(Check Against Delivery)

  

Statement by H.E. Mr. Hiroshi Minami

Deputy Permanent Representative of Japan to the United Nations

First Regular Session of the Executive Board of UNDP/UNFPA/UNOPS

UNDP Segment

25 January 2016

 

Mr. President,

 

At the outset, I would like to warmly congratulate Your Excellency, Ambassador Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, Permanent Representative of Armenia, on your election to the Presidency of the UNDP/UNFPA/UNOPS Executive Board. I look forward to cooperating with and supporting the new Bureau.

 

Also, I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks and admiration to Miss Helen Clark for her leadership and comprehensive statement.

 

Mr. President,

 

I first wish to touch upon the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

 

The universality of the Agenda requests all member states to implement it effectively.

 

The UNDS is expected to provide support to the Member States in the implementation.

 

In this regard, we are counting on the continued strong leadership of Miss Helen Clark, who will lead the system as Chair of the United Nations Development Group (UNDG). I am very pleased to note that UNDP is steadily implementing MAPS approach.

 

One of the main features of the 2030 Agenda is that it breaks away from the “silo-approach” and seeks to integrate all dimensions of sustainable development. Nevertheless, the long-standing fragmentation of the UN’s development entities is still there and UN is yet to fully achieve ‘Delivering as One’.

 

Based on Miss Helen Clark’s strong faculties and capacity, which achieved the restructuring of UNDP, I expect that the bold idea of ‘improvement with nothing sacred’ to be seriously considered.

 

In this connection, Japan will actively engage in the discussion through the Quadrennial Comprehensive Policy Review (QCPR) and the ECOSOC dialogue on the longer-term positioning of the UN Development System with a view to bringing the system up-to-date while reducing duplication of efforts.

 

The world currently faces protracted conflicts with 60 million people of forced displacement, and the UN is expected to act in response to such crises in consideration of the Humanitarian-Development nexus which Miss Helen Clark allowed to. In particular, UNDP, as the core organization of the UN Development System, is expected to contribute to crisis response activities with a view toward longer-term development, in collaboration with humanitarian assistance actors. In this regard, we welcome that six organizations, including UNDP and OCHA, have issued a think piece entitled “Addressing Protracted Displacement: A Framework for Development-Humanitarian Cooperation”. We commend the efforts by Ms. Izumi Nakamitsu, director of the Crisis Response Unit of UNDP. This year we will have a series of important international meetings such as London Conference in February, World Humanitarian Summit in May and the UN summit in September. We are looking forward to deepening the discussion on Humanitarian-Development Nexus in this year, and we are looking forward to the leadership by UNDP.

 

Mr. President,

 

Our country emphasizes the importance of providing assistance both for recovery and reconstruction from natural disasters and for disaster risk reduction.

 

We welcome UNDP activities in this area. The “Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030” requests coordination not only between UN and other entities, such as international organizations, but also amongst UN entities themselves. Therefore, we expect UNDP to cooperate with other UN entities such as UNISDR in order to support the implementation of the Sendai Framework in more effective and coordinated manner.

 

Last December, GA resolution on “World Tsunami Awareness Day” to designate the 5th of November as the day to raise awareness on Tsunami was adopted with the support of 142 cosponsors under the initiative of my country. An event to observe the day will be held in New York this November. It would be appreciated if UNDP together with UNISDR could cooperate with us in organizing the event.

 

UNDP faces severe financial difficulties especially with regard to its regular resources.

 

Japan recognizes the importance of the regular resources and despite its own difficult fiscal circumstances the Government has submitted to the Diet a budget proposal which includes a four percent increase in its contribution to UNDP for 2016 on a yen basis. The budget proposal is currently under deliberation by the Diet.

 

On the other hand, even as we recognize the reasons behind the difficult situation of UNDP’s regular resources, such as numerous humanitarian crises in various regions and the negative effects of unfavourable exchange rates, I would like to stress that UNDP’s finances will never be sustainable or predictable if only 10 donors continue to provide approximately eighty percent of its entire regular resources. In this regard, we strongly welcome all efforts to expand and enhance the donor base.

 

I thank you, Mr. President.