(Check Against Delivery)
Statement by H.E. Motohide Yoshikawa
Permanent Representative of Japan to the United Nations
Second Regular Session of the Executive Board of UNDP/UNFPA/UNOPS
UNDP Segment
4 September 2014
Mr. President,
It is my great personal pleasure to see you presiding over this important body. Please count on my delegation's full support to you.
I would like to start by paying tribute to all those involved in the Third International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS), which successfully concluded today in Samoa.
I wish to highlight the fact that UNDP Administrator, Miss Helen Clark, has made an important contribution to the conference. Japan is also proud to have served as one of the vice presidents of the conference.
In fact, Japan and UNDP have been working closely in assisting SIDS. For example, we signed an agreement with UNDP in July to contribute $15 million to support eight SIDS countries who are coping with the consequences of climate change.
Mr. President,
Before going into the main topics of the Executive Board session, let me first thank Miss Clark for her efforts to strengthen ties between UNDP and Japan, as well as her contributions related to the post-2015 development agenda.
In July, UNDP's Human Development Report was launched in Tokyo by Miss Clark and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. I wish to thank Miss Clark and UNDP for their efforts in producing an excellent report.
In launching the report, Prime Minister Abe stated that Japan is determined to take a leadership role towards building societies resilient to natural disasters in cooperation with UNDP.
As a country very often affected by natural disasters, Japan has vast experience in this area, and wishes to share its knowledge with the international community. In this regard, the Third World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, which Japan is going to host in March 2015 in Sendai, will be an important opportunity and we have been collaborating with UNDP in preparation of the conference.
I would also like to mention the importance of women's empowerment in development and the holding of an international conference on this topic in Tokyo.
Prime Minister Abe stated at the General Assembly last September that he wished to bring about a society where women shine, both within Japan as well as in regions in conflict and in countries suffering from poverty.
In an effort to achieve this goal, Japan is inviting eminent leaders and intellectuals from around the world to convene for the "World Assembly for Women" in Tokyo (WAW! Tokyo) next week. I am very pleased and thankful that Miss Clark will be attending the conference as one of the main speakers.
Mr. President,
I would now like to turn to a major topic of this session, which is finance.
In 2013, Japan contributed a total of $382 million to UNDP, of which $80 million went to UNDP's core resources and $302 million went to non-core resources. Despite our continuous difficult financial and economic circumstances as well as the recent depreciation of the yen against the US dollar, I am proud to say that Japan has been the largest donor to UNDP since 2009.
This year, we have maintained the contribution for core resources at the same level as last year and have already contributed $240 million towards non-core resources. In 2015, Japan will make every effort to maintain its contributions in the highest amount possible, in the form of both core and non-core resources, in light of our important partnership with UNDP.
While fully appreciating the importance of core resources, I wish to point out that programmes conducted under non-core resources are in line with the UNDP Strategic Plan 2014-2017 and country programmes, just as much as core resources. Therefore, the effective use of non-core resources should also be properly considered in the dialogue in the Executive Board on funding the UNDP Strategic Plan.
Mr. President,
I would like to stress that we, Member States, carefully monitor the performance by international organizations, including UNDP, when we decide on our contribution amounts.
I therefore request UNDP to continue its endeavour to improve its effectiveness and efficiency and further strengthen its transparency and accountability in an effort to increase contributions from Member States.
In this context, I welcome Miss Clark's leadership in implementing a structural review, in order to bring into reality the UNDP Strategic Plan. I am sure that downsizing the number of personnel and strengthening functions of UNDP at the same time is difficult, but I would like to request the institution's continuous endeavours to keep staff highly motivated and utilize contributions from Member States effectively.
I thank you, Mr. President.
