(1st meeting) Executive Board of UNDP, UNFPA and UNOPS (First regular session 2026)

Good morning, dear colleagues, Excellencies, distinguished colleagues, I declare open the first meeting of the first regular session of the executive board of UNDP, UNFPA, UNOPS for 2026. This session is being held in accordance with the rules of procedure of the Executive Board and the approved annual work. We will start with our agenda. Before delivering my opening statement, I would like to welcome the senior officials joining us to the podium today. Her Excellency, Mrs. Amina Mohammed, Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr. Alexander Decroux, Administrator of the UNDP, Mrs. Diane Kita, Executive Director of the NFPA, Mr. George Moreira da Silva, Executive Director of UNOPS, and Mrs. Mahsa Jafari, Executive Secretary of the Executive Board of UNDP, UNFP, UNOPS. And of course, I do hope that we'll be having a productive Executive Board session. Now, this being the first formal meeting of the Board, I want to welcome Board members. I also want to welcome observers. I want to acknowledge the important role played by the Bureau, my colleagues, the Vice Presidents representing different regional groups, and of course, looking forward to work with everyone throughout the session and beyond throughout the year. I want to acknowledge especially the very first presence in the board of the UNDP administrator, Mr. Alexander Decroux, and the executive director of UNFPA, Mrs. Diankita. And I think you've been having a chance to discuss with them in the past several weeks. And I think through this interaction we can identify the best possible options. Welcome. We start our deliberations in a very changed environment. I think we are facing a number of challenges and this is not an understatement. The task of the Board is to be able to navigate through them using the wisdom of the Member States and also the capabilities and capacity of the organizations that we are tasked with providing guidance to. We are faced with a fragile financial environment, and I think the Executive Board has a central responsibility in providing strategic guidance, oversight and accountability for the development agenda. And I think it is also in our hands to make it more efficient. I want to know that this session, the first annual session, is shorter by one day compared to last year. And I think as we look towards the following sessions, and I've been discussing with the Bureau members, we'll try to make our work even more efficient looking towards the annual session and also about what we can do even more from next year. The meetings and many conversations we have take place in a context that is very much dominated by views and assessments from Member states on the UN 80 initiative, which the Secretary General launched last year. It is part of the reflection we have to keep in mind that while we'll reflect on the future of the architecture that we have established, we also have to make sure that we provide the necessary support to the organizations to fulfill their very valuable mandates and missions. We do have instruments to make this work more efficient and more effective as well. I think I for myself, I been working very closely with the undp, UNFP and UNOPS and the colleagues in these organizations. I think they are always responsive to this interaction with Member States and building on this particular input that we will get from the organizations, I think will try to facilitate in the Board our deliberation. So I do count on your support. As far as I'm concerned, I will be exercising an open door, open year policy and in between sessions of the Boards we are ready to convene as needed. So there may be informal settings that will create. There may be other formal settings to take necessary decisions that Member States try to advance. Having said that, and of course we'll have a chance to continue discussing throughout this session. We will proceed With Agenda Item 1, organizational matters, including the adoption of the agenda and work plan for the session. I now invite Mrs. Mahsa Jafari, the Secretary of the Executive Board, to provide information on organizational logistical matters and to outline the agenda for this session. Mrs. Jafari, please, you have the floor.

Thank you, Mr. President. Good morning distinguished members of the Executive Board and observer delegations. Thank you for giving me this opportunity to very briefly highlight key arrangements for the first regular session of the Executive Board. I will cover again very briefly documentation, draft decision negotiations, the tentative work Plan and key logistical and procedural points in terms of documentation and negotiations. As noted during the pre session informal consultation on 19 January, all key documents are available on the Executive Board website. These include the tentative work Plan, logistics note, list of informals and briefings, and links to all official documents for UNDP, UNFP and UNOPS. The annual work plan for 2026 has also been posted. Advanced virtual negotiations on draft Decisions began on the 29th of January and will continue in person this week from 1 to 3pm with possible late afternoon sessions depending on the plenary schedule. Due to the UN austerity measures, no meeting rooms are available after 6pm Evening meetings therefore remain subject to confirmation. With your permission, Mr. President, I will now briefly outline the agenda as reflected in the tentative Work Plan. This morning the session will open with organizational matters, including adoption of the agenda and work plan, the report of the second regular session 2025 and the annual work plan for 2026. The joint segment will focus on system wide governance and oversight matters, including engagement with the UNAD initiative, audit recommendations, risk management, organizational culture, addressing racism and racial discrimination, the Board's governance and oversight functions and field visits. The UNDP segment will feature the interactive dialogue with the Administrator followed by items on unv, uncdf, UNSSC Evaluation and Country programs. The UNFPA segment will include the statement by the Executive Director followed by Evaluation and Country programs. The UNOPS segment will include the statement by the Executive Director and items on Process, Innovation and Digitalization Program, as well as transformation initiatives linked to the Comprehensive Response Plan. The session will conclude with other matters including adoption of the nine decisions under consideration, organizational matters and the tentative Work plan for the Annual Session 2026. I will conclude with a few key logistical points. The speaking protocol remains unchanged from previous sessions as outlined in the Logistics Note. After panel presentations, Bureau members will speak first, followed by group statements. The floor will then be given to PRs and DPRs, either inscribed by the deadline of Wednesday, 28th of January or requesting the floor during the meeting. Other delegations will follow first, those that inscribed in advance and those requesting the floor during the meeting. Time limits will be strictly observed. Five minutes for management panel presentations three minutes for individual statements including bureau members five minutes for group statements. The 32nd grace period no longer applies. Microphones will be automatically cut off once time has elapsed and delegations are kindly requested not to reactivate them. To ensure quality interpretation, delegations are requested to submit statistics statements to estatementsn.org at least two hours prior to delivery, clearly indicating the session title, the Speaker's name and the agenda. Item number and title statements will remain embargoed until delivered and will then be made available in the UN Journal. Thank you, Mr. President.

Thank you, Mr. Jafari. I think this is clear. I hope the housekeeping matters applicable to this Board, if there are no objections, do I take it that the Executive Board wishes to adopt the proposed agenda and work plan for the first regular session 2026? It is so decided. The Board also has before it the report of the second regular session 2025, document DP2026 1, which articulated in advance and reflects the discussions and decisions of the Board at that session. If there are no objections, I will take it that the Executive Board wishes to adopt the report. It is so decided. The Board has before it the Annual Work Plan of the Board for 2026, document DP2026CRP1, which may be subject to revision throughout the year. If There are no objections. I will take it that the Executive Board wishes to adopt its annual work plan. It is so decided. Dear colleagues, we continue with the joint segment and I am pleased to welcome the senior officials, Deputy Secretary General, Executive and the Executive heads of the organizations. This agenda item Engagement with UN80 initiative is part of an important conversation that I was also referring to in my opening comments. I'm glad to welcome the Deputy Secretary General with us. We'll first hear from the Deputy Secretary General and then from the heads of the organizations, and then we'll have engagement and interaction with Member States. I just want to remind you that this past week we did have two informal briefings on the UN 80 where we heard information from the three entities and a separate one from UN Women on the mergers that were proposed by the Secretary General. And I want to make it quite clear that this meeting and the Board itself, which would be adopting or expected to adopt a decision later this week on the UN80, places this process at the beginning of our consideration. So we will definitely make it possible for Member States to interact with the entities, and this is part of that effort. I will not prolong my comments and I would like to first invite the Deputy Secretary General, Amina Mohammed, to deliver her statement. You have the floor, please.

Thank you very much, Mr. President, distinguished members of the Executive Board, Excellencies and colleagues. I'd first like to thank the Chair for providing this space for this dedicated session on UN80 during your first regular session this year. I'd also like to acknowledge the many informal interactions that we've had before this that has helped to guide our work so far. As the President has said, we are gathering at a moment of profound change and consequence for the multilateral system around the world. We know that trust is fading and conflicts are intensifying and hard won gains, development gains, are stalling or in many cases, being reversed. At the same time, the UN is called upon to do more, and often with less, and to do it faster, more coherently and with greater impact. To echo the words of the Secretary General, there is no shortage of urgent tasks ahead of us. Two thirds of the SDGs remain off track, all while we know that investing in sustainable development remains the key to building a more equitable, peaceful, just and sustainable future. The Secretary General's report on shifting paradigms responds directly to that sense of urgency. UN80 is our blueprint to ensure that the UN remains fit for purpose, to deliver on its mandates, credible in its use of resources, and relevant to the people that we serve. This means strengthening System wide coherence, addressing the duplications, modernizing our business models and ensuring alignment with national priorities. It means deepening and broadening our response for sustainable development. But we all know we can't do this alone. Member States play a critical role in shaping how we prioritize and organize ourselves across the system. As Executive Board members, you've taken on a crucial responsibility, making sure the reforms you championed at the General assembly translate into real change and in our entities. Under your guidance and oversight, the UN development system has come together as never before. The integration you've driven is now moving to its next phase, potential mergers that could strengthen this system even further. The Secretary General has asked for thorough assessments of these two potential mergers, UNDP and unops, which would create a more powerful engine for sustainable development with greater scale in UN country teams and with UNFPA and UN women. This would provide a unified platform and voice on gender equality and women's rights, while optimizing normative functions on population statistics and youth. The SG has tasked me with moving this forward. The Executive Directors, administrators and I have been working together closely. While we have made important strides, this is still a work in progress. We've navigated challenges and differing perspectives along the way and that is inevitable in the work at this scale. But by working through them constructively, I believe that we can overcome any remaining concerns and emerge stronger from this process. The assessments for both mergers are at different stages, but both are moving forward. Let me be clear the the Secretary General's vision remains unchanged. This work has significant potential to strengthen on how we deliver at the country level. UNDP and UNOPS have the potential to unite the upstream policy expertise of UNDP with the downstream implementation expertise of unops. This all into a single engine for sustainable development. Preliminary data collected so far reinforces our conviction and there is much more that we will share with you and in the coming weeks and months. On the first slide of the three that we have shared, you will see in this table key data collected by UNDP and UNOPS respectively. It shows that combined these two agencies would provide an unparalleled asset base of 8.1 billion combined budget with almost 30,000 staff and a strong alignment across strategic plans, accounting standards and more. It also reveals clear overlaps in focus areas, type of activities and the funding base. In the second slide, we show that both entities currently work in the same areas with identical top three SDGs by expenditure, SDG 1 on poverty, SDG 3 on health and SDG 16 on governance peace. This shows immense potential for synergies and on slide 3. This slide confirms the potential for synergies looking across the geographic specific of both entities. Over 99% of country expenditures are spent on countries where both entities operate. This is just a preliminary analysis to give you a sense of the ongoing work, yet it shows why we're so determined. We will come back to you with further analysis as we work together with the entities and the work unfolds today. Alexander Georges will update you on UNDP and unops, where we are and what comes next. In the case of UNFPA and UN women, a merger would increase the scale and coordination needed to realize the world where every woman and girl counts and thrives and where she's in full command of her agency, her rights and lives with equality, dignity, economic power and unlimited potential where all youth are seen and are central to the work as we strive to leave no one behind. DN will update you on the work of UNFPA and UN Women, which is already well advanced and will deep dive on the evidence that they have gathered so far which reveals once again the potential for greater synergies and a potential merger Excellencies. This is not about changing the mandates of undp, unops, UNFPA or UN Women. They remain cardinal to the work that we have to do in the coming years. It is about amplifying their reach and impact. It is about strengthening our collective ability to deliver on the SDGs and leverage the pact for the future while upholding our norms and our values for people everywhere. It's about unlocking new funding opportunities for the respective mandates and moving beyond our flagship initiatives which, while useful, have not been able to deliver the impact on the needed to meaningfully advance the SDGs. We count on you to hold us accountable for our ambition. We have worked and will continue to work to put the best case forward for these two possible mergers and ultimately it will be you, the Member States, who will decide. It is, however, our responsibility in these turbulent times to ensure the best possible support for your sustainable development priorities with the needs and rights of women and girls and young people at the Center. I know such complex changes generate concerns and anxieties. This is expected. Some of you have asked, why fix what's not broken? Well, this is not about fixing. These are agencies that are highly performant and have had and have accompanied countries effectively over the decades. It's about upgrading the quality of our support and the impact of our action. Others have conveyed concerns that we're moving too fast, while others have said we're moving too slow. We do have a sense of urgency, but we will leave no stone unturned in our presentation to you. We are determined to building a robust case for your consideration that is grounded in transparency, shared ownership and a clear focus on the results. We're also reminded in these consultations that we are dealing with different organizations, unique in many ways, and their diversity is well understood and respected. But we're also committed to ensuring an inclusive process with Member States at the Centre and close attention to what our staff and our stakeholders are telling us. UNFPA and UN Women have conducted joint staff town hall and initiated consultations with civil society and and all our relevant stakeholders. UNDP and UNOPS are now doing the same, ensuring your decisions are informed through thorough consultations with everyone who has a stake in this. In addition to consultations hosted by the President of the General assembly, you as members of the Board have also had the first opportunity to hear from the teams at your informal meeting last Monday regarding the direction of travel. We will continue to consult with the Boards and with all Member States as the analysis evolves. I know that many of you have questions and reflections to share and this is really welcome and needed. We are here to listen. You can count on us working closely with you in the immediate horizon. I've signaled our availability to the Board Presidents to have a joint session of the Boards in March focused on specifically the mergers and we will provide further updates. We also stand ready to hold informals with you at any time at your convenience. The joint session with you and the UN Women Board is a key moment to get your input with a view to refining our assessments. The SG is determined to maintain timelines so that Member States can take a decision in due course. Let US use the UN80 for what? It is a moment to make the UN development system as effective as the world needs to be. Thank you.

Thank you very much, DSG, for this statement. I now give the floor to Mr. Alexander Decoud, UNDP Administrator. You have the floor, please.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President, Excellencies. This is my first address to the Executive Board and I've really been looking forward to to this moment. I have met many of you in smaller groups or in person to person since I assumed this role. I'm really looking forward to this interactive dialogue. Very often in UN environments when we say it's interactive, it is not so interactive. So let's do everything to make it as interactive as possible. And obviously, Mrs. DSG, very honored to have you as a guest here. Here to our Executive Board. The lens that we have to use in discussing and evaluating UN80. To us, UNDP is delivery. Delivery should really be at the core of the discussion that we have because it is delivery on what we are evaluated as a UN. And delivery is what builds trust. And to me, UN80 is also about rebuilding trust in the multilateral system. And I only see one tangible thing that we have to offer as United nations, and that is our delivery. Can the UN deliver on its core mandate for the people we are serving in a changing world? And as I said, that's the lens that in my speech here I would like to use. Are we fit to deliver? And if we are not fit to deliver, how can we make ourselves fit? Fit for delivering on peace and security, fit for delivering on development, fit for finding a solution to the challenges that there are in the world of today? And there are many, many challenges in the world of today. So to me, UN80 is a delivery agenda. It is not reform for the sake of reform. It is about improving that delivery, seeing how as UN we can be more efficient, more flexible, more agile and more accountable with the scarce resources that we have. And that really is, I think, where we have to set the bar. Everything we do needs to protect our delivery. Everything we do and reform needs to be done to improve our delivery. And this is what I have heard in the many conversations that I have had with you, the Member states. It is protected delivery capacity, but improve also the capacity that we should have. And we fully support the very strong push from the SG in reforming and we are actively helping in this. UNDP is active in 14 of the UN 80 member streams on the unity reform process. I think it is quite clear that the tracks are there, the train is on the tracks and the train is moving. You feel that the momentum is there and that's a great thing, that the momentum is there and we are in full support of that. Let me use this occasion to highlight a few of the work streams and apply the delivery lens on those work streams. First of all, expertise on demand. Expertise on demand is shared by the ITU who have asked UNDP to co chair it with them. We are in strong, strong support of that work package. Last week there has been a meeting with the principals that have endorsed a clear approach. We have received input from specialized agencies, from UN funded programs, from the Secretariat for Regional Economic Commission. So very broad support, very broad input into that. In short, what is expertise on demand about? It is a demand driven mechanism that improves the access for the member states and for the country teams to this incredible amount of expertise and intelligence that we have in the UN system. Why are we so excited about this work package? Well, if you use the delivery lens that I used in my introduction, this is one where we clearly show that the reforms we are doing are not just institutional reforms. That you really take that from the institutional level to the delivery level. It has the right balance of ambition, but also feasibility. It increases the access to the expertise that we have. We do it in a transparent way. We respect the mandates that we have for the moment and we grant Member States much more access than what they have today. It has high potential because it respects the operational financial rules. It does not create new layers, it does not create new structures. It is technology driven. There are no new intermediaries in this. To me, this is an example on how do we move faster and how do we improve on our delivery. So that was the first one. Second one is, is on unified shared services. Being it now at the global level or at the country level, this is one where the impact could be really a huge one on being more efficient as an organization. Here again it builds on what already exists. It builds on proven capacities. It builds on organizations which have a proven track record on providing shared services at scale. And UNDP is one of the organizations that has that track record on the global level. The Global Shared Services Center. It has 20 years of expertise in end to end HR and financial services, providing UNDP Country Network and others that network to the service of 80 UN agencies and 100 subs. And if you just look at what has been performed in 2024, processed for 5.3 billion payments in 122 currencies, 2.1 billion in payment disbursements. Our Quantum ERP system is being used by 11 other UN agencies and is supporting 40,000 staff worldwide. That's on the global level. If you take it on the country level. We manage 136 common premises for 46 UN agencies across 118 UN country teams. We provide support services to 131 of the DC offices, really two out of the four common back offices. And so I give these examples to tell you that here again this is not a new idea. This is something that exists but that we can improve and where we can build on existing expertise, on existing trust to improve the efficiency of what we have and to again strengthen delivery for the agencies with whom we work together and strengthen the delivery for the people that we try to help as much as possible after expertise on demand and shared services. Third topic, UN Country Team configuration and the regional reset. That work stream is A crucial one for UNDP because we are one of the largest UN development agencies with the largest development footprint. Don't have to remind you that we provide for approximately 5 billion US dollar in impact to developing countries. We have a universal presence, 135 country offices. We are active in five regional bureaus, four global policy centers, managing 5,000 projects every year. And over the years we have moved away from fragmentation. We have moved from projects to portfolios. We have fit the projects that we do in the country context and maybe give you a few examples of where I think we have been successful in the direction that we should continue going. For example the climate promise, for example, the integrated national financial frameworks. I think it shows what it should look like and it shows how we can integrate with other UN agencies and with the RC system. And we will put our full strength into the support of this. For full strength being it in our policy mandate, in our programmatic and integrated role in our universal country presence, in our capacity to host other agencies and our full role as the operational backbone in the UN system. We've been doing this and guided by what we have heard from you. Strong Member states engagement, respect for government and for mandates need to do it based on data and evidence, but also attention for the operational risk. All of this with one reason again, to protect what matters to us, our delivery to people on the ground. And I've been only two months in this role, but every day I've been impressed by what I hear from our organization that you are capable of and the impact that we provide on the ground. And honestly also from the feedback that I've gotten from so many of you about the impact that we are making. Again, that is the standard. Protect our delivery and strengthen our delivery. And that really is the bar where UN80 should be. Quickly 4th one on the funding mechanism review. This is one we are actively engaged in. We are leading the drafting of a paper, the Case for core. I don't have to convince you what the value of CORE is. This paper needs to help us to reduce the transaction cost, to improve the coherence and to unlock the high quality resources for SDG delivery. We need to go towards a balanced funding portfolio where you have NCORE funding and pooled funding, antimatic agency funding and of course also earmarked funding. This should be strengthened, not necessarily centralized. We should make sure that we are not creating additional layers or creating additional gatekeeping. We need to preserve what matters to the Member States, that is direct access to UN agencies accountability. And it needs to be aligned with the National Development Priorities. And UNDP is contributing to that through the funding compact. Again, always with the ambition to protect what we have and then to improve. We need to protect what exists. That means incentivize resource mobilization. We need to increase the capacity for the UN system to have other types of financing and again use the same lens. So I want to be clear, protect what we have, but of course also work on building new ways of stabilizing our financing. Finally, last and not last for any reason of priority is a potential merger between UNDP and unops. The question that we need to address in such a potential merger is is there a value for the Member States to have a single end to end development entity? An entity which would combine the comparative strengths of undp, comparative strengths and development mandate and the integrator role, the policy that it has in the programmatic role in the delivery backbone that it has in supporting the National Development Goals strengths of UNDP together with the strengths of unop, which has a role as an extremely efficient, non programmatic service provider. I'm convinced that if we do it right and carefully, this could lead to a very powerful organization. But we also have to be clear, a merger of this size carries a significant amount of risk. This is not an easy merger. This does not mean that we should not evaluate it and that we should not carefully look at how it could be done. But the risks, and I want to remind some of the risks. There is a risk of diluting mandates. There is a risk of disrupting delivery. Both organizations have thousands of people on the ground. Very often in difficult and delicate circumstances. There are financial and legal risks and there is also people and cultural risks as well. Some of you in the interactions that we have have asked us whether there are alternative ways to capture the value that I have just put forward. I think the approach that you need to use is to be extremely data driven. To have an evidence based approach to do a clear cost benefit analysis and a clear analysis of the risks. I think we need to look at different pathways and options, not just as one outcome. And I think that in doing this it might be that having an outside independent entity having helping us with that, that it could help you. But obviously we're open for discussion on that. Why do I mention all of this? That is that as an organization and as principals of these organizations, we have a responsibility to you. We have a responsibility to the Executive Board. We have a responsibility to the Member States. We have a responsibility to the people we serve. We also have a huge responsibility to the staff and and the people that work for us. So if we do it, and to me it's clear that there is a big potential value in doing it. We need to do it right. We cannot take any risks in doing this. UNDP and UNOPS have clear similarities, but they also have differences. And you might have seen the MOPAN analysis that came out last Friday that did a technical analysis really with the lens of unity. And really to take a few highlights out of that document, first of all, it mentions that there is quite some common ground. Both organizations implement projects often in very different circumstances. In the case of UNDP, this is about 5,000 projects in government approved programs in line with long term development outcomes. Both provide shared services across the un. Both provide payment and procurement services. Procurement services, which we often do in a very different context. There is also clear differences and I mentioned those differences not as obstacles. The differences are not obstacles to the merger, but the differences are things we should look in detail when we are evaluating that merger. UNDP has a development program where we work in the context of policies and programming which we do together with the countries. UNDP operates for approximately 5 billion every year, which is 20 billion for every strategic cycle. We work through diversified contribution based funding, core, non core and all the others. Crucial as well is that everything we do is country led. It is grounded in national ownership. It is based on executive board country program documents which are aligned with the UN SDG cooperation frameworks. We do this in line with long time policy and programming partnerships. And we have many initiatives in which you contribute. Being at the cops, G20, G7, financing for development, UNAIDS and others. We do this based on development services agreements and so on. I mean working together in the UN system is something which is at the core of what we do. I mention this because I think the context really matters in what we are trying to do. But important at the same time regardless whether there would now finally be a merger or not. And I'm in the hypothesis that the merger actually delivers value. But regardless of that process, there's actually quite a few things that both organization can do already right now to create more value and to create synergies. And I just want to give you a few examples. In shared services and in shared systems, we could homogenize much of the things which we do today. A joint service offering could reduce the fragmentation and improve the delivery of what we do. We could in general have an approach of reducing fragmentation in many services. We could consolidate the services and we could already consolidate the locations. I mention this because I think I give you the message that a merger has value, but it's complicated, but it should not stop in the short term to go for what some people could call the low hanging fruit. I mean, there's a few things which in a separate track we already could start doing and which could be an interesting step up in a potential merger afterwards and could ensure that in such a merger we have continuity of delivery just to finalize. Obviously you have given us an assignment and DSG and the DSG have done that as well. And where are we in that process? As you know, we have circulated the terms of reference in December or November to this Executive Board, have developed also a vision statement based on that. The data mapping in what one could call the AS is. I think we have that now completed. There's a few questions on the definitions, but you have seen that those documents have been circulated and that now REDI is to bring it into a merged common document. There was also a request to do preliminary findings. I think we are ready and starting in doing those preliminary findings, the SG has asked us to come back to him in February with that. I think that in the quick wins, or what I call the low hanging fruit and the areas for consideration, we are ready to come to you. And let's be clear, the quick wins, we will come to you before we execute them. We might also come with areas for consideration where we really have questions and really ask you for guidance. Again, I think in this potential merger there's only one question and it's related to what I said at the start. Does it help us to deliver better? Does it help us to be better for the people on the ground that we serve? I thank you.

I thank Mr. Decroux for this statement. We continue with Mrs. Diane Kita, Executive Director of UNAPA. You have the floor, please.

Thank you so much. Mr. President of the Executive Board, we look forward to working closely under your leadership. Madame Deputy Secretary General, thank you for gracing us with your presence for this important topic. Excellency, distinguished member of the Executive Board, esteemed colleagues, it is a pleasure to address this joint segment on UN80. UNFPA fully support the Secretary General's vision of a more agile, integrated and effective un. And as the Board is aware, we are already implementing reforms aligned with the UN 80 priorities within the UN 80. UNFPA is engaged across key work streams, including human rights supply chains, efficiencies, funding knowledge hubs and regional and country configuration, as well as the sunsetting of unaids. We hope to build on what we know, works and what is most valued by Member States, the millions of people UNFPA serve and our many partners. And that is our technical, programmatic and normative work. In a world grappling with demographic shifts, growing crises and increasing needs, demand for UNFPA's unique services is growing. By any metric, UNFP delivers results that matter. Our MOPAN and Joint Inspection Unit assessment underscore the robustness of our system and processes on the humanitarian reset. Our priority is to ensure that women and girl needs are central to humanitarian response and that we remain the provider of last resort on gender based violence. For UNFPA, UN80 is not about protecting institutions, it is about protecting rights, delivering better for those furthest behind and accelerating progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals. The world has changed and we need to adapt too. UNFP welcomed the opportunity to assess the benefits and risk of a merger with United States with UN women as requested by the Secretary General. If there is a better way of delivering for women and girls, young people and all those at risk of being left behind, then it is important we look at how that can be done. The assessment, a draft of which is before the Steering Committee, covers the current as is baseline, the feasibility of a possible merger, potential benefits and principal risks, a limited set of credible merger pathways or approaches and conditions for success. We are still working on the risk matrix and cost benefit analysis. The assessment deliberately focus only on a possible merger scenario. The vision statement which we have shared with you is about creating a world where gender equality is a lived reality, where every woman and girl counts and thrives, where she is in full command of her rights and lives with equality, dignity, bodily autonomy, economic power choices and unlimited potential. In many countries, UNFP and UN women already work side by side. The assessment tests whether greater institutional integration could plausibly strengthen coherence, accountability and political resilience while safeguarding operational delivery and impact. The assessment spells out the primary potential benefit of a merger. First, a stronger unified voice on gender equality and sexual and reproductive health and rights at global, regional and country level, a strengthened end to end value creation from global standards to frontline delivery in communities and third, enhanced coordination in humanitarian and crisis settings. The primary risk identified are political backlash or the risk that so called sensitive issues get merged away. It is crucial that mandates are preserved fully intact. Second, transition complexity and potential disruption of life saving services. What is absolutely essential is to safeguard our operational work in both development and humanitarian context and build on proven delivery and technical assistance models. This includes our life saving work on the nexus on population activities, on delivering reproductive health commodities and on supply chains. Third, funding uncertainty. Member States raised their concern about the informal last week and finally, legal complexity and operational feasibility. The assessment also identified the risk of inaction, including ongoing fragmentation at a time of mounting pushback and declining resources. I thank Madame Deputy Secretary General for her leadership of the Steering Committee, which both Seema and I are members. As we engage in this process, we continue to underscore that our work on sexual and relative health and rights, gender equality, data, census and addressing demographic change has always been intrinsically linked, as captured in the strategic plan you endorse by consensus in August. This work is fundamental to the achievement of the Agenda 2030, as is our work with young people, including youth, peace and security. We are enormously grateful to Member States for their generous support for our work, all of which is voluntary funded. We do not take this support for granted and work hard to honor your trust, distinguished delegates. Whatever the outcome, we will continue to uphold our core principles. Women's rights are human rights, reproductive rights are fundamental freedoms, sexual and reproductive health and rights are for everyone and gender equality benefits everyone, everywhere. The question is how we can work together in new ways to truly transform the lives of women and girls and young people in all their diversity. The ICPD Program of Action and the Beijing Platform for Action remain our shared North Stars. If not for the un, who will protect and advance sexual and reproductive health and rights and choices for everyone, whoever, wherever they are? Any decision about the path forward will of course be taken by Member States. Until then, UNFP looks forward to continued consultation with the Board, civil society and other partners whose trust and engagement are essential to our shared mission. We deeply, deeply value the guidance of the Board and count on your support throughout the UN80 process so that we can deliver on our ICPD mandate, our new strategic plan and our promise to every woman, every girl and young person of dignity, rights and opportunity for a brighter future. I thank you for your kind attention and look forward to our discussion. Thank you, Mr. President.

Thank you very much, Mrs. Kita. I give the floor now to Mr. Georges Maria Da Silva Yunops Executive Director. Please.

Thank you, Mr. President, Deputy Secretary General, distinguished members of the Executive Board. Dear dn, Dear Alex, It's a pleasure to join you today. As you may recall, last week with the Dep Sec General, we debriefed you at the General assembly on several pillars of the UN 80 and I had the chance at the time to to debrief you on the component that I've been leading under the dsg the reconfiguration of country teams which involves the strengthening of the Resident Coordinator as well as a new generation of country teams that are more coherent and impactful. But today I would like to focus on the merger and start with the fundamental question which is is our current model for development working and is it fit for purpose? The short answer is while it has played a crucial role for more than six decades now, it is outdated. The need to rethink and improve this model is long overdue. This requires a new international development architecture that overcomes fragmentation and inconsistency and can simultaneously bring together all sources of finance, all public, private and civil society actors and address in a consistent manner decision making, rule setting, accountability, enforcement and learning. But in addition to a new architecture, it also requires new institutions. New institutions able to boost sustainable development coherently and at scale, overcoming the misalignment or at least the fragmentation of policy, finance and delivery. It is time for both actions and decisions. The UN80 process is an excellent opportunity to build and improve on what works. I welcome and I'm deeply committed to support the SEC General Initiative to assess the benefits of merging UNDP and unops, which could create a stronger engine for sustainable development in UN country teams with greater scale. I'm glad to embark in this process with the UNDP Administrator under the coordination of the Deputy Secretary General. This new entity can accelerate progress towards sustainable development, driving impact at scale for people and countries across the social, economic and environmental dimensions in support of Member States aspirations and goals. This approach empowers people and institutions, mobilizes partnerships and fosters innovative solutions to ensure that development gains are sustainable and responsive to national priorities. And it will support better alignment of policy, finance and implementation behind sustainable development and reduce fragmentation. As both Alexander and Diane already mentioned, the recent technical overview prepared by MOPAN may shed some light on a number of aspects for Member States consideration in the context of the merger of the two organizations, particularly their respective operating models and organizational cultures and their compatibility. Both organizations, UNDP and unops, have a strong footprint on the ground, a significant volume of delivery and a clear alignment with the SDG agenda. But the two organizations also have different mandates and different business models. That's why before we develop the pros and cons of the merger, we have focused on data collection and assessment of the current configuration of the two organizations. This as is that has been shared with Member States in a very concise manner, but of course we have dozens of annexes that underpin the two pager that was shared with you. It allows Member States to better understand the potential complementarity but also overlapping and synergies to deliver at scale. Therefore, in the potential merger we must ensure that the mandates and the distinct added value of each organization are preserved and even maximize it. The question in our case for UNOPS is what is UNOPS added value that should be preserved in the new entity? And here I don't want to enter into any kind of PR exercise, but I think that what we have been asked today is to highlight the data, the evidence that emphasizes the distinct added value that everyone wants to preserve through the merger. So I'd like to highlight a few things from unop's business model, starting with our fee for service model and the focus on implementation in the context of UN80. UNOPS Agile model represents a concrete, proven operational option for the system. UNOPS is focused on action and results. While the organization does not have a programmatic or normal mandate, UNDP has this mandate and is doing very well. Our role is implementation, delivering infrastructure, procurement and project management services on behalf of our partners to the people we are committed to serve. These partners include UN entities, international finance institutions, donor and program countries, vertical funds and multilateral initiatives. Two thirds of all our work takes place in special or fragile context and we are a convener of network multilateralism, providing hosting arrangements for 13 entities. We derisk delivery and development capacity in an efficient, effective and accountable manner, and while we do not receive core funding, we provide services in exchange for for the full recovery of costs. That means that UNOPS delivers value for money and tangible results in the work that it does. Over the past three decades, UNOPS delivery has grown nearly eight times. We have now had an average annual delivery of nearly $3 billion for the past five years. Last year we delivered $2.7 billion in over 130 countries with just 5,500 personnel. That's on average half a million dollars in delivery per worker. Our partners recognize the value of this model. Last year, 85% of our partners expressed satisfaction with us and nearly 90% said that they trust UNOPS and want to work with organization again. This is a testament to the determination and commitment of the the UNOPS personnel whose can do mindset sums up what this organization stands for. Every day they work tirelessly to deliver impact for people and countries, even in the most challenging and dangerous context, as I could see last week in my visit to Gaza. In these times of wavering donor contributions and unprecedented challenges to development and multilateralism, UNOPSA and its business model are more relevant and needed than ever to scale up and deliver to those who need it. Most. For every project we implement, we agree up front with our partners on delivery time, cost and quality, charging a minimum management fee to cover oversight and institutional cost at just over 4% on average, which is for sure one of the lowest fees across the UN system. This model allows UNOPS to fully recover its costs for the whole organization. And I'm sure, Mr. President and distinguished members, that in case we go for a merger into a new entity, we will find a way. We will find a way to preserve this distinct added value. But I even believe that beyond this specific merger, UNOP's fee for service model also offers a possible pathway for delivery in the UN system, one that can deliver sustainable impact at scale and support the pact for the future. I thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Maria Da Silva, for the statements. I want to thank all the principals, the DSG, for this important contribution, for what it is, I think, the first dedicated debate on the mergers in the context of UN 80 initiative. For the sake of encouraging dialogue, we have quite a long list of speakers, but I think first we'll now go through the usual, you know, list of speakers, finalizing and then reacting. We'll get sets of five speakers and then we'll go back to react. If there is a need to comment, I invite colleagues to ask questions as well. And after we exhaust the list of speakers, we still have the option if there are additional comments or questions. So let's try to make use of the next couple of hours. As you have been informed, we first start with the bureau members and then the groups and then individual member states. And I have now Finland to be followed then by Sweden, Germany and Tunisia speaking on behalf of groups. Finland speaking on the national capacity. Give the floor, please.

Madam deputy secretary general. Mr. President, Finland aligns itself with the Nordic statement. Now let me give my statement in my national capacity. First, let me express Finland's strong support and indeed trust in The Secretary General's UN 80 reform. The United nations needs to be fit for purpose and ready to tackle the increasingly complex challenges that we are facing. We need structural changes to make the UN development system more agile, more aligned and better at working together. Yes, we have heard you loud and clear. This is also about strong delivery. Nevertheless, unknowns remain. At this point, we need to fully understand the consequences the reform will have on the UN development system and the important results it delivers. A roadmap that articulates how the process will move forward and how the different parts of the unds reform are coming together would be most welcomed. The parallel and interlinked process of UN Country Team reconfiguration RC system strengthening expertise on demand and regional reset need to proceed coherently and contribute to a well functioning UN development system. Regarding the proposed mergers, we have been reassured that the important mandates of these organizations would not be opened. We trust that this is our firm understanding. Many UN entities are already restructuring and relocating their staff and functions. Here I come to my question. How do you plan to ensure synchronization with the regional reset to ensure that program countries have improved access to the full range of expertise and assets that the UN can provide? Finally, for Finland, it is critical that the UN AT reform is conducted in a transparent, orderly manner, step by step, building on the available information and and respecting the roles and competencies of each actor. Here we believe the Board has a key role to play. Reforming the unds should be done with the focus on results delivery. The reform should enhance the UN's ability to support the fulfillment of human rights and gender equality. Thank you very much.

I thank Finland for the statement. I give now the floor to Sweden, speaking on behalf of the Nordic countries. You have the floor.

Thank you, Mr. President, Deputy Secretary General, Administrator, Executive Directors. I have the honor to deliver this statement on behalf of the Nordic countries, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. We thank you for the Update on the UN80 initiative. We appreciate the significant efforts invested in this complex process and welcome the dialogue with the Executive Boards. We also extend sincere gratitude to your teams, especially at country level, who have continued to deliver under increasingly difficult circumstances with rising expectations and steadily shrinking resources. In this context, an efficient and effective, nimble and well coordinated UN development system is urgently needed. The Nordic countries strongly support the Secretary General's UN aid initiative and expect all UN entities to engage fully with a clear focus on improved delivery. At country level. Reform must enable the UN to act as one coherent system with clearer leadership, fewer overlaps and stronger collective results. We look forward to concrete system wide reform proposals that are realistic, risk aware and clearly linked to strengthened effectiveness and impact. Protecting programmatic work at country level is essential given persistent financial constraints. Reducing administrative costs is a must. We therefore welcome efforts across the UN funds and programs to adjust budgets, streamline structures and relocate staff to lower level, lower cost duty stations. These are challenging but necessary steps. At the same time, efforts to strengthen the collective capacity of the UN development system must accelerate. We are seriously concerned by the slow progress on the repositioning of the UN development system. UN country team reconfiguration and the establishment of common back offices agreed years ago remain far behind as new initiatives are introduced. Previously agreed measures must be implemented without delay to support more decisive progress. We request clearer feedback on what is holding back implementation and which decisions or directives from the Executive boards would help remove obstacles. Advancing joint administrative platforms at the global system wide level must become a higher priority. The few existing common back offices show that effective scalable models already exist, a point also underscored both by the UN Board of Auditors and the Joint Inspection Unit. We expect renewed momentum towards joint procurement, pooled logistical capacity and shared service platforms. The integrated UN supply chain developed by unicef, WFP and the UN Secretariat is a promising example and should be expanded across both development and humanitarian actors. Another systematic challenge is incentive structures that continues to favor individual mandates over collective outcomes. These structures risk reinforcing fragmentation, duplication and mission creep, directly undermining the ambitions of UN80. We call on all entities and governing bodies to change the incentives to strengthen collaboration, respect comparative advantages and ensure joint results are encouraged, recognized and rewarded. The Nordics remain strong supporters of the Resident Coordinator system. RCS play a central convening role and should serve as a single entry point for coherent and targeted support to partner countries. We expect RCS to be fully engaged in driving UN80 implementation and for all UN agencies at country level to contribute to these efforts. To conclude, international law and the UN Charter provide the foundation for all UN organization. It is a priority for the Nordics for the UN to continue to uphold its normative mandates, including human rights, sexual and reproductive health and rights, and not least gender equality as a system wide priority, especially at country level. We therefore expect ongoing assessment on UNFPA and UN women to be transparent, evidence based and to consider a range of options to strengthen.

I thanks Sridhar for the statement. We continue with Germany, Tunisia and then Norway. I give the floor to Germany speaking on behalf of a group of countries. You have the floor please.

Thank you, Mr. President, Excellencies, colleagues, I have the honor of delivering this statement on behalf of Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Finland, France, Georgia, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Monaco, New Zealand, Portugal, Republic of Moldova, Serbia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Uruguay and my own country Germany. With the UN 80 initiative, the Secretary General has embarked on an ambitious path to create a more effective, cost efficient, coherent, accountable and future fit UN development system. A path that must build upon ongoing UNDS reforms. A path which has shown that reforms are necessary, but only if they pursue a clear long term strategic direction which increases coherence, complementarity and impact while balancing transformation costs with reform gains. In short, reforms must follow a vision of making the UN more accountable, transparent and above all more effective for the people they serve. We welcome the UN80 initiative as a necessary reform effort and we appreciate the updates just provided by the Administrator and the Executive Directors on their efforts to implement the agency related work packages. As members of the Executive Boards, we have the responsibility to fulfill our governance role to ensure that the funds and programs continue to deliver on their mandates and implement their strategic plans as endorsed in 2025. For proper oversight, robust evaluation and informed decision making, the Executive Boards depend on timely, adequate and evidence based information. We underline the Executive Board's responsibility in considering and recommending within its remit any proposed transition structural changes of human entities. Against this backdrop, we regret that no detailed instructed information on relevant discussions under Work Streams 3 was made available for comment within the agreed timelines to support substantive discussion under this agenda item. This includes the assessments of potential mergers, other agency related work packages, as well as relevant decision points and moving forward, we call therefore for a more inclusive time timely and transparent consultation process with both Executive Boards and with civil society. A merger dividend needs to be grounded on comprehensive evidence based assessments of potential implications for mandates, governance structures, funding, staffing and operational delivery. We also request the Task Team to examine alternatives to the merger proposals building upon already ongoing reforms and measures. It is key that the strength and integrity of mandates, particularly those related to gender, as our HR and demographic change, are fully preserved and we therefore request that all options be reviewed by OLA and discussed with the Executive Board to help ensure this. To conclude, we would like to reiterate our full Support for the UN80 initiative's objectives to deliver a more efficient and coherent multilateral system that delivers quality programming and results at country level. The principles and values of the UN must not be deluded and the UN must continue to strive for a world where all human rights are universally upheld. If we are to meet our collective promise of leaving no one behind, we must seize this opportunity to shape a UN that is fit for the future in terms of delivery and impact, supported by a tailored needs based presence on the ground. The credibility of the UN in the future hinges upon tangible results. Thank you.

I thank Germany for this statement. On behalf of Group of Countries, I give the floor now to Tunisia speaking on behalf of the African Group. Please.

Thank you, Mr. President, Deputy Secretary General, distinguished members of the Executive Board Excellencies, I have the honor to speak on behalf of the African Group members of Executive Board of undp, unfpa, namely Chad, Cote d', Ivoire, Madagascar, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Zambia and my own country Tunisia the African Group welcomes the launch of the UN 80 initiative and reaffirms its commitment to engaging constructively in this important reform process. We believe that a stronger, more effective and more coherent United nations is essential to addressing today's complex global challenges, particularly those faced by developing countries. For Africa, this reform agenda is not abstract. Our continent hosts a significant share of United nations development activities and peace operations. The success of UN80 initiative will therefore be measured by its ability to restructure the United nations so that it can more efficiently deliver tangible results on the ground, respond to national priorities and support sustainable development pathways. Mr. President, the African Group underscores that any reform must fully respect the intergovernmental nature of the United Nations. Member States must remain at the center of decision making. New mechanism, including flexible expertise, arrangement and adjustment to the UN country teams, should enhance support to countries without diluting national ownership or accountability. Transparency, inclusiveness and meaningful consultation with Member States must guide the entire implementation process. Our Group also recalls that the Development Pillar remains the backbone of the United nations engagement with our countries, yet it continues to face persistent funding constraints. Reform efforts must therefore safeguard and strengthen development mandates. Efficiency gains should not translate into reduced prisons or weakness capacity, but rather be reinvested to enhance impact implementation and delivery at country level. Addressing the long standing gap between mandates and resources remains an urgent priority too. Mr. President. The African Group takes note of monitoring tools and dashboards presented under the UN80 initiative. While such instruments can support accountability, they must remain means to an end. Progress should be assessed against outcomes that matter most to Member States, particularly developing countries, and that advance the 2030 Agenda and national development strategies. We also stress that the reform process must be comprehensive and participatory, guaranteeing the full and equitable involvement of all Member States without exclusion or marginalization, and conducted within the framework of transparent and consensus based dialogue. We believe that the inclusiveness of the process, both in terms of participation and approach, is the true guarantee of the success and of reform of conferring upon its legitimacy and credibility in a way that reflects the aspirations of the international community and strengthens Member States our confidence in the UN system. To conclude, Mr. President, the African Group remains fully committed to engaging cost recovery in the UN80 process. We look forward to continued and transparent dialogue and a reformed journey that delivers a United nations that is fit for purpose, responsive and firmly anchored in the priorities of those it serves and I

thank you,

I thank Tunisia for the statement delivered on behalf of the African Group and I give the floor to Norway. Please.

Good morning friends and colleagues Let me just start with the obvious. Norway is fully committed to the success of the UN 80 initiative, not only

in the form in which it has

been presented, but as the beginning of a process that enables agencies, funds and programs to deliver joint outcomes for four

Member States and adapt effectively to new situations. As said from the podium, deliver better.

We must all contribute to enable the UN to deliver better impact together on the ground. Delivering as one has been a consistent message from Norway.

We must assess the proposed structural changes from this perspective and we must look at how they can strengthen the Resident Coordinator system and the country team effectiveness.

We must prepare the ground for the

proposed mergers which we think are constructive proposals. We regret that the assessments could not

be presented in time for thorough consideration by Member States.

Well ahead of the board meeting.

Friends, it will be important to to have a clear outline of the proposed

merger process, including timelines.

We want to stress the role of the boards in oversight and governance and we would be grateful, therefore, to hear

even more about how you view the

role of the Executive Boards ahead of

a possible merger or a possible decision to merge. Finally, it is essential in our view that the mandates of the organizations Based

on Agenda 2030, the Cairo programme of Action and the Beijing Platform for Action

are safeguarded in a merger.

We will also assess the possible mergers on whether they will strengthen system wide implementation of these commitments. So there is a lot to do

and we need to do it together.

I thank you.

I thank Norway for the statement. As I said, we'll have a chance to react quickly and provide some comments when we resume. We have the following speakers. We have France, Armenia, Australia, Ireland, Brazil. But now dsg, Dear colleagues, anything to react at this point, please.

Dsg, thank you very much. There was a question about how the regional reset would impact what we're doing and how we're working with it. And you'll find five or six interrelated packages that we're constantly working together with as a system. I think what we need to do better is when we have the consultations with you that we bring all of these streams in. So today you're hearing about the merger that concerns this board. There is of course UN women that's part of this merger makes it difficult when it's two boards. And so therefore the joint session really important to show you how much work has been done together. But the regional reset, the country configuration, integral parts of the end result, because they will impact. There are other pieces. Alex talked about the expertise on demand that is really for us to draw first refusal to the expertise of the system. We have many specialized agencies which today cannot work as we would like with many of our bigger agencies on the ground when it's needed. So we will need a lot of help from the boards and from the system on that. But there are others. The data, the data commons, the knowledge hub, the technology backbone, all of these are part of what will make this work. With respect to the regional resect, we have started with the mapping of that footprint and its expertise, but there are huge data gaps and this is what we're trying to get at. Yes, we can use UN info CEB data, but it's not sufficient. So we are asking HLCM to really dig deeper and get all of the data we need for beyond just the numbers of people, what are they doing, what is the expertise, what are the profiles so that we really do know how to maximize that in its response to country teams, which we hope will be a much more, not necessary. I mean we talk about smaller, of course, you have 32 agencies in some countries, so we see the core footprint of about 6, 7, 8 agencies. But how can we make that? The others that are required support that and that will come from the regional level. We have the RECs hosting, we have the regional platform for integration that we are developing. But let's say that we are building on the reforms that Member States put in place almost eight years ago. If there are any lessons to learn is that when we talk about delivering better. We had that proposal eight years ago and I think today what we're finding is a response from our Member States that we have to fulfill in doing something pretty drastic to get us beyond the perception that we're not going to meet the SDGs at all. That countries see just a stepping back of resources when in fact if we look at our system better, then we can better position ourselves to actually be more effective. And so the Regional Reset hopes to bring that regional expertise to the countries and to the countries our agencies, funds and programs. And I think that's going to be important. Let me just say that the consultation processes that we're trying to have, yes, we will land in a space where all Member States will give us guidance as to what they will approve or not. But in the meantime, the role of the boards is integral. What you do to shape the outcomes in terms of the protection of the mandates, but keeping fire under our feet, not to lose sight of the outcomes that we need on human rights, on the many frameworks that we have in place. And that's what we want to deliver at the country level, not to dilute what national priorities may be, because we don't have resources. Actually, we can do more when we see the un, the UNFPA and UN Women footprint. This is deeper and broader for where we have had cuts across all agencies that have caused enormous disruption. Now we are seeing that bringing these together means that where offices have closed, actually that footprint increases because you are gaining for the existing footprint that is there. And what are you doing? You are bringing in the same vehicle, that normative work together with the program delivery. It is strong, stronger, and it does include everyone. And when you look at this beyond women, it's going to youth the full life cycle. So this is really a much stronger footprint. And I think the same for the urgency that countries have. We had a paradigm shift for development in 2015 and it was very clear that moving from the MDGs to the SDGs was a huge endeavor which required an integrated response to this. And we do know that we have made some attempts, but. But we are far from it bringing an entity together that really has more space to do that. And that you are looking at broadening the capacity of the agency to have that program delivery in what is fit for purpose today, fit for purpose today, fit for the future. So I think the role of the boards in accompanying this to when the SG will give you a report on how his shifting paradigms could be put at the disposal of member states to do better. I'll continue just to, you know, underscore, this is not abstract. This is very real. This is billions of people's lives. And I think that we are fortunate that the data and the evidence that we do have, we can put at your disposal to show how this can be better done.

Yes, rapidly. A few elements, I think across the interventions, there was a strong support for preserving the mandates and being extremely careful with the mandates. And I couldn't agree more. I think Finland, you asked a question about how you integrate this regional reset with the countryside. I think just in general, what we need to do is we need to phase our reforms. That's one element. So you can get a timeline out of it. And there was a question that was also being asked. I also think that we are now at the point where in this long list of reforms, we need to do an estimation of what the benefit could be on the financial side, but also an estimation of what the risk is. And then you can do a real prioritization. I mean, there might be certain things with a high benefit, but also a high amount of risk. There might be things With a moderate benefit but a very low risk. And I think that privatization is. I think we're now at the point where we can do that. I think our Swedish friend, you talked about the fragmentation at the country level and we're fully aware of the calnif elbow game that is happening in many countries because all agencies programs are looking for financing and they all think that there is some benefit of being present. That is why the expertise on demand is the one I presented first. But I think because that expertise on demand with mandatory agreements between entities where basically you say look, we might have a program. If your topic is mentioned in mine, I will always first go to you and guarantee that you can participate in the program and also have a financial return for it. Except if you say no, it's a first right of refusal. I think that will take away a big part of the the local competition which we see. I think in general competition is a good thing, but not in this environment. The statement made by Germany on behalf of a very large group captured your message of disappointment. On data which should be there. On analysis which should be there. Well understood. I think what is necessary is to have timely data but also comparable data and making sure that we can provide to you is comparing apple to apples and is there in a manner that you could use to do analysis and take decisions. And I think I also heard some support to move forward in the low hanging fruit. Yes, I agree but we need to do it in agreement with the executive board.

Of course. Thank you very much. Jane, please.

Thank you. Mr. President. I would like to thank the distinguished member of the board and we heard you Finland, thank you for your comment and what you expect from us and the roadmap being more agile and working better together. Distinguished member of Sweden and for the group Nordic countries reducing costs and streamlining system and processes are important. We note that the system look like slow and you favor the joint procurement. On the procurement I still insist that the fact of sexual reproductive health commodities should be really clearly marked and not disappearing in larger procurement as they are needed very immediately in all region. Especially when I take the C. The Pacific or the Jamaica part. That's very critical and I want to make sure that member states take care of that properly. Strong support. Germany, thank you for the big group country and for the mandate preservation as well. Tunisia, thank you for African group notice that the last mile is mainly on that continent as well with Asia. It's important that we do that right. Norway delivery better. We hear you. The RC system is absolutely critical and we must Say that UNFPA and UN women, I can say that safely. We are a great player in the RC system. So I don't think that's a problem. In the contrary. And we work very strongly at the regional level and at the country level. And efficiency can be gained, not only regional country, but also the last mile to join local offices as well. And we are working all together already in our business management review that we have started along this to make sure that we can streamline our processes, but as well be more efficient. And we appreciate all member states, we appreciate all your support and committed to ongoing dialogue with all of you. And we stand ready to engage as needed when needed to make sure that the data are available. Those data are not easy to have to speak frankly because they come from all over the place. But anything that we have, it will be shared with you. Mr. President, I thank you.

Thank you very much, Mrs. Kita, please.

Thank you, Mr. President. I'd like to thank Finland, Sweden, Germany, Tunisia, Norway for tabling the questions on behalf of many. So I will try to just highlight two or three points that were common in many of the interventions. First, how intertwined is this reform, the mergers with the other parts of UN80 and indeed it only makes sense if we see it in a holistic manner. The regional reset, the country team reconfiguration, the global thematic, the funding and expertise on demand. It's different puzzles of pieces of a puzzle that is about delivering at scale. And therefore it's very important that as mentioned by several delegations, that the reconfiguration of country teams are being perceived as moving towards hubs where rather than confusing impact with presence, we focus on impact. It's not always necessary that everyone is on the ground to be relevant and to be impactful. And we need to break this nexus, which is you are only relevant and visible if you are on the ground. No, I always provide one example which is UNOPS has no presence in Jamaica and suddenly after Eric and Melissa, we got the call from Resident coordinator and in 24 hours we were in Jamaica providing support with our engineers. Do we need to be present? No, we need to get ready for other agencies. They need to be present. But this is the kind of discussion that, as the DSG and Alexander already mentioned, is important to connect with the expertise on demand. So using the country teams as a place where search capacity from the regions can be provided and expertise on demand can be provided. So I'm very, very excited with the dynamic that the these expertise on demand, country reconfiguration regional reset, pooled funding and the global automatic cups are getting into this conversation and that allows me to make a point about delivery and about how to fund and finance delivery. And we tend to have conversations about core funding earmarked as if the two were the panacea or the the contradiction. Can I make the case for fee for service? Because for projects on the ground, rather than a conversation about core or earmarked, the fee for service, which is the way we operate and I think that more often other agencies will also operate, is what allows a full cost recovery that is lower without the risk of project subsidizing policy. And that's why in the merger, in case we get a merger, it's really important that we ring fence and ensure that the fee for service model on projects is protected. Not to protect UNOPS component, but because this is a way to ensure that we remain, we un remain flexible, agile and with a lower cost and that all costs are transparent and accountable. That's why this is the kind of conversation that we'll need to have. And this explains the delays. We took note of the point that you have been making, but please, our teams are working hard and if we were not able to provide you with more information today, it's precisely because the pros and cons beyond the data collection is complex as we are dealing with two organizations with different mandates and with two different models. So the question is not whether this is incompatible or impossible. Of course it is not impossible, it's compatible. It's about how to overcome these bottlenecks. And that's why I'd like to stop with one point about alternatives and options. What sectional ask does is give a chance to the most ambitious possibility, give a chance to the merger. Do the pros and cons of the big merger and of course then it's up to the sectionality to the member states to assess the pros and cons. But if we start a conversation with options that are the easiest, we may not achieve the neediest. And that's why raising the bar with the most ambitious conversation, I think it's the best way to preserve the integrity of the UN 80 thank you.

Thank you very much. And I think we will. I mean indeed we just started this formal conversation, educated conversation on the potential mergers and we will be having the information provided to member states. This conversation shows as well as we are creating the path forward. I think it's intrinsic that member states will be waiting for that information. And of course we'll try to facilitate that process. We continue with More statements from member states, and then we'll define the time when the principals would react. So I have France, Armenia, Australia, Ireland, Brazil, Dominican Republic, and then I'll keep informing you.

I now give the floor to the representative of France. You have the floor.

Thank you very much, Mr. President. And thank you, Vice Secretary General. Thank you to ladies and gentlemen, the executive directors for this interactive debate. The funds and programs are our capacity to work together for development that is closer to people. But the means for common action have been disrupted and the constant really challenges us to transform unity is the product of these injunctions changing things on the ground while at the same time using our resources more effectively. France would like to reiterate its support to the Secretary General's will to build a development system that is easier to understand, more coherent and more simple in order to deliver greater impact. In this sense, merging agencies can contribute to this rationalization exercise. We must examine this exclusively in terms of our common goal, leaving aside any other considerations beyond the savings that we expect. A clear analysis of the risks and benefits of different scenarios is obviously indispensable. On the substance of this, bringing together UNDP and UNOPS can open the way toward interesting synergies between planning and implementation. If we preserve operational capacities, expertise and the added value of these two agencies when it comes to UNFPA and UN women, France will pay close attention so that mandates on parity and protecting the rights of girls and women. I'm specifically speaking of sexual health and reproductive rights are fully protected. And broadly speaking, we need to clarify what we mean when we talk about renewing the development system. Mergers will not be enough to reabsorb duplications and overlap. We must climb clarify different roles as well as functions and operational responsibilities of agencies, especially taking into account what resident Coordinators do. These actions should be part of the reform and therefore we must understand them exhaustively. Mr. President, when it comes to the future of these agencies, we are aware of the responsibility of this Executive Board. They will be the President primary form to take decisions in order to guide the GA and ECOSOC with a sole and unique purpose. Applying the SDGs. You can count on our support in this sense. Our support to you, our support to the Secretariat, our support to the funds and agencies throughout this transition. Thank you.

I would like to thank France for their statement. And I now give the floor to Armenia. You have the floor.

Deputy Secretary General, distinguished UN Principals and members of the Executive Board. Excellencies. Good to be back on the board. First time since 2014. 16 Armenia welcomes this opportunity to reflect on the UN80 initiative and I reiterate our commitment to engage constructively within the Executive Board discussion with the aim to streamline operations, reduce duplication and ensure the UN remains fit for purpose. For Armenia, efforts to achieve efficiency must translate into stronger delivery, faster and more coherent support to member states, particularly those in special situations and middle income countries, as well as measurable results aligned with national priorities and 2030 agenda. Implementation should prioritize technical assistance and knowledge transfer that strengthen national institutions over the long term, with capacity transfer serving as a key indicator of program efficiency as discussions advance on the UN 80 work on structural changes and program realignment, including merges of undp, UN OPS and UNFPA UN Women Armenia encourages three practical principles first delivery first design, second safeguards, accountability and risk management and finally protecting core mandates and capacities. Armenia is of the view that assessment of the proposed UNFPA UN Women merger should be grounded in a thorough analysis, ensuring that the Agency's existing mandates are fully preserved with a stronger focus on gender equality and sexual and reproductive health and rights, while also enhancing coordination in humanitarian and crisis context. Armenia welcomes the opportunity to explore the potential benefits of a consolidated institutional arrangement between UNDP and UNOPS focusing on functional complementarity on the ground and leveraging UNDP's policy and development expertise complemented by UNOPS operational capacities. We trust that any such process will proceed in close coordination with and under guidance of the Executive Board with a view to strengthening end to end delivery, particularly in crisis recovery and resilience. Building context I thank you, I thank

Armenia for the statement. I now give the floor to Australia to be followed by Ireland please.

Thank you very much indeed President and thank you to all the briefers this morning. It's been a very, very useful conversation across the board and really value the time and engagement. It's obvious to say that 2026 will be a critical year in setting the multilateral system on a sustainable path and Australia strongly supports system wide reform which enhances the United nations capacity to advance sustainable development. It's of central importance that UN reforms protect the ability of the organization to promote human rights, gender equality, sexual and reproductive health and rights and disability equity. First, Australia believes reform should be pragmatic, clear eyed, results oriented and aimed at improving lives to support a more coherent and integrated approach. And I very much welcome today's conversation about being outcomes focused. The discussion we've had about experts on demand, I think that all very much takes us in the right direction. It will be essential, I think, for Member States to receive Timely assessments of the proposed mergers between UN OPS and UNDP and UNFPA and UN Women. And Australia strongly encourages candid and regular communications on these proposals. Critically, the core mandates of these entities should not be reopened and that's a point that's been made by a number of us this morning. The Executive Boards must be kept closely engaged and we would like to see a clear legal and governance roadmap and timeline for considering the proposed mergers. Second, Australia seeks a more coherent UN presence at country level. The Resident Coordinator system offers the best prospect for a well coordinated system. However, as we all know that long agreed reforms have not been fully realised and and we encourage this to be at the top of our agenda. Australia wants a system which operates with reduced administrative burdens, better use of shared expertise, simplified back office and shared service models and potentially fewer strategic and planning documents at regional and country levels. Finally, we reaffirmed the central importance of the United nations in delivering support to small island developing states, including in the Pacific. These environments carry unique challenges, but are ones where UN support can make a profound difference and we stand ready to work with agencies to refine models. I have a couple of seconds to ask a question which is how can Member States best support agencies as we travel through this reform process? And finally, how can agencies further engage to reinforce the Resident Coordinator system? Thank you.

I thank Australia for the statement and for the questions. I give the floor to Ireland, to be followed by Brazil.

Thank you, President. Ireland aligns itself with a joint statement delivered by Germany and wishes to make the following remarks in a national capacity. Ireland welcomes today's briefing and the participation of DSG Muhammad and the Executive Directors. We are a strong supporter of the UN 80 process and of the imperative to strengthen the effectiveness, efficiency and agility of the UN system. In the current context of geopolitical strain, growing humanitarian and development needs and constrained resources, reform is an essential part of sustaining confidence in the multilateral system. At the same time, reform must be purposeful and evidence led. It must be pursued with full transparency and accountability and it must be grounded in robust data and analysis that prioritises impact, especially for women and girls and youth and for those furthest behind. The reforms must also protect critical mandates, including SRHR and important normative work. Against that backdrop, I wish to highlight five elements that will be imperative as we collectively consider a potential merger between UNFPA and UN Women first, with respect to governance, we welcome the indicative timeline presented today. However, there remains uncertainty around how Member States and specifically the Executive Boards of both agencies will be consulted and engaged. We look forward to the assessment being shared in full with all Member States and we would welcome clarity on the opportunities envisioned for meaningful and structured Executive Board deliberation on its contents in the next phase. Second, we welcome the comments today and the emphasis placed by the UN Secretary General on the protection of important mandates. However, as Member States and donors, we require procedural and legal clarity on how mandate protection can be ensured under any pathway that could lead to GA action. This is particularly salient for sexual and reproductive health and rights. As such, we would like to see the legal advice that has been received by UNFPA on these issues. Third, on the breadth and depth of consultation, it would be helpful to understand whether there are plans to engage relevant intergovernmental bodies such as the Commission on the Status of Women and the Security Council architecture relevant to the women, peace and security agenda. Fourth, on staff and civil society participation, we would welcome a full picture of the feedback received today from UNFPA staff, including any recurring concerns and how these are being incorporated into the process. In addition, for Ireland it is imperative that civil society, including women led organisations, is fully and meaningfully engaged in this process. Finally, on financing and donor confidence, we would welcome greater transparency on how this assessment is looking at realistic funding scenarios. President Ireland will continue to engage constructively and we appreciate the briefing here today.

Thank you very much Ireland for the statement. I give the floor now to Brazil, to be followed by the Dominican Republic, Uruguay and the region Republic of Moldova. Brazil, please.

Thank you Mr. President. Brazil welcomes this opportunity to hear from the DSG on the engagement of the Triple boards with the UN80 initiative and to provide general comments. The pursuit of efficiency and impact by undp, UNFPA and UNOPS should be a permanent endeavor. This is a task primarily entrusted to their principles. But Board members also bear great responsibility ensuring that the three entities remain as effective and results oriented as possible. In the latest years they have undertaken efforts to optimize resources and enhance impact. The UN 80 initiative should consider and build upon such efforts. Structural changes such as mergers may be required to deepen reform and we will be open minded in examining the proposals to be submitted by the Secretary General. At the same time, we will be thorough in considering recommendations that one way or another will likely adversely affect the critical services the three entities provide. We expect those recommendations to be provided with sufficient quantitative and qualitative information. Options and their respective rationales, as well as potential benefits and risks, must be clearly presented. Member States will also need appropriate, appropriate time to reflect and consult these process related aspects. Are key in complex institutional change, as we know. In this context, we look forward to the formal assessments to be submitted by the Boards of UNFPA and UN Women and of UNDP and unops. In the first case, we are ready to fully and seriously consider the potential benefits of consolidation, which we will have to better understand. At the same time, Brazil, as many others, is concerned with risks, among which the dilution or even the practical elimination of mandates and the erosion of donor confidence. I have no doubt that the Secretary General is as committed as the membership to avoiding such risks. Regarding the possible merger of UNDP and unops, we need to better understand the problems to be addressed, the efficiency gains to be achieved and how consolidation will help enhance delivery. Mr. President, we remain optimistic that the combination of adequate process, rigorous unbiased analysis and strong political commitment to mandates will allow us to make the right decisions at the right time. Thank you.

I thank Brazil for the statement. I give the floor now to the Dominican Republic. You have the floor.

Thank you very much. Mr. President. Mr. Secretary General. Distinguished members of the Executive Board. The Dominican Republic would like to express its position which is coherent with the principles that our region has depended on when it comes to multilateral governance. We welcome the UN80 initiative as a necessary effort to make sure that the UN development system is more efficient, coherent and provides better accountability assessment system that should serve our peoples and should have a tangible impact in our countries. In that spirit, we would like to highlight three critical points. First, governance and transparency. We would like to reiterate that this Executive Board has the responsibility, which cannot be delegated, to supervise and provide guidance to funds and programs. In order to carry out this governance effectively, we need timely and detailed information which is evidence based. We fully support the request to present periodic updates on the implementation of UN 80 in an inclusive and transparent fashion in order to provide for substantive deliberations for Member States. Second, the importance of thoroughly analyzing any structural change, including possible mergers, should be based on integral evaluations as well as their implications for single mandates, governance structures, financing, staffing and crucially, operational delivery for countries. It is indispensable to preserve the integrity of mandates. Third, there is a need to have a rigorous consultative process in order to safeguard the interests of countries, countries that trust in organizations. It is imperative that all options be put on the table and discussed broadly with its executive border. The credibility of the UN depends on concrete results and a reform process that will strengthen and not dilute our collective capacity to leave no one behind. Mr. President, the Dominican Republic trusts that the UNAID process will be carried out respecting the authority of this Board and with the final goal of strengthening the UNDP's capacity as well as UNFPA and UNOPS, in order to apply their strategic mandates and support the implementation of Agenda 2030. Thank you, Mr. President.

I thank the Dominican Republic for the statement. I give now the floor to Uruguay.

Uruguay.

Uruguay.

Uruguay.

Uruguay would like to thank the Executive Board for organizing this segment on UN80 which has been launched by the Secretary General to strengthen the United nations, adapt to new challenges and improve its efficiency and impact on the ground and ultimately the lives of people. We would also like to thank you for your presentations today. When it comes to the SG's recommendations on eventual mergers of entities and programs between UN Women and UNFPA, as well as UNDP and UNUMS, and taking into account the fact that the evaluation report mandated by the Secretary would be available toward the end of February. After this Executive Board, we would like to share with you some thoughts. We would like to underline the need of an intergovernmental process with ample time, adequate information, independent evaluations and full transparency, which would allow us to to evaluate all options available and adopt the best decision possible on the path to be taken. We consider that it is important to avoid prejudging the decision of Member States because these proposals, for the moment, constitute recommendations that must be analyzed in a timely fashion by all Member States in order for the GA to take a decision. The Secretariat has ensured us that the idea is not to dilute or erode their respective mandates, but. But we would like to have greater details on their scope. And we would like to know whether the report that was mandated would limit itself to examining opportunities and challenges of a possible merger, or whether it will also include a comparison with other alternatives to strengthen the effectiveness and efficiency of both entities without necessarily carrying out a merger. In terms of of the proposal to emerge, UN Women and unfpa, we'd like to warn that any reform of this nature will require negotiating resolution in the ga. The risk of reopening or weakening existing mandates, especially in the current political context, is real and should not be underestimated. We are worried that this process could undermine advances that we would like to protect, especially when it comes to our work on the ground. It could also weaken or make invisible the fundamental role that both agencies play. In that sense, we would like to stress the importance of having greater information available as well as independent evaluations that include the voice of specialists from civil society with a broad experience working on the ground alongside UN women and unfpa. They can provide valuable and evidence based information so that States can make informed decisions. Thank you very much.

I thank Uruguay for the statement. I give the floor to the Republic of Moldova to be followed then by Belgium, Switzerland, Netherlands, the Republic of Moldova.

Mr. President, Madame and the Secretary General distinguish principles. Excellencies, my delegation alights itself with a statement made by Germany on behalf of of a group of states and in my national capacity, I would like to share a few initial reflections on the UN80 initiative. Mr. President, the UN80 initiative comes at a moment of profound pressure on multilateralism, but also on renew of the responsibility. We therefore welcome the Secretary General's work stream Free report which puts forward measures and evidence based proposals for structural realignment. First, on the proposed assessment of a merger between UNDP and UNOPS for program countries. Fragmentation between policy financing and implementation remain a real challenge. UNDP strategic and policy leadership combined with new OP's operational delivery capacity has the potential to create a stronger, more agile development engine at country level. Better alignment with the UN country team and the resident coordinated system. Thus, we support the planned evidence based assessment foreseen for UN 80 action plan which with a clear focus on reducing institutional dependent duplication, tangible efficiency gains, safeguards for development mandates and ensuring faster, more predictable delivery in reform intensive context. At the same time, we underline that development impact, not administrative efficiency alone, must remain the guiding principle and the Member States must be fully engaged throughout the process. Second, on the assessment of merger between UNFPA and UN women and the optimization of normative population functions, we recognize the strong logic between unified platform on gender equality, women's rights and sexual and reproductive health and population dynamics. For countries like mine, we have demographic change, women's empowerment and social resilience are deeply interconnected. A more integrated institutional approach could significantly enhance coherence and impact. We therefore view for the forthcoming assessment not as a predetermined outcome, but as a critical decision point for Member States guided by three principles the integrity and viability of normative mandates, including statistical credibility and data governance. I thank you.

I thank the Republic of Moldova for the statement and I give the floor to Belgium to be followed by Switzerland.

Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, Excellencies, let me first of all thank the distinguished UN principals for the very useful and elaborate information that they've already provided this morning. Specifically on the proposed UNDP UNOPS merger. Belgium welcomes the Unity initiative and strongly supports the ambition to strengthen the United nations and make it fit for the future. At a time of growing demands and constrained resources, reform is not optional. It is necessary to preserve the UN's credibility, legitimacy and ability to deliver for those who who depend on it. Our support for UNH t is clear, but it is also anchored in expectations. Reform must protect essential mandates, uphold the balance of the three pillars of the UN Charter and lead to real impact at country level. This process should be driven by an evidence based approach, grounded in reliable data and conducted in a neutral and transparent manner. Efficiency gains cannot come at the expense of normative functions. Nor should streamlining weaken the UN responsiveness to diverse national contexts. It is not only content, but also process that will determine whether UN80 succeeds. The Secretary General emphasized that this would be a process led by Member States. And in this context we wish to stress the role of the Executive Boards. Boards are mandated to exercise oversight over over UN entities. They ensure accountability, efficiency and transparency. They oversee the implementation of mandates, both normative and operational, and ensure responsiveness to country needs. If reform affects mandates, governance or operational models, can it credibly proceed without those bodies fully involved? Belgium strongly believes that the Executive Boards must be more closely and meaningfully involved throughout the reform process, including in the design, oversight and monitoring of any proposed structural changes. We would therefore be grateful to hear more from the briefers on how they will ensure this. We also want to underline, as others have said already, that all reform initiatives must fully safeguard the mandates of UN entities, particularly those already under pressure due to multiple backlashes against gender equality and srhr. The principles and values of the United nations must not be diluted and the UN must continue to strive for a world in which all human rights are universally upheld. We remain fully committed to engaging constructively in this process. With ambition, an evidence based approach and genuine member states leadership, UN80 can become a reform that truly strengthens the United Nations. I thank you.

I thank Belgium for the statement. I give the floor to Switzerland to be followed by Netherlands, China, Mexico, Canada, Switzerland.

Please.

M. Le President.

Thank you. The United UN18 initiative is a historic opportunity to strengthen the inclusive multilateralism based on cooperation, accountability and concrete results. We share the goals of a UN system which is more coherent, more efficient and increasingly focused on its impact at the country level. As a member of the Executive Board of the Funds and Programmes, we intend to do everything in our power to achieve this goal, starting with the optimized operationalization of the 2026, 2029 strategic plans of UNDP, UNFPA and UNOPS. All our reform must strengthen, not weaken, the United Nations. This means reducing bureaucracy, promoting cooper operation of platforms and strengthening synergies particularly between humanitarian aid and development. And in this regard we would like to highlight the following. First, reforms aimed at strengthening the effectiveness of the UN are not being sufficiently implemented. They must be relaunched on the basis of sound analysis, avoiding any fragmentation or any transfer of hidden costs to Member States. All decisions must be based on facts and a long term strategic orientation. Second, we join with the previous statements and also reiterate the importance of transparent communication on the various work packages. So is to enable the Boards to perform their governance and oversight roles adequately without undue haste.

3.

Current budgetary pressures must not define the future of the United Nations. Even less should they contribute to the fragmentation of the system through hasty relocations. Efficiency gains must serve a broader purpose, namely to enable the UN system to truly act as one UN and to ensure its normative role. And finally, the effectiveness of the reform will be measured at the country level. For this reason, within the Executive Boards, Switzerland will continue to support a strong integrated system of resident Coordinators with the necessary resources and a clear delegated authority. This is essential to ensure that country teams focus on the needs of the population rather than on institutional logic. As a Member of the Executive Board in member states, Mr. President, Switzerland intends to support the United nations reforms and the implementation of the initiative and calls for priority to be given to efficient and effective measures. I thank you. Thank you, says the President. The Netherlands have the floor.

Mr. President, Madam Deputy Secretary General Excellencies, the Kingdom of the Netherlands aligns itself with a statement delivered by Germany and would like to add some comments in its national capacity. We very much welcome the UN AD initiative and the Secretary General's ambition to build a more coherent, efficient and future fit UN development system. We very much welcome today's discussions. Thank you for your presentations and interaction. Recognizing that today's interconnected challenges require more coherent responses at country level, we strongly support the focus on system wide UNDS reforms. They include the Regional Reset, UN Country Team Refreshment Configuration, the examination of potential mergers and the Shared Platform Initiative. We thus look forward to receiving further details on the work streams in the coming months and to engage while acknowledging that these reforms will entail difficult choices. We call on all UN entities to fully support and act on the Secretary General's efforts for the Kingdom of the Netherlands. As you know, a strong, stronger resident and humanitarian coordinator system is simply essential to ensure strategic leadership, reduce fragmentation across entities and enable integrated, effectful and impactful UN responses, all aligned with UN with national priorities and delivering tangible results. Taken together, we call on undp, unfp, and UNOPS to actively continue contributing to strengthening the RCHC system, including through close coordination and joint planning. We believe that the effectiveness of the reform very much depends on timely information and inclusive engagement. We appreciate the complexity of this process and we very much look forward to continue engaging constructively. We would be grateful to receive thorough, detailed assessments well in advance of the upcoming annual session of the Boards. As others also said, sufficient time for deliberation before and during the annual session will enable the Executive Board to actively engage and fully exercise its role. We underline the importance of meaningful consultations with civil society organizations and we are thinking very much about the question how will the agencies ensure this going forward? The Kingdom of the Netherlands would like to emphasize that mandate integrity is key and I see my time is almost up, but I would like to say again that we are fully committed to the UN AD initiative to ensure that the UN can deliver more, better and faster on the SDGs. Good luck.

Thank you. To the Point I thank the last for the statement. I give now the floor to China.

President. I thank DSG Amina Mohammad and the heads of three entities for the briefings. I'd like to emphasize three points. First, the development pillar must be strengthened. UN development agencies are vital vehicles for implementing the 2030 Agenda, providing crucial support to Member States, particularly those in the Global South. The core mandates of these agencies must not be diminished. The reform process must consider factors at all levels, help leverage the coordinating role of rc, reduce overlapped and streamlined procedures and maximize the effectiveness of limited resources. We must uphold the ownership of the essential principles of country ownership and leadership, ensuring genuine adaptation to local contexts and forming synergy. Second, an evidence based approach must be adopted. Vigorous assessments of the proposed merger between UNDP and UNOPS and between UNFPA and UN Women are essential. The direction and objectives must clearly define to how Member States gain a deeper understanding of the current situation, the benefits and the associated risks and challenges. The assessment process must be guided by data and facts, follow transparent and inclusive consultation processes, allow Member States sufficient time for study and support them in ultimately making decisions that will stand the test of history. Third, the effective participation of Member States must be ensured. The UN reform process must be led by Member States with final decisions made by them. China commends the Reform Working Group for holding monthly briefings to stay informed, facilitate thorough discussions and ensure that the final outcome is decided by consensus. We should leverage the Executive Board's important role in institutional governance and oversight, fostering constructive engagement between Member States concerns and the reform process. China stands ready to continue fulfilling its responsibility as a member of the Executive Board, engage in constructive discussions with other members and advance reforms in a direction conducive to the long term development of the un, the global development agenda and the common interest of Member States. I thank you.

I thank China for the statement. I give the floor now to Mexico.

Esteemed Vice President, Secretary General, Executive Directors of the United Nations Development Program, Population Fund and Office for Project Services. Mexico would like to thank you for the presentations shared during this segment. We recognize that adequate accountability is essential to preserve the trust of Member States and ensure the efficient use of resources. We also welcome the adoption of the 2026 Work Plan of the Triple Executive Board. This is a regular session that is especially important for the international community as well as for all three entities that make up the Triple Board. We are not just in a global context that is extremely complex where the efficiency of multilateralism is being questioned more than ever. At the same time. Here we are evaluating the viability of an initiative that, if it were to be adequately implemented, could allow us to face a whole gamut of challenges in a more efficient manner and with less money. Mexico would like to recognize UN80 as a strategic opportunity to strengthen coherency, efficiency and the response capacity of the UN system in an international context that has been characterized by growing development demands and restrictions on available financing. In this process, we consider that it is crucial to keep an open, constructive and constant dialogue between Member States and the agencies, funds and programs of the United nations on specific processes geared towards optimizing resources, reducing duplication, strengthening institutional coordination and and improving our operational efficiency, always taking into account effectiveness and impact on the ground and ensuring at all times a focus based on our global priorities and our national priorities. When it comes to development, we consider that it is indispensable for our reflections, especially where there are complementary mandates contribute to strengthening coherence within the systems as well as preserving mandates where it is necessary and specialized technical capacities and ensuring that any kind of adjustment or realignment translates in better results for the populations that we serve. Mexico will closely follow the developments in this first session of the Triple Board and we will contribute as an observer to the negotiation of whatever decisions are adopted. Thank you very much and I wish you all the very best during this first session of the year.

Thank you very much to Mexico for the statement. I give the floor now to Canada, to be followed by New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

Thank you, Mr. President, Deputy Secretary General and esteemed principals from UNDP, UNFPA and UNOPS. Canada aligns with a cross regional statement delivered by Germany. We welcome today's opportunity to hear directly from you and to share our expectations as a board member. Canada reiterates its support for the Secretary General's UN 80 Reform Initiative and the other efforts underway across all work streams. We are also pleased to hear from the DSG and the principals of the need for transparent, inclusive and evidence informed approaches to the assessment of proposed mergers emanating from Work Stream three. We underscore the Executive Board's role in decision making in this regard. The Board must be appropriately informed and engaged in deliberations and decisions on the proposed mergers. It is our expectation that the Executive Board will be presented with detailed options for how the mergers or integration integration of functions could take shape. Canada also joins all those insisting that key normative mandates such as gender equality and SRHR be preserved and upheld in any merger scenario. This includes protecting the institutional aspects that support these mandates. With this in mind, we have the following questions on the potential mergers. First, when can we expect to receive a written overview of the process timelines, key decision points and expected deliverables, including a costed analysis for the proposed mergers? Second, can you share with us a clear timeline for when the Executive Board will be provided with a written overview of the legal and procedural framework for the proposed mergers with respect to UNFPA UN Women proposal? Specifically, we request a written and detailed overview of how mandates will be preserved and related risks will be mitigated. In closing, we wish to draw attention to the statement from the Staff Council expressing concerns that the UNAD process is proceeding as a top down exercise without sufficient employee engagement or buy in. As a member of the Executive Boards, we support the need for a transparent process at all levels drawing on a range of stakeholder expertise. We thank the Deputy Secretary General and Principals for their time and look forward to continuing to engage constructively in this important process. I thank you.

I thank Canada for the statement. I'll give the floor to New Zealand.

Thank you President New Zealand welcomes today's briefing. UN80 represents an opportunity to move closer to the UN system. We need one that is effective, efficient and focused on the UN's comparative advantage while remaining grounded in real delivery challenges. To get there, reforms must remain laser focused on improving outcomes for the people and communities we serve and on maximising the impact of every dollar spent. We welcome progress on the UN80 work packages relevant to these Executive Boards and are broadly supportive of the principles underpinning these reforms. We await more details on how they will work in practice. The focus on more integrated system wide delivery is encouraging for countries that depend on an effective and accessible un, including those in my own region, the Pacific. Ultimately, Member state buy in will depend on what exactly is being proposed and how it will be implemented. I wish to highlight several points in this regard. First, we join others in reiterating our expectation that the proposed mergers will preserve core mandates while improving operational and administrative effectiveness and impact. We welcome the preparation of merit assessments and will review these constructively once they have been received. For proposals to proceed, we need to see robust business cases that demonstrate clear benefits in terms of efficiency and more integrated, impactful delivery. Adequate time for Member State consideration is obviously essential. Second, changes to the UN's country and regional presence must maintain and enhance the ability of countries that rely on UN support, including those in the Pacific, to access relevant expertise. This means providing the right type of expertise that is also suitably adapted to the relevant context. These reforms present opportunities to present more tailored support backed by the right technical capabilities and led by empowered Resident coordinators. But reforms must ensure core services remain accessible to all who need them. No country should be denied UN support simply by virtue of their size or location. We must ensure reforms are flexible enough to allow effective implementation in different countries and regions. In the Pacific, this means thinking through the practicalities of remotely accessing expertise on demand and considering the role of sub regional hubs and multicultural offices in the optimal distribution of services and expertise. We look forward to working with you to ensure the final proposals are fit for purpose in our region. We also welcome efforts to strengthen the ability of Resident coordinators to drive more strategic and integrated delivery and to empower them to do so through more integrated planning, funding and accountability processes. For countries with limited administrative capacities, it is important that these reforms reduce and not increase the compliance burden for accessing UN services. Clearer mandates, streamlined processes and enhanced coordination across entities and levels of the UN system must be our benchmarks for success. Finally, Expert Executive Board.

I thank New Zealand for the statement. I give the floor to the United Kingdom to be Fellow of Portugal.

Thank you Deputy Secretary General, executive directors and Mr. President. The UK aligns itself with the statement delivered by Germany and welcomes this opportunity to engage on unat. We remain strongly supportive of the Secretary General's reform ambitions and we welcome specific agency leadership in delivering the UN 80 Action Plan and the update provided last week. At future sessions of the Triple Board, we would value detailed updates on agency led work strands, including work on the UN set up in country efficiencies driven forward through the Business Innovation Group and the Expertise on Demand work strength. These strands alongside other UN80 efforts can help ensure UN operations are more coherent in country, better aligned with host government's development plans and operate under a single UN country strategy led by an empowered rchc. A more streamlined UN is important for a future fit system, but how we do this must be fully considered and evidence based, ensuring we don't lose, undermine or dilute what the UN does best. Alongside an assessment of structural changes, we would also ask to see options that would bring greater alignment without changing structures. In many cases, non structural options could deliver efficiencies at a lower cost and lower risk. Mr. President, we have four requests regarding proposed agency reforms. First, on mandates. Like others, we believe that preserving and protecting the operational, normative and coordination mandates is critical. We remain unclear on how this would be achieved, particularly in the case of the potential merger of UNFPA and UN women. And before the next Executive Board, we would welcome clarity on the legal and governance pathways to ensure mandate integrity. Second, on delivery, as agencies are already carrying out internal reforms, we ask that lessons learned be factored into any proposed realignments giving priority to delivery and results. We ask that merger assessments include country level continuity plans, specifying safeguarding and financial controls, and clear risk ownership, especially in fragile and high risk contexts. Third, on finance, organizational change is never resource neutral, but we haven't seen the detail on what potential mergers would cost relative to non structural alternatives. Any assessment of merger options brought to the boards should include financial implications detailing potential efficiencies and transition costs, as well as the potential risk of reduced donor funding. Fourth, on governance, we agree UNAT should move at base, but for mergers specifically we need clear timelines and assurance that boards will be fully consulted with oversight and decision making exercise before any step beyond board remit. Finally, the UK remains committed a committed support of UN reform and determined to work together constructively to ensure reforms, safeguard mandates, strengthen effectiveness and deliver lasting improvements for those the UN serves.

I thank the United Kingdom for the statement. I give the floor to Portugal, to be followed by the Russian Federation, the United States, the European Union, Israeli Republic of Iran. Portugal, you have the floor please.

Thank you, Mr. President. Portugal aligns itself with a statement delivered by Germany on behalf of a group of countries and would like to add the following in its national capacity, Portugal welcomes the UN 80 reform initiative as an opportunity to strengthen the United nations system and enhance its ability to deliver timely, accessible and high quality support, ensuring that the UN remains a responsive, inclusive and trusted global actor. Reforms must be placed and must place people at the center prioritizing the most vulnerable and those facing multiple and intersecting vulnerabilities and enabling the United nations to fully uphold its core mandates in peace, human rights, sustainable development and coordinated humanitarian action. In line with the principle of leaving no one behind, preserving the normative and operational mandates, the technical expertise, institutional knowledge and operational capacity of UN agencies, funds and programs is essential to sustaining the impact of services delivered worldwide. Any reform process should build on existing strengths and avoid diluting mandates or comparative advantages. Maintaining them is critical to ensuring continued delivery of innovative evidence based solutions and to sustaining the trust of Member states and beneficiaries. In this context, Portugal wishes to stress that the proposal to merge UN FPA with UN women under the UN80 initiative, while having the merits of integrating the UN's offer, improving efficiency and addressing financial constraints, would need to safeguard the specificities and integrity of their mandates and avoid losing important ground on gender equality related issues. Sexual and reproductive health and rights together with gender equality, are not issues confined to human and girls alone, but central pillars of sustainable development, human rights protection and effective humanitarian response. Finally, Portugal stresses the importance of respecting the appropriate procedures and ensuring full transparency, inclusive consultation and meaningful engagement with Member States. Throughout this process, decisions of this magnitude must be informed by evidence, clear and independent assessments of of risks and benefits and a shared commitment to safeguard the effectiveness and integrity of the United nations system. Thank you.

I thank Portugal for the statement. I give now the floor to the Russian Federation.

Distinguished President Russia takes note of the heads of agencies view of the UN 80 Initiative Implementation for the purpose of increasing the effectiveness coordination within the UN development system. We join in with delegations who pointed out that the Member States are to play a primary role in making decisions about potential reforms. We are against artificial haste at the expense of making thought out and consistent decisions. We would like to note separately that any scenarios for mergers or structural changes had to be carefully aligned with the existing intergovernmental mandates and in this regard we would like to recall that in the course of the current session, the General assembly and its resolution on its operational activity reconfirmed the special role by the UNDP and called upon the UN development system to continue making effective use of of the UNDP integration function and the operational support function. As we know, in line with the request from the Executive Board, the UNDP is preparing and will so submit a report on how they are implementing their integration function and we are looking forward to this report. We consider this to be an important contribution to the continued discussion of the UN80 initiative. I thank you.

I thank the Russian Federation for the statement I give the floor now to the United States, to be followed by the European union.

Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you. To today's briefers, we support efforts to deliver a more accountable, cost efficient, coherent and effective UN system that maximizes results where they matter most. On the ground, we know the same work can be achieved with greater impact by eliminating duplicative functions and consolidating redundant offices and programs. Mergers may make sense, but there may be other options to achieve these goals and we need to consider what will achieve these goals in the most cost effective and impactful way. With this in mind, we will only consider foundational changes to agencies on on the basis of detailed evidence based information and comprehensive assessments to evaluate the efficiency gains, cost savings and value add of any mergers. We expect an assessment of the proposed merger of UNDP and UNOPS will provide options including the pros and cons, efficiency gains and projected costs rather than present a force foregone conclusion. We need creative solutions to strengthen the UN development system. Should some offices or functions be moved and deconflicted instead of a full merger? Member States need to have the empirical basis to determine that any merger or reorganization will deliver revenue. Real change at scale. And I welcome comments earlier both by Administrator decru and Executive Director Da Silva regarding different options, their cost and benefit and the potential value of an outside independent entity that could assist in that assessment. We also emphasize the role and responsibility of the Executive Board in reviewing and recommending structural changes and request that the Executive Board is kept informed and engaged with adequate time to develop national positions. We regret that more evidence based information and reporting was not already available ahead of this session. While emphasizing the role of Member States in UNAD reforms, we would also welcome information from the Secretariat on sequencing between the Executive Board, ECOSOC and the General assembly for any approved changes. Thank you.

I thank the United States for the statement I give now the floor to the European Union.

Thank you, President, Deputy Secretary General, Administrator and Executive Directors Excellencies. I have the honor to intervene on behalf of the European Union as a donor. Thank you for the presentations this morning. The EU commends the dedication shown by UN leadership in endorsing the UN 80 initiative, advancing genuine reform which must now translate into concrete and measurable results across the system. We need maximum ambition in its delivery in the context of ongoing deliberations. The eu, as one of the largest donors to the UN development system, regards the Executive Boards not just as governance bodies for individual agencies, but as pivotal architects of system wide coherence. In that context, we would like to make three fundamental points. First, as mentioned, changes should foster greater coherence across the UN system, not deepen fragmentation. There is a role to play for both the UN Secretariat and the agencies, but there should be streamlining of normative and operational functions. We support a more integrated system on the ground, including through a reset of regional capacities and a reconfiguration of UN country teams that better combines expertise, coordination and cost effectiveness. And this brings me to my second point. As many this morning, we support reinforcing the role of Resident coordinators with authority, resources and performance indicators to lead integrated actions effectively. This of course implies also greater accountability of the rcs and therefore the question of increased governance and role of the UN membership is essential to address. It also implies system wide strategic country documents with transparent and effective oversight from main contributors as well as common services and back offices. Finally, on potential mergers, a lot was said. We also believe that it should be considered, but we agree that it must be looked at as part of the whole work of the Sustainable Development Pillar and driven primarily by operational effectiveness and impact, with efficiency gains including cost savings as a positive and complementary outcome. The Executive Boards should ensure specificities of mandates, core objectives and operating models are preserved and processes as well as options and scenarios clearly mapped out. Thorough and timely and potentially independent assessments and transparent timelines are vital for effective decision making. In addition, further proposal for consolidation of structures in light of the existing 42 entities of the UN Development System could be considered, not only those concerned by the Board colleagues. You can count on the EU to engage constructively, identify solutions that should strengthen accountability, transparency and results to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Thank you.

I thank the European Union for the statement. I have the following speakers on the list. The Islamic Republic of Iran, Bulgaria, India, Germany. The Islamic Republic of Iran. Please.

Mr. President, we warmly welcome Madam Deputy Secretary General to the first regular session of the Executive Board of undp, UNFPA and UN ops. And thank the Briefers Excellencies, distinguished colleagues. At the outset we wish to underscore a fundamental principle. The United Nations Development system must remain steadfast in its support for nationally owned initiatives. Development priorities are and must be defined by sovereign states based on their unique circumstances. The United nations role is to provide tailored, demand driven support free from externally imposed conditionalities or one size fits all approaches. In this context, we emphasize that the objects of UNAT initiative reform should enhance efficiency, effectiveness and impact. It should not weaken the funding and priorities. Any processes of reform must not disrupt or disincentivize ongoing project in developing countries. Reform should enhance Delivery and efficiency not create funding uncertainty, programmatic gaps or a bureaucratic delay that disapprovally affect the most vulnerable. The hard won developed gains of recent years now at risk due to global economic volatility must be protected and built upon. Furthermore, the core funding challenges facing our organizations cannot be ignored. The implementation of development goals in predicted unpredictable and adequate resources Currently the widening sum $4 trillion in all stage financing gap threatens our collective goals. In this paint we emphasize the important role by establishing intergovernmental UN agencies and programs. It is therefore of necessary and obligation that developed countries scale up their core contributions to undp, UNFPA and unops. It is essential for ensuring system wide stability, neutrality and the ability to respond to the long term needs of program countries. While we recognize the value of diversified funding, unmarked resources should not divert attention from this core responsibility or undermine the strategic flexibility of UN agencies. We call for a renewed commitment to burden sharing that reflects historical responsibilities and current capacities. The credibility of our collective promises hangs on this. To conclude, Mr. President, Iran urges this Board to ensure that reform efforts strengthen, not weaken the support to national priorities, that ongoing projects are safeguarded against budget cuts and that the imperatives of adequate predictable core funding is placed at the forefront of our deliberations. Thank you.

I thank the Islamic Republic of Iran for the statement and I give the floor to Bulgaria.

Thank you Mr. Chair for giving me the floor. Thank you very much miss gsd, Sorry, DSG and Executive Heads of the three agencies for being here with us today and helping us better understand the rationale behind the UN at related proposals and their potential impact on the UN system. Since we did not manage to do this within the deadlines, I would like to join now if possible, the State statement made by Germany on behalf of Group of States because we actually share all the points made in it. In my national capacity, I would like to share the following Bulgaria would like to reiterate its strong support for the UN80 initiative. We believe that this reform process presents a genuine opportunity to strengthen the coherence, efficiency and accountability of the UN system. In this period, Bulgaria approaches all proposals with an open and constructive mindset, including the proposal to merge UNFPA and UN women. At the same time, we believe that the decision of such magnitude requires greater clarity on several key issues. Given my limited time, I'll just go directly to the questions I have. Forest, could you please elaborate on the specific concerns or aspects that the proposed merger between UNFPA and UN UN Women is intended to address? While we recognize existing mandate overlaps and the broader constraints posed by limited resources. It would be helpful to understand with more clarity how this merger would correspond with the other agencies and UN entities that also work on those or similar issues, especially, let's say, gender equality. And second, how would such a merger affect the respective strategic plans of UNFPA and UN women? Most probably these plans could not remain unchanged. Would this imply their reopening? And if so, what impact would that have on the mandates, priorities and programmatic continuity of the two organizations? We would appreciate further clarification on these points as we continue to engage constructively in these important discussions. Thank you.

I thank Bulgaria for the statement. I now give the floor to India.

India thank you, Mr. President. And thank you, Madam DSG and principals of UNDP, UNFP and the UNOPS. And we thank you, Madam DSG, for sharing your perspective on the UN80 initiative today. Morning. Mr. President, my delegation would like to make following general observations, my delegation underscores that the development pillar must remain the top priority under the Unit Initiative with the continued focus on strengthening support to countries of Global South. In this regard, we would appreciate further clarity on the proposed regional initiatives, including the System Wide Working Group on the Regional Reset and the Regional Integrated Platforms, particularly on how these arrangements will enhance support to Member States at the regional and country levels. The Unit Initiative should not be limited to identifying cost efficiencies alone. It is an opportunity to reflect on the United nations achievements and challenges, reform its structures, restore its credibility and prepare the organization to deliver more effectively in the decades to come. While we recognize ongoing efforts to improve coordination, it has been our experience that many UN entities, including undp, have been effectively supporting host governments in advancing national development priorities for decades. Any regional initiatives, including Regional Integrated platforms, should therefore complement rather than undermine existing reporting mechanisms and the capacity of UN agencies for funds and programs to assist member states. Mr. President, we have noted the proposals outlined in the Secretary General's report, including the Working Group on Regional Reset, UN Country Team Reconfiguration and the other restructuring initiatives. While we support a leaner and more transparent UN with a lighter headquarters footprint and stronger field presence, it is essential that the expertise and institutional knowledge of specialized agencies, particularly those serving countries of global south, including LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS, are strengthened. We look forward to our commitment to engage constructively in this process. Thank you, Mr. President.

I think India for the statement I give now the floor to Germany.

Thank you, Mr. President. In addition to the cross regional statement that I delivered earlier, I would like to add a couple of points. Points in our national capacity on UN 80 and the UN development system more broadly. And in that regard I really thank the DSG for being with us today. In addition to the principles, as said, we understand many of the UNAD proposals as a continuation and further strengthening of the unds reforms of 2018, and it has been mentioned we must not forget that UNAD entails many other work packages beyond the proposed ones for certain mergers for enhancing the delivery impact on the ground of the unds as a whole and the agencies in particular. Specifically, work on the configuration of country teams and the role of the resident coordinators is crucial. Structural reforms will only be credible if they result in a stronger, more coherent UN country team operating with fewer silos, led by empowered resident coordinators. And if the work of the entire country team is guided by one cooperation framework aligned with national priorities, the role of Resident coordinators must be further strengthened and tailored to the specific needs and priorities of individual countries to ensure effective and context sensitive support. The recommendations of the system wide evaluation should be taken into account by the Secretariat, by agencies and programs and by Member States. Germany also regards the regional reset as a critical enabler of success. Delegation of authority, streamlined reporting lines and reduced micromanagement from headquarters will be essential if regional structures are to support the RCS and the country teams more effectively. We would also like to add a question on the work stream of other mergers that is included in the Second Secretary General's action Plan. We consider that mapping of key thematic areas where many actors of the UN system are active would be important to get a basis to assess what other structural changes might make sense. And we would welcome some information in that regard from the dsg. In closing, I would like to reiterate the importance of strengthening core and pooled funding and better aligning financial incentives with system wide results. And this requires also that ensure that requires also ensuring that pooled funds have a governance system that makes them attractive to donors and program countries alike. And again, we would welcome some information about the thinking in that regard. As long as the majority of resources remain tightly earmarked, coordination and flexibility at country level will remain constrained. Thank you.

I thank Germany for the statement. I have no other speakers on the list, but if anyone else would like to add something or to comment, please press the microphone and we'll get a quick chance to address before we go back to the DSG and the principals to respond. Doesn't seem to be the case. So we start with the executive director, UNFPA. Nayan, please.

Thank you very much, Mr. President. I would like to thank all the distinguished members of the board for their comments. Thank you France for your comment. We take good note of it and about the mandate preservation and impact on the ground. Thank you Armenia as well and we agree on the focus on the delivery and welcome back to the board. Australia we agree on the focus on the delivery experience, leaving no one behind and of course a focus on the seeds as well because of their specific interest and being committed as well to ensure that we outsource back offices. Operation Ireland, thank you for your support, engagement, willingness to engage as needed and as well to get the information about the legal and independent advice. We have our own legal offices that are working with us regularly. But OLA as well will guide DSG&SG on the overall process. But I would like to thank you specifically about the staff in issue. Staff anxiety is a real issue and I'm not sure that this meeting will soften that part. This is something that is important. Under the leadership of dsg, UN Women and unfp we had a town hall with our staff. Join town hall with question. I think it was very, very useful and helpful and will continue doing so. We had the same as well with the civil society. It remained. There are staff from your different countries all over the world and working hard. So we make sure that we lessen the tension on their heads and their hearts while they deliver at the last mile for all of us. Brazil, thank you as well for your comment and to make sure that we have evidence based information for any potential merger. Dominican Republic thank you about the importance on the mandate and the preservation. Thank you so very much for that. Uruguay, very well understood as well vis a vis the vision of the possible merger and the risk for the mandate as well and to be reflected in the assessment. Moldova, thank you so very much for highlighting the interlinkages between the different part of our mandate, specifically the demographic change as well and the gender equality and srhr. This is reflected in our new strategic plan. It is important to make sure that the data we collect on the ground are absolutely UN data. Thank you for that. Belgium, we thank you for your support and we are at your disposal to give you any information that you may need at any level, including on resource models mobilization Switzerland Merci beaucoup. Commenter, thank you very much for your comments. Supporter of the RC system. We understand better coherence, more coherence on the ground that will work on that. And allow me on this specific.

And we are sorry for what happened in Kranz, Montana and those young people that died.

We work closely with the RC the country team and UN women and all our country program documents are derived from the cooperation framework. China we thank you for your support and agree on role of the boards and ongoing dialogue. Thank you so very much. Canada we are committed to the dialogue and the risk of the matrix risk is still being finalized. We are keeping discussion open as well to make sure with the staff council we invite them anytime that we have to discuss with them and understand their concerns and we are trying not to make this a really top down approach but really trying to engage. New Zealand seeds are absolutely critical country. We know they have specific needs and this is being taken into account. There is no small country, there is no big country. All countries are the same in the UN and that's important. I think the SG know that and thank you for your support during all the process. Who am I after? Sorry country, sorry, excuse me, I'm a little bit lost in my notes. The UK thank you so much. We will build on the lessons of existing reform to ensure that cost benefit analysis are being worked on and agree that the transition should be assessed as well the most effectively possible. And as I said, you being among our big donor for the supply will make sure that that is not lost in translation as well. Thank you for that. Portugal we agree on the importance of SRHR for all, for all people people specifically in the most, in the furthest part and in the south, the Global south as well as for the demographic change as well. That will be taken into account and make sure that we don't dilute the mandate. Russia, thank you for your comment. This is very well noted that there is no artificial haste and intergovernmental mandate are responsible and we make sure that this is being taken into account by all of us. United States we take account of your general comment as well about cost efficiency and accountability and analysis of any other options. EU thank you. For greater coherence that is important to reset at the regional level and as well at the country offices level and the support to the Resident Coordinator system. Republic Islamic of Iran thank you for your comment as well and to scale up the contribution. I think that's very important. There is no neutral cost on this and to respond to the needs of the ground. This is well noted. Thank you very much for those comments. Bulgaria, thank you as well for your comment and for the concerns and impact on the current strategic plan. This will be assessed as we move forward into the exercise. India, thank you as well for your comment and to make sure that the Global south is not neglected and the development pillar remain a priority and complementarity, especially on LLDC seeds to be strengthened. Germany, thank you for your national comment and on delivery in impact. President, I hope I have not forgotten anyone. Mexico, thank you for your support and we'll make sure that we deliver on that as well, as much as we can. Thank you all and apologies to any members that I would have forgotten. Thank you.

Thank you very much. As you can see, there are copious notes on this side of the room and all the comments have been taken seriously.

Oh, sorry.

Yes.

No, no, I think I didn't forget about Ireland, the staff anxiety.

Thank you. We continue and we, we have a. We don't have enough, sufficient time probably to exhaust the whole conversation. Executive Director Yunops, please.

Thank you, Mr. President. I won't do such a good job. As my colleague Diane, I've tried to focus just on two or three topics in the interest of time. First of all, this is a moment of stock taking and accountability. And I think that the first note that I want to take, it's precisely we have heard your points about the need to remain connected, inclusive, process, data driven, evidence driven. And obviously this is in our own interest. So you can count on us in remaining engaged with the board, but also with individual member states, not only in this work package, but also in other work packages that has been mentioned. The second point is about the context. And here, if you allow me, I would still would like to raise the bar in terms of ambition. We are not trying to, to fix UNDP or UNOPS or UN women or unfpa. We are all un. The logos don't matter. All logos start with un. And therefore the key question that we should answer is to which extent are we able to deliver at scale? And the fact that all member states today said we want you to preserve the mandates is good news because it means that the mandates of the organizations seem to be aligned with the needs. But we also heard statements about fragmentation, which is precisely the point. So the idea is not to replace mandates. It's to use the mandates not as lines of separation, but as lines of complementarity and moving towards a truly integration, if you allow me, a three times three matrix of, of integration of the global, the regional and the national, the development of humanitarian and the peace and security, and also the policy, the finance and the implementation. And that's why the mergers are a means of serving this purpose of delivering at scale rather than anything that is related with each of the agencies. That's why, and I will stop with this about disruption and continuity, you can count on US to continue delivering even during this reform process. We can't put the three organizations in this case on hold while we reform and we consider mergers. We are deeply committed in continuing delivering for the people, honoring the strategic plan 2629. And that's why it's also important that the delegations on the ground don't hesitate in exceeding and requesting support just because we are in this reform process. I heard some delegation saying, can we still sign a contract with you because there is a merger? I said of course. Because regardless what will be the outcome of the merger, the UN is the UN and we will honor anything that is signed. So I think it's very important that we don't use the merger process as a pretext to procrastinate on what is most important, which is delivery. Thank you.

Thank you very much. UNDP administrator, please.

Yes, thank you. Thank you.

Let me start with the comments made by France. The need to have a risk based approach and looking at various scenarios

when

it comes to potential merger.

I think that the point about having different scenarios in looking at the mergers is a point that has been making by France, by Uruguay, by Canada, by the us, by the Russian Federations. Many have made that point. Many have also made the point of the necessity to have clear, independently audited data in making analysis. The United States made that point. Brazil, Belgium, the People's Republic of China and France made that point. I think there is a broad support for looking into different options and making sure that the data on which we base ourselves had a good baseline. There was a question from Ireland on how can you support us in the different exercises we're doing. I think basically by asking the tough questions, I mean, don't hold back in pushing us to be on the top of our toes and making sure that what we discuss is data driven, is evidence based and to challenge us. I think this is the value of a forum like this one. There were a few interventions about the RC system. I think European Union, Australia and the Netherlands look from our side, from the NDP side, we are the single biggest contributor to the RC system. So it is in our advantage that we get the most out of it. I think the RC system has proven that it adds value. We now need to make sure that that value is everywhere and that it's adapted to the local circumstances. But it is really our ambition together with others to make this a success. And I think by that I kind of tried to group a bit the comments that have been made.

Thank you very much. And Deputy Secretary General, please.

Thank you. Thank You. Thank you very much, your excellencies. Look, this was really constructive and an important feedback to us and heard you loud and clear. It's essential what we are hearing from you, the legitimate concerns over and over again. What I can assure you on behalf of the sgn, working closely with the agency heads, is that we do protect the mandates. This is not what the intention was never about opening up. We know the risks. We are not naive of that. But I think we had, even though at different times we are able and member states always are, to protect what is important that we deliver to people. And these mandates are extremely important. They have not yet been delivered. They are not done yet. And so why would we even consider opening up to those risks? However, having said that, I've heard an awful lot about the risks. The risks, the risks. There is nothing that you do with ambition that doesn't have risks. What we have to put in front of you is how we mitigate those risks. And the intention that we have is in the Shifting paradigms report. Let us remember already the SG has determined that he is going to look at the possibility of two mergers. A few months ago, many member states in this room were telling us that 42 agencies, funds and programs, the majority 30 on the ground, was untenable. And we're talking about one program transition and two mergers. And you can see how difficult this is. And so it's really important that you know, when I hear from Germany, shall we look at some of the other structural changes that need to be made? Yes, there are many more, many, many more. And as Ola says to us, nothing is impossible. All of these mandates were created by member states and we have to protect them and deliver them better. So what I would say on the report that you will get from us and the first report that we'll put in front of you will be the end of February. Because we acknowledge, and I'd like to say to Russia, we are, we see a sense of urgency, but we're not in a hurry to fail. If this looks like it's going nowhere, then we're not going to take it. But everything is dependent on agencies giving us the data on you having the discussions with us and bringing up the issues that are most concerned to you. And we deal with it, we give you a response that actually deals with that concern. So a lot will happen in the next few weeks and months, but we will give you a report that you can, you will see the analysis. In fact, UN women and UNFPA are very close to that. They're closer than the end of the month, so I hope we can share it for you. We will do so with UNDP and unops. There will be many more iterations before we get to where we give that proposal for Member States consideration. It's important in these first stages that we don't just have these formal sessions, but we also have the informal. There are many consultations. I spoke with Alex and Georges earlier, as we have with UN women and unfpa. We will give you what we believe is a good consultation process. It's very difficult because many meetings are set long before today. So we will try to make that happen. You would have seen that the PGA to the wider GA is monthly. Internally. We also have steering committees and task forces. We will go for informals with the regions. Regional groups are asking us smaller than regional groups asking. So there will be constant consultations with you. Civil society, more so on UN women and UNFPA than on UNDP and UNOPS are asking for that interaction. It is incredibly important. The human rights agenda work that we continue to do on the djep, which looks at the gender evaluation and plan to get things done, but also our Spotlight initiative on gbv. These things do not stop. But what it is doing, it is giving us impetus to do so much, so much better. People, leaders, everyone that we've spoken to, just even in January out of New York is watching this space. They're watching this space because the current environment says that, you know, multilateralism is, is on its way out. And the best way we know how to push back on that narrative is to show what we're doing at the country level. And we have agencies, funds and programs who are doing great work. But it needs to be greater. Why? Because the 2030 Agenda is considerably off track. And it's exacerbated by climate, it's exacerbated by conflicts, it's exacerbated by the pushback on gender. And so I think that, you know, that also puts more urgency on why we need to do this. Let me say very quickly, 2015 was the time in which we made the biggest transformation. We moved from a social agenda of the MDGs to the Sustainable development agenda. And that's an integrated response. I don't want us to forget that it was huge. It has not yet happened in the un. If it did, we would have had more progress because it was not only the UN that was in silos. We siloed the world. Our governments are siloed. They work in different sectors. To date, the biggest I would say success that we've had in trying to get people to talk across sectors is actually the work of UNDP that has happened on the sector, the cross sector response to the NDCs on the climate promise. But it was tough work. And so that consolidated that integrated agenda is going to be incredibly important to carry that forward. You asked us in Resolution 72, 279 in 2018 to do a number of reforms. They did not happen and we are taking lessons from what the gaps are. Where are we on mcos, our multi country offices? Where are we on the regional collaboration platform which now on the regional reset we will upgrade Learning lessons to take it to the regional platform for integration? Where are we on the country configuration? It's not the first time you're hearing about country configuration. It was in the resolution that we would improve that country configuration. It's now that it's coming to fruition and that we're able to do something about it. But we're also hearing from you and it is boards that helped us to ensure that the corporation framework was not an UNDAV that sat on a shelf that actually Country Project documents the strategies actually came from corporation frameworks which were informed by CCAs, by our agencies, funds and programs. So let's deepen all of that work. The efficiencies agenda, it's been there on big I think unfpa, UNOPS are the current co leads for that. They'll tell you which agencies are not working with that. So even when we do the humanitarian reset, the boards are going to be needed to continue on the reforms as we have them and for US to use UN80 to leverage what we can to bring those reforms to fruition. Second point important that we have in the risk mitigation and the protection of mandates, legal advice. And here I think that if it is, we would discuss with the President how we can bring an informal session together where we can speak about that. But our discussions with OLA today tell us that you need to put first of all the substance and the details in front of Member states and then we will come to what it is that is needed when Member States decide how far forward they're going on this. So there'll be a back and forth. We will make sure that we check with them. But there will come a time when we will have to bring that to your attention still to the mergers. I think you know the understanding that this is about a vehicle that brings together assets that we have that better deliver on the mandates, that's it. And so the idea of the disruptions, we already have disruptions, big disruptions because of the funding cuts that we've seen with thousands of people who have had to leave us. This is a way of us organizing how we do this, that we do not have those disruptions. And in fact, what we're doing is strengthening our footprint on the ground and not only just deepening it, but better reach of it. And so let me say that, you know, as we go along, I think you will better appreciate it with more data. I apologize that we don't have sufficient data that you could have done. You could have seen the analysis that is ongoing. But it will come to you very soon. Appreciation again of the support for the RC system. The one. I mean, the one steady hand that we've had in terms of support is actually the UN Development system, as Alex rightly says, the largest contributor, undp. And they continue to do that consistently, some agencies in advance. It is a voluntary funding that has not come through. It is a levy that has not come through. This hybrid of what we asked for in the beginning, which was to have assessed funding so every member state paid for coordination, has not worked. And you have given us a resolution which says, put a report in front of you before the end of this session. We will do so. It includes reforming DCO 2.0 and strengthening the response we have of RCS. So with that, I hope that we will be able to come to you. It's a little more difficult. There are 31 work streams, and those 31 work streams, we will bring more of those work streams that will have an impact on what the boards consider with the agency's funds and programs that you have. I believe that Guy Rider is already looking at how we can present that better. But perhaps in the next informal, we can bring those strands and be more articulate Also on the PGA's engagements with the wider membership. But for this, just big thank you appreciation. The work continues and we are at your disposal. Thank you.

Thank you, Diage. Also, I want to thank the Intertest for going beyond the usual schedule. I think there are many reflections in the meeting room today and I very much welcome all the views. We have substance. We have the process under substance. I think we need to work more together with the entities and to facilitate this important information that member states need to make a decision on the process. It's obvious that the Executive Board is the key platform to engage member states. I heard quite a lot, you know, member states driven process. And that's actually what's important. How we align this conversation with the wider UNHT debate. And also one important point, that the task at hand, the assignment is not actually for member states to look at how we change the mandates. We want to align operationally the institutional profile of these entities. And one other important point. We don't have exclusive say decision in this board or shaping the path on the UNFPA UN Women merger. The UN Women Board will be meeting in couple of weeks time. And as far as we are concerned, we'll continue communicating campaign notes with the bureau of the UN Women Board. some point we may schedule also joint informal exchange among ourselves in terms of process. Please. I encourage you to keep an open mind. So the next formal session is not automatically June. We could schedule formal sessions at any point in time. There are so many implications on the mergers and we need to look at all the angles. I heard quite a lot. Financial considerations, legal considerations as well. And when the right time comes, we'll activate a decision by the board to request and to shape that input that we very much need. Dhg, I want to thank you very much for your input for contributions. I want to thank the principals. And of course we'll continue comparing notes. We have a draft decision on the table for consideration later this week on unity engagement and how we frame our interaction with the entities. And that will be also discussed I think today. For the rest, we will reconvene at 3 o' clock with a joint segment on Agenda Item 2, which is the recommendations of the Board of Auditors. Thank you very much. And again thank you to the interpreters for their openness. This meeting is adjourned.