(3rd meeting) Executive Board of UNDP, UNFPA and UNOPS (First regular session 2026)

Excellencies, dear colleagues, I declare open the third meeting of the first regular session 2026 of the executive board of undp unfpi, unops.

We continue now our meeting with the UNDP segment of this first regular session. We have on the agenda an interactive dialogue with the UNDP Administrator. And I'm very pleased to welcome again at the podium Mr. Alexander Decroux, the NDP administrator, who will deliver his statement to the Executive Board. I also want to tell you that joining on the podium, we have Mr. Hao Ling Xu, Associate Administrator of the UNDP. We have Mrs. Linda McGuire, Assistant Administrator and Director of the Bureau for Management services.

We have Mr. Marcos Neto, Assistant Administrator and Director of the Bureau for Policy and Program Support. And to my left we have Mrs. Ahuna Eziaconwa, Assistant Administrator and Director, Regional Bureau for Africa. And then we have Mrs. Kanye Wignaraja, Assistant Administrator and Director of the Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific, and Mrs. Ivana Djikovic, Assistant Administrator and Director, Regional Bureau for Europe and the CIS at undp. Many of them, practically all of them, you've met through the briefings that were organized in the weeks leading to this meeting. Without further ado, I give the floor to Mr. De Cru, the UNIP administrator.

Please. Thank you, Mr. President. Excellencies. As I said yesterday, I had the occasion to talk to many of you yesterday in this room. We are at a moment where the credibility and the relevance of the multilateral system is being tested.

We are at a moment where we see that conflicts are spreading faster than that diplomacy can cope with them. We are seeing that climate shocks are intensifying and becoming more expensive than ever. We also see that the progress in reducing poverty has stalled. And I think many of you have seen the indicators of that. I would like to highlight one, which I think is an extremely worrying one, is that after 25 years of reducing child mortality, between 2000 and 2024, child mortality has been halved.

Humanity has never ever done that in its existence. Last year, for the first time since long, it increased. This is the direct impact of cuts in development and cuts in aid, cuts that lead to less vaccine delivery. And less vaccine delivery has a very direct impact on the. The most vulnerable.

And these are our children. And underlying to that are structures which have been weakened, institutions which are broken. This really is testing our ability. This really is testing if our resolve is strong enough. And I want to go back to what I said in my introduction yesterday.

In the end, it is about trust and the trust in many things, and especially in Systems, but also in development, has been weakened. The trust that we have the capacity to solve global issues, the trust that international cooperation can actually deliver in the day to day lives of people. And at the same time, the expectations actually have increased. Expectations have increased at the moment where the resources have shrunk. And so restoring the trust that I talked about is probably the greatest challenge of our time.

Not only in the development environment, it's also rebuilding the confidence in the multilateral system and showing that multilateral cooperation can adapt and can deliver in those locations and for those people where it really matters. And so the question we have to address here today is in honoring the trust that is being put into us, how can we restore the dynamism, how can we restore the momentum that is required to deliver on those expectations that you put forward? In answering this, I see this Executive Board not only as an organ of oversight, I really see you as a strategic partner, as a partner that keeps UNDP focused, keeps us accountable, keeps us able to respond to the member states and to the people that we serve. And so, before looking ahead, I also want to use this occasion to take stock. I mean, where are we today and how have we delivered over the past years?

You know that we came at an end of the 2022-2025 strategic plan. And I want to use this occasion not to say that everything we did was perfect, but to show that we have, together with many others, with many other UN and other organizations, we have been able to deliver on the SDGs. First of all, on poverty and inequality. We supported reforms in countries home to more than 5 billion billion people. System reforms, access to services.

We work together with countries and for example, with a global fund to fight aids, tuberculosis and malaria to save the lives of millions of people. We worked in governance, a topic which is not always the most sexy one to work on. We participated in elections that in which more than 900 million people participated in 78 elections in 51 countries. We worked on resilience. We strengthened conflict prevention in more than 80 countries.

We supported more than 19 million IDPs in basic services, trying to give them a dignified livelihood. We worked in environment, in our nature pledge. UNDP protected more than 43 million hectares of ecosystems in energy. We transformed energy systems, for example, with extremely successful mini grids benefiting more than 82 million people directly and SMEs directly in their possibilities. We worked on climate.

You know that we are one of the main partners in the Climate Change Promise Initiative. We supported more than 90% of developing countries in designing and implementing their ambitions through the nationally defined contribution. And that has been recognized by the Secretary General. And he has asked UNDP to lead a UN wide drive to support countries in meeting the critical phase of implementation that we are entering into into now. In gender equality, a topic which is particularly close to my heart with a gender justice platform, we worked together with UN Women and supported women in more than 40 countries in responding to too many cases of gender based violence and enabling female leadership.

We also helped to align and to mobilize more than US$920 billion in realizing the SDGs, mobilizing public money, mobilizing private money, all of that in the ambition of realizing the Sustainable Development Goals. Really UNDP is the organization about what works in this world. There's enough people that will talk about what's not working and they have the right to do so. Because there are unfortunately many things that do not work. But there is also many things that do work.

And there's different ways of looking at the world. I mean, yes, this world has many problems to tackle with. You can concentrate on what's not working and that can consume a lot of your energy. Or you can, as we do, look at what works, concentrate on that, see on those initiatives that works. How can we broaden them?

How can we deepen them? How can we scale them up? UNDP believes that creating a better world does not happen by focusing on what's not working. It happens by focusing on what is working and helping that to expand. So in everything we do we try to respond, but we also try to anticipate risks.

We also try to anticipate risk related to nature, related to peace and to prosperity. Besides that, we are an integral part of the UN system. To the parties that we host and very often we will say this is part of the UNDP family. I really would say those organizations really are UNDP. UN volunteers.

More than 17,000 volunteers worked with communities in 172 countries. Last year our Multi partner Trust Fund office dispersed more than US$860 million to 41 UN entities in 11 countries. This was a UN system wide asset. Our Office for South South Cooperation and the trust funds that it is managing has been working together with 21 other UN agencies involving 150 countries, developing new models of financing, triangular cooperation and so on. And uncdf, after a major organization is today the UN entity dedicated on de risking funds.

There are many who talk about de risking in difficult circumstances. There's actually not many organizations who really do it. And UNCDF really is unique in doing that crowding in of private financing. And we all believe that private financing has an important role to play. Many talk about it.

Very few do what UNCDF is doing now. I talk about delivery. We also have to talk about finances. And the positive part is that last year we were able to deliver for $4.8 billion in services in our delivery. At the same time, we see that our core funding is shrinking.

And this remains one of the key pressure points. It is expected to have reached 442 million last year. But if you compare this year to 2024, our estimation is that it will be 188 million lower to 2026 compared to 2024. I have to be very clear and very heads on on this topic. Without a reversal of the core funding erosion, we cannot sustain the quality, the integrity and the accountability that many of you will ask for in the interventions that you will have this morning.

You ask us to operate in those environments where the risks and the needs are greater than ever. Without the core funding to support that, it is very hard to respond to your demands. And it is not to say that we did not adapt our cost base, budget management, workforce alignment, relocation. These exercises have been incredibly hard and painful for many of our staff. And I really would like to use this occasion to thank them for all the efforts that we have done.

And I want to talk to them directly. Those efforts are what is necessary today to protect our delivery and to make sure that we are financially healthy and financially stable. And over the past week, there's been some talking about our relocation efforts. And some people might say, well, UNDP is decentralizing. Well, we have been always decentralized.

I mean, UNDP has, from the start, had more than 90% of its staff being outside of the headquarters. And we are now moving to a distributed global hub model with an increased presence in Bonn in Germany, and in Madrid in Spain. And the reasons for the relocation effort are very, very clear. First of all, to deepen our strategic partnerships. Strategic partnerships with countries that are close contributors.

Strategic partnerships in working closer to those areas where we have an impact. Second element, yes, it is to make our financing more sustainable. Savings, which are between 17 and 20% of the posts that are being relocated, but also to improve our delivery. The savings that we do are basically core funding. I mean, this is the way we, in our reorganization, are trying to compensate a bit for the cuts in core funding.

It enables us to do those things that you ask from an organization such as undp. So this was about the Past strategic plan. Let me now shift to the current strategic plan, which we started to implement since one month. And I first of all would like to thank the whole team. Thank you.

And thank Achim Steiner for really a very nice present that they have given to me. Starting as a new administrator with a strategic plan which is widely consulted and which is as relevant as ever, is one of the greatest gifts that you can get. Now that strategic plan is very clear on the changes that are happening in the development landscape. I'm not going to use this podium today to talk too much about the changes. What I want to talk about is how do we seize those changes, how do we seize those opportunities and how do we implement in line with them?

So let me highlight three of them. First, one. It will be our ambition to put development back at the heart of the global discussions today. And I fully understand that today the discussion is about conflicts. It's about peace and security, it's about how do we manage maturity, migration flows, it's about illicit drug flows.

I fully understand that. And there's a reason why these discussions are today on the front stage. But these discussions, as valuable as they are, they are symptom discussions. They are not discussions about the root cause and the root cause for those symptoms that I just mentioned. Our weak systems, our poverty, our exclusion, our eroded trust.

I come back to the element of trust. And we see that the systemic risk throughout the world is increasing. No one, not even the richest, not even the most stable country can say today that they are not being touched by that increase of, of systemic risk. If we reduce the role of development, those systemic risks will become more fundamental than ever. So what we need to do is to break that cycle and be very clear.

Investing in defence is the first line of investing in development. Sorry, invest is the first line of defense. Investing in defense is not wrong either, but you have to do both. So let me rephrase before the camera is quoting me in the wrong way. Investing in development is the first line of defence.

And investing in defense is not something wrong either. Why do I mention that that has become. Because if you do it well, it prevents instability instead of having to manage it. When we strengthen institutions, we don't have to deal with collapsing institutions afterwards. And when we create opportunity, we do not give space to despair that so often leads to extremism.

And that is why this strategic plan puts prevention and resilience at the core of, of our action. And as you know, UNDP is active very often in fragile circumstances, in high risk environments. We see firsthand that when we see collapse, rebuilding takes generation and fragility impacts all of us. No one can say today that they are immune to fragility. And so the question that we have is, do we invest in prevention or do we take the cost of repair?

And that cost of repair is very, very expensive. So development is an investment, it's not a cost. But not investing in development, then the consequences are a cost. That's the choice that we have. Do we want to invest in prevention, in stabilizing, which is an investment, but which is only a fraction of the cost that all of us will have in dealing with the consequences of not investing in development.

So that was my first point, putting development back at the core discussions that we have on the worldwide level today. Second element is seizing the opportunity that is created by having the right conditions for inclusive private sector engagement. Now, I'm not here to say that public investment does not have a role to play. Public investment remains crucial, but public investment cannot deliver the scale, the speed and the sustainability that is demanded today. And UNDP has always been working quite close with the private sector.

But I'm convinced that we can do much, much more.

One of the more positive elements today is that there is absolutely no lack of capital. Yes, public investment and development is shrinking, but there is more capital than ever. And I know sometimes people will talk about global wealth and say, you know, a fraction of global wealth could actually solve everything. Yes, in theory, yes. But we know that in the short term that is not going to happen.

I am talking about capital that is today available for investment and that is looking for a decent return. I am not talking here about monopolistic returns. I am talking about the basic decent return which is related to the risk that is being incurred. Why is that investable capital not flowing today in today's environments, to these environments where it is really necessary? Well, we all know it's linked to the fact that there is often risk.

There's often risk, but there's also perceived risk. Very often the analysis of risk and perceived risk is not exactly the same. But we also know that there is a lack of rule of law and sometimes difficulties with governance. This is where we come in. This is where UNDP can play a crucial role in working together with local entities in providing that governance, in providing that investment climate where private investment can take place.

This is our role. Our role is not to be the market. Our role is to create those environments where the markets can function and can function in an inclusive way to the benefit of everyone. And I come back to one of the organizations which we host and which are part of UNDP is uncdf. There is no organization today that is more effective in making what you could call sea grade markets ready to be investable.

When those places are investable, jobs are being created, innovation takes place, entrepreneurship take place, people pay taxes. And when people pay taxes, they contribute to the resources of local entities. And when local entities have their own financing, they can track their own future. And I'm convinced that development is only done right if you have local political leadership. I'm convinced that the private sector is at the core of doing development right, doing it at the right effort with sustainable finance.

It will increase the impact of the development efforts that we have. Third element, and last one that I want to put forward is harvesting the power of digital and of innovation. And this is one of the key accelerators to scale and to make development as inclusive, as trustworthy as possible. Today, digital transformation, it's not optional. It is an integral part of development.

And we are convinced that if digital transformation is done well, it is an incredible accelerator of development in reducing the cost and exposing, for example, corruption, in broadening the reach of the actions that we have. But if it is not done right, if it is not managed well, it can deepen exclusion, it can concentrate power, and it can erode the trust that I have mentioned a few times in my intervention. The question is not whether we will use technology and digital. The question is how. Also there UNDP has a policy and an implementation role to play to make sure that development becomes a coherent, that innovation becomes a coherent part of development.

Now, if we want to harvest those three elements that I just put forward, in a changing world, it is clear that multilateralism will have to adapt.

Because if it is not adapting, multilateralism and the development pillar of multilateralism really risks becoming irrelevant. And we had the occasion yesterday, a whole morning together with the DSG as our guest, to talk about UN80, to talk about the role that we intend to play in shaping UN80. And we share DSG's call for a stronger UN. And UN80 is a very important step in making that happen. But again, I would like to use this occasion in repeating my call for putting delivery at the core of the unity reform.

We are weakened if we don't deliver. That actually is broader than just the un. Why are democracies being weakened these days? It's not only because of social media. That would be too easy.

Democracies risk to be weakened when they don't deliver, because that's what is tangible for people, if democracies don't deliver, they're weakened and the trust in democracies is weakening. That's the same for us is the development pillar is not delivering. Trust is eroding because that's what we are there for. We are there for to deliver for those populations that we work with. And so in doing that, we need to reform while sustaining our delivery.

And that's a delicate balance that we have to strike. Yes, reform. The reform is overdue. It's necessary. But making sure that we continue to deliver is a crucial element.

That is why from the start I emphasized listen, partner and deliver.

How we do development, how we do our work is as important as what we deliver. We will listen. We will listen to the member states. We will listen to the national political leaders with whom we work. We will listen to civic space.

We will listen to the communities that we work with. We will partner. We will partner because no one can do it alone in this development world. The issues that we have to tackle with are so complicated that even a large organization such as UNDP cannot do it on its own. Working together with others, partnering with others, enables us to be stronger, listen, partner.

But we will also deliver, deliver change on the ground, deliver results for the communities we work with. Development you can see, Development you can feel and development you can trust. That is development done the UNDP way, accountable to the member states, with impact that the people can feel. Excellencies, I'm finishing at the start. I talked about trust.

I talked about how that trust is being eroded. I talked about what's at stake, how do we restore it? Not only with declarations, not only with good intentions. We restore it with delivery. That you can see.

And there is not one solution to create development or to create prosperity in the world. You need end policy and system reforms and integration. And you need to deal with fragility. And it's different in any location that we work. That is why it's hard.

There is not one recipe, there is not one organization that can do it. There is no magic formula to create prosperity throughout the world. But it's not because it's hard that we would be stepping back. I would say rather the opposite. The fact that it is hard really motivates us in being more determined than ever.

And this is my final message to this executive board asking you to be a strong partner in the life changing reforms that we implement on site. And for that we need a healthy funding mix. Yes, core funding I've mentioned, and flexible funding and multi year funding. Healthy mix. But each one of these are necessary.

And I mentioned the importance of the private sector, but without public sector, you will see more devastating impact as the ones that, that I talked about at the start. And for the ones that do fund us in a predictable way with earmarked funding and with core funding. Thank you. We really appreciate it. We would love you to do more and many of you to do more.

But besides that classic view of funding, which remains more important than ever, we also see changes. We see that many of the countries where we work are financing their own developments. And that's heartwarming. And we are a partner in that. And we also see that there's new partners, that there is non traditional partners who choose to work with us.

And that's a nice feeling to have. We see it as a voice of confidence. We are open to these many different ways of funding. And it's one of the reasons why we are going to such a fundamental reform within our organization. I'm convinced that the combination of reforms that deliver the predictability of funding, the fair burden sharing, the accountability to you Member States, it will enable us to restore trust and it will show us that together we can deliver.

Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Administrator. I think that was a very powerful message, very coherent as well. You talked a lot about trust. I would say that Member States in general, they do trust the UNDP the way you deliver on the mandate.

And I very much, I think your mobilizing message also focus quite a lot on what is at the core of our work and how we can inform discussions and debates on development by looking at the fundamental issues, which is, you know, good governance and strong institutions address the root causes of insecurity. I think that's important. That's what we do and seizing the opportunities. So I, you know, I'm in a reflection mode after your statement and I open the floor for delegations. Before I do that, I have to remind you the protocol, the speaking protocol will have first interventions by Bureau members, followed by groups and cross regional statements.

And then we will have permanent representatives and DPRs who requested inscription by the deadline of 28 January, followed by those PRs and DPRs requesting the floor during the meeting. You may request the floor during the meeting as well. Speaking time is five minutes for group statements, three minutes for national individual interventions, including Bureau members. There is no 30 second grace period. Microphones will be cut off once the allotted time has elapsed.

I don't have control of the microphone myself as much as I could be inclined to extend it. So let's try to concentrate. We have a long list of speakers this morning and I would also like to encourage you to make to distribute whenever it's available. You know the full statements to the email that you have and you know estatements.com we start now with the members of the Bureau and I give the floor to so I'll tell you the order we have. First we have members of the Bureau of Jamaica and Finland and then followed by groups Rwanda, Uruguay, Palau, the Netherlands and then member states Denmark, Bangladesh.

So I give the floor to Finland.

Mr. President, Mr. Administrator, as this is the first time I have the pleasure to address you in an official meeting of the Executive Board, allow me to warmly congratulate you for assuming the position of Administrator. You are not faced with an easy task, but you can count on Finland's continued support to UNDP and you personally. Thank you for your clear and forward looking intervention. Finland shares the analysis that restoring trust in multilateralism requires delivery that is visible, inclusive and grounded in people's everyday realities.

Allow me to reflect briefly on the three priorities you outlined. First, Finland firmly believes that sustainable development is the most effective form of prevention. UNDP's role in fragile and high risk contexts is indispensable and we support the Strategic Plan's emphasis on resilience and prevention. Second, Finland agrees that public finance alone will never be sufficient to meet today's, let alone tomorrow's development needs. We therefore welcome UNDP's work in areas where public funding contributes to mobilizing private capital, such as strengthened governance and improved investment climate.

Third, Finland sees great potential in using rights based digitalization and innovation to strengthen trust in institutions, improve transparency and expand access to services. Finland values UNDP's leadership in supporting countries to shape their own digital pathways, ensuring that technology reduces inequalities rather than deepens them across all three priorities. Gender equality should remain central to your work. Digital, economic and institutional transformations will only succeed if women and girls are able to fully participate and benefit from them. Finally, Finland welcomes UNDP's active engagement in.

Advancing the UN 80 reform agenda. We appreciate UNDP's commitment to reform that is future oriented and evidence based, focused. On improved delivery towards achieving the SDGs. We thank UNDP for its constructive role. In these joint efforts and look forward to continued close cooperation in strengthening a.

More effective, agile and trusted multilateral system. Mr. Administrator, you asked the right question in your presentation how to restore trust and positively how can we seize the momentum? We firmly believe the UNDP is well equipped to achieve that vision of yours. Thank you.

I thank Finland for the statement I give. Now the floor to Jamaica, please.

Thank you, Mr. President. Jamaica aligns itself with a statement to be delivered by Uruguay on behalf of G76 and China. As this is my first time taking the floor during this session, I would like to congratulate you as well as the Vice Presidents on your respective election to the Bureau of the Joint Executive Board. Allow me to reaffirm Jamaica's support for your leadership as well as our commitment to the work of the Bureau. I also extend Warm congratulations to Mr. Alexander Decruw on his recent appointment as the UNDP Administrator.

Welcome to the first regular session of the Board. We are pleased to have you here. You have assumed this responsibility at a defining transitionary period in the United nations history and strong leadership will be required to reshape UNDP and the multilateral system itself. We are confident in your ability to steer UNDP through these changing tides to steady your shores. The period ahead will be defined by two transformative principles, Reform and renewal.

Within this Context, the ongoing UN80 initiative is expected to yield meaningful system wide outcomes that will enhance the organization's effectiveness, responsiveness and its ability to deliver the greatest possible impact for present and future generations. In this regard, Jamaica is honored to be co chair in the informal Ad Hoc Working Group on the Mandate Implementation Review alongside New Zealand. Our leadership in this process demonstrates our deep commitment to inclusive evidence based research reform as well as our belief in the role and mandate of the United Nations. The recently adopted Strategic Plan will be particularly consequential during the reform process, offering a compass for organizational direction during a time of systematic change. The plan, built to be adaptive in nature and grounded in strategic foresight, must deliver on its promises to the regions, countries and people that need the UN the most as Member States.

Let us also be reminded that UNDP's success can only be assured by our continued support through, among other things, voluntary contributions or rather increased voluntary contributions. Additionally, we will continue to closely monitor the assessment of the UNDP UNOPS merger. As stated by caricom. Any structural realignment, including potential mergers or adjustments to reporting lines, must be assessed not only from the standpoint of efficiency, but also through the lens of equity, accessibility and the organization's long term capacity to support member states. Mr. President, it is also worth noting that the Governor General of Jamaica recently proclaimed 26th January as National UNDP Day.

This marks 50 years of solid partnership since official operationalization of the multi Country Office in Kingston in 1976. In that regard and as I close, allow me to extend sincere thanks to UNDP on behalf of the Government of Jamaica for its assistance that it rendered.

Thank you very much. Right on time. I give now the floor to Rwanda on behalf of the African Group, to be followed by Uruguay on behalf of the group of 77.

Mr. President, Excellencies, Distinguished delegates, I have the honor to deliver these remarks on behalf of the African Group members of the Executive Board, namely Chad, Cote d', Ivoire, Madagascar, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tunisia, Zambia, and my own country, Rwanda. At the outset, the African Group wishes to warmly congratulate the Administrator on his appointment to lead the Agency at a pivotal time.

The Group is confident that under his leadership, the UNDP will remain the pillar of UN's Development Activities and its work will remain anchored on continuous engagement and partnership with the Member States in charting their developmental journey. We wish to thank the Administrator for his comprehensive briefing to the Executive Board and the reflections shared during this session. As we look ahead to the year 20262029 cycle, the African Group underscores that a fit for purpose UN development system must be result driven, mandate anchored and people centered. The African Group recognizes that the UN8 initiative presents an opportunity to strengthen the multilateral system at a time of profound global strain. However, reform must go beyond cost containment.

It must preserve mandates, sustain delivery capacity and remain anchored in results. At the country level. We underline that successful transformation requires consultation, transparency and ownership, including meaningful engagement with the personnel who carry out these mandates. Reform processes that erode institutional memory or specialized expertise weaken our collective impact. We therefore welcome continued efforts to place people at the center of reform, including through strategies that promote diversity, inclusion and fairness across the system.

A motivated and supported workforce is essential for navigating complex crises and sustaining long term development. Development Gains the African Group remains concerned by the widening gap between expectations placed on the UN development system and the resources made available to do it. Declining core funding, rising debt burdens and escalating climate shocks continue to constrain delivery, particularly in vulnerable contexts. We therefore urge the UNDP to become more effective in mobilizing and aligning financing for national development priorities and and in delivering at the scale to ensure lasting development outcomes and restore trust in multilateralism. We further urge UNDP to prioritize results, resilience and institutional credibility on the ground as crisis, climate shocks and conflict increasingly intersect with the development.

The UNDP needs to remain relevant and deliver in the most difficult context while also supporting governments to build systems that last beyond projects. We we however, note that while funding windows offer flexibility they cannot replace predictable core resources which are indispensable for universal presence, neutrality and long term planning. The African Group remains a committed partner in strengthening the UN Development system. We look forward to reforms that protect mandates, value people and enable the system to deliver tangible results for those the furthest behind. Thank you, Mr. President.

I thank Rwanda for the statement delivered on behalf of the Africa Group. I give the floor to Uruguay on behalf of the group of 77 plus China.

I have the honor to deliver this statement on behalf of the G77 and China. At the outset I wish to warmly congratulate you, Mr. President and the Bureau on your election. We would like to welcome the new UNDP Administrator, Mr. Alexander de Cru and wish him great success in this important role. Mr. Administrator, the Group of 77 and China expresses its appreciation for your statement, acknowledges UNDP's valuable contributions to implementing national and regional development plans as well as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and reiterates our Group's full support to the vision and direction outlined in the UNDP new Strategic Plan.

The United Nations Development System is a crucial partner in enhancing and accelerating assistance to developing countries in implementing their respective sustainable development priorities and supporting their efforts to achieve them through collaboration with the resident coordinators in 2026. We bear a significant responsibility to ensure any reform processes pertaining to unity, including the UNDP UNOPS merger proposed by the Secretary General are fully respectful of the intergovernmental nature of the United nations, taking into account the long term institutional and country level consequences of these deliberations. We also wish to stress that adequate time is needed for independent verification of data and to assess implications as well as to ensure a state led, well informed, transparent and inclusive process. In particular, any merger proposal should not lead to the dilution of development mandates. It should strengthen delivery in the ground, be objective, led by a data driven evidence based approach and be supported by cost benefit analysis and comprehensive risk assessments.

As you have clearly indicated, Mr. Administrator, alternative options should also be duly analyzed. The group of 77 and China agrees with the UNDP's administrator vision that any reform must be operational and cannot pose or interrupt on the ground delivery. In addition, we consider any reform should remain fully aligned with the QCPR and UNDS repositioning resolutions which emphasize agile coordination, comparative advantage and country tailored models. We commend UNDP Country Program's continued emphasis on national ownership and leadership which are indispensable to address developing countries pain specific needs and priorities.

Country Program documents should remain the core programmatic and oversight framework and any institutional adjustment should not weaken the Board's ability to guide, monitor and hold the system accountable for country level results. The Group of 77 and China supports the role of Resident Coordinators in promoting greater coherence, coordination and impact on the ground. At the same time, we consider that large operational agencies should should retain some direct access to national counterparts when this is the host country's preference, including to avoid excessive bureaucratization and the weakening of responsiveness, partnership and delivery at the country level, the group of 77 and China reiterates its growing concern about the continuing decline in core resources and the widening gap between core and non core funding, a trend that risks undermining the ability of UNDP to effectively effectively deliver on its mandate, particularly in the poorest and most vulnerable countries. We extend our appreciation to all Member States that continue to provide its financial support to UNDP and we reiterate the long standing call for a significant increase in core contributions urging all development partners to reverse the current trajectory by providing adequate, predictable and flexible funding which is indispensable to achieving the Strategic Plan's objectives. As it has been pointed out by you, Mr.

Administrator, development is not a cost. It is an investment in stability, human dignity and peace and prosperity on a livable planet and needs to be back at the heart of global decision making. Finally, regarding the concern raised in our letter dated 30 January 202026 over the significant reduction on the resources to be allocated by UNDP to the United Office on South South Cooperation under the new Strategic Framework, the group of 77 and China wishes to acknowledge and appreciate the constructive dialogue maintained with you and your team with a view to ensuring continued support to the trust funds. Mr. Administrator, amid the multiple global crises we are currently facing, we wish to assure you of our Group's firm support to your leadership in restoring trust in international cooperation through tangible results and deliverables for the people we serve.

Thank you. I thank Uruguay for the statement delivered on behalf of the group of 77 in China. I give the floor to Palau on behalf of the alliance of Small Island States, to be followed by Netherlands on behalf of Benelux Group Palau. Please, you have the floor.

Mr. President.

Mr. Administrator, I have the honor to deliver these remarks on behalf of the 39 members of the alliance of Staff Small Island States. At the outset, EOCIS wishes to congratulate Mr. Alexander Decruw on his appointment as administrator for the UN Development Program. We look forward to working closely with you as we deepen our cooperation with UNDP as a key development partner to sids across the globe, especially at this time of immense uncertainty. Indeed, our dialogue today comes at a moment of profound consequence for multilateralism, development cooperation and for those reliant on the development system, especially small island developing states.

Today, access to affordable finance, indebtedness and small economies of scale remain pressing challenges to overcome. Poverty and unemployment remain major constraints for sids, with youth unemployment often exceeding global averages in some island states. For this reason, UNDP remains a critical partner for sids, often the first responder, a trusted convener and the institution closest to our realities given its presence on the ground. Therefore, as we further our deliberations under the UN 80 initiative, AOC views reform not as an end in itself, but as an opportunity to ensure that the United nations can better serve those who depend on it most. UN80 must result in a development system that's more responsive, less fragmented and better equipped to deliver.

As such, proposals for reconfigurations or mergers need to ensure that UNDP itself is adequately and predictably resourced, empowered and present in sids. Efficiency gains must never come at the expense of accessibility for sids or responsiveness to their unique circumstances. AOC also emphasizes the importance of predictable, flexible and concessional support for SIDS. UNDP's ability to deliver for SIDS depends not only on mandates but on the financing model that underpins its work. We therefore call on partners to ensure that UNDP is sufficiently supported to remain a strong and reliable partner for SIDS.

Mr. President Aussis also urges UNDP to continue to integrate the objectives of the Antigua and Barbuda agenda for SIDS ABBAS into its strategic planning and development activities with a clear time frame for implementation. In this regard, we welcome UNDP's support and engagement in the following areas. First, on financing EOS's calls for UNDP's continued leadership in facilitating SIDS access to climate finance, development funds, partnerships and investment opportunities. In this context, initiatives such as the Island Investment Forum should be supported as effective platforms to connect governments, investors and development partners and to mobilize sustainable investment in areas including renewable energy infrastructure, sustainable tourism and the blue economy. Second, to ensure that UNDP support is tailored to the specific realities of sids, we underscore the importance of incorporating the Multidimensional Vulnerability Index into policy making.

The MVI provides a critical tool to more accurately assess vulnerability beyond income metrics, enabling the design of development interventions that address structural risk and build long term resilience. Third, the SIDS center of Excellence has strong potential as a collaborative platform for capacity building, technical assistance, innovation and knowledge and technology transfer. AUSSIS encourages UNDP to deepen engagement with the center to help SIDS build productive capacity and sustainable development pathways. In closing, AOCYS reaffirms its strong support for UNDP and its mission. We look forward to continued engagement to ensure that the objectives of of the ABBAS and the pledge to ensure that no one is left behind translate into tangible outcomes for our people.

We stand ready to work with you, Mr. Administrator, to ensure that UNDP can continue to deliver effectively and decisively for small island developing States. I thank you.

I thank Palau for the statement delivered on behalf of the alliance of Small Island States. I give the floor to the Netherlands on behalf of Benner's group, to be followed by Denmark.

Thank you, Mr. President. It's my honor to deliver this statement on behalf of the Benelux, Belgium, Luxembourg and my country, the Kingdom of the Netherlands. I'd like to first congratulate you, Mr. President and new members of the Board on your election. I wish you good luck. We'd also like to warmly welcome the new Administrator, Alexander de Crow Gefeli Sittert and helpful success.

We very much welcome the new leadership and at a time when the un, including undp, is navigating a period of significant uncertainty, pressure and reforms. We wish you, Mr. Administrator, every success in steering UNDP in these turbulent times. And we look forward to closely cooperating with you in the coming years. The Benelux countries are particularly proud of the professionalism, dedication, impact of UNDP staff and partners worldwide.

While often working under very challenging circumstances, we also greatly value UNDP's role in translating Agenda 2030 intangible results on the ground through a human rights based approach, the promotion of gender equality and sustained action to protect our planet under the guidance of the new Strategic Plan with delivery and trust at its very core. As you said, Mr. President, Administrator, this morning, on behalf of the Benelux, I'd like to highlight three points that are important to us. First of all, we are a proud, long standing partner of undp. Especially in areas such as rule of law, governance and peace building. Including in fragile context areas where institutional erosion, insecurity and inequality most threaten progress in sustainable development.

This means that acting decisively in these areas remain critical to effectively addressing today's interconnected development, peace and security challenges. Especially in these areas. We very much look forward to continuing our partnership in this regard. Our second point, we very much encourage UNDP to clearly articulate and make full use of its comparative advantage within the UN development system. Your words this morning were very Encouraging in this regard.

UNDP's broad mandate, large country presence and strong technical and operational capacity position. It all fits well to act as a system integrator. It is crucial for UNDP to strongly support the Resident coordinator system and RC leadership. Delivering AS AS1 is and remains key. Our third and last point, as the UN80 process advances, we count on UNDP's pivotal leadership to ensure that reform efforts preserve core mandates and normative functions while meaningful, engaging Executive Boards and Member States in a transparent, inclusive process.

In this context, UNDP's Workforce Optimization and other major structural changes are an integral part of the reform effort. And we recognize how challenging these developments can be for your staff, Mr. Administrator. We therefore stress the importance of timely, transparent and meaningful engagement with staff as well as with the Executive Board, especially as such decisions may have direct implications for the implementation of the strategic Plan. In closing, the Benelux countries would like to reiterate our strong and very, I mean strong and ongoing support to undp.

Thank you. I thank the Netherlands for the statement delivered on behalf of Benelux. I give the floor to Denmark and then we'll give a chance to the Administrator to react quickly to the statement so far. So Denmark, please.

Thank you, Mr. President.

And thank you, Mr. Administrator. And let me first also particularly welcome you, Mr. DeCrow, here at your first board session. We look forward to working with you. As you have made quite clear in Your excellent statement, 2026 unfolds amid geopolitical uncertainty and a shrinking fragmented ODA landscape combined with pressure on the entire multilateral system.

As you have mentioned, UN80 reform is therefore essential to manage the transition to a new global reality. And while financial pressures are real, Denmark sees UN80 primarily as an opportunity to correct fragmentation, competition and application that undermines effectiveness and the trust that you also talked about, Mr. Administrator. Denmark supports ambitious and concrete steps towards mergers, consolidations and realignments, enabling the UN to deliver as one. Given the UNDP's size and massive fields present, UNDP is instrumental in supporting integration in the UN country teams.

Under RC leadership, we can build on UNDP's experience and expertise to provide more shared services, more shared expertise and more common back offices. This is an important element in the reconfiguration of country teams. Denmark also supports the ongoing assessment of a possible merger between UNDP and unops. We appreciate the presentation of the preliminary assessment and look forward to the full assessment as well as the Secretary General's recommendations as soon as possible. Mr. President, as UNDP navigates a demanding internal reform agenda with relocation and Cross cutting.

UNDP now also enters the implementation phase of its strategic plan. Several focus areas match Danish ODA priorities, including your work on governance, job creation, private sector engagement and climate. We look forward to working closely with you on implementation, including defining the indicators that that must demonstrate strong outputs, outcomes and impact over the next four years. Denmark is proud to continue to provide 0.7% of its GNI to ODA and to increase our core contribution to UNDP in 2026, making us among the top three donors in core support. This is a sign of our strong trust in you and in the multilateral system.

I thank you.

I thank Denmark for the statement and indeed, in keeping with the interactive format of our conversation, we'll go back briefly to the Administrator when we return to laser speakers. We have Bangladesh, Cuba, El Salvador, Australia, India, Morocco, Ukraine, Armenia and then we'll continue. Mr. Administrator, please.

Yes, thank you.

Thank you, Mr. President. And let me start with the last intervention and really thank you for Denmark's increasing core. There is not many countries that increase core and so we really, really appreciate the sign of confidence that is in the organization of undp. I think you talked about the opportunity of being more efficient in going further in shared services and so on. And we agree, I think that in the UNDP, in the UN80 effort, there's quite some things which we can do on a very short term and which could deliver some, some efficiencies, which does not mean that further reforms don't need to happen.

But if you can show that you have a rapid delivery of results in unity, I think the enthusiasm will further further increase. I think you and the intervention of the Benelux also talked about the importance of the, of the RC system and embedding that in the country Team reconfiguration. We agree 100%. As I said yesterday, UNDP is the largest contributor financially to the RC system. So we are a fan of it and we want to make it function, but we have to adapt it to the different circumstances to make sure that we get the most value out of it as possible.

Continuing, maybe on the Benelux intervention, you mentioned the importance of rule, of law, of justice. We agree it's one of the elements, one of the basic elements in providing development is at least some stability and have some protection very often for local communities. We've been investing in rule of law justice interventions for almost 60 million in Yemen and in other countries. We also do it at a very local level in Senegal and Afghanistan because we know that working together with local entities is actually a Very direct way of providing security and delivering on the rule of law and justice reforms. Let me continue then in the opposite order of delivery.

Intervention of Palo in the name of the small island state states. The Rising up for SIDS strategy is an important one for us. We support 38 different countries with that in an integrated approach. 350 million of delivery in small island states in domains of climate, clean energy, risk reduction and so on. And I think we will further to continue adapting our offer to the specific needs of the small island developing states.

The intervention of Uruguay in the name of G77. Let me start first of all on what you said on the Office of South South Cooperation. I mentioned it also in my first introduction. The office and the funds that it manages is very important to us. And we really appreciate the openness for us to go in a dialogue with you in fine tuning the reforms that we are doing and making sure that the capacities that we have today are being maintained despite a challenging financial environment in which we work.

You mentioned the importance of national ownership and development. I 100% agree. I think I mentioned it also in introduction and the importance of the country program documents. Some of them will be discussed in the next days. Obviously this is the framework in which we operate and it is at the core of our development effort.

These are CPD's which are agreed at the ED level and then we operate in them. And that really is our guiding, guiding framework. Intervention of Rwanda in the name of the Africa Africa group. You mentioned the importance of protecting financing. I think I have used ample time in explaining how important core is.

We have been able to quite well protect core funding last year with 95% of establishment of the revised targets. Besides that, we work with new strategic partners. We work with philanthropy. 70 million being raised in philanthropy in a first effort. And we hope that that can continue to increase funding.

Window 115 million. And we are the largest manager of cumulative pooled funding of 220 million intervention of Jamaica. Jamaica, sorry.

You mentioned resilience support. And this obviously is something very close to the reality that you had to live over the past years and months. Working in these contexts of natural disasters is one where UNDP with its development approach needs to be involved as soon as possible. And we are in good conversation with our humanitarian friends on how we can get the development aspect in there as soon as possible. Resilience, normalization, if I can call it that way you can do it.

I mean, the earlier intervene with development, the earlier you actually can realize can realize it. And then the intervention of Finland, at the start you mentioned gender equality, which I hope I made clear in my speech how important it is personally to me and to our organization. Last year we supported 173 women in access to essential services and 139 million in access to financial services. And we know how crucial that is. Very happy to hear your emphasis on the role of technology.

Indeed, technology done right is an incredible accelerator for development, but that does not go by itself. It demands a policy and a real implementation effort to make it go right. But if you look at the projects we managed last year, more than 50% of the projects we did there was a digital component to IT and AI enabled projects. We did more than 100 last year. And we expect in the year to come that it will be much more than that.

Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Administrator. We continue with the list of speakers. I give the floor to Bangladesh, to be followed by Cuba.

Thank you, Mr. President. Bangladesh aligns itself with the statement of G77 and China at the outset, we congratulate the new administrator for assuming your. Responsibility and we look forward to working with you. We thank the UN leadership, UNDP leadership for their partnership and the 2026-29 strategic plan which reflects our core priorities of. Inclusive prosperity and effective governance.

Mr. President, on a global level, we fully support the UN80 reform effort. With only 35% SDG targets on track, we trust that UNDP will prioritize continuity of operations and protect development gains during this critical reform period. Following the historic democratic transition of 2024, Bangladesh is preparing for national polls on February 12 this year. UNDP remains a trusted technical partner in this journey. Through the ballot project, we have successfully integrated 6 million new youth voters into our roles, thus ensuring that the next generation remains at the heart of our democracy.

Excellencies. As Bangladesh approaches its LDC graduation, we look forward to UNDP's continued cooperation. To make this transition sustainable, international support. Must be extended and withdrawn in phased and predictable manner. Commensurate with our development status here, we want to highlight that Global south is now a source of solutions.

Social business models that prioritize social objectives offer a viable pathway to resilience in. Sectors like health and education. We also view south south cooperation as a vital complement to north south partnership. Bangladesh also calls for addressing the realities of the most climatically vulnerable nations. Facing extreme weather events every year, including floods and droughts, Bangladesh demonstrated significant success in local adaptation.

We want UNDP to scale up its. Technical implementation of adaptation projects focusing on building resilient infrastructure and sustainable livelihood for our most vulnerable communities.

Mr. President, regarding the ongoing reform processes including the unity, we reiterate our call to maintain an appropriate balance between policy engagement and country level programming. On the question of merger, we strongly. Call for inclusive, transparent and data driven. Processes where Member States will have the ultimate say. We must keep in mind that the mandate of the UNDP is non negotiable when it comes to delivery.

Mr. Administrator and Dear colleagues, please rest assured. Of our full support in this endeavor. I thank you.

I thank Bangladesh for the statement.

I now give the floor to Cuba to be followed by El Salvador.

Thank you very much.

Chair seemed Administrator Mr. Alexandre de Cru Dist. Distinguished members of the Executive Board of the delegations. We thank the UNDP Administrator for his introduction. We reiterate our congratulations upon your election. We align with the statements by Uruguay and Palau on behalf of the G77 and China and Oasis respectively.

We highlight the relevance of the work of the UNDP in the current context and we reaffirm our commitment to its mandate. Strengthening the impact of the Programme is decisive if we are to make sustainable development a reality rather than an unattainable dream. Against this backdrop, the fulfilment of international financial commitments in the area of development is vital. Financial resources for development must be adequate, predictable and flexible to enable the UNDP to carry out its mandate and work effectively with a view to eradicating poverty and achieving prosperity for all. We reiterate that any reform of the United nations system must preserve the relevance of the Development pillar and protect initiatives, projects and resources that are aimed at achieving the SDGs.

The UNDP has worked with Cuba for more than 50 years in pursuit of our sustainable development. The UNDP's support has been crucial in overcoming obstacles inherent to our status as a democratic developing country, as well as those conditions imposed by the blockade of the US Government against Cuba, which has continued to be intensified of unprecedented levels. In this context, we ratify our strong condemnation of the new escalation of the United States. It now proposes to impose a total blockade on fuel supplies to our country. It is a brutal act of aggression.

It is in violation of international law and the norms of free trade which aim to subject the nation to extreme conditions for survival. International peace and stability are now hanging by a thread. Together with it, any effort towards sustainable development is at risk. Peace, solidarity and international cooperation are urgent foundations required in the face of aggression, impunity and abuse and threats that loom not only over Cuba and our region, but humanity as a whole. We look forward to the support of the international community in our efforts towards the sustainable development of our people and their right to live in peace.

And we kindly request the support of the members of the Executive Board to successfully approve the country program document that was developed in close collaboration between the UNDP and the Cuban government. I thank you.

I thank Cuba for the statement. I now give the floor to El Salvador, to be followed by Australia.

Thank you, President. We have full support. We align with the intervention of Uruguay on behalf of the G77. And the full version of this statement has been sent to the Secretariat. This is Administrator.

On behalf of El Salvador, I am delighted to welcome you to the head of the undp. This is the first time that we've had a chance for exchange since you took office. And we are without a doubt at a critical time for the organization. And we need one that is able to respond with greater agility, coherence and effectiveness to the realities of development today. Mr.

Administrator, we note your emphasis and we agree with it. In terms of putting development at the centre and seizing opportunities through partnerships. We agree that the current challenges cannot be overcome only with more resources. We do need more resources, but. But we also need more innovation and diversified financing models that make it possible to expand sustainable financial instruments.

In the same vein, we recognize the progress that has been made in line with our priorities. Especially we highlight the strengthening of the multidimensional poverty analysis as well as digital innovation processes. Specifically, for El Salvador, the Digital pillar is a strategic priority, not only in terms of modernization, but as a driver of inclusion and resilience. And this is why we are very proud this year to be co chairing together with Estonia, the global dialogue and governance of Artificial intelligence. And we look forward to the UNDP's support in this.

We also reiterate the importance of the UN Office for South South Cooperation, including its continued support and policy guidance, as well as the follow up to key initiatives as part of its new program strategy. Finally, and very briefly, in relation to UN80 for El Salvador, it is important that any adjustments that might be made should protect the Development pillar and coherence with the work on the ground. And in this regard, I would like to acknowledge the leadership and the work of Ms. Maribel Guterres, the Resident Coordinator in the country whose term is drawing to a close. And I'd also like to thank Mrs. Michel Muschet for her valuable contribution from the regional level. Mr.

Administrator, El Salvador stands ready as a constructive partner. You can count on us. We wish you success in your mandate.

We stand ready to continue striving to Transform shared priorities into concrete results for people. Thank you very much.

I thank El Salvador for the statement. I give the floor to Australia to be followed by India.

Thank you very much indeed, President. And a very warm welcome to Administrator Decrow. It's great to have you on board. It's obvious that we meet in an especially challenging time. But Administrator, I particularly liked your reference to what works, innovation, private investment and.

Delivery that you can see. And you have Australia very much on board as a partner in pursuing those priorities. I have two key messages. First, UNDP's role and function is critical and held in the highest regard by Australia. We have a particular interest in continuing to see UNDP as an active partner in the Indo Pacific.

Your work and UNDP's work on governance, poverty reduction, climate resilience and crisis recovery has and continues to make a seminal difference. So my message is that we value and need UNDP's leadership in our region. Second, I want to reinforce the criticality of UNDP's continued work in smaller and more remote member states, especially Pacific island countries. We. We all know that remoteness, climate vulnerability and high operating costs pose very real challenges to such countries.

If I may, can I warmly encourage you, Administrator Ducrow, to visit the Pacific region and see for yourself both the challenges along with UNDP's vital work, and the importance of UNDP's continued presence and. Engagement in this region. Let me finish with two questions, if I may. First, with the planned relocation of multiple personnel, including to Madrid and Bonn, how can we be assured of UNDP's ongoing ability to service the Indo Pacific and particularly of course, remote island states in the Pacific? And second, in thinking to the future, can I reiterate the importance of timely and comprehensive information on on the proposed UNDP UNOPS merger?

And we would very much welcome information on how that proposed merger will impact on operations, especially in our region. Thank you so much.

I thank Australia for the statement, for the questions. I give now the floor to India, to be followed by Morocco.

Thank you, Mr. President, for your leadership. And a warm welcome to you. Mr. Administrator. We express our deep gratitude to you for your leadership as UNDP navigate a very complex and rapidly evolving global landscape.

At the outset, I want to thank UNDP for being a very strong development partner for India over more than six decades. A very comprehensive and enduring country relationship. That we enjoy with UNDP and India. You have been a very valued partner in supporting our national priorities in poverty reduction, social inclusion. And you have also closely engaged with.

Our states and Union territories. We especially recall the great partnership we had in responding to the challenges of the pandemic. And our collaboration has helped build the capacities of frontline workers, support for vaccine delivery and contributed to effective outcomes that are now being discussed as global best practices. We're also thankful for the great work. We did in localization of the Sustainable.

Development Goals and for the effective partnership. In the Lifestyle for Environment movement launched. By my Prime Minister that reflects strong alignment with our vision of sustainable and responsible production and consumption patterns. Mr. Administrator, the country program for India too is a very ambitious and forward looking agenda.

We are thankful for that. A very strong focus on advancing climate. Smart and resilient development, on having strengthened and evidence led institutions and expanded expanding economic opportunities and social protection. As far as the UN 80 and. Reform activities are concerned.

We welcome your focus on bringing development back to the central focus of the UN. While we all appreciate the focus on Chapter 6, 7 and 8, let us not forget the core focus of Chapter 9 and 10. Hence, bringing the focus back to development in the overall UN focused is really important. And in this regard we believe that south south cooperation has an especially foundational role in the UN development system. It has been an indispensable instrument and we recall the strong partnership we have with UNDP in operationalizing the India UN Development Partnership Fund.

We are a little concerned about the. Reduction in UNDP's allocation to the the UN Office for South South Cooperation under the 2629 Strategic Framework. We urge you to review that so that the reforms do not weaken UN OSSE and its essential programmatic and operational capabilities. We also would like to focus on the fact that any reform initiatives should not weaken the existing good organizational structure. Of the program and the way it.

Has been able to effectively deliver for all states of the Global South. Thank you very much.

I thank India for the statement. I give now the floor to Morocco to be followed by Ukraine.

Thank you very much. Mr. President, Administrator, dear colleagues, I would like to first of all, on behalf of the Kingdom of Morocco, to reiterate our warmest congratulations on on your appointment as Administrator of the United Nations Development Program. Your distinguished background and leadership are major assets in order to guide UNDP's work in an international context which is characterized by multiple crises, persistent inequalities and increasing constraints on development funding. The Kingdom of Morocco reaffirms its deep commitment to its long standing partnership with undp. A partnership that's founded on trust, cooperation and a shared vision of sustainable development.

On behalf of my country, we would like to express our full readiness to contribute to the success of your mission and to further enhance cooperation between Morocco and undp. We are particularly pleased with our fruitful cooperation with the UNDP Morocco team in key areas such as energy transition, climate action, mobilization and diversification of funding sources for the Sustainable Development Goals, digital transformation and more recently the launch of the Digital for Sustainable Development Hub in partnership with undp. This positions Morocco as a regional hub for Artificial intelligence serving the SDGs in both Africa and the Arab states, and we look forward to maintaining close cooperation with the UNDP team on the upcoming steps, and particularly with our friend Mr. Dadari, with whom we have been working closely. Administrator, my delegation welcomes your enthusiasm, vision and commitment to delivering results, as you mentioned, especially given the major financial constraints our organization is currently facing. In this regard, I would like to highlight three key points.

First, any reform pathway, including proposals related to institutional consolidation or functional integration, must show a tangible strengthening of development impact, national ownership and capacity building, all the while safeguarding UNDP's development mandate and its effective presence on the ground, which is very, very important for developing countries in general and Morocco in particular. 2. It is essential to preserve a healthy balance between.

To allow the countries to provide their input. It is also necessary 3 that country program documents remain robust, transparent and results oriented for framework, ensuring that reform efforts translate into measurable.

I thank the representative of Morocco for his statement. I now give the floor to Ukraine, to be followed by the Administrator with his reactions. Ukraine, please. The Ukrainian delegation wishes to congratulate your Excellency Mr. DeCro on your appointment as Administrator of the UNDP. I thank you for your forward looking statement delivered today in your new capacity.

Let me wish you every success in leading UNDP at a time of profound global challenges for the UN development system. From your presentation we clearly see that the UNDP has a strong ambition to retain its role as the UN leading development agency with a broad thematic mandate and sufficient geographical presence. Lamentably, it is Ukraine that has become a true litmus test whether the UNDP will cope with these tectonic shifts. This February marks four years since Russia launched its full scale invasion. The unprovoked war of annihilation unleashed by Russia against the Ukrainian people has inflicted, as you know, immeasurable human suffering and devastation, leaving deep scars not only on Ukraine, but also on the very foundation of international peace, also endangering the development goals.

Now, during this coldest winter in recent history, Russia has descended to an appalling new depth of brutality through its relentless campaign of missile and drone terror against Ukrainian civilians and infrastructure across Ukraine. It is intentionally extinguishing light, worms and life itself. These attacks, carried out with increasing intensity and impunity, have caused an unprecedented level of destruction. They constitute crimes against humanity and clearly bear a genocidal character. As we speak now, millions of Ukrainians endure unimaginable suffering, living for weeks without electricity, heat or water supply amid temperatures plunging to minus 25 degrees Celsius.

In this sense, I would like to appeal to you personally, dear Mr. Decraw, as a new captain of the UNDP ship, to take urgent action and facilitate international support in restoring Ukraine's critical infrastructure. What the civilian population needs most now is core equipment for the electricity transmission system required to restore damaged facilities. This includes power transformers of high voltage classes, switching equipment, switch gear, as well as auxiliary components. What is unfolding in Ukraine now has already become the worst humanitarian catastrophe on the European continent since the Second World War. I say it without any exaggeration.

Dear Mr. Decraw, I am confident that you will demonstrate this true leadership showing to the global community and to the whole Yuan family that UNDP shall play a decisive role in addressing this unprecedented challenge. I also thank Ukraine's partners, Denmark, Japan, eu, Norway and Sweden and other donor countries whose generous contributions make your work in Ukraine indispensable. And I appeal to all other member states to make the contributions. I thank you.

I thank Ukraine for the statement.

Before we go to the administrator to address quickly some of the comments and questions I will tell you will resume with Armenia, Vietnam, Turkey, Nepal, Pakistan. Mr. Administrator.

Yes. Thank you for these very contributing interventions, if I can call it that way.

I think first of all, in order that we heard them first, Bangladesh, as you know, in the national adaptation plants, we are supporting more than 61% of these. They have led to 1 billion in resources being unlocked. This is what we do in our classic line of work. And UNCDF has been quite active as well in performance based grants. Performance based grants, which to us are an interesting way of financing and of unlocking additional resources.

In that case it was almost 11 million that has been unlocked and that we work with local level governments. In your case it was 29 local governments with whom we worked. Intervention of Cuba. We are very active in scaling up the energy infrastructure in Cuba and investing in that with you. Our Financial Innovation Lab is a partner in that and we intend to continue doing that.

And we do that in close collaboration with your Central bank and with the Ministry of Economy intervention of El Salvador. I would like to focus the element of AI which you mentioned, indeed working together with Estonia. Great perspective of the work that we can do in making AI being an accelerator in the development work that we do. But also just in general in societies, in developing countries, the needs and the challenges are being addressed in something what we call the global AI dialogue process. And we've also been honored to work with you on the digital transformation efforts for El Salvador itself.

And I think it confirms the leadership, the thought leadership position that we have in the domain of AI.

Australian intervention. Yes, thank you for mentioning the emphasis that we have on what works. I mean, there's enough Cassandras in the world telling us what's not going to work. But there's plenty of things that work as well, specifically on the questions that you ask. Indeed, universal presence in the Pacific is a crucial thing and I think we deliver that, but that's contingent on core funding.

If core funding is further eroded, it becomes harder and harder to guarantee that universal presence. And so it's one of the tangible things that we use in our advocacy for core funding on relocation. Really we can guarantee you that it will not have an impact. And your question on timely being informed and being able to take decisions related to a potential merger. Yes, that has been echoed.

Yesterday you were present in the room at that moment as well. Intervention from India. Yes. We greatly appreciate the fact that you recognize us as a strong, long standing partner in the development of, of your country. You specifically talked about the Office for South South Cooperation already addressed it in the previous intervention, but really want to repeat again that the trust funds and our capacity to manage those trust funds will not be impacted by the reforms that we are doing and the budgetary cuts that we have to that we, that we have to.

That we have to do intervention of Morocco on aprici. We do appreciate a great deal the fact that you place a great deal of trust in undp, the expertise we have when it comes to artificial intelligence. We work together with you to make Morocco into a regional hub for artificial artificial intelligence. And we think, as was stated elsewhere, the technological aspect will be very important so as to attain the SDGs to finish. As you know, we are a very active partner in energy infrastructure.

Which is. Difficult because together with you we invest, we repair and we help people. But at the same time there's destruction and the combination of repairing while having to suffer the destruction is indeed a human tragedy that we see and that is impacting in a very direct way your population which is already having to endure in a very aggressive war. As you know, we also work on. We are the lead partners in the demining program, also the first underwater demining program that we do together with you.

We also provide technical assistance in the EIB loans. Those EIB loans are becoming really sizable. We are at almost one billion US dollar for the moment. And as you know, we also work together with your veterans in making sure that they can access services, psychological support and so on. And I really would like to echo your appeal for more interventions.

We would love to do more if we have more appeals from Member States and this Board in helping Ukrainian people having to go through very unjust circumstances.

Thank you Mr. Administrator. We continue. I have Armenia, Vietnam, Turkey and Nepal, Pakistan, Myanmar.

I give the floor to Armenia please.

Mr. President, Mr. Administrator, Excellencies, distinguished colleagues, I would like to thank the Administrator for his very compelling presentation and congratulate on his first address to the Executive Board. We take note with appreciation of the results achieved under the 2225 strategic plan, including UNDP's Leadership Across Poverty reduction, governance, climate action, resilience and gender equality. Looking ahead to the implementation of the 2629 strategic plan, Armenia strongly supports UNDP's focus on prevention, resilience and upstream investment. We agree that development must be treated not as an afterthought but as the first line of defense against instability, conflict and displacement.

This approach is especially relevant for countries facing compounded vulnerabilities where early integrated and sustained engagement can prevent significantly higher human and financial costs later. In this Context, Armenia values UNDP's country level engagement in support of governance reform, resilience building and climate and biodiversity action. Including as we prepare to host the. COP17 on biological diversity. As we have entered a new five year cycle of our programmatic cooperation with the UNDP, we look forward to strengthen cooperation with the UNDP in implementation of the Country Program document for Armenia for 26:30.

At the same time, we cannot ignore the structural challenge highlighted in the Administrator's remarks, the continued erosion of core resources. Armenia aligns with the call for predictable, flexible and multi year core funding, recognizing that the core resources are indispensable for quality, integrity, accountability and presence in high risk environments. Finally, Armenia welcomes constructive engagement with the UNAIT initiative. We appreciate the clarity that reform must be operational, member state driven, evidence based and delivery focused, ensuring continuity for program countries while strengthening impact and accountability and supported by robust, independently informed analysis. I thank you.

I thank Armenia for the statement. I now give the floor to Vietnam to be followed by Turkey.

Thank you Mr. President and thank you for convening this meeting and giving us the opportunity to have this interactive dialogue with the administrator and Mr. DeCro. Congratulations I'm right here and we wish you every success, of course. And you can rest assured of our full support for ordinary citizens in Vietnam. UNDP in the field is the United Nations. It's not the Security Council or the Human Rights Council.

It's not this Executive Board that the people encounter in their daily lives. It's the tangible outcomes that the UNDP is delivering on the ground. This is true, for example, for the 5,000 families that are now living in disaster resilient houses built with the support of undp, which in fact withstood the series of typhoons that hit our country last year. We are very pleased with the excellent collaboration between Vietnam and the UNDP Country Office which has consistently demonstrated professionalism, responsiveness and strong alignment with our national priorities. Vietnam fully supports the priorities as set out in the UNDP strategic plan for 26 and 29.

And we wish to put special emphasis on climate resilience and environmental protection. Also to highlight the importance of digital and AI transformation as key accelerators. In this connection, we look forward to strong and sustained UNDP support for effective operationalization of the Just Energy Transition Partnership as well as our strategies to advance science, technology, innovation and Digital Transformation on UN80. I urge UNDP to continue taking the lead, particularly in strengthening system wide coherence. We have plenty of lessons learned from the Delivering as One initiative in Vietnam and other pilot countries, many of which have been driven by UNDP at the country level.

And I invite you, Mr. Administrator, and also to you, Mr. President, and the Executive Board to visit Vietnam to see directly the outcomes and the lessons that we have learned in Delivering as one. Lastly, we welcome budget discipline and efforts to maintain a strong presence in field offices. We stress the importance of core funding to help ensure coherence and avoid fragmentation and call for such core funding to be provided in support of the important work of the UNDP. Thank you very much, Mr. President.

Thank you enough for the statement. I now give the floor to Turkiyeh, to be followed by Nepal.

Thank you, Mr. President. At the outset, I would like to congratulate Mr. Alexander de la Cru on his appointment as the new Administrator. UNDP remains the backbone of the UN development system. We welcome Strategic Plan 2629, which comes at a critical juncture. Turkey supports its priority areas and reiterates.

Its commitment to the multilateral development agenda. Today, the development pillar of the UN faces unprecedented challenges. Armed conflicts continue to destroy foundations of development, reversing years of progress in a very short time. As we have witnessed in Gaza and. Ukraine, geopolitical fragmentation weakens international solidarity and collective action.

Meanwhile, accelerating impacts of climate change reminds us that human life itself is at stake. These challenges unfold against a deteriorating financial landscape. Developing countries, especially the least developed and the most vulnerable, need a fairer and more inclusive international financial architecture as well as a peaceful and predictable global environment. In this context, UNDP's integrated approach and strong country presence are more critical than ever to deliver concrete results. On the ground.

Turkey attaches great importance to its strategic. Partnership with the UNDP at national, regional and global levels. We proud to host UNDP's Regional Bureau for Europe and Central Asia as well as the Istanbul center for Private Sector in Development. In a period of global financial constraints. The center offers an effective model for mobilizing private capital and promoting impact oriented partnerships.

Looking ahead, our cooperation with the UN development system will gain further momentum as we Prepare to host COP31. One priority of our Presidency will be. To strengthen the nexus between climate resilience and development. COP31 will be an important opportunity to advance climate action and resilient development and we welcome UNDP's active engagement in this process. Finally, Turkey supports Secretary General's UN80 initiative as an effort to strengthen UN's capacity to deliver results where they are most needed.

In this spirit, we take note of. Merger proposals with both optimism and caution. Any potential merger between UNDP and UNOPS merge should not lead to the loss of the comparative advantages of either agency. Thank you.

I thank TUR for the statement.

I give the floor to Nepal to be followed by Pakistan and then Myanmar. Nepal, please. Mr. President, Mr. Administrators Excellencies, distinguished delegates. At the outset I wish to congratulate.

You, Mr. President and Vice President on. Your elections and extend a Warm welcome. To Mr. Alexander Decroux as the UNDP. Administrator and wish him a successful tenure. In advancing the UNDP's missions.

At this critical moment for global development. Excellencies, we are living through a defining moment. A series of global crises has contributed to widening development gaps, eroding hard won development gains made over the years. As the UNDP systems development engine, this is where the UNDP's role becomes crucial. The UNDP helps address deployment deficit by strengthening governance, promoting inclusive growth, improving social services and supporting climate resilience, enabling countries to recover from the crisis and achieve sustainable development.

Excellencies. Nepal underlines the imperative of strengthening development mandates across the UN pillars as discussions. Advance under the broader UN 80 reform agenda. Nepal underlines the importance of reinforcing development. Pillar and ensuring that any institutional adjustment strengthen rather than dilute the UN's ability.

To deliver on the ground.

And Mr. Administrator, Nepal values UNDP's enduring support across. Governance, climate resilience and inclusive economic transformation. The use of digital for improved service. Delivery and access to energy and support rural development.

As Nepal prepares for LDC graduation this year, we look forward to UNDP's enhanced support to ensure a smooth, sustained and irreversible graduation, including through innovative financing tools. Nepal appreciate UNDP's support for our Gulf Initiative under ZCF. With over 2000 glacier lakes, many at high risk of growth events, Nepal seeks deeper collaboration with UNDP on early warning. Systems, nature based solutions and community resilience. We also wish UNDPs to expand private.

Sector engagement, particularly in renewable energy including Hydropower Tourism, MSMEs Development and Digital transformation. More particularly on DPI and AI readiness. Assessment and youth digital literacy and innovation. In conclusion Mr. President and we stand. Ready to work with you.

Thank you very much. I thank Nepal for the statement.

I give now the floor to Pakistan to be followed by Myanmar.

Thank you Mr. President. Allow me also to join colleagues in congratulating Mr. Alexander de Cru for his appointment and we welcome this opportunity to engage with him. This is very timely as undp, like. Other multilateral institutions, is operating in an. Environment of heightened demand constrained resources.

For Pakistan, the value of UNDP lies in its ability to deliver on ground in close alignment with national priorities and. Consultations with the governments and our partnership. Over the decades and especially in the. Aftermath of the 2022 floods in my country is a good example of this. A few quick points Mr.

Administrator, we support your emphasis on delivery as a core expression of UNDP's development mandate. For most Member States, delivery means responding. To evolving national needs in a flexible and agile manner, translating multilateral commitments into practical support and ensuring that maximum possible share of resources is directed to towards. Development outcomes on the ground rather than administrative costs. We also recognize your focus on digital.

Transformation and public private partnership. Broadening collaboration, including with private sector, can help mobilize investment and Pakistan has worked with UNDP to develop viable project pipelines in this context. At the same time, such partnerships should. Complement, not replace predictable multilateral development support. Particularly core resources that underpin UNDP's ability to operate impartially and at scale.

Lastly, as discussions on unity continue, Pakistan. Emphasizes that reform processes must be transparent. Evidence based and inclusive of all Member States and should preserve, not dilute mandates. Any merger proposals, including those involving UNDP and unops, should be grounded in objective analysis and supported by robust cost benefit analysis and risk assessments. Documentation in this regard should be shared in a timely manner with all Member States.

Moreover, outcomes should not be predetermined, alternatives should also be presented and avenues for independent evaluations should also be explained. We welcome the Administrator's remarks that development must be placed back at the center of international agenda and we look forward to working closely with you to realize that objective and to strengthen the partnership. Between UNDP and Pakistan. I thank you,

I thank Pakistan for the statement. We have the following speakers now on the list and then we'll go back quickly to the administrators.

So we have Myanmar, the Republic of Moldova, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Myanmar. Please you have the floor. Mr. Chair, Mr. Administrator, I wish to congratulate you and.

Members of the Bureau for the elections. Also congratulate you, Mr. Dikro on embarking on the role as the new UNDP Administrator. At this critical juncture, Myanmar welcomes the UNDP Strategy Plan 2026 2029. Different combinations of objectives and accelerators under the new Strategy Plan should be tailored. To each country's context and underpinned by a commitment to human rights and to.

Leaving no one behind. In this context, I wish to highlight the following strategy objective areas in Myanmar. First, prosperity for all UNDP reported that. Nearly half of Myanmar's population is now. Living below the national poverty line with the disappearing middle class, more than 3.5 million people are internally displaced and almost.

22 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance. A lack of employment opportunities, stagnant wages. Forced conscriptions are fueling alarming youth exodus. Threatening Myanmar's long term development prospects. Second, effective governance, democratic governance, human rights and rule of law are fundamentals for thriving societies and economies for sustaining peace and human security.

Unfortunately, the military junta has dismantled our. Democratic institutions and independent judicial system while. Committing atrocities against civilians. Collapse of rule of law, rising crime. Rate and ongoing armed conflict had contributed to a pervasive climate of fear and insecurity.

Third, crisis resilience. The military coup and its consequences have. Reversed our hard end development gains, exacerbated our pre existing vulnerabilities and shattered the fabric of our society. Therefore, sustainable peace and stability in the. Country require the full restorations of genuine.

Democracy and fulfilling the aspirations of our people. The sham elections and the it manufactured results by the military junta will only. Prolong the crisis and violence in Myanmar. Taken together, the prospect of achieving these. Strategy objectives is contingent upon addressing the root cause of the conflict in Myanmar.

I wish to conclude by echoing Mr. Administrator's statement that echoed in fragile context. Waiting is not caution, waiting is failure. And the most expensive choice we can. Make The UN and the entities cannot.

Wait any longer to act decisively and effectively to save the people of Myanmar. In their fragility, our people, especially our. Youth, have already lost many years. I appeal to the international community to. Support the people of Myanmar in their.

Determination to end their military dictatorship and. Build a paradox union. I thank you.

I thank Myanmar for the statement. I give the floor to the Republic of Moldova to be followed by Saudi Arabia.

Mr. President, Excellencies at the outset. Mr. De Cru, allow me to join previous speakers in extending our warm congratulations on your recent appointment and we greatly value your leadership and strategic vision. And we are confident that under your renewable mandate, UNDP will continue to deliver impactful and lasting results in advancing sustainable and inclusive development worldwide. The partnership between Republic of Moldova and UNDP remains strong, relevant and forward looking. UNDP's Country Program in my country is closely aligned with our national development priorities and our European Integration European accessory agenda providing targeted supporting governance reform, energy transition, climate action, regional development and social inclusion.

We all can be a strategic plans clean clear focus on advancing human development while reducing planetary pressure through integrated system based and partnership approach. Mr. President, looking ahead, the Republic of Moldova counts on UNDP's continued support in advancing a just and inclusive transition by linking climate action with social protection, energy reduction and democratic governance reforms. In the context of European integration, UNDP's integrated assistance remains essential for promoting economic threshold transformation and social inclusion through structural reforms, private sector digitalization and skill development, particularly for women, youth, refugees and other vulnerable groups. At the same time, sustained investment in youth empowerment and innovation are critical to future readiness and integrational equity. We also highly value NDP's continued engagement in strengthening social cohesion and peace building, including through confidence building measures and targeted investment along the Nisto river that enhance resilience, trust and dialogue across communities.

Mr. Ahmed Administrator. In conclusion, the Republican firm believes that our continued partnership with UNDP and the new strategic plan will deliver tangible, inclusive and sustainable results and it will support our EU accession process while advancing our. Commitment on the Agenda 2030. You may count on my delegation's full support as UNDP moves forward with the implementation of Strategic Plan ensuring.

I thank the Republican Moldova for the statement. I give the floor to Saudi Arabia to be followed by Lebanon.

Mr. President, your Excellencies, Mr. Administrator of the United Nations Development Program. Ladies and gentlemen, please allow me to first of all wish you a very warm welcome to you Mr. Alexander Decroux and to congratulate you and wish you every success as you discharge your new responsibilities. We congratulate also the President and the four Vice Presidents and we have every confidence that the Board under your presidency and the will of God will go forward and serve member states. Mr. President, we attach a great deal importance to the role that UNDP plays in implementing national and regional development plans in contributing towards the attainment of the SDGs.

At the same time, we reaffirm the importance of the UN development system, making sure that it meets the needs of States. That any and all process of institutional reform should be based on gradual and balanced approach under the leadership of Member States and be characterized by transparency and based on objective evaluation, assessments of effects, expenses and risks, ensuring thus that the implementation on the ground will not be impacted or the development mandates undermined. We think it's also important to make sure that country programs be aligned with the national priorities of the beneficiaries. We also have to make sure that there is best possible use made of resources and we arrive at tangible and measurable results. We reiterate how important it is to work out innovative tools for development, public private partnership and of making sure that we have flexible and predictable resources for the benefits of Member States.

We reiterate our support for the cooperation amongst south and South States, triangular cooperation, the benefits of digital innovation and modern technologies, all for the implementation of SDGs. In conclusion, we are eager to work constructively with UNDP and Executive boards and participate in discussion to strengthen governance and support stability, prosperity and global development. I thank you. I thank Saudi Arabia for the statement. I now give the floor to Lebanon.

Mr. President, let me start by congratulating. You, Mr. President and the Vice Presidents on your election. I also welcome the opportunity to interact. Today with administrator the crew and wish him every success. Mr. President, we commend the work of.

UNDP as well as the results achieved. On country levels, supporting countries to overcome global and development challenges to achieve the. SDGs, including in crisis affected countries and. Middle income countries like Lebanon. UNDP has consistently been a strong partner.

For Lebanon, supporting reforms, the restructuring of the public sector and in other areas. Such as poverty, eradication, renewable energy and digital transformation. It has also played a key role in fostering institutional capacities and tailored policies to support gender responsive interventions while actively engaging civil society, the private sector, women and youth. And here I'd like to seize the. Opportunity to express our appreciation to NDP for their support to the Lebanese government.

And to the local authorities. Mr. President, amidst a multidimensional crisis, Lebanon. Stands at a crossroad. Our government has decided not to embrace its vulnerabilities. On the contrary, it has been adamant.

About placing reform at the heart of its national recovery process, a reform that. Has been long overdue, an ambitious one. That merits a change of the mindset of our partners, including the undp, but also one that necessitates an understanding of the magnitude of challenges faced by the government and the people of Lebanon, mainly the continued Israeli violations and the influx of refugees. Finally, Mr. President, and with respect to the unity process, we reiterate the need. To preserve its intergovernmental nature.

And we underscore the importance of taking decisions through an inclusive and transparent negotiating process, one that is mindful of the. Long term institutional and country level consequences. Of any merger proposals. The latter that we expect to be presented transparently and allow states to reflect. On and duly analyze.

I thank you. I thank Lebanon for the statement. Before going back to the administrator, we have the following speakers. We still have about 20 speakers on the speakers list. I'm not good in math, but I think we will not be able to exhaust the list by one o'.

Clock. So let's try to square the circle together. I will abstain myself from other comments for now, but I will count on your support. So we have, when we resume, we have Papua New Guinea, Thailand, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Cote d'. Ivoire.

So Mr. Administrator, please.

Yes, okay. Trying to speed up the answers as well. Let me start with Armenia.

I totally agree. When you say development is not an afterthought, I mean that's a great summary of what I said in my introduction. I would like to thank you for the leadership that you have in the CoP on biodiversity. Our country office will be working together with you in trying to see how much we can assist in this very important COP and on the local level we do great work on human rights, on justice and and we will continue doing so. The intervention of Vietnam we have I think a great partnership in the just energy transition partnership with a potential of doing a total for 7 billion in private sector work of which already three projects have been selected for 700 million.

I was also recently present at an event about the Vietnam International Financial center in Da Nang and really shows the dynamism that you have in Vietnam today. Intervention of Turkey. I mean you are one of our hosting our regional hubs. We have a competent center on private sector and the role of private sector that we do together with Turkey and really show that you are a predictable long term partner of the work that UNDP is doing. Congratulate you on the partnership of COP31 as a topic development and climate.

So this is really at the core of what we have been doing and what we hope we will continue doing through our climate promise, which I think is a great way of federating all the resources that we have within in the UN system. Intervention of Nepal, I think especially in the domain of green and circular jobs growth have been quite successful impacting more than 7,000 households today. And really would like to congratulate you on your soon to be graduation as a former LDC and we all know the challenges that it brings. We had the occasional occasion to discuss this recently and really would like to see with you how we can use this promising moment as something that also delivers the intervention of Pakistan. We have an interesting program together with you on the Global Fund in strengthening national capabilities in helping people affected of HIV and providing solutions to often people who are in a vulnerable situation.

But also show that it is possible to obtain results and give people a future. Your call to broadening the partnerships and broadening the financing is indeed this is spot on. Working more with the private sector. Knowing very well that the private sector cannot solve everything and that in some domains you still need public investment. It's really putting the private sector not at the outskirts of development but really at the core of development enables us afterwards to effectively domestic do domestic resource mobilization.

Work with you on digital public infrastructure and on climate financing. But your general call on broadening the financing. I think broadening the financing also enables us to broaden the impact that we can have intervention of Myanmar. Indeed, I think that what we have been quite successful with is delivering at scale at the community level and finding the right balance there in working together with local leadership and local communities. For example, I think what we are doing in the Rakhine State is an interesting one.

Has an impact on more than a million people in local food production, in cash for work and so on. And so even in difficult to reach regions we show that it is possible. We should not see it as an obstacle, but as something that is feasible. In Moldova. I think we do a lot of work on energy and especially on protecting the energy poor and reducing energy poverty.

Also in often fragile and unstable environments. We see that with the Energy Vulnerability Reduction Fund it is possible to have impact on the ground the intervention of Saudi Arabia. I think we work extremely well together with you in the domain of health, fully in line with your vision vision 2030 and we see many opportunities for us to continue working in that line of work, specifically in what you do in your own country and also in the role that you want to play in the region which we are a partner in and then last element on Lebanon. Thank your enthusiasm for reform. We definitely share that and we know that it is is not in the easiest circumstances, but doing those reforms are necessary and we know that it responds to an expectation of the Lebanese population.

Today. We work with you mostly on implementing comprehensive stabilization, recovery and so on. That is the same logic that we already discussed in the intervention of Jamaica. We do this through emergency and income generation, but at the same time also the institutional capacity building thank you Mr. President thank you Mr.

Administrator. So we continue with the announced list so far. Papua New guinea to be Followed by Thailand.

Mr. President, Mr. UNDP Administrator and. Fellow colleagues, all protocols observed. Papua New guinea warmly congratulates Administrator Dickru. On his appointment and thank him for. The useful interactive dialogue today and the.

UN 80 initiative discussion yesterday. We look forward to working closely with you and your team at both headquarters. And country level and wish you well. Mr. Administrator, Papua New guinea welcomes your emphasis on delivering results on the ground in support of national development priorities.

This focus resonates and matters greatly to us. We highly value our more than 45. Years of partnership with UNDP, which remains a trusted and strategic partner in advancing our priorities in peace building, governance, gender equality, climate action and sustainable livelihoods. We particularly commend UNDP's support for our national reform agenda, including the Research Papua New guinea at 50 initiative which provides a long term roadmap for addressing systemic and governance challenges and achieving inclusive and sustainable development. UNDP's technical expertise and evidence based policy.

Advice have strengthened national ownership and institutional capacity. This trend must be preserved and enhanced, including in the context of the proposed UNDP UNOPS MERGER. Mr. President, allow me to highlight three. Areas of tangible impact for us whose core point is that context matters and. Needs to be firmly borne in mind and not taken for granted at these challenging times.

First, peace building and sustaining peace UNDP. Has played an important role in supporting our Bougainville peace process, including assistance to. The independent moderator and facilitation of the Molination Agreement last year. These efforts have advanced peaceful dialogue between the Government of Papua New guinea and. Bougainville based on malnutrition values of mutual respect.

We also welcome UNDP's support for renewable. Energy and Women's Economic parliament in Bougainville. UNDP's engagement in our highlands region through. Conflict prevention and peace building is commendable. Second, on climate change and biodiversity, Papua.

New guinea appreciates UNDP's supportive role in. Our Biodiversity and Climate Fund and encourage this to continue. Third, on just the risk Management Institutional reform. We welcome UNDP support. Looking ahead, Mr. President, Papua New guinea supports the objectives of the UN AIDS initiative to make the UN system more efficient and responsive.

We are interested in how the proposed UNDP UN OPS measure will affect program. Delivery at the country level. Thank you. I thank Papua New guinea for the statement and I'll give the floor to Thailand to be followed by Bosnia Herzegovina.

Itself. With this statement delivered by Uruguay on behalf of the G77 of China and would like to deliver the following statement and its national capacity. At the outset, I joined ajax in congratulating Mr. Alexander de Koo on your assignment as the Administrator of undp. Thailand stands ready to support you and your team both in New York and Bangkok. We reiterate our appreciation for the work of UNDP in support of supporting Member States to drive forward sustainable development in their countries.

Thailand sees UNDP as an important pillar of the UN development system. Allow me to make three points. First, Thailand is pleased to learn that UNDP has achieved nearly all of its targets in the previous strategic plan. We hope the same holds for the current plan and which which to reaffirm our support. We believe that the three identified AI transformation, gender equality and Sustainable Finance will help achieve the plan's objectives and realize systematic change.

Second, sustainability is one of the core principles of Thailand's development policy. First, effective multi stakeholder cooperation is crucial to achieve such goal. We therefore highly value armstrong and enduring partnership with undp. Our teams in Bangkok are working closely together as Thailand is preparing the United Nations Sustainable development cooperation framework 2027-24. We also commend UNDP for aligning our country program with national priorities and for its many initiatives throughout Thailand.

And lastly, in this extremely challenging time, Thailand would like to be another voice in highlighting the importance of core resources for UNDP. Having worked closely with UNDP for the past 60 years, we believe that predictable and flexible funding is essential for UNDP to deliver its mandate. We support your initiative in diversifying UNDP's funding base and exploring new sources of financing. In closing, Mr. President, Thailand reiterates our readiness to deepen our cooperation with UNDP and our commitment to further reinforcing our national development engagement. Thank you, Mr. President.

I thank Thailand for the statement. I give the floor to Boznia and Herzegovina, to be followed by Cody voire and China.

Mr. President, Administrator Decorum Excellencies, distinguished colleagues. It'S an honor to address the Executive Board during the first several regular session. And to take a part in this interactive dialogue. An important moment for the UN development system. Outset, allow me to warmly congratulate our Administrator on assuming leadership of undp.

We also appreciate the continuity ensured during the transition period. Bosnia looks forward to working closely with. You as UNDP advances and strategic plan. For 20262029 and implements the UN reform 80 requirements. Reform strategy Bosnia Tsogovina strongly support the objectives of UN80 building a more agile, effective and responsive UN development system, one capable of delivering faster and better results.

Particularly in complex political environment and under increasing financial and operational constraints. In this context, we underscore the importance of ensuring that all reform efforts remain. Firmly anchored in the core values and principles of the United Nations. Mr. President, we highly value its strong standing and constructive partnership with undp. This cooperation has produced concrete and visible.

Results on the ground. As we look ahead, we see UNDP as a key strategic partner in advancing inclusive green growth, strengthening human capital and building accountable and effective institutions. These priorities align closely with UNDP global. Objectives and with Bosnia and Togona commitment on the Agenda 2030 as well as with our European integration path. At a time of heightened geopolitical strain and constrained resources.

We particularly value UNDP ability to operate. Effectively in challenging contexts and to serve. As a trusted partner that bridges national. Priorities with global development commitments while remaining. Responsive to countries specific needs.

We should never Forget that Article 1 of UN Charter is defining purpose of. UN in maintaining peace and security as. Well as underline achieve international cooperation in solving international problems of an economic, social. Culture or humanitarian character and in promotion equality, respect for human rights and for fundamental freedom for all. Administrator, as UNDP forwards with implementation of UN reform agenda, we would welcome your reflection on how the organization intends to balance greater agility and efficiency with the preservation of mandate as strong country level.

Presence and effective partnership, especially in political. Complex and resource constrained environments such as Bosnia and Segovina.

In closing, I give you 14 seconds. Very grateful for that. Thank you to both for the statement, also for the generosity.

I give the floor to Cote d' Ivoire to be followed by China.

Thank you, Mr. President. My delegation associates itself with the statement made by the African Group and G77 in China and would like to say the following. In our national capacity, I welcome your leadership at the head of the Board and will also express my congratulations to Mr. Alexander Ducroux on being appointed the new UNDP Administrator. We welcome the high quality of presentation. Take note of the report.

We share the analysis according to which restoring trust will depend on visible, equitable and measurable results on the ground. We also agree with this aim of repositioning development as A first line in crisis prevention, an essential tool for stability, social cohesion and shared prosperity. Mr. President, as we near the 2030, the role played by UNDP is increasingly central, given that the progress is slowing when it comes to poverty reduction, climate shocks and institutional fragility. We agree with the approach according to which there needs to be prevention, resilience and strengthening national capacity. We welcome the adoption of the country program of undp for us for 2026-29 fully in line with our national plan for 2026-2030 and this.

Both plans converge towards the same common Accelerate structural transformation of the economy, reduce poverty, increase inclusion, create jobs for the young and the women and increase our resilience to climate security, economic shift shocks and we already see results as a result of that. The growth rate we've had is more than 6%. There is considerable reduction in the rate of poverty. It's dropped from 55% to about 35. We welcome the quality of cooperation between UNDP, particularly through its office in Abidjan and the government as well as national entities.

And this illustrates that their approaches based on listening to people and delivering results. Mr. President, we would like to say that as a result of elections in October and November which showed the new trust by our people In His Excellency Mr. Ouattara, President of the Republic, we continue transforming our economy. We want to become a mid income country by 2030, bring poverty under 20% and to create millions of jobs. And UNDP here is a major partner accompanying us in structural reforms, mobilizing innovative funding, strengthening governance and the acceleration of digital and environmental transition. As members of the Executive Board, we assure UNDP that we will continue working together towards 203030 and we reaffirm our support to Martell and tourism.

I thank you. I thank Cody voice as the President before giving the floor to China, the list will continue. We'll have Germany, Sweden, Panama. And now I give the floor to China. You have the floor.

Thank you, President. At the outset, I wish to congratulate Mr. Decruw on your appointment as Administrator of UNDP. China believes that under your leadership, UNDP will remain a pillar within the UN system development system and provide strong support for the achievement of the 2030 Agenda. China aligns itself with a statement by Uruguay on behalf of G77 and China. present, unilateralism and protectionism are on the rise and global development faces increasingly severe and complex challenges.

In this context, it is all the more important for UNDP to fully and earnestly implement its Strategic Plan 2026-2029 and to continuously enhance the efficiency and impact of its policy and program delivery. China appreciates the work priorities outlined by the Administrator for this year and wishes to emphasize the following points. First, it is important to fully implement the comprehensive mandate. China hopes that UNDP will conscientiously discharge its normative and programmatic mandates, using the implementation of the Strategic Plan as an opportunity to fully leverage its extensive field presence and its comparative advantages and expertise in areas such as poverty reduction and climate change. UNTP should consider consistently uphold the principle of program, country ownership and leadership, strengthen coordination with resident coordinators and across agencies, support national development priorities and contribute to the realization of sustainable development.

Second, it is important to pool resources for development. China expresses a serious concern over the pressure UNDP faces due to core resource constraints and calls on developed countries to honor their ODA commitments. UNDP should also continue to improve efforts, efficiency, innovate business models and diversify partnerships. At the same time, it should support developing countries in advancing south south and Triangular cooperation, ensure the effective functioning of the UN Office for South South Cooperation and help the Global south gain strength through unity. Third, it is important to uphold an integrated and coordinated approach.

President Xi Jinping has repeatedly emphasized that development is the master key to solving all problems. China encourages UNDP to actively engage in the UN 80 reform process, strengthen overall coordination and system wide planning and continuously enhance its impact with a results oriented approach. With regard to potential institutional mergers, China looks forward to UNDP submitting to the Board at an early date evidential data and a comprehensive and objective analysis of the pros and cons, risks and mitigation measures so as to enable the Board and Member States to make informed decisions. Thank you President.

I think China for the statement. That was a very long list of speakers of permanent representatives delivering the statements. We continue with the list. We may be in a situation that we need to constrain a bit and limit the interventions to two minutes and I count on the understanding because we cannot continue in the afternoon. We have another agenda item that will start at 3 o' clock and I don't think we can continue too much after 1:00'.

Clock. So I want to give all the Member States the opportunity to deliver their comments. I give now the floor to Germany to be followed by Sweden.

Thank you President Dear Alexander De Corps, like other delegations, congratulations for the election as Administrator and thank you very much for the excellent presentations you gave to us yesterday and today. We share your vision and I want. To assure you of Germany's full support in the execution of your important task. We need a strong United nations and we need a strong UNDP as the central development program at the core of the system to achieve our common objectives of truly leaving no one behind. Reforms are indispensable.

And reforms, you said it. Are not for the sake of reform but to ensure enhance the UN's efficiency, its effectiveness and credibility. And you said it. The choice is clear reform or risk of irrelevance. The current reform process, we are convinced must be pursued with determination, be it the UN 80 initiative or be it the implementation of the JRU recommendations.

In this concept we also emphasize the importance of empowered resident coordinated system in the effective delivery and we call on UNDP to implement recommendations from the system by evaluation to further promote cooperation with the RCS and within the UN country teams. A short thought about our role as Member States. We want to exercise our role well with regard to the proposed merger with unops. We need a fact based assessment with different options in the in a timely manner. And we also need adequate time for analysis and discussion about the implications of these different options.

In particular whether there is sufficient evidence of a merger dividend.

Mr. President, Germany will continue to support UNDP's vital work, both financially and institutionally. The relocation of parts of UNDP's staff to the UN campus in Bonn will certainly deepen. Our partnership you mentioned will also help create synergies with other parts of the UN based already in Bonn. And we're very much looking forward to welcoming the teams in Bonn. In closing, I have more time than I thought.

But in closing, I want to spend the last 45 seconds of thanking the UN staff for the excessively good work under extremely difficult circumstances being out there, but also the strain under which the system and UN staff has been living throughout the year. So many, many thanks for that. We do continue to believe that you make a real difference in the lives of millions of people. And for that, thank you very much. Thank you Germany.

Well, let's continue with the list of speakers. We have Sweden, Panama and then Brazil, the Russian Federation, the European Union, Japan. I will do an effort and I suspect that the board is in agreement. If I relate to you, Mr. Administrator, the appreciation, the strong support that you enjoy from the board as you started the mandate and also, you know, member states, all of them looking forward to working with you.

And maybe that helps you as well to trim a bit this part of. The statement, let's put it that way. If you don't, then say it exactly. I think that makes much more sense. So let's move ahead Sweden to be followed by Panama.

Thank you very much, Mr. President, Excellencies. Colleagues and congratulations, Mr. Ducros, for taking. On this very important job as Administrator Administrator of the UNDP and also recognizing the wonderful team that you have placed yourself in looking at the podium with your good colleagues. And also thank you for providing your. Vision of how you see the implementation.

Of the strategic plans. You have already answered that question to me. Thank you very much for that. Sweden places strong emphasis on delivering results at country level and greatly value UNDP's contributions. Our long standing partnership includes substantial support to concrete activities on the ground across all regions.

I would like to highlight our support. To UNDP's work in Ukraine where UNDP. Has stayed and delivered under very challenging circumstances. We are very grateful to UNDP staff for their efforts. Sweden strongly supports the Secretary General's UN 80 initiative.

We see an urgent need for a more efficient, effective and well coordinated UN system that safeguards foundational principles, core mandates. Leverages comparative strengths across the system. Sweden remains a steadfast friend of the UN Development System. We greatly appreciate UNDP's commitment to its mandate and its vital role in advancing. Key international norms and principles including human rights, democracy, gender equality and non discrimination.

With its broad mandate and strong development. Assistance assistance capacity, UNDP is well positioned to apply a systems approach that draws. On specialized expertise across the UN and supports collective action. So my question to you, Mr. Administrator, is it was encouraging to hear.

Yesterday during the UN80 session that you. Have identified reform measures that you could be taking immediately. So if you could share a little. Bit more in terms of what you have in mind and what you need. From the Executive Board to move these ideas forward.

And finally, Sweden looks forward to continued strong partnership with UNDP as we pursue. Our shared goals in priority geographic settings and globally. Thank you very much.

I thank Sweden for the statement. I give the floor to Panama to be followed by Brazil.

Thank you, Mr. President. And I just want to quickly congratulate. Administrator the Crew for his appointment and express our best wishes and success in his new role. Como pai classificad, Panama is listed as a high income country and as such we underscore the importance of a multidimensional approach that allows us to better reflect our country's realities. And we also spotlight the value of the Multidimensional Poverty Index, the mpi.

We're also grateful for the support of the UNDP in implementing this index, including in strategic territories such as the Panama Canal Watershed area, where water, communities, infrastructure and biodiversity all converge. And here we recognise the importance of having disaggregated data at the territorial level and according to vulnerability. Along similar lines, we also agree with the Administrator on the importance of responsibly and inclusively addressing the challenges linked to digital transformation and AI. In close connection with this, Panama takes note of the concerns raised by the G77 in relation to the resources allocated to the United Nations Office for South South Cooperation and it is our hope that we can reach solutions to safeguard its mandate and its contribution to South south cooperation under UN 80 reforms. In Panama's view, it's essential that we strengthen intersectoral and interagency work so that the joint supervision of this Executive Board translates into real and daily coordination between the different entities of the the system.

And I'd echo here other ambassadors so that we can avoid working in silos and strengthen sources of funding. Panama really values our long standing collaboration with UNDP and we take pride in hosting the Regional center for Latin America and the Caribbean. This reinforces our commitment as a regional hub to foster cooperation, knowledge exchange and development across the region. I would like to reiterate our sincere thanks to the Administrator and to his. Team.

And we also reaffirm Panama's readiness to continue working closely and constructively for multilateralism and sustainable development, as we've always done.

Thank you, I think Panama for the statement and argue the flow to Brazil to be followed by the Russian Federation.

Mr. President, Mr. Administrator, all protocol observed. The financial constraints currently affecting the multilateral system remain a source of grave concern for developing countries.

Initiatives aimed at fostering new partnerships and promoting innovative financial instruments are welcome. We commend the Administrator's intention to further engage the private sector in development cooperation efforts, the design and promotion of which must strictly conform to national circumstances and development priorities. At the same time, we all know that the private sector will not close the wide gaps left by donors who continue to be irreplaceable whatever the source of funds. Safeguarding UNDP's financial strength is the key objective. The projected reduction in court funding compared to 2024 must be reversed as soon as possible.

Brazil kindly reiterates its call on traditional and non traditional donors to prioritize such modality. Mr. Administrator, although we will have a specific meeting on South South Cooperation and UNOSSC Thursday, I briefly refer here to the concerns with the reduction in allocated funds to SAT office and the potential imbalance between program and policy work. As you know, both the G77 and a group of four delegations from the developing world have written you letters. I thank you for your responses and for Having committed to making your best efforts to ensure that UNDP receives the full allocated funding.

And I also note your assurance related the balance between policy and program work. In the months ahead. Brazil will remain focused on these matters. Finally, regarding the possible merger with unops, my delegation has expressed its views yesterday and we'll have the chance to elaborate them further this afternoon. Here I only stress the fundamental importance of ensuring that any reform fully preserves current mandates and not only maintains but also improves delivery and enhance impact on the ground.

I thank you. I thank Brazil for the statement. I give the floor to the Russian Federation to be followed then by the European Union, Japan, New Zealand, Philippines, Ethiopia. The Russian Federation. Please.

Distinguished President. Distinguished Mr. Crow. I agree to congratulate you both on the new functions you're assuming. Administrator, you have already had an opportunity to feel how much in demand the UNDP is on the part of developing countries. Especially against the background of changing international landscape.

And in this regard I would like to say that we expect in your work as Administrator you will be guided by first and foremost the interests of the Global south and help realize the unifying potential of of the program and help advance a de politicized, equitable and inclusive cooperation for development. Russia highly values its partnership with undp, including as a donor of the program in the recent decade. During this period we have implemented joint projects to the amount of about $135 million. Very recently we celebrated a 10 year anniversary of the Russia UN Trust Fund which is something that hope is being pinned by in the countries of the cis, Africa, Asia and the Caribbean. Russia is open to further constructive and substantive cooperation with the program now on the reform.

Specifically, of course, we agree that enhancing the effectiveness is something that is very much needed. At the same time, it is our view that what should be an outcome of reform is strengthening undp, not its weakening. And in this regard, please allow me to put the following question to you. According to you, what are the key priorities for the UNDP in the very near future? To make sure that under the condition of the current reform we can safeguard and enhance the role play by the program as a central element of the UN development system.

I thank you. I thank the Russian Federation for the statement and the question. I have the European Union to be followed by Japan.

Thank you, President. Administrator Excellencies have the honor to intervene on behalf of the European Union as a donor. I would like to congratulate you Administrator, on your appointment and thank you for your statement and vision. And notably the three priorities outlined which we fully support. Given the time I will keep it.

Short with three points in reaction. First, this is a crucial moment for UNDP and for the wider UN system. And the EU has been and will. Remain a reliable and responsible partner to undp. Together with EU member states, the EU remains the largest contributor to undp, underlining the strategic importance we attach to this partnership.

We stand ready to continue supporting UNDP. And its staff as we navigate the challenges ahead. Second, we are keen to build on. UNDP's comparative advantages, its expertise, strong track. Record and unique field presence, and its ability to deliver in fragile contexts.

We support your focus on creating enabling environments for investment to achieve the SDGs, including governance, regulatory frameworks and broader capacity building. Partnerships with the private sector and international financial institutions will be instrumental in mobilizing resources and driving innovation. And we look forward to working with you in the context of our global gateway strategy. Finally, The EU commands UNDP's leadership in. Advancing UN reform and its engagement in.

Strengthening the effectiveness and coherence of the UN development system through UN et. As many said, this requires stronger alignment and collaboration among UN entities under the leadership of the UN UN Resident Coordinator, an area where the EU has invested heavily. We would be interested to hear more. How can UNDP better Support an integrated 1? UN action at country level on the potential merger with UNOPS.

We look forward to the upcoming thorough assessment and the different scenarios that would be put forward for decision of the Board and support the idea of an independent analysis too. In closing, the European Union looks forward. To further strengthening its partnership with undp. The scale and complexity of of today's challenges demand unity, ambition and coordinated action. Thank you.

I thank the European Union. I'm grateful for the brevity of the statement. I give the floor to Japan to be followed by New Zealand.

Thank you, Mr. President. I skip congratulations to Hoyu and Administrator. Japan and UNDP share a deep commitment. To national ownership and genuine partnership. On that foundation we are united.

But by its human security concept and by a shared determination to translate principle. Into progress people can feel in their daily lives. Japan's priorities are threefold. First, we recognize HDP nexus and re recovery as UNDP's distinctive strengths linking urgent. Needs to lasting resilience in fragile settings.

The nexus protects people today while restoring. Institutions and services that reduce the risk of renewed violence. Tomorrow, Japan will continue its contribution to prevention, early recovery and peace building. Second, as public finances tighten, Japan values. UNDP's role as a catalyst for private sector engagement.

We encourage UNDP to strengthen public private partnerships by advancing institution building and business. Enabling reforms so Investment can flow to. Where it is needed most. Third, Japan appreciates UNDP's long standing role. As a co organizer of TICAT and we thank Hureka Bureau for their cooperation.

Initiatives such as Timbuktu and Credit Rating project align with TICAD's focus on mobilizing. Private finance for Africa and look forward to even closer collaboration as UN80 discussion proceeds. Japan would appreciate early concrete information on. Options under consideration regarding possible UNDP UNOPS merger. We will also follow closely how relocations to Bonn and Madrid may affect UNDP's field operations and communication with Member States.

Japan looks forward to continued dialogue with. UNDP and to translating our shared priorities into measurable results for those we serve. I thank you Mr. President.

I thank Japan for the statement. I give the floor to New Zealand to be followed by the Philippines.

Thank you President. Mr. Administrator, let me join others in congratulating you on your appointment. New Zealand is pleased to join this first regular session and looks forward to. Supporting UNDP as it begins implementing its new strategic Plan.

Plan New Zealand strongly supports your assessment of the fundamental importance of global development. Efforts and the contribution that these make towards a more peaceful and secure world. The UNDP obviously plays a critical role in helping countries in this regard to address complex global challenges. We welcome your focus on innovation, digital transformation and maximising the impact of private. Sector investment as drivers of progress towards our SHIP goals.

We also welcome your reassurance of UNDP's continued commitment to human rights, gender equality and leaving no one behind. These principles are foundational to achieving sustainable. And inclusive development outcomes as a Pacific nation. New Zealand echoes comments of others regarding. The importance of ensuring that the UNDP.

Remains accessible to small island developing States and that its work continues to reflect the priorities of Pacific island countries including climate resilience and economic stability. Partnership, dialogue and respect for Pacific national leadership remain central and we also echo calls from others for the UNDP to. Consider how it might integrate the Multi. Vulnerability Index into its work. New Zealand recognises the current difficult resource.

Environment in which we are operating. As you have stated, predictable flexible core. Funding remains essential allowing UNDP to maintain. Agility, uphold its normative commitments and sustain. Long term resilience work.

New Zealand was pleased to confirm last year a new multi year core contribution. And we encourage all partners to continue prioritising core resources to ensure the UNDP. Can meet the expectations placed upon it. New Zealand also joins others in acknowledging the difficult but necessary decisions that have. Had to be made by UNDP leadership and the toll that this must have.

Taken on staff New Zealand also wishes. To underscore the importance we attach to the UN80 initiative, which represents a generational opportunity to strengthen the effectiveness, coherence and. Impact of the UN development system. We appreciate the continued updates, including yesterday's briefing. These are crucial to enable Member States.

To track momentum, understand challenges and support timely decision making. In this regard, we want to emphasise three points. First, UNDP must remain focused on the end goal how a UN system that is leaner, more coherent, more effective and capable of delivering stronger impact amid shrinking resources and rising global needs. We also reiterate the call of others to ensure that core mandates are respected and maintained. Second, reforms must be shaped through broad.

Meaningful consultation with Member States and UN stakeholders. Proposals for country and regional level reform will have significant implications for operations on the ground, including in the Pacific. These proposals must be adaptable to diverse context, tested where appropriate and informed by those who will be directly affected.

I think I thank you Zila for the statement. I give the floor to the Philippines to be followed by Ethiopia.

Thank you, Mr. President. We congratulate Administrator De Crew on his appointment and thank him for emphasizing the need to rebuild trust in international cooperation. We commend UNDP's important work, especially in the Asia Pacific Pacific region. UNDP is a long standing and trusted. Partner of the Philippines, so we therefore.

Support a strong and effective UNDP as. A pillar of the UN's development system. We have contributed to UNDP's core funding. In this regard. We align with the statement delivered by.

Uruguay on behalf of the G77 and. China and wish to highlight the following points in our national capacity. First, as we engage in the UN ADP process, we must safeguard commitments in. The 2030 Agenda, the 2024 QCPR and the Sevilla. Commitment, efficiency and reform should not come at the cost of delivery of much needed programs in developing countries.

Second, proposals for potential merger between UNDP and UNOPS can benefit from evidence based and membership driven processes. Various options and comparative analysis would allow for in depth review and deliberation. Third, we highly appreciate UNDP support for. The Philippines hosting of a high level conference on Middle Income countries last year. With consultations on a strategic Plan of action for Middle Income countries set to commence soon as mandated by the recent UN General assembly resolution.

We would like to inquire with the Administrator how he envisions UNDP support from. The Ministry Middle Income Countries moving forward. Fourth, the Philippines welcomes the new strategic. Framework of the UN Office for Self. South Cooperation and intends to enhance our share of good practices in migration and.

Digital inclusion among Others. Fifth, the Philippines encourages UNDP to strengthen its partnerships and complementarity with regional and sub regional organizations such as ASEAN which. The Philippines currently chairs. We are also interested in the administrators plans to enhance engagement with the private sector for inclusive and equitable development and. Look forward to UNDP's activities in this regard.

In conclusion, allow us to reiterate our. Strong support for UNDP and our desire. To further strengthen and deepen our cooperation in various sectors. Thank you.

I think the Philippines I give the floor to Ethiopia to be followed by Tunisia.

Mr. President, Mr. Administrator, my delegation alliance self with a statement delivered by Uruguay on behalf of G77 and China. Mr. President, allow me to join delegations. To congratulate you on your successful relation. The responsibilities you have you have assumed during this time of change might be challenging, but my delegation trusts your able leadership in steering the work of the Board.

In the same vein, I would like. To congratulate the new Administrator of the. UNDP, Mr. Alexander de Cru and I. Hope his wisdom and experience will benefit. The Agency in steering it through these challenging times.

Mr. President and Mr. Administrator, you have full support of my delegation. The UNADP is renowned for delivering a range of holistic development programs from supporting reformists on eradicating poverty and inequality to governance, climate, energy and the list continues. In light of this, the mandate of UNDP must be safeguarded. So much so that it continues to.

Be recognized as a brand symbol of UND development architecture. In furtherance of its mandate, the Executive Board has adopted ambitious yet doable strategic. Plan for the next five years which co coincides with timelines of Agenda 2030. Mr. President, Ethiopia has usual. Ethiopia as usual remains committed to work in close collaboration with UNDP in the.

Field of poverty eradication, digital literacy, governance. And energy among others. Our homegrown economic reform agenda has launched key development initiatives as well as well. Aligned with SDGs and Agenda 2063. The Green Legacy Initiative, continued investment in.

Renewable energy development, digitalization, construction of the biggest African aviation hub in push off to Ethiopia, sustainable urban development and the. Breakthrough in agricultural productivity among others. As a proud host of COP32, Ethiopia will continue to redouble its effort of its stewardship to environment and we look. Forward to seeing you all in November 2027. In conclusion, as we wish the Administrator.

A successful tenure, we encourage the Agency to continue engaging closely with developing countries. Based on their needs and priorities. I thank you Mr. President. I think Ethiopia. I give the floor to Tunisia to be followed by the United States, Qatar, United Kingdom.

Thank you Mr. President. We congratulate Mr. Ducrux for his appointment. And wish him all the success and his responsibility. We thank you Administrator for your briefing this morning.

UNDP has been a long standing reliable partner of Tunisia, accompanying my country through critical economic, social, institutional transitions. This partnership has consistently aligned with Tunisia's national priorities and has demonstrated demonstrated UNDP's catalytic role in middle income countries. UNDP has also provided valuable support to the preparation of the forthcoming National Plan and implementation of Tunisia's national determined contributions. This support has helped translate international commitments into concrete policies, strengthen institutional coordination and develop investment ready pipelines, particularly in climate change, energy efficiency, efficiency, territorial resilience, food security and sustainable development. We further acknowledge UNDP crucial role in strengthening climate transparency frameworks, improving access to international climate finance and mobilizing innovative financing instruments including green finance Solutions.

To conclude, Mr. President, Tunisia retreats its commitment to the UN Development Agenda and extends on this occasion once again is credited to undp, to UNDP staff, to the UNDP Arab Bureau and all the funding partners to their continued cooperation and support in advancing the SDGs and implementing Tunisia National Development Plan. We look forward to further strengthen our partnership and I thank you. I'm grateful to Tinja for such a brief statement. I give the floor to the United States to be followed by Qatar. Thank you very much Mr. President and congratulations to the to the Administrator on his appointment.

We look forward to working with partners to advance UNDP's core mission of eradicating poverty and supporting self reliance, including through pro business reforms and ensuring an efficient fit for purpose agency amid historic reform. The United States expects UNDP to prioritize core mandates and its comparative advantage building on historic Fifth Committee cuts. We support your workforce optimization and the difficult decisions made to meet current fiscal realities. We join you in emphasizing that the UN system must reform or risk irrelevance and look forward to hearing your specific plans for continued for continued cutting overhead. And increasing efficiency to return UNDP to its foundational raison d'.

Autre. We appreciated Yesterday's discussion on UN80 and the potential UNDP and the emphasis on bold thinking. We are disappointed more information was not available ahead of the session, but we look forward to a comprehensive independent assessment that gives Member States the empirical basis to determine the best way forward. The United States will scrutinize any merger proposals in the context of efficiency, reduced duplication and cost savings. As stated, the United States will not hesitate to defund and withdraw from organization that can't or won't deliver effective return on the investment of American people.

This includes not getting sidetracked by narratives that fall outside UNDP's core mission, such as soft global governance frameworks like the. 2030 Agenda and DEI initiatives. Furthermore, it is unacceptable that the Country Program document for Cuba includes blatant political messages blaming the United States for negative. Outcomes that result from from Cuba's own economic mismanagement. Such overt and inappropriate political references undermine the purpose and credibility of CPD's.

We stress that UNDP should focus on specific development objectives such as eradicating poverty, addressing corruption, improving rule of law, promoting judicial reform and creating a pro business environment, among others. I thank you.

I think the United States. I have to let you know that the interpreters kindly agreed to stay until 1:10. We still have about eight speakers, nine speakers on the list.

We can continue after 1:10 without interpretation. So without further ado, let's go to Qatar, to be followed by the United Kingdom.

Mr. Administrator of the UNDP, your Excellencies. I would like to begin by reiterating our congratulations to His Excellency Alexander decroux on his appointment as Administrator. We also extend our appreciation to him for accepting the invitation to visit Doha where he participated in the 23rd edition of the Doha Forum in December 2025. His meetings with ministers and the officials of my country reaffirmed our mutual commitment to strengthening cooperation and partnership between our side and our delegation aligns itself with the statement on behalf of 70 the group 77 and China.

In this context, the State of Qatar values its partnership with the undp, which has entered its second phase last year when we signed the Core Resources support agreement for 25, 2025, 26, through which Qatar's contributions to the core funding has reached $64 million. We are equally proud of our pioneering investment in the Accelerator Labs initiative and in support of stability and reconstruction in the sisterly Syrian Arab Republic. Qatar has provided more than $45 million. Towards the implementation of the Civil Service. Salary Support Plan in partnership with UNDP and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Your Excellencies, the State of Qatar believes. Firmly in the importance of the multilateral action and international cooperation to confront the global challenges. We have allocated $4.8 billion in 20 between 2020 and 2024 in support of education, health care and clean energy and food security. We, in closing, emphasize our appreciation of our partnership with the UNDP and the UN and our continued efforts to support the developing nations in the upcoming phase. Thank you, Mr. President.

I thank Qatar. I give the floor to the United Kingdom, to be followed by Nigeria and Switzerland.

And congratulations, Mr. Administrator, on your appointment. UNDP has been crucial to advancing global sustainable development. The international landscape is marked by increasing complexity, widening inequalities and continued setbacks in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. These pressures are reshaping development needs and expectations and they require a UN development system that can respond flexibly and effectively.

The Secretary General's UN80 initiative is key to that response. The United Kingdom welcomes UNDP's engagement with the Secretary General's UN80 initiative to create a leaner and more efficient UN system. UN80 must deliver practical improvements that allow for a more coherent, effective system on the ground and above all, more impact for those it serves. For the UK this means collaborative UN country teams with greater flexibility to respond to national priorities supported by a strengthened Resident Coordinator system. In this regard, we welcome UNDP's work co leading the expertise on demand work strand given its potential to generate a efficiencies, enable greater flexibility and ensure that host government's priorities are responded to for greatest impact.

We know UNDP is actively engaged across a number of other work strands including the regional reset and country configuration. We welcome your engagement so far and encourage the Agency to continue to be actively involved in helping shape the direction of travel and to also work with other agencies on identifying opportunities for joint resource collaboration. Collaboration on the Ground we covered mergers in some detail yesterday, so to avoid repetition, I'll just say that we underscore the need for assessments to be evidence based, robust and transparent and that as a member of the Executive Board we want to see options for both structural and non structural changes. Mr. Administrator, you've emphasized the importance of delivery and we agree.

Sincerely. Delivery has to be at the heart of development. In this regard.

I thank United Kingdom. I give the floor to Nigeria to be followed by Switzerland.

Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, Nigeria warmly welcomes the Administrator of UNDP, His Excellency Alexander Decro into his new role. We look forward to working cooperatively with you, Mr. Administrator to deepen UNDP's development footprint in Nigeria and other South I mean global south countries. We align this morning our statement with that delivered by Uruguay on behalf of the G77 and China and Rwanda on behalf of the African Group members on the board.

Mr. President, the international development system is facing headwinds. Reducing core and non core resources threatens the crucial work of UNDP and its partner organization carried out on the ground in developing countries. We commend the UNDP for its cost cutting measures. As noted by the Administrator. In the face of dwindling resources, however, cost cutting can only go far if the organization is to maintain the same level of intervention.

The international community must never forget that. Sustainable development is itself an investment in. International peace and security as the more. Development there is, the less likely conflicts become. Nigeria therefore calls for increased contributions to the UNDP from Member States, the private sector and public spirited individuals and organizations organizations that are in a position to do so.

Nigeria looks forward to collaborating with UNDP in the core areas of its 20262029 strategic plan. As noted and reiterated by the Administrator. These plans must be rooted in national. Ownership and collaboration with local authorities. In closing, Mr. President, Nigeria wishes to reiterate its a strong support to the UNDP in its development mandate, especially also considering that the UNDP.

Initiative at the same is driving financial technologies innovation and supporting.

I admire the determination. That's why I allowed it. I give the floor to Switzerland to be followed and by Italy. I'm going to read the remainder of the list. Switzerland, Italy, Georgia, Singapore, Canada and Chad.

And then we also have a right of reply requested. So Switzerland please. President Mr. Administrator, warm congratulations on your appointment as UNDP Administrator and thank you for this interactive dialogue. UNDP is a priority multilateral organization for Switzerland and remains a key partner to navigate the challenging geopolitical conflict context, addressing systemic causes to crisis and development challenges and to implement the 2030 Agenda.

Allow us to go straight to some remaining open questions Switzerland has in relation to structural changes organization is going through with the workforce optimization exercise as well as to unds reform, UN80 and the proposed merger with UN Ops. On the workforce optimization, we need to have the new picture of the organizational setup with an overview of which units will be relocated, where and the number of positions that have been abolished. If this is not available at this point of time, we kindly request you to make this information available to Member States soon on the UNDS reform. The large footprint of UNDP and its role as integrators comes with responsibilities. What role will UNDP play in accelerating reforms that have been asked since several years?

In your view, what are the bottlenecks and UNDP's vision to overcome these challenges? And finally, related to the proposed merger, we would like to have more information on the structural, operational and financial implications of UNDP nesting UN ops. Following up on yesterday's interaction, we would welcome more clarity on the process and when will you be able to share the assessment with Member States, including the Register of Risks. We look forward to a continued strong partnership and thank you for your attention. I thank Switzerland and I give the floor to Italy to be followed by Giorgio.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Administrator, in congratulating you for your appointment, Italy reiterates its firm commitment to the long standing partnership with UNDP embedded in a common strategic vision to respond to a changing development landscape. This partnership is increasingly reflected in joint initiative aligned with UNDP Strategic Plan 2629 and aimed at delivering at scale and carrying real impact on the ground covering digital transformation, sustainable finance, climate and energy. In this context, the UNDP Rome center for Sustainable Development is emerging as a global hub for dialogue and innovation as a valuable knowledge partner.

Also in the framework of Italy Metae Plan for Africa, the UNDP Rome center supports and complements our bilateral action aimed at building bridges of trust and cooperation across different actors and different regions. Digital transformation based on inclusive, human centered and equitable use of artificial intelligence and public private partnerships aimed at mobilizing private sector capital and engagement are two cases in point of this collaboration. We also deeply value our cooperation with UNDP in crisis response and post conflict recovery and stabilization in the context of the UN80 initiative. Mr. Administrator, Italy remains firmly committed to supporting UNDP as a cornerstone of multilateral development cooperation and is proud to have continued his strong support.

With overall project funding exceeding 30 millions in 2025, the UN AD initiative is meant to be a bold reform of the very architecture of the United nations, delivering a transformative change for a more efficient multilateral system anchored in the 2030 Agenda and its underlying values and closer to the need of the people and realities on the ground. We look forward to continue to work in this period. Thank you. I thank you. Tali.

I give the floor to Georgie and then Singapore. Mr. President, Mr. Administrator, all protocols observed. The full version of the statement will be uploaded. Mr.

Administrator, we would like to echo Defense. Development nexus mentioned by you. While there is no development without peace. And no Peace without development, GA is committed to implement SDGs and especially SDG 16. We stand ready to share best practices and experience to the groups of countries or individually in delivering public services, good governance, fighting corruption and in other directions.

At the UN Public Service Forum hosted. By Georgia in June this year or in any other forum within the turbulences of financial constraints, we underscore UN 80 initiative that envisages much timely reforms of. The UN system to foster more effective and efficient multilateral cooperation and to better. Uphold the principles enshrined in the UN charter. Mr.

Administrator, you have mentioned trust, so we. Trust your leadership to see a UNDP in these challenging times. Having said that, we would like to ask the following three questions. How do you see the increased role of private sector and local government in implementation of the CPDs. Second, where do we see the potential of more use of the emerging technologies such as AI in the work of.

The UNDP programs at the local level? And third, in which domain do we. See the potential of more regional engagement and regional projects?

Thank you. I think.

George, I want to let you know that at this point we don't have interpretation. I want to thank the engineers for continuing to provide the assistance so we can continue our meeting. I have now Singapore and then Canada.

Mr. President, administrator to crew distinguished members of the Executive Board. Singapore congratulates the Administrator on his appointment and welcomes the vision outlined in the UNDP Strategic Plan and the Administrator's remarks. You have Singapore's full support. We welcome the assurance that even as reforms are undertaken, delivery will not be interrupted. And in this context, we look forward to more details on the UNDP UNOPS merger assessment and encourage exploring a suite of options to improve mandate delivery.

I would like to make three points. First, we commend UNDP's vision to recenter development in global decision making. We are glad that UNDP's work will look at prevention and and resilience as twin lenses to ensure that development is seen as a life cycle and not a snapshot. Second, we welcome the UNDP's efforts to leverage public, private and innovative sources of financing both for organizational sustainability and service delivery. In particular, we welcome championing systems level engagement driven by national priorities to crowd in more private capital.

Third, we must double down on leveraging accelerators such as Decision Digital and AI Transformation to deliver truly integrated and scalable solutions at the country level. On this, we are proud to collaborate with the UNDP's Global center for Technology, Innovation and Sustainable Development in Singapore to explore such solutions to ensure implementation of recently adopted high level outcomes and to strengthen partnership with fellow developing countries. Mr. Administrator, I recall your recent remarks in Davos on who brokers trust and here as well that most of us still believe in collective action on the big endeavors. But that trust must be grounded on delivery that is on point and in this.

Singapore remains committed to this collective action with UNDP and our partners to advance the development agenda. I thank you. I thank Singapore. I give the floor to Canada to be followed by Chad.

Thank you Mr. President and Mr. Administrator. Canada is pleased to welcome you to your force to your first Board session as UNDP Administrator. We appreciate this opportunity to hear directly from you on your vision for UNDP in these difficult times. Canada notes your emphasis on pursuing new and diverse financial partners.

We welcome this approach and encourage UNDP to continue. In regard to UN 80, we reiterate that the Executive Board holds a key decision making role. We expect that the Executive Board will be presented with options in a timely fashion on how the proposed merger or integration of functions could take shape. We acknowledge your early reflection shared yesterday during the UN80 discussion and would welcome any additional reflections on the various scenarios. We also reiterate that the key normative mandates that underpin UNDP's work and strategic plan must be preserved and upheld in any merger scenario.

Delivery on the ground is paramount. As such, we stress that any restructuring must keep UNDP fit for purpose. We trust that you are keeping this principle front of mind, including through the ongoing workforce optimization exercise. Canada welcomes your valuable leaderships and thanks you for the insights you have shared today. I think Canada we have the finalist of speaker is the following Chad, Republic of Korea, Dominican Republic, France and Mexico.

So Chad, please, please.

I'm going to speak in French as my speech is.

So I It's at your own risk probably. I mean for me it's fine, but I know for the others.

The manager generalism, Multilateralism.

For Lermiza confiance a fundamental.

Confiance.

Strategically Appreciate.

Thank you very much. I give the floor to the Republic of Korea and then the Dominican Republic.

Thank you Mr. President for giving me the floor. Mr. Administrator, I send my warm congratulation to you on your appointment. In light of your extensive experiences across public and private sectors, I'm confident that UNDP will continue to thrive under your able readership as UNDP's key partner. My delegation assures you of the full support of the Republic of Korea and stands ready to work closely with you throughout your tenure.

Your appointment comes at a particularly challenging time. UN agencies are undergoing pressure and as key donors face fiscal constraint and over a UN development system is tested as never before. Nevertheless, we believe that UNDP, as the leading UN development agency, will navigate these challenges and turn this crisis into an opportunity for strategic alignment. The Republic of Korea will continue to strongly support UNDP to fully fulfill its key mandate, namely eradicating poverty and supporting sustainable development. We will continue to support ROK UNDP Revive program which has delivered early recovery support and contributed substantially to alleviating pain in the most fragile areas such as Gaza and Myanmar.

The Korean government will also continue its support throughout through its existing programs, including core contributions, SDG Trust Fund and other various bilateral programs. To ensure the continuity of this cooperation, we request the greater visibility and stronger accountability of the Korea's contributions, including those channeled through the demod funding windows in closing. UNDP is as Korea's largest development partner. We look forward to continuing this journey in the years ahead. I thank you.

Thank you. The Republic of Korea, the Dominican Republic and then France.

The statement is in Spanish but I want to congratulate in English Mr. De Craw so Senor Presidente Administrador ytingidos mi embros de la Junta.

Junta so.

Multilateralismo.

Ninguna reforma inculida initiative.

Evaluation de fusiones okambios devincluding analysis exhaustivo delimpacto differentiado elospaces.

Thank you very much. Well, as do a couple of statements without interpretation. I think the best way to make accessible make it accessible to member States would be to distribute them Right. So let's try to follow up with those statements that were delivered after the interpretation left. So I have France and then Mexico.

On Palestine.

International.

I thank La France for the statement. I give the floor to Mexico and then we have a right of reply from Cuba sub Mexico please.

Thank you very much. Mr. President. Allow me to begin by wishing every success to the new UNDP Administrator Alexander CRO and by reiterating Mexico's commitment to strengthening our cooperation with UNDP under his leadership. Mexico recognizes UNDP as a strategic partner for sustainable human development and for the. Implementation of the 2030 Agenda.

We value its support in strengthening institutional. Capacities and promoting inclusive multi stakeholder partnerships guided by substantive equality and the principle of leaving no one behind. We also highlight UNDP's comprehensive approach to addressing structural inequalities, strengthening social cohesion and building territorial resilience. I would like to underscore the close. Collaboration between my government, particularly through the.

Ministry of Foreign affairs and UNDP and. UNFPA in the preparation of the UNDP Country Program for Mexico for the period. 20262031 and the UNFPA Country Program for Mexico for the period 2026 2030. Both documents are aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework for Mexico, the National Development Plan 2025-2030 and the. SDGs reflecting strong synergies and a shared.

Commitment to a more just as an equal country, especially for those in situations of greater vulnerability. Allow me to thank the Director of the UNDP Regional Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean for presenting the New Country Program. This ambitious program builds on previous results and responds to interconnected challenges such as. Inequality, pressures on democratic governance, violence, human. Mobility and climate vulnerability, among others.

Mexico underscores the importance of strengthening cooperation on equality reduction, social inclusion, climate resilience. And institutional capacity building under the principles. Of Mexican humanism and shared prosperity. We invite UNDP to continue deepening partnerships and mobilizing innovative financing to advance national priorities. Finally, we agreed on need to diversify.

Financing sources in a context of declining international assistance and growing fiscal pressures aligned with the UN AD mandate. Thank you. Thank Mexico for the statement. And this is exhausted the list of speakers. We had more speakers than initially registered and Cuba has asked for the right of reply.

You have the floor, please.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President. We exercise our right to reply to respond to the statements made by the delegation of United States. My delegation reiterates that the Cuban CPD was the result of joint war between the UNDP and the Cuban government. The CPD strictly concerns my country's development efforts.

Those efforts have been hampered by the application of the US blockade against Cuba, which today marks precisely 64 years since his establishment. This policy has been intensified, including recent measures approved on January 29 which seek to prevent fuel from entering Cuba with the aim of causing economic collapse. Therefore, it would be unfortunate and untrue to ignore that the US blockade is the main obstacle to my country's development and has been recognized by as such by various bodies on the United nations systems and the international community. Thank you so much. Thank you, Cuba.

So, dear colleagues, thank you for bearing with us, but I think we have allowed Member States to express their views on this important work. Mr. Administrator, I think this is a very rich conversation. I would give you the floor for some comments, but of course we should not expect that we addressed all of them. Probably that's also an encouragement for all of us to look at another potential interaction in a more informal setting with the UNDP administrator.

Also, because this, this work is so much important and I think we heard a number of expectations and, you know, ideas from, from Member States. So I would like to give you the floor for some, some comments. Yes, thank you. I will try to do it a bit at sustained, sustained speed because we've gone, we go back a long, long way. Papua New guinea was, I think, the first one we have not addressed yet.

Appreciate your intervention, especially on the national adaptation plans where we work together and where we also have an accelerator hub on that. Papua New guinea is one of these examples where UNCDF is working in what we call sea grade environments to make it investable. It was an example that I gave in my introduction. And Papua New guinea is a good example in Thailand. This is the first country where we work on what we call sovereign backed sustainable linked bonds that we are trying to leverage up to 1 billion related to climate goals and this is something which is really, really promising to to our perspective.

Bosnia Herzegovina good example of where we use the NDP's portfolio approach in using different types of financing in helping the green transition and also supporting EU accession reforms. Remarque de la Cote d' Ivoire Energetique.

Affair on the Chinese state statement. Obviously appreciate the UNDP program that you do in your own country largely with own financing. Appreciate what you said on south south cooperation. You're not the only one who has made an intervention on that. We will go into a dialogue to make sure that the capacities are being sustained in despite of the fact that we have to do some budget cut.

Cuts. Intervention of Germany Agree with the fact that you say that on a potential merger we need to be able to look at different options to see what is the best way of reaping the dividends of such a potential merger. Obviously would like to thank you as being the largest core contributor to undp. In my introduction I made it very clear how important that is to us and also appreciate the fact that you thank the 23,000 people working for UNDP in their hard work. Swedish intervention you asked about which reforms can you do immediately which would bring benefits.

Well, for example on CO location, on joint offering, on shared services. There is still volumes to be to be improved in that and these are things that we can do quite quickly without waiting for the final results of UN 80 intervention of Panama on the responsible use of AI. Totally agree with that. I think you play an important role in that region in leveraging the capacities that are available in that part of the world in making sure that AI is being used in a responsible and not leading to more concentration and more inequality Intervention of Brazil first of all on south south cooperation. Same remark as we made for China.

We will in a prudent way go into a dialogue with you in maintaining the capacity. You mentioned that the private sector is not going to fill all the gaps. I agree private sector can do a lot of things, but it's not a solution to everything. And the impact of the public sector cuts they will be there. We can do everything to try to limit them as much as possible.

And the private sector can take over in certain other domains. But in certain core domains the impact is going to be there.

Intervention of the Russian Federation Federation, you ask specifically a potential merger related to undp. How can we maintain that UNDP remains the backbone and the core of development? Well, a few elements which I think from our perspective are crucial first of all is respecting the mandates. I think the mandates are strong today and we need to maintain them opening up that I think is something which is not going to help us a lot in the delivery on the ground. Protect the strategic plan that different organizations have.

And in the end the goal should be to create to make sure that entities that are involved in realizing the SDGs such as UNDP is the case, have an end to end offering going from policy to programming, to working with the private sector, to working with other types of financing and to implementation. What is crucial is that organizations such as UNDP do that within the cpd, within a country program document that is the best guarantee for you as an executive board to keep us accountable because the CPDs have been agreed by you. This is the framework in which we work and this is based on thorough analysis and so that that Recentering on the CPD's I think is a key element to make sure that the development work that we do is in line with national priorities, is in line with the SDGs and is something which is accountable to you. To you as well. European Union we are obviously excited of the possibility of scaling up our engagement in the in the global gateway perspective and we also appreciate the work that you're doing with UNCDF and Pillar 6 assessment to make sure that we can do the private sector crowding in in those places where it's actually not that easy to do that.

And we appreciate the work we do together in your sustainable finance EU sustainable finance hub Japan. I mean you've been a long term strategic partner in funding UNDP in a very, very stable way and we thank you for that. Thanks for the emphasis on the HDP nexus and together with you we do a lot of private sector work in health and so on and we hope we continue doing that. I think the direction of New Zealand asking us for a continued attention to the small island states and to the especially specifically there's a Pacific context in line with intervention made by Australia and making sure that what we do in the small island states context is showing that I mean income is one element but there's many other elements which are important to development which go beyond income and especially in that context it's an important one Philippines intervention I think what you are doing with you is a good example of how we work together with middle income countries and making sure that we don't see too many impacts of the gap that has often been described. And we work a lot with you on digital transformation and financing for development.

Ethiopia one of our important regional service centers tried to work with you a lot on on clean energy and on homegrown clean energy, on digital transformation and on improving the productivity of agriculture. Tunisia.

The financing agenda that has been set in Seville is an important guideline in the work that we do together, that we do in the NDCs and in the national development plans intervention of the of the United States. First of all, we would like to thank you for the work that you do together with uncdf. This is important and helps us to create an environment where SMEs can play their role. Also, the African Adaptation Initiative is an important one that enables SMEs in Africa to develop their growth potential. That all fits in what you called the pro business reforms and the link that it has to job creation.

Creating an environment in our partner countries that is pro business and is open for business environment investment. Being it FDI or being at home, home business environment is an important element in the implementation of our strategic plan. And the job creation linked to it is one of the ways in which you can make development delivery a tangible one for your population. You asked a question about efficiency and on how we can cut overhead and make sure that the investments you do go to the populations we try to serve. In our case, for every dollar you invest, 91 cents is going to the populations in which we work.

And that is a very, very high degree of delivery. You push us to be more efficient. You should always push us to be more efficient. We appreciate that. Qatar, yes, indeed, great visit a few weeks ago.

Interesting work that we do together on accelerator labs that you are doing together with Qatar and Germany. In total now more than 91 labs which have been created. United Kingdom appreciate that you sustained your core contribution for this year. The Nature Pledge, the Climate Promise support to Smile Island States. These are all topics that we work on with you.

You will be presenting together with us at CSW a study on the impact of depth on gender equality. And that is something that we are looking forward to. Nigeria, you mentioned after the microphone was cut off the importance of Timbuktu. And this is something. This is a project we're quite proud on and we obviously see that what you are doing on solar energy in your country, more than 100 megawatts being installed, which is important intervention of Switzerland.

First of all, let me reassure you that Geneva International is something which is important to us. And as I have had the occasion to talk talk with your minister in Davos two weeks ago, we will sustain our presence in Geneva. It is important for US that we have a presence there related to the domain of crisis management, where we know that there is a lot of expertise on site today. Besides that, we work a lot with you on technology, food systems and biodiversity. Italian intervention obviously could not talk about Italy without mentioning the Rome center and the importance that it has for us as a platform together with the Italian government.

It's quite unique setup that we have together with you for example in creating youth led climate interventions. Also of course course are very proud of the pista work that we do together with you in making sure that those difficult environments become bankable for clean energy projects and for decarbonization projects. Georgia, you asked how the private sector is part of the CPDs. I mean that's the advantage of the CPDs is that they have quite a broad view. It looks at the public funding, but of course it also lists out the interventions that we do to making sure that other types of funding being it in a direct way or indirectly, such as private sector development can happen.

You asked about AI and the role of AI. First of all, AI in our service delivery, like any organization, we are doing a lot of efforts in seeing how AI can enable us to have information flow better, automate things and really make sure that our 23,000 staff are working in domains where we really have human value added and where everything which is low value added basically gets automated. The vention of Singapore. I'm almost at the end, no worry Global center that we have together with you on technology and on AI. You mentioned the importance of delivery to make sure that collective action in the development space is still supported.

I couldn't have a better summary of what I tried to mention in my introduction. Intervention of Canada, top partner of UNDP with predictable multi year core contribution, non core investments in climate in crisis and so on. And we are expanding our contribution in sustainable finance and great promise in private sector mobilization. Intervention du Chad, The processes.

Executive Republic of Korea.

You have been a long standing partner of the UN funding window since 2016. More than 30 million have been funded in this way. And for climate change, fighting climate change, nature energy and your emphasis on the HDP nexus to us is an important one. Parapeur la intervention de la France.

Ensemble.

Mexico would like to thank you for this partnership that you have in advancing the 2030 Agenda. Together with you we have an integrated approach, a close collaboration within the country program that is aligned with your national priorities. And we know that you have an emphasis on innovative financing which is something where we like to work together. And then the Dominican Republic had some help in helping me translate your intervention. You also mentioned the small island state reality.

And it is a very specific development circumstances that ask us to adapt our offering. As said, we do this in more than 30 small island states and I think we have quite some experience in doing it. You mentioned the necessity to preserve the mandates within unity. Totally agree with that. It seems that I have jumped Ethiopia one way or another.

No, actually I did.

It's a whole sandwich, which I think is what you did to close. Thank you. Well, we can continue in Erlande because we still don't have interpretation. I have to say that we will not make a habit in going over the time frame allocated. But I think first and foremost I wanted to make sure that Member States get a chance to pass on to express their views.

And I apologize myself for not being able to have interpretation for the entire the entirety of almost four hours discussion. We start in the morning, we finish in the afternoon. But I think this also shows the resilience of Member states as well and of the entities. I think you are almost ready to skip lunch, so why should you go to have lunch now? But this is a conversation that I think we should continue and we all take.

We have our own takes. The UNDP is a very important organization and the interest of the member states I think could be put to a good use in mobilizing the support, the political and financial support. I want to thank Member States for their patience. I want to thank the UNDP staff, I see many of them in the back and our principals from the podium. And Mr.

Administrator, thank you for addressing all the points. This is ongoing dialogue and this continues beyond this formal session. So whenever there is a chance, we'll compare notes and I will facilitate also that. So, colleagues, thank you so much for the convenience. 3 o' clock with the UNOP segment and I wish you an enjoyable break.

And thank you to engineering engineers as well for their support. This meeting is adjourned.