Second Regular Session Executive Board UN Women
Israel Permanent Mission to the United Nation Opening Statement
Delivered by Mr. Yahav Lichner


Mr. President,
Madam Executive Director,
Members of the Executive Board,

Let me start by extending a warm welcome from Israel to UN Women’s new Executive Director, Madam Phumzile Mlambo Ngcuka, as she assumes her new post.

Shalom from Israel, Madam.

Your lifetime campaign for human rights and gender equality is remarkable and inspiring. Under your leadership, I am confident that UN Women will continue to develop and flourish and we offer our continuous and firm support.

Israel has been dedicated to the cause of women’s empowerment and gender equality since the founding of the state. For over 60 years we have worked to promote women’s empowerment worldwide. When it comes to the halls of the United Nations gender equality is a top priority for our permanent Mission.

It is for this reason that Israel has been a strong supporter of UN Women since the organization’s inception. Israel and UN Women are working hand-in-hand to combat violence against women and to eradicate poverty through training and supply of agricultural technology programs that enable women to become entrepreneurs and economically independent.

Your vision, Madam Executive Director, corresponds with the priorities and the work currently being undertaken by our development agency, MASHAV. The Golda Meir Mt. Carmel Center in Israel, named after our former Prime Minister, is a world renowned center for economic and political empowerment of women from all over the world.

Let me now touch on the strategic plan before us:

I would like to congratulate UN Women for conducting a very engaging and consultative process leading up to our discussion today.  In particular, we are grateful for including all of our comments.

John, Dan, Peicence, Gulden, Giovanni, Jean Luc and the secretariat, you have all done excellent work and we appreciate your efforts. This wouldn't have been possible without the leadership of Madam Puri as the Acting Executive Director.

We welcome the strategic plan and the revised strategic priorities. We believe the document provides a strong direction to the organization. It also enables UN Women to harmonize its cycle planning with other funds and programs, therefore serving the cause of enhanced coherence in the UN system.

Madam Executive Director,

You rightly said this morning that the more we work together the farther we can reach. This is true not only to all of us in this room - board members and UN Women - but also for UN-Women and other sister agencies. A strong and close cooperation between UN Women and UNFPA is, for example, essential to promote access to sexual and reproductive health and rights and deduce maternal mortality.

A lot of effort has gone into building the integrated results and resources framework. We are particularly happy to see the incorporation of QCPR indicators in the matrixes.

Linking resources and results is a new, albeit complex exercise that we all welcome. The innovative nature of this initiative underscores the importance of the mid-term review, which should also include assessments of results achieved.

Madam Executive Director,

You mentioned the importance of indicators in your opening statement and this is certainly a clear commitment not only delivering results but also reporting on them. We are here, as always, to support you and provide the necessary guidance along the way.

I will finish with the words of an extraordinary woman, Golda Meir, who once said “make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into the flames of achievement.” We trust that the new leadership and the new strategy plan supported by a budget will not just fan the flames of progress, but will ignite a new era of opportunity for women everywhere.

Thank you, Mr. President.