Statement by H.E. Ambassador ISHIKANE Kimihiro, Permanent Representative of Japan to the United Nations, at the Second Regular Session 2020 of the Executive Board of UN-Women

Good morning,
 
Thank you very much, Jukka the President for organizing this Board session under the continued exceptional setup, and Executive Director, Ms. Mlambo-Ngcuka, for her comprehensive and very informative statement.
 
I would also like to express Japan’s deep appreciation to the UN-Women staff who work tirelessly for women and girl’s livelihoods and dignity, at the forefront of the serious human security crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. My sympathy goes to the staff affected by the blast in Beirut last month.
 
I wish to touch upon two issues, which would be the key as we proceed towards adopting the new Strategic Plan next year.
 
First, Japan expects UN-Women to strengthen further its position in the UN development system. Its composite structure and its triple mandate - normative, coordination and operational – are the unique strength of UN-Women allowing itself to be relevant to the UN system reform.
 
Japan fully supports UN-Women’s effort to play an important role in the reformed structure of UN operational activities by focusing on coordination, complementarity and synergies with other UN entities towards achieving SDGs. We should not forget that UN-Women came to existence 10 years ago, out of the UN system-wide coherence agenda.
 
My second point relates to financing and partnerships.
 
COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated many pre-existing challenges, including the achievement of the SDGs by 2030. In addition to the annual core and non-core contribution, my Government decided in April additional 4.5 million US dollars for UN-Women’s regional projects in response to COVID-19. However, the overwhelming socio-economic impact of the pandemic is such that no one can foresee what the future landscape of financing for development would look like.
 
Mindful of current and future challenges, we hope UN-Women will make use of the limited resources with utmost efficiency and accountability, broaden partnerships, and explore innovative sources of financing. In this respect, Japan commends UN-Women’s effort to reach out to IFIs, such as the ministerial-level roundtable organized jointly with the Asian Development Bank last week.
 
In closing, I would like to reiterate Japan’s continued commitment to gender equality and women’s empowerment. We look forward to the discussion during this session and towards the next Strategic Plan.

Thank you very much.