UNICEF Executive Board 2010 First Regular Session

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 USUN NEW YORK 000060 SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR IO/HS: EROBERTSON, RDOWNES, IO/MPR:BHACKET, LJACOBSON E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: UNICEF EAID ECON TZ SUBJECT: UNICEF Executive Board 2010 First Regular Session ¶1. (U) Summary: The UNICEF January 12-14 first regular session dealt with a light menu of routine items (budgeting and final approval of a few country programs),but took place against the backdrop of the Haiti earthquake disaster and Executive Director Ann Veneman's announcement that she would not seek a second five-year term when her current term expires at the end of April 2010. The Joint Boards held on January 15 and 18 included panelist discussions of several timely development topics, including Tanzania's presentation of a single UN country program document developed as a pilot "Delivering as One UN" country, and UN funds and programs response to climate change, food insecurity, gender-based violence, and the MDGs. The joint session also included a special January 15 brief by all four agencies (UNICEF, UNDP, UNFPA, and WFP) on the status of their efforts to respond to the crisis in Haiti. End Summary. ¶2. (U) The UNICEF Executive Board held its First Regular Session of 2010 from January 12-14th. The Executive Boards of UNICEF, UNDP, UNFPA, and WFP also held their annual Joint Board meetings January 15th and 18th. UNICEF's principal Annual Session will be held in New York, June 1-4. Departure of Executive Director Ann Veneman -------------- ¶3. (SBU) UNICEF Executive Director announced on December 23 that she would not seek a second term as head of the organization when her current term expires on April 30, 2010. In delivering the U.S. opening statement, Ambassador Rice praised Ms. Veneman's work over the past five years, including her role in implementing important institutional reforms in the areas of transparency and accountability. Other Board members also joined in lauding Veneman's accomplishments, but stopped well short of the effusive send-off they gave former UDNDP Administrator Kemal Dervis. ¶4. (U) During the January 14 wrap-up meeting, the Bangladeshi Permanent Representative and new President of the Executive Board Dr. Abdulkalam Abdul Momen said that on January 13, in response to calls from several delegations asking for more transparency in the succession process (including the UK and Ireland),he had met with "the Under Secretary General" (unnamed) who spoke on behalf of the Secretary-General Ban (SYG). Momen reported that SYG Ban will issue a note verbale to all permanent missions notifying them of the vacancy and asking for nominations of suitable candidates. The vacancy will not be advertised more widely due to budgetary constraints. A Selection Committee will then be convened to review candidates and draw up a short list for interviews. The SYG is required to "consult with the Executive Board members" throughout the succession process. According to Momen, SYG Ban plans to have Veneman's successor chosen before her term ends on April 30, 2010. This procedure is very similar to that used publicly when Executive Director Veneman was chosen. Taking Care of Business -------------- ¶5. (SBU) During the session, the Executive Board approved country programs for Argentina, Guatemala, and Uruguay, as well as additional regular resources for ten country programs (Azerbaijan, Chile, DPRK, Iran, Mozambique, Philippines, Serbia, Somalia, Uruguay, and Palestine). The U.S. delegation intervened to encourage UNICEF country-level representatives to contact U.S. embassies and USAID missions to review and coordinate plans on these and upcoming programs. (Note: We were quite pleased as UNICEF included almost all of the USG suggestions made on the initial drafts last fall. USAID-UNICEF staff cooperation on programs is quite good.) The UNICEF Annual Session in June will consider fourteen programs in Azerbaijan, Belarus, Burma, Cambodia, China, DPRK, Georgia, Iraq, Malaysia, Serbia, Turkey, and an area program for Palestinian women and children. The Executive Board reviewed UNICEF's Annual Report to ECOSOC, private fundraising matters, and improvements to its programming results matrices, which were all found to be satisfactory. Despite its intention to do so by now, UNICEF has still not fully implemented International Public Sector Accounting Standards. ¶6. (U) The U.S. Del intervened following the presentation of UNICEF's report to the Economic and Social Council to praise UNICEF's south-south cooperation work, emphasis on gender mainstreaming, and efforts to build national capacity. The U.S. Del urged UNICEF to follow up on recommendations from recent polio evaluations and to further standardize the way in which it engages in external partnerships. UNDP/UNICEF/WFP/UNFPA Joint Board -------------- USUN NEW Y 00000060 002 OF 002 ¶7. (U) Immediately following the January 15 announcement of the UN's flash appeal for Haiti, senior staff of UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF and WFP briefed Joint Board members on their efforts to respond to the crisis. They all stressed that there were considerable assets on the ground and that better communication and coordination among UN agencies and with other actors was the most important challenge. UNDP said that it was important to engage the local population in cash for work activities to provide them with the means to support themselves as well as to assist the humanitarian and recovery efforts. A number of delegations, including the U.S., expressed condolences and recounted specific contributions. U.S. ECOSOC Representative Ambassador Barton noted the significant U.S. efforts underway in Haiti, and our desire to coordinate closely with the Haitians, the UN and other nations. ¶8. (U) Tanzania, a "Delivering as One UN" pilot country, briefed the Joint Boards on its progress towards producing a first-ever common country program document for all Tanzanian cooperation with the UN. Tanzania noted that it would follow existing UN governance rules and submit the common program for approval separately to each of the UNICEF, WFP and UNDP/UNFPA Boards. The U.S. joined, along with a number of donors and program countries, an Irish statement supporting Tanzania's efforts to improve coordination and effectiveness of UN activities in the country. Joint Board members also lauded a separate brief by a representative of Burkina Faso on "Delivering as One UN" and addressing gender-based violence that suggested the initiative was leading to better coordination and measurable results on the ground. ¶9. (U) Joint Board discussion on UN funds and programs environmental efforts centered around the follow-up to the Copenhagen Summit. Of note, Cuba complained that the Copenhagen Accord had no validity and could not be used as a basis for future agreements or commitments. This was a viewpoint not expressed by other delegations. Cape Verde complained that Copenhagen contained some commitments that small island nations did not support, but added that if they are thrown a lifeline, they unfortunately may have no other choice than to accept them. The U.S. delegation statement urged others to associate themselves with the Copenhagen Accord. ¶10. (SBU) The January 18 morning session of the Joint Board on recovering from the economic and financial crisis was somewhat disappointing. The presentations were largely prepared statements and the questions were fairly superficial. In contrast, the afternoon session included a session on the MDGs, with most member states focusing on the upcoming high-level plenary scheduled for September. The Rwandan representative from the Ministry of Finance made a strong presentation, indicating her country's endorsement of the "Deliver as One UN" approach. She said there was no way back and that this approach should be strengthened and spread. She also noted donors and multilateral organizations can effectively support the government's development by contributing to clearly defined country section strategies. There was also a need to align country strategies to available financing. As an example, she noted that while seventy percent of Rwanda's health budget is earmarked for HIV/AIDS, HIV affects only three percent of the Rwandan population. On the other hand, more than half of the population is affected by the indicators of MDGs 4 and 5, yet the national health budget does not adequately address this disparity. While HIV is an issue for the Rwandan government, broader community health efforts are a higher priority. National budgets and donor aid should therefore be aligned to where there is the greatest need. ¶11. (U) The last session of the Joint Board on the MDGs was by far the most interactive, with many Member States posing relevant questions that elicited well thought out responses from the panelists. A number of delegations made other contributions. Japan's intervention focused on protecting the most vulnerable and poorest of the poor. France noted the effect on the MDGs of variations in policies of different countries, e.g. with respect to domestic resources or tax reform. Bangladesh stated that they are "on track" to achieve most MDG targets, especially poverty reduction, reduction in child mortality, and decrease of the incidence of malaria among others. Belarus, along with Spain, would be grateful to UNICEF if they could share success strategies for middle income countries. RICE