January 31, 2023
Mr. President,
Excellencies and distinguished members of the Executive Board,
I thank the UNDP Assistant Administrator for her comprehensive report on the Multi-country Programme Document for the Pacific (2023-2027), which captures the many challenges that Pacific small island developing states face in their developments.
Coming from one of those island states in the Pacific, with myriads of development challenges, I have come here to seek results, not rhetoric.
This year’s session of the Executive Board is probably the very first time that my country has ever appeared before any UNDP Executive Board. I am thus honored to represent Micronesia as the Board considers the adoption of the UNDP Multi-Country Programme Document for the Pacific (2023-2027). I am most pleased to make a brief remark in support of the Multi-Country Programme Document for the Pacific (2023-2027).
UNDP, together with many of our bilateral development partners, has supported our region. And UNDP is strategically positioned to assist the Pacific region manage our development challenges as, together, we look to see what more we can do to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). With UNDP’s many years of on- the-ground presences in the Pacific, its comparative advantage has helped bring about transformative changes in our countries and the region as a whole.
The Pacific SIDS are most vulnerable and prone to natural disasters and climate change – problems that when faced by one single nation, may prove insurmountable. But together, as a regional community of nations with similar development experiences and challenges these problems become more manageable.
The strengthening of regional organizations is critical to the effective implementation of the objectives of our region and of the United Nations at a time when streamlining and cost-effectiveness are of primary concern. UNDP has implemented closer ties and strengthened cooperation and coordination with our Pacific Island Forum and the CROP agencies in order to increase the capacity and to attain common objectives.
The Multi-country Programme Document for the Pacific demonstrates UNDP’s indispensable and invaluable partnership with the Pacific region. It is a product of multiple rounds of consultations with our national governments and other important stakeholders. These consultations and this MCPD capture the views and priorities of our region for the next 5-year cycle. It is in our view, our best way forward to meet the challenges we face in our efforts towards attaining our sustainable development, in accordance with our national and regional priorities and needs. It has been pointed out time and again by our policy planners during these consultations, that the MCPD is not only aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework but with our own individual national plans.
Mr. President, the islands of the Pacific are widely dispersed in an area of over millions of square miles. The tyranny of distance between our regions poses serious challenges to the delivery of services provided by the UN system. We were thus very grateful to the UN and its members when it decided to open a new UN multi-country office (MCO) in the North Pacific to address many of the issues facing our part of the Pacific. As host to the newest UN multi-country office for the North Pacific, it is Micronesia’s hope that during this cycle and in the coming years, the UN system continues to find ways to adequately address the needs of the new MCO in order to maintain and improve the responsiveness of the United Nations system in our remote part of the Pacific where the UN faces increasing demands.
Mr. President, I close as I opened, with reference to the result which we seek. We hope that this Board will see their clear way to supporting the MCPD which our region has endorsed and which we recommend for adoption. The assistance of the MCOs in our region and that of the UN system and our traditional donors is widely acknowledged, and I assure you, Mr. President that Micronesia does not take such generosity for granted.
Thank you.
