UNICEF Executive Board Annual Session, 16-18 June 2015

Opening statement by Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi, Permanent Representative of Pakistan, in her capacity as the President of the UNICEF Executive Board

Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentleman,

I call to order the Annual Session of 2015 and extend a warm welcome to you all, including those who have travelled long distances to be here. The large turnout from capitals today is a welcome reminder of the wide support UNICEF engenders, including from the highest levels of government.

A warm welcome is extended also to Ms. Rebeca Grynspan, Ibero-American Secretary General, who is the guest speaker for the Special Focus Session on Equity, and to Mr. Kevin Jenkins of World Vision International, who will be the main representative for non-governmental organizations.

We meet at a time of great opportunity but also great challenge. The opportunity is presented by the approaching historic milestone that will see the endorsement of the post-2015 development agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals, and the promise of greater priority being accorded to the well being of children.

But this is also a time of peril for humanitarian workers in so many parts of the world. That is why I want to start by recognizing and paying tribute to the heroic work of UNICEF staff around the world, especially those who work under difficult, if not life-threatening, conditions.

The danger faced by humanitarian workers everywhere was brought home all too tragically this April, in Somalia. There, several UNICEF staff and security personnel were killed or injured in a terrorist attack while on their way to work. Among those killed were two polio-eradication workers. They join a long roster of such workers attacked or killed while helping children avoid the scourge of polio.

We whole-heartedly endorse the words of Executive Director Anthony Lake, who told staff that this incident, horrifying as it was, would not deter UNICEF from carrying out its mission on behalf of children. So I take this opportunity to thank Mr. Lake for his inspiring leadership of UNICEF, along with the Deputy Executive Directors, Mr. Martin Mogwanja,Ms. Geeta Rao Gupta, Ms. Yoka Brandt, and Mr.Omar Abdi. Words of thanks are also due to the National Committees for UNICEF, who fund raise and advocate so passionately and effectively for children.

I also thank my fellow Bureau members, who are a strong and collegial team. They are dedicated to making the Executive Board work strategically and efficiently to both support and guide the work of this great organization. I want to recognize and thank the Vive Presidents of the Board, namely the Permanent Representatives of Panama, Germany, Estonia and for their continued cooperation and engagement.

A special note of appreciation goes to the Secretary of the Executive Board, Mr. Nicolas Pron, the Assistant Secretary and their team for their efforts throughout the year to make the Bureau and Board function so smoothly. And to the United Nations Conference Services, interpreters and others who contribute to the success of this work.

Distinguished delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen,

2015 is a seminal year for all of us. It is the target year for the Millennium Development Goals, which have served to improve the lives of many millions of children, and also helped the world’s poorest and most disadvantaged. And it marks the beginning of the Sustainable Development Goals and post-2015 agenda, which must improve the lives and change the destinies of millions more.

Here I enthusiastically acknowledge the hard work in advocacy and negotiations undertaken by many Members States during what has amounted to years of high-level discussions on these issues. Thanks to their work, these Goals and agenda promise to be more strongly focused on the well-being of children – both of current and of future generations.

We eagerly anticipate the culmination of this hard work in what will be an unprecedented roadmap for future development – with goals and targets concretely set. Yet, even now, with just a few months remaining, we cannot pause to rest. We must continue to work together for the best interests of children until the very day the Goals and agenda are adopted.

It is also a year during which much progress has been made on strengthening financing for development as part of the third International Conference on this crucial topic. As we are well aware, especially at the national level, goals and agendas will not make much impact without securing financing as an indispensable vehicle.

It was gratifying to see how Members States pressed for greater child-related investments and budgeting during the second drafting session in April. We must continue to push for this cause, including during the current session taking place this week, and all the way to the summit in Addis Ababa, with the adoption of the outcome document.

Ladies and Gentlemen

All these efforts and outcomes, along with the focus on Equity, will make a great difference in the lives of children. It will make the difference between a child growing up poor, undernourished, unhealthy, poorly educated, vulnerable to risks and discrimination, and bereft of hope -- and another child, able to realize her rights. This other child will be able to fulfill her dreams. She will grow up in a family that knows how to take care of her. She will have access to clean water, health care and quality schools. She will be free from discrimination and gender bias, even if she has a disability or a minority status. She will be resilient in the face of violence, HIV, conflict, and natural disasters. She will live in a community that knows how and where to get the support it needs. For all these reasons, this child will likely grow up to be a productive and confident member of society.

This vision is our promise to children, and it is a promise we must keep. It is up to all of us --the Bureau, the Executive Board, Governments, UNICEF, the United Nations family, key partners, and communities and children themselves -- to ensure that this vision becomes reality.

It is appropriate that the theme of Equity sets the stage for this Executive Board session. For, as we know, no real progress can be made for children unless all children, particularly the most disadvantaged and marginalized, are reached throughout the world. They need to be reached with interventions in the crucial early years, with health care, nutrition, education, protection and an enabling environment in which their full potential is realized.

If children must be reached during times of peace and calm, they are even more vulnerable during times of conflict and crisis. And sadly such times of conflict and crises are growing, with children and women bearing the main brunt of suffering. UNICEF and its partners are making a tremendous effort to deal with an ever-greater number of emergency situations around the globe. These now number around 300. Think of it, this number is unprecedented.

Without being able to name them all here, these emergencies span from the earthquake in Nepal to the spreading conflict in the Middle East and the crises in the Great Lakes region of Africa. From the Philippines earthquake to the Syrian crisis, and conflict in Palestine, Iraq, South Sudan and Yemen. The Executive Board salutes the efforts of UNICEF in all these emergency situations, including its work with WHO, national health authorities and many others, to save lives and slow the spread of the Ebola virus in West Africa.

What is more, through close audits and evaluations, the organization continues to improve its work and share lessons learned with others. Thanks to its increasingly efficient supply operations – which can load a cargo plane with medicines, tents, schoolbooks and other supplies in under an hour – and its increasingly efficient cooperation with UN, Government, NGO and other partners on the ground--including through the UN Cluster Approach --UNICEF is making a crucial difference. How many millions of children would have been killed, maimed, or disabled without this help?

That is why it is discouraging and disconcerting that so many of these emergencies go underfunded. Especially when we consider the huge amount of resources required for assistance. This assistance is needed not only during emergencies but also later, in rebuilding devastated economies and societies. It is time for us to invoke our consciences and commit to do more to help children in emergency situations.

Not just children in emergencies but children in so many situations need further support, as they face widespread violations of their rights and insecurity in face of dwindling public and private funding resources. The worst-affected are those most disadvantaged and marginalized – from urban poor children in Latin America and the Caribbean to Roma children in Eastern Europe, to children with disabilities in Africa, Asia and children struggling to survive in conflict situations in the Middle East. So let us applaud Mr. Lake and UNICEF for taking up the challenge of helping these children by championing the cause of Equity across all countries and regions and all segments of society.

Just as the refocus on Equity invigorates the work of UNICEF in all its aspects, so does it infuse every agenda item for this session. From the Special Focus Session on Equity to the annual report of the Executive Director. From the reports on gender, audit, and evaluation to the field visits of the Bureau and Executive Board. And to the address of the Chair of the Global Staff Association, which rightly supports staff safety and security as a top priority for UNICEF.

Another key activity in 2015 will be preparations for discussions on the next quadrennial comprehensive policy review. In the context of the evolving development cooperation landscape, of the renewed commitment to harmonization and system-wide coherence, and of Delivering as One, we commend the efforts of UNICEF to work with partners to further these goals, especially in the field. This excellent work, and its results for children, are evident in the four country programmes of cooperation with Governments that are presented for approval at this session: for Armenia, Turkmenistan, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

We see in these documents and others how UNICEF and its partners are replacing ‘business as usual’ with award-winning innovation, including in social media, with scaling up what works to national level, and with boosting the capacities of governments to initiate policies and programmes that produce lasting change. This is done not only through the refocus on Equity but also in its concrete implementation through such means as the Monitoring Results for Equity System (MoRES) and deprivation analysis.

As we know, the heart of the work of UNICEF is in the field. UNICEF is one of the most extensive field-based organizations in the world. This is how the organization is able to take the pulse of children --their needs and rights --and to advocate so effectively for change on their behalf.

Distinguished Executive Board members and delegates, we need to guide and support this outstanding work of UNICEF. Let us use the influence we have as policymakers and thought leaders-- in these sessions and in the many key discussions taking place --to help UNICEF position children at the center of the agendas of governments and nations.

The opportunity is there for us to seize and challenge for us to meet. I am confident that together we will able to accomplish our shared objectives.

I thank you.