National Statement delivered by Andreas von Uexküll, Deputy Permanent Representative of Sweden to the UN, at the Annual Session of the UNDP Executive Board, 4 June 2025
Mr. President, Administrator, Excellencies, dear colleagues,
I would like to express, on behalf of my country Sweden, our greatest appreciation to you, Administrator Steiner, for your long service to the UN and UNDP. Your unwavering commitment to development and poverty reduction has been a true inspiration.
Sweden welcomes the Secretary-General’s UN80 Initiative. Reform must be about protecting the fundamentals and adapting to new realities for a more efficient and effective UN.
The reforms must ensure a focus on the UN's core mandates and make the best use of comparative advantages. This requires genuine coordination, firm prioritization, and committed action across the entire UN system. Full implementation of ongoing UN reform and active engagement in the UN80 initiative is central in this regard.
Sweden remains a staunch friend of the UN development system. Our contributions come with the highest of expectations regarding effectiveness, transparency, and achieving clear and tangible results, especially at country level.
Sweden is among the few donors contributing a vast majority of the flexible funding to the UN development system, including to UNDP. We must stress, again, that this situation is not sustainable. We encourage additional member states to step forward to meet their commitments in the UN Funding Compact.
We welcome the well-written draft Strategic Plan and appreciate a more focused approach with four strategic objectives instead of six signature solutions. However, we would appreciate clarification on how this will result in a sharper aim of your operations. Given the decreasing trend in core funding, what specific changes can we expect in how UNDP operates and effectively delivers on the SDGs?
The new Strategic Plan should also clarify that identifying gender equality as one of the three 'accelerators' still means it will remain a central priority and a goal in itself. The Plan should pave the way for full implementation of the UN Gender Equality Acceleration Plan.
Thank you and allow me to wish you, Achim, the best of luck in your future endeavours. I sincerely hope our paths will cross again.
