Mr. President,
Madam Administrator,
Madam Associate Administrator,
Members of the Executive Board,
At the outset, allow me to thank UNDP Administrator, Ms. Helen Clark for her insightful and comprehensive statement on UNDP progress and achievements, as well as on the challenges ahead of us. Let me take this opportunity to congratulate Ms. Clark on her reappointment, and assure her of Israel’s full support and cooperation.
I would also like to thank UNDP and the entire management team for the review before us, which includes useful analysis and information on UNDP performance and results from 2008 to 2012.
Mr. President,
Today, as we look back over the past four years, Israel commends the efforts undertaken by UNDP to implement the current strategic plan of the organization. The cumulative review before us shows that UNDP has contributed significantly to development results across its four focus areas – poverty reduction, democratic governance, crisis prevention and recovery, environment and sustainable development.
We welcome the actions taken by UNDP to improve development effectiveness, and organizational efficiency and effectiveness, primarily through the “agenda for organizational change”. We note the positive impact these actions have had on making UNDP a more transparent, more accountable and more evidence-based organization than before.
Of course, many challenges still lie ahead of us. There is still much work to do in terms of sharpening the organisation’s focus, improving programmatic effectiveness, measuring results in different contexts, - and, of course – reporting. However – we believe there is no substitute, no rival, and no alternative to the development work UNDP is doing around the world and to its overall contribution to sustainable human development around the world.
Eradication of extreme poverty, support for democratic governance beyond support for electoral systems, gender equality and women’s empowerment – just to mention a few – remain major challenges, as much as they were when we crafted and embarked on implementing the current strategic plan. We have to address them with limited resources, in an effective fashion, equipped with some lessons learned from past experiences. Some of them have been highlighted by the Administrator in her remarks earlier.
Mr. President,
Israel firmly believes UNDP should continue to play a leadership role in the global development architecture. We equally believe in the contribution and impact that UNDP work has on the ground, notwithstanding the need to improve focus, effectiveness, measurability, and reporting.
Apart from being a reflection on the past, the review before us, together with the evaluations discussed by the board last week, is critical to setting directions in the next strategic plan. Let me therefore say very briefly a few words on the work of the development on the new Strategic plan 2014-2017.
I would first like to commend UNDP for an inclusive, consultative and participatory process for developing the next strategic plan. We know how much effort and energy has been - and will be - dedicated to formulating a sound strategic plan and to taking on board different – sometimes even conflicting - comments. Even if the process is still going on, it is time to say that we appreciate the hard work done so far.
The Executive Board has been presented with a new vision, 3 areas of work and 7 outcome areas for UNDP in the next four years. Israel welcomes the introduction of these building blocks of the plan and believes that they will serve as strong foundations for the entire complex. We support the outline of the structure before us and believe that they provide a good strategic framework that will make UNDP a more focused and results-oriented organization. The focus on tackling inequality in all its dimensions is a cornerstone of this framework and we support it.
Let me offer some specific comments -
First, in the context of the results-based framework.
One of the issues emerging from the cumulative review of the last cycle is the need to be able to analyze, measure, and report on the impact and influence UNDP has had in countries. We therefore appreciate the work currently being done to build a robust, measurable, results-based framework that will be a firm basis for evidence-based decision making.
It is important that the results framework will reflect UNDP specific contributions at the output level. In this respect, we welcome the work on “the theory of changes” and the ongoing effort to introduce more indicators that will show those contributions.
We encourage UNDP to continue its work with its sister agencies to identify a set of common indicators, to enhance harmonization in light of the guidance provided by the QCPR.
Second, on gender.
The review before us underscores that the last four years saw meaningful progress in implementing cross-cutting approaches for gender. Still, there is a lot of room for improvement. It is therefore encouraging to see that the treatment given to gender in the next strategic plan, brings gender much closer to the center of the development work.
Let me be clear: We are happy to see the prominence given to gender in the draft strategic plan, mainly through the introduction of a stand-alone outcome area dedicated to gender equality. In the different consultations on the preparation of the strategic plan we have highlighted the need for more work on gender-specific and gender-sensitive indicators in the context of the results framework. We are happy to learn that more work is taking place in this regard.
We have been encouraged to hear today from the Administrator about the work UNDP is doing in improving access to justice for women in different parts of the world. We encourage UNDP to continue and scale up this work in the context of the next strategic plan.
Third, on partnerships and coordination.
We welcome the emphasis in the plan on coordination and collaboration in the UN development system. Especially, working with UNDCF and UNV. Later on this week, the Executive Board will discuss the past and the future of UN Volunteers Programme. Linking the strategic priorities of these two organizations is a positive development.
Fourth, on monitoring and evaluation.
Transforming UNDP to a more knowledge-based organization has to be supported by fostering a culture of learning within the organization. The importance of the evaluation function is undeniable and well recognized throughout the organization. We believe however that UNDP would benefit from an enhanced and more systematic incorporation of monitoring and evaluation in the new strategic plan, also through specific indicators in the results framework.
Israel looks forward to working with UNDP as it lays out its strategic plan for the next few years, and we stand ready to support and assist the organization in its efforts to deliver results on the ground.
Thank you Mr. President.