Statement by the Republic of Slovenia on behalf of the European Union
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Thank you, Mr. President,
1. I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union. The Candidate Countries Croatia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Turkey, the Countries of the Stabilization and Association Process and potential candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Serbia, the EFTA country Norway, member of the European Economic Area, as well as Republic of Moldova, Armenia, Georgia and Ukraine, associate themselves with this statement.
Mr. President,
2. First of all I would like to thank the outgoing members of the Bureau for their committed work and support of the former Chairmanship for the last 12 months. Mr. Chairman, I wish to welcome you in the chair and through you greet also the other members of the Bureau.
3. The EU would like to congratulate the Director General and his staff on the well-presented and informative Annual report for UNIDO covering the period 2007.
4. The EU welcomes the emphasis that the Director General has given in his foreword to the Annual report, to UNIDO's mandate to advance sustainable industrial development as a means to achieve real poverty reduction. We agree that the best way for a small organisation like UNIDO to achieve this goal is to work co-operatively and effectively with other organisations in the UN family. The EU applauds the efforts made by UNIDO to participate in the UN reform process in order to advance system-wide coherence at the global regional and national levels. We agree that UNIDO has an important role to play in the effort to combat climate change in the areas of industrial energy efficiency, cleaner production and the promotion of renewable energy.
5. The EU has been pleased to observe the effects of the careful management of the organisation under the current Director General. We can see that this policy has helped to consolidate the positive achievements of previous years. We welcome the on-going efforts to streamline working practices; introduce result based management principles and improve decision making, transparency and accountability within the organisation.
6. The EU appreciates the focus which UNIDO is now giving to the three thematic priorities - poverty reduction through productive activities, trade and capacity building and energy and environment. It is good to know that this focus is now beginning to deliver results in terms of funds mobilization. We noted with approval that in addition to the Montreal Protocol funding, UNIDO is now receiving substantial amounts of money from the GEF for its work on the implementation of the Stockholm Convention; and is developing technical cooperation programmes under the European Partnership Agreements with African, Caribbean and Pacific Group states. The EU feels that these activities are beneficial for UNIDO and help to strengthen its position among the specialised agencies. We were pleased to see that the total net technical cooperation project and programme approvals in 2007 amounted to $172,7 million which is $50 million more than in 2006. Actual volumes of projects delivered during the year was $117,3 million and the total portfolio of ongoing projects for further implementation increased by 52,5 million to $280,1.
Mr. President,
7. The EU supports the development of UNIDO's cooperation and partnerships with other agencies and actors, such as the GEF, UNDP, EU's EPAs, and the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the World Health Organisation (WHO), with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and other relevant organisations and entities. The EU hopes that these partnerships will lead to synergies in technical cooperation assistance, enhance UNIDO's field presence and strengthen the effects of UN System-wide Coherence.
8. The EU would like to reaffirm its support for DG Dr. Kandeh Yumkella on his appointment as Chair of UN-Energy for the biennium 2008-2009. We trust that he will make good use of the position to achieve greater coherence and efficiency within the UN family in this important area of work. We would welcome receiving regular updates on the DG's involvement in this context.
Mr. President,
9. The EU notes with interest the report by the Director-General on the implementation of the Medium-Term Programme Framework (MTPF), 2008 – 2011, contained in document IDB.34/6. The EU welcomes the fact that this report has been based on the three thematic priorities outlined in UNIDO's long term vision statement and that efforts have been made to employ Results Based Management principles in the compilation of the report.
10. The EU welcomes UNIDO's productive activities in the field of poverty reduction. In particular, the EU appreciates the introduction of the online private sector development toolbox as well as field projects that are being implemented in several countries. The EU commends projects such as the youth and women entrepreneurship curriculum programme, programmes for SMEs and building productive capacities in the area of agro-based industries. In this context, we also welcome UNIDO's cooperation with the European Commission and Microsoft Corporation in establishing the Investment Monitoring Forum for Africa.
11. The European Union appreciates UNIDO's work in the area of trade capacity-building. We welcome ongoing projects and activities relating to food hygiene, food safety and access to medicines that will be implemented in Africa, Asia, Pacific, Latin America and Caribbean as well as programmes to enhance competitiveness and compliance with standards in this field.
12. The EU welcomes UNIDO's efforts in the field of environment and energy. We especially welcome programmes and projects in the field of energy efficiency and water related issues, which are managed and coordinated in partnership with other organizations, such as ISO, FAO and UNEP. The EU notes UNIDO's direct access to GEF founds in areas where UNIDO has comparative advantage as well as 30 new project concepts submitted to GEF for possible financing.
Mr. President,
13. The EU notes the activities in the area of Human Security and is looking forward to the UNIDO strategy paper on this issue.
14. The European Union supports the establishment of specific South-South Cooperation Centres. In this regard, we are pleased that the Centre in India was established and that several operational activities were already initiated. The EU would like more information on the South-South Centre in China and its operations in the near future as well as about the possible establishment of other Centres in advanced developing countries.
15. As far as the resource mobilization is concerned the EU welcomes UNIDO's success in mobilizing funding for the MTPF ahead of schedule. It is helpful to know that the main sources of additional funding are expected to be the EPAs, "Aid for Trade" and the GEF. The EU would be interested in receiving more information on the proposed multi-donor trust fund to unlock GEF funding.
16. The EU notes with satisfaction the efforts in the field of human resource management. In particular, the EU welcomes the new online recruitment system as well as a Young Professionals Programme. The EU welcomes the decision to establish the Office of an Ombudsperson, which will improve staff-management relations with an emphasis on effective conflict prevention and mediation approaches.
17. The EU would be content with the proposal set out in documents IDB.31/6, IDB.33/17 and GC.12/7 for the implementation of the MTPF to be dealt with in the annual report in future years.
Thank you, Mr. President
