Ambassador Lisa Carty
U.S. Representative on the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations
New York, New York
January 31, 2024
AS DELIVERED
Thank you, Mr. Administrator, for your thoughtful remarks.
I’d like to start by expressing our gratitude to UNDP staff. We see clearly their commitment to carrying out UNDP’s mandate while upholding UN values. We see them working in challenging and dangerous environments. We would like to extend our sincere condolences on the loss of your UNDP colleague Mr. Issam Al Mughrabi and his family. UNDP’s work is not always easy, but your dedication is commendable.
The increasing challenges and instability we see across the globe underscore the need for innovation and adaptation to advance sustainable development. UNDP’s role in breaking the cycle of fragility and crisis is more important than ever. We appreciate your work in operationalizing the humanitarian-development-peace nexus and your training efforts through the Nexus Academy. We would appreciate learning more about this initiative and how it will compliment other UNDP efforts.
We welcome UNDP’s continued efforts to advance locally-led development initiatives and encourage you to find even more ways to integrate local actors into decision making processes ensuring that those most affected by your programs have a voice in how those programs are implemented. We especially appreciate UNDP’s collaboration with the United States on programs to build governance for peaceful, just, and inclusive societies.
With 2030 fast approaching, an important challenge for all of us is determining how we can better orient our work to accelerate progress towards the SDGs. Fundamental to our success will be a clear focus on advancing opportunities and rights for women and girls, whose progress on so many indicators has been sorely lagging. In this regard we welcome UNDP’s work to support gender-responsive fiscal policies and tax reforms and look forward to learning more about how these policies will be implemented.
Like many others, we are concerned about the recent allegations of corruption and mismanagement in the Funding Facility for Stabilization in Iraq. We appreciate your commitment to address this issue, and we are pleased that you are investigating the situation with urgency. We ask that you promptly share findings with donors and member states.
Finally, the United States envisions 2024 as a year of opportunity for the Executive Board for UNDP/UNFPA/UNOPS. The Joint Inspection Unit’s report on Executive Board governance and oversight offers recommendations to enhance the Board’s structure and function. We look forward to working with Board members and the Secretariat to take appropriate action on these recommendations in a timely manner. Thoughtful and dedicated oversight is essential to ensure the quality, effectiveness, transparency, and accountability of UNDPs programs and management systems. Together, UNDP and its Board should strive for continuous improvement. Accordingly, the United States is ready to support changes for an even more effective Executive Board and looks forward to working with you towards that end.
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