Ministry Statements & Speeches:
Thank you Mr President,
New Zealand acknowledges with appreciation UNDP’s strong performance over the first two years of its Strategic Plan, a period when global development has become even more complex and humanitarian need ever more pressing. New Zealand is pleased to provide predictable, multi-year core funding to UNDP.
UNDP’s ability to integrate solutions is a key instrument in the global response to the triple planetary crisis, unprecedented technological advances, and the lasting social and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. New Zealand values UNDP’s ability to combine its normative mandate, the fundamentals of sustainable development and innovations that respond to today’s unpredictable and unprecendeted challenges.
We note that UNDP continues to grapple with institutional and sectoral silos. To respond to these challenges as holistically as possible, we urge UNDP to continue strengthening its partnerships, both within and beyond the UN development system. As the Administrator so effectively argud this morning, global problems require collaboration.To optimise impact, funding, expertise and outcomes, we encourage UNDP to leverage – and amplify – capacity in other global and regional organisations.
We encourage UNDP to demonstrate its commitment to gender equality through its resourcing decisions. Gender equality is a key enabler of the Sustainable Development Goals, which are simply not achievable while half of the world’s population faces additional risk of being left behind.
New Zealand appreciates UNDP’s support for digitalisation. In our own region, the Pacific, digitalisation can efficiently assist health, education, and economic benefits and facilitate inclusion and data-driven policy across the geographically dispersed populations of small island, big ocean states.
New Zealand recognises that deep levels of global need, combined with a challenging resourcing situation that severely constrains UNDP’s flexibility, forces UNDP to make difficult trade-offs on a daily basis. We hope that this Annual Session will include decisions to take forward work to strengthen the performance of this Executive Board, along with the sister Boards of UNICEF and UN Women, in a way that:
• reduces the burden of Board preparations for you (and for us);
• strengthens our ability to provide clear governance direction that can usefully inform UNDP management decisions; and
• supports greater harmonisation and fewer silos, in accordance with the spirit and objectives of UNDS reform.
In conclusion, the system must continue to evolve and innovate collectively to close gaps, strengthen effectiveness, and deliver for all in vulnerable situations. As we say in the Māori language, “Waiho i te toipoto, kaua i te toiroa” – let us keep close together, not far apart.
Thank you.