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 Centre
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.