by the joint segment covering internal audit and investigation, ethics, and addressing racism and racial discrimination. In the afternoon, the joint segment will continue with protection against sexual exploitation and abuse and sexual harassment, an update on the implementation efforts on the repositioning of the United Nations Development System, and an update on the assessment of how the Executive Board executes its governance and oversight functions. On Tuesday, 3rd June, the UNFPA segment will begin with a statement by the Executive Director, including the annual report of the Executive Director. In the afternoon, the UNOPS segment will begin with a statement by the UNOPS Executive Director covering the annual report of the Executive Director and the formative evaluation of the Process Innovation and Digitalization Programme. On Wednesday, 4th June, The UNDP segment will open with an interactive dialogue with the UNDP Administrator, which includes consideration of the Annual Report of the Administrator. In the afternoon, the UNDP and UNFPA segments will continue with discussions on evaluation-related items. On Thursday, 5 June, the UNDP segment will address the United Nations Capital Development Fund, the United Nations Volunteers, and Gender Equality at UNDP.

UNDP.

In the afternoon, the UNDP and UNFPA segments will focus on country programs and related matters. The joint segment will then continue with the item on field visits, followed by the adoption of decisions for the annual session and the adoption of the tentative work plan for the 2nd Regular Session 2025. Mr. President, it has been a true pleasure working closely with you, your team, the Bureau members, and the distinguished members of the Executive Board and observer delegations throughout this productive first regular session. Thank you.

Thank you very much. I'd now like to open the floor if there is anyone who would like to make some comments on what the Secretary, Ms. Jafari, just briefed us on. Since there seemed to be no request for comment, I thank you once again, Madam, and I take it that the Board is in agreement with the provisional tentative work plan for the Annual Session 2025. It is so decided. Excellencies, Excellencies, distinguished delegates, colleagues, friends, since we've got to the end of our first ordinary session of 2025, I wish to express my most sincere heartfelt thanks to all of you for your active and flexible participation in our deliberations. Throughout this week, we've engaged in substantive discussions and we've addressed essential issues for the work of the UNDP, UNFPA, and UNOPS. Similarly, we have adopted important documents for country programs, ensuring that cooperation with these agencies continues to respond to the needs on the ground. I wish to express my gratitude to the directors and the representatives of the UNDP, UNFPA, and UNOPS for their valuable contributions and their ongoing commitment to the work of these organizations. Similarly, I thank the Secretary of the Board for their tireless efforts and professional and very effective work in the preparation for and the management of this session. And I particularly congratulate, like I already did before, the facilitators of the different decisions that we've adopted. Your work was really a fundamental pillar of the work of this board. Aside from the facilitators, I wish to thank all delegations, each and every single delegation, because you've all participated actively and constructively in our discussions. It was a real pleasure to receive you at the Permanent Mission of Ecuador. Excellencies, distinguished delegates, colleagues, friends, as President, I wish to reassure you that you can count on our strong commitment to facilitate these procedures with a sense of openness, transparency, and with a spirit of collaboration. We will continue to work with you to ensure that the Executive Board can continue to play its role effectively looking towards the future. Like the Administrator of the UNDP shared us with regards to the constantly changing global context and the constantly changing context of development programs of the United Nations, there are— this is something that we can all trust in, and we should also trust in ourselves. As member states supporting this, and I think we can continue to ensure that the resources that are entrusted to us are made the most of to achieve the best impact, where each state can help to provide true changes and to ensure that our institutions remain effective and up to the task in the future and responsible. And also to engage in discussions on the new strategic plans of the UNDP, UNFPA, and UNOPS for the 2026 to 2029 period, considering various aspects of the broad quadriennial review of the policy. This is something that was subject to some very important discussions in the dialogues with the different directors and administrators of the boards. And the plan for June that we adopted today provides us a roadmap so that we continue to delve into further depth on these and other priority issues. I conclude by reiterating what I said in my opening remarks on Monday. As we move towards an uncertain future, it's essential for us to continue to advocate for revitalized multilateralism. That is in line with the complexities and tailored to them, the complexities of the 21st century. And I'm convinced that this is the best way that we can build a more just, sustainable, and resilient world for future generations. I wish you a lovely weekend and a good journey home for those who are returning back to your capitals. And I hope to see you again at future meetings. I now close the first ordinary session of 2025 of the Executive Boards of the UNDP, UNFPA, and UNOPS. Thank you very much.

Thank you.