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UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 001920 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SOCI PREF PREL UNFPA
SUBJECT: UNFPA SEGMENT OF THE SECOND REGULAR SESSION OF THE 
2006 UNDP/UNFPA EXECUTIVE BOARD 
 
REF: STATE 140666 
 
¶1.  Summary: At the UNDP/UNFPA Executive Board meeting in 
New York on September 11-13, UNFPA Executive Director 
Obaid stressed the importance of equity and human rights 
for the world's poorest and most disadvantaged people. 
She said reproductive health, women's empowerment, 
and gender equality remain UNFPA's priority 
concerns.  Obaid presented UNFPA's annual budgetary review 
for 2005, noting that total income rose 12.5% to $565 
million, including $365 million in regular resources. 
Obaid also briefed the Board on UNFPA's $28 million draft 
proposal for regionalization, in which UNFPA seeks to 
increase its impact and effectiveness by placing more of 
its staff overseas in regional centers, with less emphasis 
on country missions.  UNFPA Deputy Director Waki presented 
UNFPA's draft strategy for increased participation in 
emergency preparedness, humanitarian response, and 
transition and recovery.  Finally, UNFPA presented draft 
country programs for 22 countries.  End Summary 
 
Executive Director Statement 
 
 
¶2.  United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) 
Executive Director Dr. Thoraya Obaid told the UNFPA 
Executive Board at its Second Regular Session for 2006 
that there is apprehension about the implications of UN 
reform for the development agenda.  UN reform is 
essential, she stressed, but it should produce tangible 
benefits for the poorest and most disadvantaged people on 
earth and improve prospects for the least developed 
countries.  According to Obaid, putting people first and 
focusing on human 
rights - including the "right" to sexual and reproductive 
health - will help meet international development goals 
and contribute to achieving peace and security. 
Developing national and local capacity, unleashing the 
talents of people, slowing the spread of sexually 
transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS, improving 
reproductive and maternal health, and reducing social 
conflict and poverty require progress in equity and human 
rights. 
 
¶3.  Universal access to reproductive health, women's 
empowerment, and gender equality remain UNFPA's priority 
concerns, Obaid stated.  Strengthening gender 
mainstreaming and addressing the specific needs of women 
will help reduce the gender based violence (GBV) that 
continues in many countries, she said.  Obaid noted other 
recent or impending international efforts to improve the 
situation of women, including: the Brussels International 
Symposium on Sexual Violence in Conflict and Beyond - held 
in June to enhance efforts to reduce GBV; UNFPA's Global 
Campaign to End Fistula; upcoming conferences in Maputo 
(September) and Bangkok (November) that would focus on 
expanding access to sexual and reproductive health; the UN 
General Assembly's September 14-15 High Level Dialogue on 
Migration; and UNFPA's just-released annual State of the 
World Population report that focused on women in 
international migration. 
 
¶4.  Obaid also spoke at length about UNFPA's draft 
 
 
proposal for regionalization (discussed in paras 9-10 
below) and reviewed UNFPA's recent cooperative efforts 
with other international organizations and UN bodies, 
including the World Bank, UNICEF, and WHO.  She noted that 
UNFPA is seeking funds for the Global Programme to Enhance 
Reproductive Health Commodity Security, which would ensure 
the availability of life-saving supplies. 
 
Funding 
 
 
¶5.  Obaid presented UNFPA's Annual Financial Review to the 
Board.  UNFPA total income in 2004-2005 increased by $62.8 
million (or 12.5%) to $565 million, including $365.8 
million in regular resources.  UNFPA hopes to increase 
funding from regular resources to $400 million in the very 
near future.  Total expenditures increased by $71.9 
million (or 15.9%) to $523.3 million in 2005.  Program 
activities accounted for $68.1 million (or 95%) of the 
increase. Unexpended regular resources carried forward 
from 2005 to 2006 totaled $48.6 million, or 13.3% of 
income for the year.  Two new donors (Monaco and San 
Marino) contributed to UNFPA in 2006, bringing the total 
number of donors to 172 - a record high for UNFPA. 
 
Emergency Preparedness, Humanitarian Response, Transition 
and Recovery 
 
 
¶6.  UNFPA Deputy Executive Director Kunio Waki introduced 
UNFPA's three year draft strategy for integrating the 
Programme of Action (POA) of the International Conference 
on Population and Development (ICPD) into emergency 
preparedness, humanitarian response, and transition and 
recovery.  The strategy would incorporate the ICPD POA 
into all relief and transition programming of UNFPA's 
partners.  UNFPA believes it would strengthen - not 
duplicate or replace - existing tools such as the Central 
Emergency Response Fund (CERF) and the Consolidated 
Appeals Process (CAP) to build a leveraged and 
mainstreamed approach to crises.  It would also, according 
to UNFPA, build national capacity and encourage 
incorporation of ICPD into national policies and 
frameworks.  Finally, the strategy would build UNFPA's 
institutional capacity to offer support in crises.  UNFPA 
requested that the Board authorize $8 million for core 
resource requirements for 2007-2009, encourage 
co-financing contributions of $13.6 million, and maintain 
the emergency fund level at $3 million. 
 
¶7.  UNFPA Humanitarian Response Chief Pam Delargy stressed 
that support for the most marginalized people in the world 
is critical for meeting the Millennium Development Goals 
(MDGs), including reducing maternal mortality and 
increasing child survival.  Paying special attention to 
women during post-conflict recovery is critical for 
sustainable development, she noted.  There is a serious 
need for improved cooperation at the international level 
for reproductive health and gender needs, she said.  UNFPA 
is very small and has few resources, so it is critical 
that its partners understand these issues.  UNFPA strategy 
is therefore to build awareness and capacity for 
preparedness at the local level.  It is cheaper and more 
 
 
effective to plan and prepare than to react to 
emergencies, she declared. 
 
¶8.  Board members expressed concern that UNFPA activities 
in this area could duplicate existing programs, tools, 
mechanisms, and efforts by other UN bodies and 
international organizations, especially in light of the 
new UN cluster approach.  The United Kingdom inquired how 
UNFPA planned to increase cooperation with other 
agencies.  Several members requested further clarity on 
funding, and wondered if the funds requested would be 
sufficient to accomplish the basic UNFPA goal of gender 
mainstreaming.  Others inquired about monitoring and 
evaluation mechanisms.  The UNFPA agreed to present 
further information at the next Executive Board meeting. 
 
Regionalization 
 
 
¶9.  Obaid spoke twice to the Board about UNFPA's 
Regionalization plan.  At an informal briefing the evening 
before her formal opening statement to the Board, Obaid 
said that UNFPA's staff (210 employees worldwide) is too 
small to meet member needs or cooperate successfully in UN 
Country Team programs or with other partners overseas 
where the need is greatest.  UNFPA hopes to better meet 
those needs by repositioning more of its staff in 
regional, sub-regional, area, and country offices while 
still maintaining critical mass in UNFPA's New York 
headquarters.  UNFPA will seek to minimize costs by 
co-locating as many of these offices as possible with 
other UN agencies already in place.  UNFPA anticipates 
four main regional offices, one each in Addis Ababa, 
Bangkok, Panama, and (possibly) Beirut that would be 
responsible for broad areas covering many countries.  For 
example, one regional office would cover Eastern Europe, 
the Middle East, and South Asia.  UNFPA estimates that 
regionalization will cost $28 million, which Obaid said 
would come from "external sources", not core funds. 
 
¶10.  Several Board members, including UNFPA's strongest 
supporters and largest donors, expressed deep concern 
about the costs involved and questioned UNFPA's decision 
to focus at the regional rather than country level.  Some 
demanded to know why UNFPA had selected certain countries 
as the location for regional offices and expressed strong 
doubt that regional offices could cover such large and 
diverse areas.  Others queried whether UNFPA had 
adequately considered other UN bodies' regionalization 
models.  The Netherlands and Canada accused UNFPA of 
presenting the regionalization proposal as a fait accompli 
without adequately consulting the Board beforehand.  Obaid 
rejected the latter accusation.  She promised that UNFPA 
would hold several informal briefings on regionalization 
for the Board before the end of October.  During her 
formal opening statement the following day, Obaid spoke at 
length about the regionalization program, and promised to 
keep the Board informed and engaged. 
 
Country Programs 
 
 
¶11.  UNFPA presented 22 draft country programs (available 
 
 
in advance of the Board meeting on the UNFPA website) to 
the Board for consideration, including for Algeria, 
Central African Republic, Eritrea, Gabon, Gambia, Senegal, 
South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, the Democratic 
People's Republic of Korea, Laos, Mongolia, Myanmar, 
Brazil, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, English- and 
Dutch-speaking Caribbean, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, and 
Uruguay.  Deputy Executive Director Waki stressed that 
UNFPA country level efforts emphasize and support national 
ownership of the programs, reflect national plans and 
priorities (including on HIV/AIDS), and reflect 
international agreements and directions set by Member 
States. 
 
¶12.  Board members were invited to present comments or 
questions on the country programs at the Board meeting. 
Several members made comments on country programs of 
interest to them.  Based on information provided by posts 
in advance of the meeting, the U.S. delegation read 
prepared statements on eight country programs - Gabon, 
Zambia, Laos, Mongolia, El Salvador, English- and 
Dutch-speaking Caribbean, and Paraguay. 
 
BOLTON