Sommaire: 4 February 2010, New York – Statement by Statement by H.E. Juan Antonio Yáñez-Barnuevo, Permanent Representative of Spain to the United Nations, on behalf of the European Union, at the Informal consultations of the United Nations General Assembly Plenary: System-wide Coherence
Mr President,
Mr Secretary-General,
I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union.
(Aligning clause)
First of all, I would like to congratulate both of you, Ambassadors Tiina Intelmann of Estonia and Ghazi Jomaa of Tunisia for your appointment as Co-Chairs of this important process. The EU wishes you all the best in your new endeavours and we extend our full support to you. We are looking forward to working with you in the weeks and months ahead under the leadership of the President of the General Assembly.
I would also like to extend our gratitude to the Secretary-General for his opening remarks, and for her continuous leadership and commitment in this process. The EU is also grateful for the reports that have been prepared by the Secretariat under your guidance, following the mandates contained in resolution 63/311.
Mr President,
We have taken some important steps forward since the release of the High Level Panel Report on system-wide coherence in 2006. More than three years of extensive consultations and discussions have gone by and more effective ways of working within the UN are underway, in particular at country levels. We are at a critical juncture. This year we have the potential to go a long way towards revitalizing the role of the UN system in global development cooperation and further advancing UN action on gender equality around the world. In fact, the current global economic situation demands us all to focus more clearly on demonstrating results in our work on poverty reduction. It is our common responsibility and the EU is committed to working in that direction.
For that purpose, the EU believes that we have to build on the intense work undertaken in previous sessions of the General Assembly. Past resolutions on system-wide coherence, in particular resolution 63/311, have set a sound foundation for the continuation of the process. The EU is ready to work with Member States to advance the system-wide coherence agenda on all tracks. Time is ripe now to narrow down the scope of our work and to identify key issues to act upon, issues that can forge common approaches and foster genuine cooperation across the UN system.
Related to that, we would encourage the Co-Chairs to look creatively at the process that should be followed this year, building on the extensive plenary discussions last year. In this respect, for instance, the use of more informal mechanisms would allow the membership to discuss in detail the various elements of the reform process.
Mr President,
On the reform of the UN gender architecture, the EU would like to thank the Secretary-General for his comprehensive proposal for the composite entity for gender equality and the empowerment of women. The strong and unanimous support by the General Assembly for the establishment of a composite gender entity at the end of the last GA session was a very significant step forward. The Secretary-General's comprehensive proposal contains important elements in order to operationalize this essential reform. The entity should increase the effectiveness of the UN response for advancing gender equality and the empowerment of women in all countries, according to governments’ demands and needs. Under the leadership of the Co-Chairs, the Permanent Representatives of Estonia and Tunisia, the EU stands ready to work actively with other Member States in order to take all the necessary intergovernmental decisions leading to the completion of this reform during the 64th General Assembly. If this decision is further delayed, the current gender agencies will be kept in a limbo and unable to deliver for women around the world.
On the eve of the 54th session of the Commission on the Status of Women, where Member States will undertake the 15th year review of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the outcomes of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly, there can be no further delays in this crucial reform for the women of the world.
Furthermore, the EU thanks the Secretary-General and the Deputy Secretary-General for their leadership and crucial support for gender reform. Leadership for the new Composite Entity is critical to its establishment and success. The EU calls on the Secretary-General to urgently advance the process of appointing the new Under-Secretary-General of the composite entity so that s/he will be in a position to lead the organisation through the changes required to have a strong UN entity focused on advancing gender equality and the empowerment of women.
Mr President,
The EU welcomes the progress made so far in the areas of funding and governance of UN operational activities for development. Last year’s GA resolution 63/311 identified areas of common ground which can be expanded and built upon. We all agree that the aim of improving the governance and funding of the UN system for operational activities is primarily to strengthen UN capacity to deliver better assistance for poor and vulnerable people, according to their needs and priorities. We have to continue enhancing a coherent programming and operational approach which can maximize the development impact of the UN support to national governments.
In particular, the EU is ready to work with Member States and to explore ways to improve the funding architecture of the UN to make it more effective, transparent and accessible, and more in line with the national priorities of developing countries.
The QCPR/TCPR (*) resolution and the principles and guidelines contained therein should remain our common guiding framework in this undertaking.
We are also encouraged by the growing support for and interest in the area of “Delivering as One”. The UN has to continue responding to the calls of developing countries that have or will voluntarily embrace this approach. We are encouraged by the outcome of the intergovernmental meeting of programme country pilots on “Delivering as One” held last October in Kigali (Rwanda) and the positive evidence that continues to emerge from the ground. The follow-up meeting at Hanoi will be important to further share learning and to maintain progress. We look forward to the outcome of the pilot country evaluations and for the independent evaluation to be started promptly.
Last but not least, progress at headquarters´ level and in the field are two complementary tracks that need to reinforce each other and advance concurrently. The EU would also like to emphasize the importance of working further on the harmonization of the business practices, as this will contribute to increased effectiveness and efficiency at both the headquarters and country level.
Mr President,
Mr Secretary-General,
Excellencies,
Progress in this process is especially important given the significant challenges that developing countries continue to face. The forthcoming Millennium Development Goals High Level Plenary Meeting imposes a sense of urgency and purpose on all of us. We look forward to an ambitious and proactive programme of work for the coming weeks and months to make progress on all elements of the system-wide Coherence agenda. We need to deliver and the EU is committed to do so.
Thank you very much.
* Resolution 62/208 on Quadrennial/Triennial Comprehensive Policy Review of UN operational activities for development.
| Haut |
Etats Membres de l'Union Européenne
Alertes par e-mail
Envoyer par e-mail
Imprimer cette page