(As Delivered)
Statement by H.E. Mr. Jun Yamazaki,
Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations
Second Regular Session of the Executive Board of UNDP/UNFPA/UNOPS:
UNDP Segment
9 September 2013
Madam President,
At the outset, I would like to thank the Administrator for her clear statement. Japan also appreciates her efforts to strengthen the relationship between UNDP and Japan.
(MDGs and Post-2015 Development Agenda)
There are less than 850 days until the deadline for the accomplishment of the MDGs as mentioned by the Administrator, and a Special Event towards achieving the MDGs will be organized by the President of General Assembly on 25 September. Japan will continue to actively engage in efforts to accelerate progress towards the achievement of the MDGs, including through ever closer relationships with UNDP and other relevant organizations.
With regard to the post-2015 development agenda, the Report of the High-level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda and the report by the Secretary-General (A/68/202) have been issued, and discussions on the agenda will now begin on a full scale. We value the Administrator’s efforts to lead the United Nations Development Group (UNDG) and implement various activities such as the world’s first global-scale consultations, which will surely serve as useful input to the future discussions on the post-2015 development agenda.
Japan has been actively contributing to the discussions through such efforts as organizing the post-2015 development agenda contact group meeting. We have also been collaborating closely with UNDP; as when we co-organized the first Thematic Consultation meeting in Tokyo last year, as well as a side-event on the Post-2015 Development Agenda on the occasion of the opening of the 67th session of the General Assembly last year. This month, UNDP and Japan, together with several Member States and UN agencies, are again planning a side-event in the context of health and the Post-2015 Development Agenda. That will be on 25th September. The discussions in the SDGs Open Working Group, the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development and the Intergovernmental committee of experts on sustainable development financing are all important, and Japan will certainly participate in an active way in the discussions in these fora.
Being a country which just two years ago experienced massive natural disaster, Japan welcomes UNDP’s efforts to strengthen activities related to disaster risk reduction. We believe that disaster risk reduction should be one of the main issues to be addressed in the post-2015 development agenda, and in this regard expect UNDP’s continued leadership on this subject. Furthermore, disaster risk reduction fits in with the concept of human security, to which Japan attaches great importance.
(Strategic Plan 2014-2017)
Madam President,
Japan very much appreciates the way in which the Administrator finalized the Strategic Plan 2014-2017, which will be adopted at this session of the executive board. Interactive dialogue with the Member States and other stakeholders in this process was important.
Japan welcomes the fact that the final draft of the Strategic Plan 2014-2017 aims at simultaneous eradication of poverty and significant reduction of inequalities and exclusion. It also welcomes the inclusion of important issues that have been raised in the context of discussions on the post-2015 development agenda, such as sustainability, inclusiveness, employment and growth, the rule of law, democratic governance, gender equality, conflict prevention, disaster prevention and climate change. Japan supports UNDP’s policy of including the issue of disaster prevention among the outcomes as well as linking the concept of ‘resilience-building’, one of the three Areas of Work, to the notion of human security.
Also, inter-agency issues including collaboration and the division of labor among the various entities of the UN Development System are crucially important if we are to realize what was stated in the QCPR resolution adopted last year. We welcome the progress made in this regard, including the formulation of the QCPR common indicators for use by UNDP and other agencies. We also welcome UNDP’s plan to strengthen its ties with new partners as well as South-South and triangular cooperation.
For the above-mentioned reasons, the Government of Japan supports the adoption of the Strategic Plan 2014-2017.
I would also like to mention that we welcome the adoption of the QCPR Action Plan developed by the UN Development Group (UNDG) under the leadership of the Administrator as the Chair of the UNDG, and we expect her continued leadership to bring the UNDG together toward realizing the QCPR resolution.
Madam President,
We understand that UNDP has been conducting a structural review parallel to the drafting of the Strategic Plan, in order to make its activities more efficient, effective and transparent. We look forward to seeing the results of such efforts.
