Statement to the First Regular Session of the Executive Board of the United Nations Development Programme and of the United Nations Population Fund

Mr. President,

Distinguished Delegates:

It is an honour and a pleasure to take the floor at the first session of the Executive Board in 2003. At the outset, Mr. President, I would like to congratulate you and the Members of your Bureau on your election as President and Vice-President of this year's Executive Board. My colleagues and I very much look forward to working closely with you in the year ahead, and I pledge to you UNFPA's full support and cooperation. I would also like to thank the members of the outgoing Bureau for the able way they guided the work of the Board during the year, and most especially for the careful attention and very strong support they gave to UNFPA, both in the Board and outside of it.

Mr. President, in the two short, but intense, years I have been Executive Director of UNFPA, I have come to look forward to this statement before the Board in January. It is like the new year itself - a time to reflect on the past year and a time to look to the coming year.

This past year has been unlike any other in my professional career. I seem to say this every year before this distinguished body, but it is true. It is, as I have come to appreciate, very much a part of the privilege of being the head of this amazing and indispensable organization.

The year 2002 has been a difficult and challenging one for UNFPA - a year of incredible highs and of incredible lows. It has been a year in which we lost the support of one of our largest donors, but in return received much-needed supplemental support from many other donors, developed and developing-country alike. We value the political support that UNFPA has received from each one of you as we were working our way through difficult times. And it has been a year of unprecedented attacks on UNFPA from a handful of fringe groups who oppose everything we stand for and everything we do - attacks based on lies, innuendos, half-truths, misrepresentations and disinformation.

But most of all, it has been a year of overwhelming affirmation and support:

Affirmation and support for the work and mandate of UNFPA, notably from this Board;

Affirmation and support for the ICPD Programme of Action and its five-year review, and all that these two seminal agreements stand for, most recently and most notably at the Asian and Pacific Population Conference in Bangkok, where most, if not all, countries stressed that the Programme of Action has been internalized as the basis for their national policies and programmes;

Affirmation and support for meeting the reproductive health needs of all people, and most notably of women and girls and young people;

and, perhaps most importantly, from a development perspective,

Affirmation and support for the indispensable recognition of population and reproductive health as true underpinnings for achieving the Millennium Development Goals, with the eradication of poverty as the centre of all concerns.

It has also been a year in which UNFPA was the subject of hundreds of overwhelming supportive editorials and mainstream newspaper articles the world over.

34 Million Friends Campaign

Mr. President,

In a year of such affirmation and support, none is more heart-warming or hopeful than the 34 Million Friends Campaign, the spontaneous grass-roots campaign started by two American women to mobilize $34 million for UNFPA. What began as a trickle a little over six months ago has turned into a tidal wave of support - support for women's rights, support for women's reproductive health - but most of all, support for the issues and ideals UNFPA supports and what it stands for.

The spontaneous outpouring of support has been extraordinary. And exponential. Last year, in August, when the campaign started, we were receiving 5 to 10 letters a week - each with a contribution, plus words of encouragement. Today, we are receiving thousands of letters a day. After a couple of months, contributions averaged several thousand dollars a day; today, the figure is five or six times that amount - and growing every day. The last time we met - in September - we had received a total of about $50,000; today, we are closing in on $500,000. We hope to reach our first million in a matter of weeks. I can assure you that you will hear of it when we do!

We certainly need the money. And we will certainly put it to good use. But the messages we receive tell the real story. In many ways, it is a story of women reaching out to other women, although men are also reaching out. And, remarkably and tellingly, it is intergenerational.

I quote:

"As a mother of three daughters, grandmother of three and great grandmother of three," wrote one woman, "I am sending a dollar for each of us to help the UNFPA continue its help to save the life of poor women, infants and children throughout the world."

And another: "I am sending 3 [dollars], one for my mom, my sister and myself. My daughter is the one who told me about your efforts."

And yet another, who contributed $75: "I am acting on behest [sic] of my sister, who has joyfully agreed to forego her birthday present so that this money goes to safe delivery of family planning in a needy part of the world."

Obviously, there are thousands of messages I could cite, most of them with similar messages. But they all have one thing in common: an overpowering, even compelling, concern and support for women's rights and women's reproductive health and for the work of UNFPA. These messages, when compiled, will tell the story of UNFPA, but more importantly, the story of how truly grass-roots movements can make a difference in our world.

Transition process and organizational priorities

Mr. President,

All of this support, all of this money and all of this praise means little if we cannot deliver results. We know this, and this Board knows this. In fact, this has been the driving force behind the transition process at UNFPA: namely, to strengthen the capacity of the Fund and its staff to work strategically within the Millennium Agenda and to plan and manage for results.

In past years, I have reported separately on the transition process and on the Fund's organizational priorities. They have, of course, always been closely interlinked. But this year, they are, quite literally, inseparable -- the one deriving from the other.

The transition as a process is now over. It lasted 18 months and ended in December on schedule as I had promised you and UNFPA staff. We have accomplished much in these 18 months; so much, in fact, that it is sometimes difficult to appreciate the great accomplishments we have achieved in such a short time.

The results of the transition are beginning to show. We have realigned headquarters based on the needs of UNFPA country offices. We have changed the way our Country Technical Services Teams (CSTs) are set up and initiated our country office typology exercise to greatly strengthen UNFPA country offices. We have greatly strengthened the Fund's internal audit capacity and elevated the oversight function in UNFPA to the divisional level. We have a much stronger sense of our strategic direction, and a new attractive image to help us increase our visibility. And we have one of the most progressive human resources strategies of any international civil service organization, and a new and more inclusive training and learning approach. All of this is underpinned by a new and unique approach to knowledge sharing.

Within the context of the transition and in order to increase the effectiveness of our response to field offices and field needs, we have ended the transition with a management review of every single organizational unit at headquarters, including my office--the Office of the Executive Director, and the Executive Committee. The reviews by external consultants were professionally and honestly critical where necessary, and they also pointed to the strength of each division. Almost all the recommendations were on target. Each report was distributed to the respective organizational unit to examine the conclusions and the recommendations. In order to implement the recommendations, each Director, including the Executive Director, held a retreat for its own organizational unit where all staff, regardless of category or level, participated in formulating a work plan to implement the recommendations of the management review. I am highlighting this particular activity because I want to take the opportunity to thank the Directors of the Divisions for their courage and professionalism in leading the internal discussions of their divisions on how to improve further our performance. It is also important to point out that this particular exercise was meant to empower our staff at all levels to engage their Directors, in real terms, in assessing the collective performance of their units and in setting plans to further improve them.

It is within this context of staff participation and even leadership that I say that perhaps the most significant accomplishment of the transition process is the fact that the UNFPA staff has seized ownership of it - through the extensive staff input to the field needs assessment study that we conducted in mid-2001; through the participation of a wide cross-section of staff in the work of the transition working groups, and through innovative proposals from staff for actions to change the way UNFPA works. To empower staff to make their own personal transition to the new environment of UNFPA, all staff will participate in an induction programme "to the new UNFPA" in the first half of this year, each ending with each of the participants signing a code of conduct. Here again, I would like to take this opportunity to thank my colleagues at UNFPA in the field, in the CST regional offices and at Headquarters for the time and effort they gave to the transition working groups in addition to their regular load of work, which is by itself quite heavy. They have demonstrated great commitment to UNFPA and to its mandate and universal and multilateral role as one of the main development institutions.

All the work we have done within the context of the transition underpins UNFPA's organizational priorities for 2003. We will finalize these priorities at a retreat of the Fund's Executive Committee in early February, but I thought it might be useful to share our preliminary thoughts with you on this issue.

This year's priorities will all derive from the transition process we just completed, as well as from the staff's vision of what UNFPA is and how it should operate, especially in the field.

The aims of the priorities are essentially the same as they were for 2002: to strengthen UNFPA's capacity as the lead agency in implementing the ICPD and ICPD+5 agenda and to ensure that population and reproductive health are integral to efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

First, and perhaps foremost, we must develop the capacity of UNFPA and its staff to ensure that the Programme of Action is central to global and national policy dialogues on the MDGs. This is indispensable not only to the work of UNFPA, but also to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.

We must establish the strategic partnerships needed at the global, regional and national levels to implement the Programme of Action. We need to be able to leverage more funding at the global level from as many sources as possible, including the World Bank, and we need to strengthen normative and operational linkages in the area of reproductive health, through partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO). And we must also be more active and engaged in country-level development mechanisms such as sector-wide approaches (SWAPs) and Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs), among others.

We must strengthen and build upon the results-oriented culture at UNFPA. We must be accountable for results, both as an institution and as individuals, and most especially line managers, senior management and, of course, me.

We must strengthen the capacity of the Fund as a knowledge-sharing organization. We must be able to, quickly and effectively, bring together, analyse and make use of pertinent information and lessons learned from all stakeholders.

We must increase core resources for the next biennium and fully and effectively utilize these resources.

We must re-engineer the Fund's business processes and develop the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system and align the programming processes and procedures of UNFPA and its key partners in the United Nations system. Here, I would like to pay special tribute to my colleague Mark Malloch Brown, the UNDP Administrator, for ensuring that we are partners in this joint project.

And we must focus on the crucial, and indispensable, issue of staff development. We must implement the human resources strategy approved last year by the Executive Board, as well as a training and learning strategy that builds the capacity of the UNFPA staff to produce results. It is within this context that I hope we can devote serious resources to the whole area of human resources management and learning and training, especially as 2003 is a year for another biennial budget review.

Resources

Mr. President,

I would now like to turn to the crucial issue of resources, and most especially the issue of core resources, for it is core resources, and the neutrality and universality they bring with them, that enable UNFPA to carry out its mandate as a trusted and valued partner and to exert influence far beyond the modest resources it is able to provide.

As everyone in this room knows, resource mobilization was a major challenge for UNFPA in 2002, and it is likely to remain a major challenge for 2003 and beyond.

By the middle of last year, it was clear that UNFPA was facing a serious financial crisis. The reductions in contributions from three major donors had reduced the Fund's core income by approximately $50 million. The impact of this financial loss was real and hung like a dark cloud over UNFPA's operational activities in programme countries.

Fortunately, there was a very strong show of support for UNFPA, not only from the Fund's major donors but also from a record number of programme countries, particularly from Africa, where we know the real financial constraints some of their governments face.

The following 19 donor countries responded to the call and increased their contributions during 2002: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

Seven countries translated their verbal support into concrete action-they provided end-of-year contributions-Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, New Zealand, the Netherlands and Sweden, totalling $18 million. To them we say, thank you.

As a result, UNFPA's core resources for 2002 totalled $256 million, just $13 million less than the $269 million received in 2001. Another uplifting and heart-warming development during 2002 was the response of programme countries, including those with economies in transition. This brought to 131 the number of countries that pledged financial contributions during 2002, a new all-time record for UNFPA. And, you remember, our target was 125 countries for 2002.

Mr. President,

Although some of these contributions were not very large, they nevertheless expressed a strong vote of confidence in and solidarity with UNFPA. Most importantly, they expressed a strong political commitment to the Fund. I would like to use this opportunity to welcome a few new or returning countries into our family of donors, namely, the United Arab Emirates, Cuba, Botswana, Cape Verde, Kazakhstan, Croatia, Afghanistan, Eritrea and Venezuela. These countries made a contribution to the Fund for the first time in recent years. Furthermore, I would like to acknowledge the following programme countries and those with economies in transitions that increased their contributions in 2002: South Africa, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Djibouti, Guinea, Lesotho, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, the Republic of the Congo, Senegal, the Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Togo, Bhutan, Nauru, Palau, Tuvalu, Viet Nam, Andorra, Bulgaria, Romania, Turkmenistan, Bahamas, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti and Suriname.

I would not do justice to the great support we received from within the United Nations family if I do not express my gratitude and that of my colleagues at UNFPA at this point. UNFPA received strong moral support from the United Nations Secretary-General, who has spoken in support of ICPD on many occasions, the last one in his statement to the regional meeting of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) in Bangkok, where he clearly stated that the MDGs cannot be achieved if we do not take population and reproductive health into consideration. I would also like to mention again my colleague and friend, Mark Malloch Brown, UNDP Administrator, who has advocated for UNFPA and its ICPD mandate in a number of his public meetings. Finally, our thanks at UNFPA go to the Executive Director of UNAIDS, Dr. Peter Piot, who encouraged Member States to increase their 2002 funding to the highest level possible for UNFPA.

Mr. President,

It is our earnest hope that the United States, which withdrew its contribution to UNFPA last year, will return to the UNFPA family of donors. UNFPA has not forgotten that it was the vision and generosity of the United States that led the founding of the Fund some 34 years ago. It is also the United States that had the leadership in Cairo during the Population and Development Conference. The world has witnessed tremendous progress in the area of population since 1969. And UNFPA is proud to have contributed to this success. But much remains to be done. The population size of all least developed countries (LDCs) is projected to double in less than 30 years, and HIV/AIDS is spreading rapidly, not only in the LDCs but also globally. We are confident, Mr. President, that with adequate resources and the support of all the Member States of the United Nations, UNFPA will be able to do its part in providing the necessary leadership for implementing the ICPD goals and for helping countries achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

Partnerships within the United Nations system

Mr. President,

I would like first to point to the very important work being done by the United Nations Development Group (UNDG) in support of country offices. I truly believe that we, Members of the Executive Committee of UNDG, are growing closer to each other, working in harmony and in great understanding of the challenges we jointly face to respond to country needs and demands. I can also say with great pride that it is the work of our colleagues in the UNDG Office and various working groups that has given us the basis for the work that is being jointly undertaken. Most gratifying has been the strong commitment that binds funds and programmes to simplify and harmonize and respond with a renewed sense of commitment to the Secretary-General's second phase of reform. In 2002, UNFPA senior staff have devoted long hours to this effort and will continue in 2003 because we believe in the contribution of this work to our field offices.

I would now like to highlight briefly some recent developments in UNFPA's relationship with two of its key partners, namely, the World Bank and the World Health Organization.

World Bank. UNFPA relations with the World Bank took a significant step forward this past year. I had the honour of being invited to deliver a Presidential Lecture to the Bank staff. In my statement, I argued that population and reproductive health are the true underpinnings for the achievement of seven of the eight MDGs. The welcome was most warm and the interest in UNFPA's work truly overwhelming. It inspired both organizations to work together more closely.

We took advantage of the occasion to organize an intensive day of meetings between senior UNFPA and Bank programme and technical staff. The collegial spirit of the lecture permeated our discussions, which reflected a shared commitment to address population, reproductive health and gender issues at global, regional and country levels. We, therefore, agreed to strengthen our mutual commitment to support national efforts, through leveraging more resources than UNFPA can provide, to achieve the MDGS, especially through articulating their linkages with population and reproductive health.

World Health Organization. A supportive collegial spirit also characterized a high-level consultation that took place in December between UNFPA and the World Health Organization, being the operational and the normative and standard-setting institutions in the United Nations dealing with reproductive health matters. Dr. Brundtland headed the WHO team; I headed the UNFPA team, which included the Director and selected staff members of our Technical Support Division, as well as the staff from the UNFPA office in Geneva. Both heads of agencies stressed the importance of a strategic alliance between the two organizations for advancing the ICPD agenda, especially in the current climate. The meeting was lively and cordial, and we discussed progress made in implementing reproductive health, as well as the need to bring the issue forward, not only with sectoral ministries, but also with Finance and Planning ministries. We agreed that the preparation of MDG reports, SWAps and PRSPs offer renewed opportunities for such policy negotiations.

The meeting also provided the opportunity to review the many areas of technical collaboration between the two organizations, as well as to discuss UNFPA's new strategic directions and their implications for the work of UNFPA. The discussion highlighted areas where UNFPA and WHO could work together most productively at the country level. As a result, the two organizations agreed to send a joint letter to country offices and prepare an advocacy brochure highlighting this collaboration, as well as a joint publication on reproductive health and poverty. UNFPA and WHO also agreed to hold a joint meeting to review progress in attaining the ICPD goal of universal access to reproductive health by 2015 and provide further guidance for future reporting on this issue. We further agreed to organize bilateral consultations twice a year, as well as a high-level meeting once a year, all with the aim of making our operations more cost- effective and meaningful to the countries we serve.

UNFPA engagement in PRSPs

Mr. President,

I would now like to say a few words about UNFPA's efforts during the year to further the Fund's participation in PRSPs. As part of ongoing efforts to assess how effectively UNFPA is engaged in the PRSP process, we sent a short questionnaire to all country offices in the 21 States that had completed a full PRSP. I am pleased to report that most of the country offices canvassed in the survey said that, despite certain constraints, they were participating in PRSPs through sectoral meetings with national counterpart institutions and through Resident Coordinator meetings. They identified two areas in particular that needed strengthening: the technical capacity of the country offices and experience in strategy formulation in the context of PRSPs. In terms of content, the survey found that there were several examples where there was good coverage of population, reproductive health and gender issues, although there remained considerable scope for broadening and deepening the coverage of these issues. We are still hoping to receive some extrabudgetary resources specifically to address developing our capacity at UNFPA to participate in the PRSPS, SWAps and other national development dialogues.

Implementing the ICPD Programme of Action

Mr. President,

As we approach the mid-point of the 20-year ICPD Programme of Action, we have much to be proud of. Many countries have been able to translate the commitments they made in Cairo into policies and action programmes designed to transform the lives of their peoples, especially women. But much remains to be done.

What is needed now is a pragmatic and constructive country-by-country analysis of achievements and constraints, of what has worked and what has not and what lessons has each country learned in order to move forward in its own programmes to the year 2015.

For our part, we have initiated a field inquiry on national experiences, in both developing and developed countries. It is hoped that this will stimulate other activities at the national level, while providing a common framework to assess progress at the national, regional and global levels. We are most grateful to the Government of Switzerland for providing funds for activities at the national level, including the field inquiry. We are also exploring other avenues to analyse national experiences and lessons learned in implementing the Programme of Action, and will report on the findings of these and other analyses in our State of World Population report for 2004.

Conclusion

Mr. President,

As I conclude my statement this morning, I would like to leave you with two thoughts. The first is my sincerest and profound appreciation to this Executive Board for the overwhelming support you have provided to UNFPA and to me personally during the past year. I cannot begin to convey to you how important this has been to me and to the entire staff of UNFPA. It has validated our work and buoyed us in tough times.

This brings me to my second thought. This year, UNFPA has endured unrelenting attacks from a handful of fringe groups. It is now an almost daily occurrence. It taxes our resources, both human and financial. It distracts us from our mission. It is an annoyance. It is worrisome. And it is immoral.

But in the end, Mr. President, despite all the bluster, or perhaps because of it, it is ineffective, even counterproductive.

For out of all this adversity has come unprecedented solidarity and support for UNFPA. Out of this adversity has come the 34 million friends campaign, which is now crossing the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Out of this adversity has come publicity and awareness for the very organization and issues they attack that is far, far beyond any we could afford, muster or orchestrate.

But for me personally, out of this adversity has come unbridled pride and respect for the organization I have the privilege to lead; for the dedicated and committed people I am so proud to call my colleagues; for the issues, ideals and values we and the entire United Nations stand for; and for the integrity of our mission and our programmes.

But above all else, Mr. President, it has reaffirmed what I have always known: UNFPA is a positive force in the world for human dignity and human rights.

Thank you, Mr. President.