Statement of the Executive Director to the Second Regular Session of the Executive Board 2023

Greetings! As we begin, I invite you to view a video we’ve prepared.

Mr. President,
Distinguished Members of the Executive Board,
Dear colleagues, dear friends,

I am pleased to be here with you for this Second Regular Session of the Executive Board. I thank the President and the rest of the Bureau for all their support and guidance in preparing for this session, and I thank all our partners who show they care day in and day out by making the programmes and results we deliver for women and girls around the world possible.

Partnerships are crucial to deliver the kind of acceleration needed to achieve our global goals for women and girls, and for peace, prosperity and the planet. It’s now or never.

In just a few weeks at the SDG Summit, global leaders will mark the half-way point to our Agenda 2030 deadline. The undeniable reality is that we are not where we thought we would be at this milestone, nor where we should be.

As we look to shift the needle over the next seven years, we must focus on those investments that make the greatest and most lasting contributions to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Among the most essential are investments in three transformative results fundamental to sexual and reproductive health, and to human rights and well-being: zero unmet need for family planning, zero preventable maternal deaths, and zero violence and harmful practices against women and girls. The three zeros at the heart of UNFPA’s work.

Investment in sexual and reproductive health and rights delivers strong returns to economies and societies and lasting benefits for individuals and families. It is one of the most powerful accelerators of human progress with multiplier effects across all aspects of sustainable development.

We at UNFPA know this because we have seen the results of these investments time and time again in our work with partners and communities over the past 50-plus years. Results such as:

• A 36% decrease in maternal deaths between 2000 and 2020
• A 25% increase in the global contraceptive prevalence rate since 1994, and
• A decline in the adolescent birth rate worldwide. Births among girls aged 15–19 years have fallen by around one third since the year 2000.

UNFPA has shown proven, high-impact, evidence-based solutions.

How to end preventable maternal deaths? Increase access to a range of quality contraceptives of the woman’s choice; invest in midwives so that every woman has access to the high-quality care she needs in pregnancy and during and after childbirth; and improve comprehensive sexuality education for young people to avoid early pregnancy – a leading cause of death among adolescent girls.

How can we build human capital and boost economic growth? Make sure that every girl stays in school and gains the knowledge and support to avoid early marriage and childbearing and develops the skills she needs to succeed throughout her life. The benefits of doing so ripple throughout societies and across generations.

Better educated women are healthier, marry later and are more likely to plan the number and spacing of children.

They are more likely to use prenatal care, vaccinate their children and seek health services when they or their children need care.

They are more likely to participate in the formal labour market, earn higher incomes, and contribute to economic growth.

Education also reduces the likelihood of harmful practices like child marriage and female genital mutilation and lowers risk of gender-based violence.

Here’s what happened to Shwapna in Bangladesh, whose parents wanted her to marry at age 13. After participating in a UNFPA-supported programme bringing together girls, boys, women and men to challenge deeply ingrained power imbalances, she urged her father to reconsider. When he refused, Shwapna enlisted the support of a community activist who visited her home to discuss the repercussions of child marriage with her parents. After that, they put a stop to her marriage, and she was able to finish her education.

Comprehensive sexuality education is especially protective for adolescent girls.

Cheymi Gallardo Sánchez knows this all too well. Cheymi became a mother at age 15, and she is determined to help other girls in her remote, indigenous community in Costa Rica find a different path.

Through UNFPA-supported youth activities in her community, she learned about sexual and reproductive health, the risks of teenage pregnancy and abusive relationships.

At 19, Cheymi is now a role model, sharing her experience with other girls.

Today, UNFPA assists indigenous and Afro-descendant young people to participate in national, regional and international forums and in groups like the Costa Rican United Nations Youth Advisory Group.

There’s another low-cost, high-impact investment: midwives.

Midwives save lives. They are often the only healthcare providers in remote areas. Yet there’s a global shortage of nearly a million midwives.

UNFPA is working with partners to close that gap. If we succeed, midwives could help prevent two thirds of maternal and newborn deaths. This is one investment we cannot afford to miss.

Around 800 women still die each day from entirely preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. When a mother dies, families lose a cherished loved one, and also a caregiver, breadwinner and role model, which then can lead to poverty, malnutrition and poor health outcomes for the children.

UNFPA-supported midwifery training programmes in over 120 countries offer health-care providers the skills, knowledge and tools necessary to bring life into the world safely and to save people in emergencies. We are also scaling up the pace of skill building via digital learning platforms, training some 150,000 health workers, mostly midwives, in East and Southern Africa alone in just 18 months.

For Raneen, a midwifery student in Gaza, the professional quickly became personal when her own mother went into labour and there was no time to get to the hospital. One minute Raneen was noting her mother’s contractions and the next she was delivering her own baby sister. Thanks to Raneen’s training, both her mother and baby sister survived and are doing very well.

Most expectant women, of course, won’t have a midwife-in-training at home, so UNFPA is working to ensure that every woman at least has a midwife within reach. With healthcare budgets under pressure, the case for cost-effective investment in midwifery is stronger than ever.

Family planning is another investment that has long been considered a ‘best buy’ for global development.

UNFPA recently estimated that spending an additional $79 billion on ending the unmet need for family planning and preventable maternal deaths in low- and middle-income countries between 2022 and 2030 would avert 400 million unplanned pregnancies, save the lives of 1 million women and generate $660 billion in economic benefits.

These numbers speak for themselves.

 

Mr. President,

We certainly can achieve our global goals for sustainable development, but not if we leave half the world’s population behind. Sexual and reproductive health is the foundation for gender equality — the cornerstone of all the Sustainable Development Goals.

This is a truth the world acknowledged nearly 30 years ago, when 179 Member States came together in Cairo at the International Conference on Population and Development and adopted its groundbreaking Programme of Action. They understood that fulfilling the rights of women and girls, particularly their right to decide whether or when to have children, means greater opportunity throughout life. Women and girls can chart their own destiny. And they and their societies prosper.

As we prepare to mark ICPD30 next year, it is more urgent than ever that we forge alliances and forge ahead to realize this revolutionary vision of people-centred development.

The world stands at a critical juncture.

Climate change is accelerating at breakneck speed, with dangerous tipping points looming ever closer. Apocalyptic wildfires destroy forests, making the air unbreathable in cities hundreds of miles away. Cataclysmic droughts, historic floods and other extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and more deadly, driving record levels of displacement, hardship and humanitarian need.

All of this is happening in a world still reeling from the effects of Covid – a world deeply polarized, and desperately in need of peace. A world where growing inequalities between and within countries and the relentless, coordinated pushback on the rights of women and girls are putting decades of development gains at risk.

And I must be frank. This opposition to women’s rights and sexual and reproductive health and rights is powerful; it is well-organized, and it is well-financed. It is active at national, regional and global levels, aiming to systematically roll back hard-won progress for women, LGBTQI+ people and other marginalized groups, denying their inherent dignity and fundamental human rights.

UNFPA continues to stand with women and adolescent girls in all their diversity, and with the most left-behind communities: people of African descent, persons with disabilities, Indigenous women, refugees, migrants. We take very seriously the imperative to reach the furthest behind first. To do so, we know we need to be just as bold, just as organized and unrelenting as those seeking to roll back the clock.

It is so essential that we discard our divisions and come together, in the spirit of international cooperation and solidarity. Surely, we can all agree that no woman should die giving life, that everyone should have the ability to decide freely whether or when to have children, that young people should be equipped with the knowledge and support they need to make a safe and healthy transition to adulthood, that those most vulnerable in society – whoever they are, wherever they may be – should be protected and supported. Where there are differences, I encourage Member States to find a way forward that puts rights and choices at the centre, so that together we can accelerate progress.

I hope that as we mark ICPD30 next year it reminds the world of the critical importance of finding common ground for our common future and galvanizing the political will, investments and urgent action needed to fulfil the promise of Cairo and the 2030 Agenda. They go hand in hand.

 

Mr. President,

Data is the fuel that powers progress across all 17 SDGs.

UNFPA continues to bring data and evidence to bear in the pursuit of equity and justice, as we did recently with our partners in a new report revealing how systemic racism and abuse in maternal health systems in the Americas is killing women and girls of African descent.

We have a lot to learn from women and others who have been traditionally excluded. Quality data helps us see them, and we are committed to making sure they have a seat at the table. That means those in power – still largely men – must share power, commit to change and be held accountable when problems persist.

Given UNFPA’s relationships with statistical departments and ministries globally, advising on modern census and surveys, UNFPA is proud to co-lead the Data Dividend High-Impact Initiative, together with UN DESA, the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data, and with WHO on behalf of the Committee of Chief Statisticians of the United Nations system.  The High-Impact Initiatives, to be launched at the SDG Summit in September, are vehicles for re-energizing momentum, promoting partnerships and mobilizing further investments.

By forging transformational national data partnerships, we can unlock a powerful “data dividend” — conservatively estimated to bring in a $32 return for every $1 invested. 

I thank Ghana, Kenya and the United Kingdom for championing this initiative, and I urge other Member States to join them by coming to the Summit with their own robust political and financial commitments and partnerships.

UNFPA also co-leads with our partner agencies (UNDP, UN Women, and UNICEF) the EU-UN Spotlight Initiative. This is the only “cross-cutting” High-Impact Initiative, reflecting the impact that ending violence against women and girls would have on all the SDGs. To date, over $100 million USD has been invested through the Spotlight Initiative.

UNFPA supports more than 400 programmes addressing gender-based violence in over 150 countries and territories, and our global leadership in data and evidence generation is increasing the knowledge base on GBV in all settings. Increasingly, this includes violence in the digital sphere, something we will discuss in more detail this afternoon during our interactive dialogue on technology-facilitated gender-based violence.

The breadth and depth of UNFPA’s partnerships – with governments, UN agencies, civil society, service providers, academia, women- and youth-led organizations, the faith community, the private sector and others – enable us to strengthen capacity across sectors to provide evidence-based interventions, transform harmful masculinities and address the needs of young people to prevent and break the cycle of violence.

Ending gender-based violence is a human rights imperative. Less obvious perhaps is that it’s an economic imperative as well. The World Bank estimates, for instance, that the cost of domestic violence surpasses $4 trillion US dollars each year, more than 5% of global GDP.

Humanitarian action

In 2023, the number of people in need of GBV prevention and response in humanitarian settings reached an estimated 84 million globally, and UNFPA continues to provide survivor-centred, quality, multi-sectoral GBV prevention and response programming in emergencies.

With rape and other forms of violence rampant in Port-au-Prince, UNFPA is supporting the humanitarian community in Haiti to take urgent action to prevent further violence, reduce risks, deliver integrated programmes, and prevent public health structures from collapsing.

In collaboration with the World Food Programme, UNFPA links women and girls at risk of violence with cash assistance. This is only possible due to our close collaboration with national and local service providers.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, where an estimated 1 million people are at risk or survivors of gender-based violence, the UNFPA-led Gender-based Violence Area of Responsibility is supporting government authorities in setting up a gender observatory to improve monitoring and coordination of the protection of women and girls in IDP sites. It is also strengthening the leadership and technical capacities of national and local women's organizations.

In Sudan, nearly 25 million people need humanitarian assistance, and more than 3 million are internally displaced due to the ongoing conflict. According to the Humanitarian Response Plan, 4.2 million women and girls are at risk of GBV. The sector continues to be largely underfunded and access remains a major obstacle.

The GBV Sub-Cluster in Sudan is coordinating the response in 11 States, working with women-led organizations and networks acting as frontline responders. Since April, around 1,000 service providers have been trained and nearly 30,000 women and girls reached with information about GBV and other available services.

Some 54,000 dignity kits and menstrual hygiene kits are in the pipeline. And despite the heavy fighting and looting in Khartoum, UNFPA has managed to supply the main hospitals with rape treatment kits.

We and our partners also remain on the frontlines in Ukraine, responding to the urgent needs of women, girls and older persons for protection, medical services and psychosocial support.

UNFPA is strengthening our emergency preparedness and anticipatory action so that we can help mitigate the worst humanitarian impacts before a crisis occurs. This includes provision of cash assistance so that women can protect their livelihoods ahead of an emergency and prepare for and respond to climate-related disasters.

We also continue to lead on the provision of emergency cash assistance to survivors and those at risk of gender-based violence, while utilizing cash and vouchers to positively influence sexual and reproductive health behaviors and access to services.

As co-lead of the Sexual and Reproductive Health Task Team, established in 2022 under the Global Health Cluster, UNFPA works to ensure that sexual and reproductive health needs are systematically addressed in all phases of humanitarian response. The Task Team is currently conducting a comprehensive baseline assessment to identify and address gaps in knowledge, resources and coordination capacity.

 

Mr. President, Distinguished Board Members,

UNFPA remains committed to the highest standards of transparency, accountability and oversight. This includes absolutely zero tolerance for any form of sexual misconduct. We continue to reinforce protection measures, prioritizing the rights and dignity of victims and survivors of sexual exploitation and abuse and sexual harassment, and ensuring that offenders are held accountable, including our implementing partners.

Our entire global leadership has pledged to foster more inclusive, ethical workplaces, where everyone is respected and feels safe to speak up and contribute.

We have made significant investments in our oversight offices, and we are committed to further strengthening the independence of the Office of Audit and Investigation Services (OAIS).

In all we do, UNFPA makes every effort to manage risk effectively and resources wisely.

As an organization that endeavours to learn and innovate, we rely on the evaluative evidence produced by the Evaluation Office to understand what works and where we could do better.

We welcome the Independent Peer Review of the UNFPA evaluation function, and accept its recommendations, as noted in our management response. We also note areas for improvement, including on humanitarian and decentralized evaluations. All of this will inform the revised Evaluation Policy, to be presented to the Executive Board at its First Regular Session of 2024.

 

Mr. President,

More investments are urgently needed to reach UNFPA’s three zeros and ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights. Yet we see a marked decline in funding for the sector. This despite ample evidence of the tremendous social and economic benefits of such investments.

With respect to UNFPA funding, 2022 saw our highest revenue on record at over US$1.5 billion, and we thank Member States for your generosity and for the confidence you place in UNFPA. Last year, this support helped us avert more than 13 million unintended pregnancies and 3.7 million unsafe abortions and assist 1.4 million safe deliveries in humanitarian-affected countries – to name just a few of the results that we have achieved together.

Core funding makes these results possible, offering us the flexibility to mount agile, rapid responses to unforeseen challenges, while delivering on UNFPA’s mandate in more than 130 countries.

Unfortunately, we are less sanguine about the funding picture going forward. Core funding projections are approximately $60 million less this year than last, and we are very concerned about core funding levels for 2024 and 2025.

Turning to non-core funding, last year saw increases across all three active thematic funds – the UNFPA Supplies Partnership, the Maternal Newborn Health Fund and the Humanitarian Thematic Fund.

Funding from UN pooled funds and other UN entities is our single largest source of donor funds. This remains a source of pride, demonstrating our commitment to UN reform and enhanced coordination.

UNFPA continues to explore innovative financing mechanisms and partnerships to scale up investments. This includes the recent Adolescent Sexual Reproductive Health Development Impact Bond in Kenya, and we are looking to pilot similar models in South Africa and Zambia. We are also exploring the feasibility of Sukuk, or Islam-compliant bonds, in the Arab States region, with support from the Islamic Development Bank.

We count on Member States’ support to catalytic core resources, which enable us to make a real difference in the communities we serve. We continue to make a strong investment case, at global, regional and country levels, for the sector-wide financing needed to achieve our three zeros. Our aim is to help leverage private and public financing, including ODA, IFI and domestic resources. Our work on mobilizing financing is further supported with seed funding from UNFPA’s Strategic Investment Facility.

We look forward to further discussion of these efforts during our Structured Funding Dialogue session this afternoon.

 

Mr. President, Distinguished Board Members,

As you may be aware, in November we will say goodbye to our Deputy Executive Director (Management) Ib Petersen, who is taking up the important role of Permanent Representative of Denmark to the United Nations in Geneva. I thank Ib for his leadership, wise counsel and level-headedness during a time of daunting challenges, as UNFPA responded and adapted to Covid-19, bolstered our humanitarian capacity, and rolled out Quantum, our new enterprise resource planning system. Dear Ib, we wish you all the best in your exciting new role.

Please join me in welcoming Moncef Ghrib, who takes up the reins as Director of the Office of Audit and Investigation Services next week. I also wish to thank Jessie Mabutas for so ably stepping in as Director ad interim of OAIS for the past two years.

I am also pleased to announce the appointment of Björn Andersson, current Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, as Senior Adviser, Resource Mobilization and Advocacy for Humanitarian Initiatives in Geneva.

Finally, it is with extreme gratitude and appreciation that I say goodbye to my indefatigable Chief of Staff, Pio Smith, who will be leaving the Executive Office to take up the role of Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific. We wish Pio and all our colleagues the very best in their next chapters.

 

Mr. President,

I am now pleased to turn the floor over to Laila Baker, Regional Director for the Arab States, who will provide some highlights of UNFPA activities in the region.

Shukran, Ya Laila. We appreciate your leadership and the achievements of the ASRO team.

 

Mr. President,

Distinguished Board members,

Politics and populations are more diverse than ever, and yet I believe there’s far more that unites people than divides us. 

Now three decades on from the adoption of the Cairo ICPD Programme of Action, as we stand at the midpoint of the Sustainable Development Goals, there’s still much unfinished business.

To fulfill the promise of these two visionary agendas, we must stand together. We must stand up — for rights and freedoms for women and girls. We must do more — much faster.

The good news: we know what to do and how. And the time to act — is now.

Thank you.