UNDP, UNFPA and UNOPS Executive Board
First regular session 2011
New York, 31 January to 3 February
DAILY BRIEF
Monday, 31 January 2011
Opening of the session and Item 1: Organizational matters
1. The President opened the first regular session 2011 by welcoming the delegations and introducing the tasks
before the Executive Board in 2011. The Executive Board adopted the revised Rules of Procedure of the
Executive Board of UNDP, UNFPA and UNOPS. The Secretary of the UNDP, UNFPA and UNOPS Executive
Board and the Chief, Executive Board and External Relations Branch, UNFPA provided overviews of the
UNDP, UNFPA, UNOPS and Joint Segment. Also, an overview of the Joint Meeting of the Executive Boards
of UNDP, UNFPA and UNOPS, UNICEF, WFP and UN-Women (4 and 7 February) was provided. The Board
adopted the provisional agenda, tentative workplan for the session and the report of the second regular session
2010 (DP/2011/1).
UNDP segment
Statement by the UNDP Administrator
2. In her opening remarks to the Executive Board (available on the website at http://www.undp.org/execbrd/),
the Administrator underlined how UNDP is repositioning itself in a challenging environment and laid out the
UNDP Agenda for Change. She highlighted three elements central to the agenda – the Action Plan launched in
2010; efforts to contain and control costs and expenditures; and a review of the UNDP business model. She
emphasized UNDP proactive work in building strategic partnerships, strengthening South-South cooperation as
well as efforts to bolster United Nations coherence across all areas of the UNDP mandate. She further spoke of
the midterm review of the Strategic Plan in the context of internal change management, highlighting that the
review will take stock of UNDP achievements and challenges. She then touched on the five thematic areas of
evaluation the Board will be considering at the current session as well as discussions on programming
arrangements and the 2012-2013 biennium support budget, which will feed into the new Strategic Plan. She
stressed the negative impact of reduced core resources on UNDP ability to fulfill its multilateral mandate and
noted UNDP efforts to control expenditures in the areas of travel-related costs and frequent turnover of staff
between posts. She further highlighted UNDP contributions to key international meetings, inter alia, the MDG
summit, the Cancun conference on climate change and the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) conference in
Turkey, MDG follow-up conference in Japan, and the High-level forum on aid effectiveness in the Republic of
Korea, amongst others. In closing, she underscored how a strong and efficient UNDP can bring
transformational change and help countries meet their development goals.
3. Delegations thanked the Administrator for her comprehensive and informative statement and commended the
Administrator’s commitment to lead UNDP through its change management. They also expressed appreciation
for the Administrator’s leadership as chair of the United Nations Development Group (UNDG), and stressed
the need for greater harmonization and coherence across the United Nations system. They requested to see the
Administrator’s Business Action Plan deliver fundamental and tangible changes and efficiencies in UNDP.
Several delegations reiterated the importance of UNDP work at the country level. A number of delegations
shared the concern that external volatilities could undermine development results and in this regard, welcomed
her efforts to strengthen system-side coherence of activities in programme countries.
4. Many delegations expressed serious concern over diminishing regular resources and called on Member
States to fulfil their commitments to ensure reliable flow of funds. One delegation remarked that earmarked
funding should be used as an exception, not the rule. Some delegations encouraged a broader donor base to
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better reflect the changing development landscape, and called for a more effective and efficient utilization of
the core budget. One delegation requested a more substantial summary of income and expenditures as they
noted contradictions between receipt and expenditure of resources.
5. Several delegations called for a more responsible approach by the Human Development Report Office (HDRO)
in the development of the Human Development Report (HDR) to ensure the objectivity and reliability of it in line
with General Assembly resolution 57/264. Those delegations stressed the need for HDRO to engage in more
consultations with the United Nations Statistical Commission as well as national authorities. In raising concerns
on some factual inaccuracies in the HDR 2010, some delegations expressed support to Cuba’s initiative to address
this subject and reiterated the need to enhance neutrality and transparency of the report.
6. Delegations recognized the importance of the midterm review of the Strategic Plan in taking stock of UNDP’s
future priorities. One delegation requested information on how the midterm review could be used to guide the
programme planning process. On evaluations, delegations underscored the importance of ensuring independence
from management, and further underlined that the Strategic Plan, Triennial Comprehensive Policy Review
(TCPR) and General Assembly Resolution 64/289 on system-wide coherence provide useful guidelines for
evaluations. While a number of delegations noted the progress made on the revised evaluation policy, one
delegation observed that little attention was given to enhancing national capacity in the revised policy.
7. A number of delegations called for a new modality of cooperation for middle-income countries (MICs).
They stressed that the MICs are a differentiated group among developing countries and have development
challenges and require a special treatment. With regard to graduation criteria, they underscored the need to
rethink the current criteria based on per capita income toward a basket of indicators, including the human
development index.
8. Both donor and programme countries identified UNDP as a critical partner in poverty reduction and
supported the Administrator’s commitment to sustainable development and the MDG acceleration framework
and goals. In this context, delegations emphasized the importance of fostering South-South and triangular
cooperation as practical means for LDCs – particularly for Sub-Saharan Africa – to achieve the MDGs, and
appreciated UNDP support to the upcoming LDC Conference in Turkey. One delegation stressed the
importance of helping countries to unlock their growth potential by addressing the challenges at the nexus of
governance and private sector development. Another delegation reiterated UNDP crucial role in strengthening
national capacities and urged governments to address the long-term requirements of capacity-building. Toward
this end, one delegation suggested UNDP improving its personnel skill and deployment at the country level.
9. The Administrator thanked delegations for the wide-ranging comments across many areas of UNDP
mandate. She noted that some foreshadowed discussions on thematic areas of evaluation and human resources
that will come later in the session. She took note of the concerns of the MICs and assured that UNDP will
continue to give priority focus to the LDCs. In recognizing the many needs of the LDCs, the Administrator
expressed her hope that the upcoming conference on the LDCs can be added to the list of successful United
Nations conferences. On budget issues, she noted that many delegations expressed concern over the core and
non-core resource imbalances. Along these lines, she explained the challenges related to the drafting of the
2012-2013 biennial support budget. She reiterated UNDP support to “delivering as one” and to the leadership
of the coordination role across the United Nations system, emphasizing Member States to take this message to
the Executive Boards of other United Nations system agencies.
Item 2: Gender in UNDP
10. The Administrator opened the agenda item. The Associate Administrator introduced the oral report of the
Administrator on the implementation of the corporate gender equality strategy, highlighting steps taken to
promote gender equality in each thematic area of work. She then presented the findings of the Gender Marker and
gender parity data, and the parity data across all levels of the organization. She also added that UNDP is
discussing collaboration with UN-Women in terms of division of labor to enhance their respective advantages.
11. Delegations commended the progress UNDP has made on gender in many thematic areas, and the rollout of
the Gender Marker. A majority of delegations reiterated the importance they attach to gender matters and
gender mainstreaming, and in this light welcomed the launch of UN-Women. They stressed that UNDP, as
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chair of UNDG and custodian of the United Nations resident coordinator system has the responsibility to
support the work of UN-Women. They requested more information on how UNDP plans to coordinate with
UN-Women to avoid duplication. In expressing their interest in the midterm review of the gender strategy,
some delegations requested update on the progress toward implementing the gender strategy which will be
integrated into the midterm review of the Strategic Plan.
12. The Associate Administrator thanked the delegations for their insightful comments. With regard to the
collaboration process with UN-Women, she reiterated that UNDP is working with UNFPA, UNICEF and UN-
Women to build on agency complementarities. She suggested sharing the gender marker throughout the United
Nations system and noted that it is used as an accountability tool in Regional Bureau practice areas. In closing,
she noted that the new findings from the gender strategy will be shared with the Board during the annual session.
13. The Assistant Administrator and Director, Bureau for Development Policy added that the oral report depicts
enormous progress made in the last few years, especially in integrating gender into programming across
practice areas and the institutional issues of gender parity.
Item 3: Country programmes and related matters
14. The Administrator introduced the item. She stressed that the draft common country programme document
(CCPD) for the United Republic of Tanzania as the first-ever CCPD brought before the Board and appreciated
the hard work in its preparation. Assistant Administrator and Director, Regional Bureau for Africa then
provided an overview of the draft CCPD for Tanzania that incorporates a common narrative, results
frameworks and related resource requirements for UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF and WFP.
15. One delegation thanked the Board for the opportunity to consider a CCPD on an exceptional basis. He
stated that the CCPD is anchored in the United Nations Development Assistance Plan (UNDAP) 2011-2015
and explained its synergies and challenges encountered in its preparation.
16. Discussion on agenda item 3 on country programmes and related matters will continue with the draft CCPD
and the approval of the country programmes on Wednesday, 2 February, at 10:00 a.m. Discussion on agenda
item 4 on evaluation will follow.
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