Thank you Mr. Chairman,
Dear UNDP executives,
Allow me to take this opportunity, and in this case my first statement at this second regular session, to welcome Mr. Achim Steiner, as the new Administrator of UNDP, to wish him success and to offer him our support in his new work, directed, as we hope, at strengthening operational activities for development, based on their fundamental principles and characteristics, as well as on the mandates of the QCPR.
We would like to thank Mrs. Susan for her presentation on the financial situation of UNDP in 2016 and on the status of regular funding commitments, its relevant funds and programs for 2017 and onwards.
Based on the analysis presented on the financial performance in 2016, Board members continue to be concerned about the sustained trend to decrease funding for operational activities for development over the past 20 years, specifically regular funding, undoubtedly resulting in a high imbalance between regular and complementary resources, with a high concentration of the latter, which continue to be granted for specific purposes and on a conditional basis.
Unfortunately, the trend to prioritize complementary resources to be conditionally allocated to specific activities, not precisely linked to development, continues to fragment the UNS for development and thus distorting the main role of UNDP, according to the mandates endorsed in the last QCPR.
Given this challenge ahead, we would like to take this opportunity to urge donors to reverse this situation, prioritizing and targeting their contributions, basically to core resources for development programs.
With regard to the new model and proposal of mechanisms for alliance and participation of national actors other than governments in the financing of operational activities for development, we emphasize that it must always have the consent of the Governments, which are in practice those responsible for development issues, and their alignment with 2030 Agenda.
Concerning the resource mobilization policy, we would like to emphasize that our country, despite its limited economic capacity, not only maintains its annual regular contribution to the UNDP, but also has been working in a group of actions with the entire UNS and specifically with UNDP, already contributing with a group of good practices, through joint work in the mobilization of resources, in order to identify the possible sources and donors, based on national priorities.
Thank you very much.
Permanent Mission of Cuba to the United Nations.