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UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 000205 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: UNICEF EAID ECON CH UNDP
SUBJECT: UN CHILDREN'S FUND (UNICEF) EXECUTIVE BOARD -- 
FEBRUARY 4 TO 6, 2009 
 
REF: A. STATE 1500 
     ¶B. STATE 2047 
     ¶C. USUN 20 
 
¶1.  (U) SUMMARY: The February 4-6, 2009 session of the UN 
Children's Fund (UNICEF) Executive Board featured frank 
discussions on the humanitarian situation in Gaza and on 
proposals to reform UNICEF's accountability framework. 
UNICEF's very factual oral report on Gaza and its efforts 
there likely helped diffuse any possible efforts to use the 
Board meeting as a forum to condemn Israel, and the 
Palestinian and the handful of other interventions were 
relatively mild, including Iran's.  The Sudanese 
representative made the most inflammatory statement.  There 
was insufficient support at the Board session to secure 
approval to modify UNICEF's accountability framework into one 
similar to UNDP's new rules, largely due to the issue of 
access to internal audits.  Chinese representatives, while 
expressing general support for reform, continued to pursue 
elements that would make the accountability framework 
unworkable.  Nonetheless, bilateral discussions with China 
and other delegations moved the issue forward, likely cueing 
up a decision at the June 2009 Board.  The WEOG group 
presented a unified position for adoption in June 2009 of a 
framework similar to that at UNDP, and the Malian President 
of the Executive Board supported publicly our aim of 
concluding this issue at the next board meeting.  In the 
upcoming months the U.S. should work to build confidence, 
further demarche China and finalize negotiations on a 
declaration.   All other agenda items were adopted by 
consensus with little additional discussion. END SUMMARY. 
 
 
GAZA 
 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  The outgoing Swedish President of the Executive 
Board as well as the new President from Mali made it known to 
Board members in advance of the Gaza discussion that they 
would not support proposals that might politicize the 
Executive Board meeting or allow it to be used to condemn a 
member state.  They and others objected to any action beyond 
a discussion on the report of UNICEF about the humanitarian 
situation of children in Gaza. 
 
¶3.  (U) UNICEF Regional Director Sigrid Kaag gave a factual 
and balanced oral report of the humanitarian situation in 
Gaza.  In contrast, the Palestinian representative spoke of 
the tragedy of 3150 dead civilians and focused on the 
humanitarian situation. While demanding that the "responsible 
criminals" be brought to justice, he refrained from directly 
naming Israel or the U.S.  The representative also said that 
all Palestinians should not suffer for the actions of a few. 
He offered to e-mail participants graphic photographs from 
Gaza, but did not show them during his statement.  The 
Palestinian representative underlined with appreciation 
Egyptian efforts towards a long-lasting cease-fire and 
expressed hope for increased support from the new U.S. 
Administration in this regard.  (He later approached U.S. 
delegation privately and made the same point.)  Lastly, he 
also asked for increased pledges to UNICEF's flash appeal for 
Gaza. 
 
¶4.  (U) Iran, Syria, Bangladesh, Mali and Malaysia were also 
measured in their statements.  Only Sudan gave an 
inflammatory speech directly accusing Israel of a "brutal 
aggression" and implicitly accusing the U.S. for providing 
protection to Israel. (Comment: while Sudan is the leader of 
the G-77, the representative appeared to be speaking only on 
behalf of his government. End Comment.) There were no 
 
 
 
proposals for a decision or a declaration. (Comment:  We had 
informally signaled, as had many other delegations, that we 
would not take the floor unless a proposal for a decision or 
any other action was tabled.  This may have contributed to 
the measured statements by Palestine and others.  Iran's 
measured statement suggests that it may be trying to present 
a more statesmanlike appearance in UNICEF discussions and may 
be related to its recent assumption of the Presidency of the 
UNDP Executive Board. End Comment.) 
 
UNICEF ACCOUNTABILITY FRAMEWORK - ACCESS TO INTERNAL AUDIT 
REPORTS 
 
 
¶5.  (U)  While originally placed as a separate main agenda 
item, a discussion on a proposed new UNICEF accountability 
framework took place on the last morning of the meetings as 
an "other matters" agenda item, due to a concern that a 
public  discussion of this issue would be too contentious. 
The U.S. and other delegations protested its removal from the 
original agenda.   (Note: A statement by Sudan on behalf of 
the G-77 and China at a late January UNDP meeting appeared to 
indicate the G-77 and China were backing away from the 
compromise agreed to at the September 2008 UNDP Board.) 
 
¶6.  (U)  In a very open and constructive discussion within 
WEOG Group during the UNICEF Board meetings, the UK, Sweden, 
Germany and others expressed support for our position.  We 
indicated our willingness to modify our future audit request 
letters to more explicitly declare conformity with all the 
regulations of the accountability system, including 
confidentiality, in order to unblock the situation.  The 
Chinese delegation, which was the final holdout in the UNDP 
compromise, had objected strongly to the form of a December 
U.S. audit request letter to UNDP. 
 
¶7.  (U)  WEOG group members agreed to a unified position for 
adoption of a UNDP-like framework at the June 2009 Board, 
which the Japanese delegate as WEOG representative presented 
to the Bureau of the Board. Switzerland was particularly 
supportive of our position in plenary and its representative 
formally requested that the UNICEF Board take action on the 
accountability framework in June 2009, following the model of 
the UNDP accountability system.  China responded that it had 
no interest in prolonging the debate and particularly 
stressed the point that all parties should respect all rules 
of the accountability framework, implicitly referring to its 
confidentiality provisions. 
 
¶8.  (U)  In bilateral discussions, Chinese representatives 
indicated they supported accountability and transparency and 
were unhappy that this was being portrayed by many as a U.S.- 
China dispute.  China, however, did not propose a 
constructive way forward, other than suggesting the U.S. take 
steps to build good will, which the U.S. delegation attempted 
to address in its plenary statement.  Moreover, China said 
that the outcome would depend on the upcoming negotiations 
and should not be tied to a specific timetable (such as the 
June meeting).  China also professed a desire to negotiate a 
draft UNICEF document that would potentially raise new 
barriers, such as additional Executive Board action, to 
access to audits.  The President of the Executive Board from 
Mali in his concluding remarks made the helpful proposal of 
working together to resolve this issue at the June board. 
 
¶9.  (U)  Comment:   The U.S. delegation's flexibility and 
openness to take into account the views of other members 
helped cement a unified WEOG position on accountability. 
Most WEOG members support improved transparency and 
accountability, including access to audits, but are not often 
 
 
forceful proponents.  By publicly addressing concerns raised 
by China and others, and by implementing those changes in our 
use of the UNDP framework, we have raised confidence and 
trust among other members on this issue.  Our strengthened 
support should put pressure on China to adopt a more measured 
approach. Cuba, which had supported the Chinese position 
aggressively, and worked to derail using the UNDP compromise 
for UNICEF, scaled back its rhetoric at the plenary.  End 
Comment. 
 
UNICEF REPORT TO ECOSOC 
 
¶10.  (U)  Many delegations used this early agenda item to air 
their general views about UNICEF's work and their support for 
the Organization.  The U.S. statement focused on our support 
for UNICEF and praised its work in several areas, including 
child protection. It also expressed our interest in avoiding 
efforts to increase operational control by the General 
Assembly and ECOSOC over UNICEF. 
 
¶11.  (U)  The President of the Board welcomed explicitly that 
our delegation had not announced any reductions in future 
contributions.  Cuts in contributions from donor countries as 
a consequence from the financial crises were a major concern 
of all developing countries that reverberated through many of 
their statements. 
 
UNICEF FINANCIAL REPORT AND AUDITED STATEMENT 
 
 
¶12.  (U)  A number of Board members, particularly the UK, the 
Netherlands and Sweden expressed concern about the high 
amount of unexpended funds; this was also reflected in the 
respective Board decision.  UNICEF's Board Secretariat, as 
well as its auditor, pointed out that the $643 million figure 
was misleading, as it was only momentarily significantly 
higher than the USD 300 million of reserves that the 
organization felt prudent to retain.  At the request of 
several members, UNICEF will provide an update on this 
subject at the next Board. 
 
APPROVED COUNTRY PROGRAM DOCUMENTS 
 
 
¶13.   (U)  The Executive Board approved the proposed country 
programs on the agenda without further review or comment. 
Prior U.S. comments on the drafts had been taken into account 
and were reflected in the respective documents. 
 
GENDER POLICY IMPLEMENTATION 
 
 
¶14.  (U)  The statement of UNICEF Executive Director Veneman, 
as well as the statements of many delegations, underlined the 
special importance UNICEF attaches to gender policy 
implementation.  The decision on this agenda item urges 
continued effort by the leadership of UNICEF to improve the 
integration of gender equality in programming including in 
institutional and individual accountability mechanisms in 
programs, management and human resource systems. UNICEF was 
also asked to consult the Executive Board when updating its 
gender equality policy and to clarify expected results for 
effectiveness and impact. 
 
BILATS WITH VENEMAN AND DEPUTY HILDE JOHNSON 
 
¶15.  (U)  In separate bilateral meetings with Veneman and 
Deputy Executive Director Johnson, the U.S. delegation 
discussed key issues for the future of the organization and 
asked for Board support for the WEOG group position on the 
 
 
proposed UNICEF accountability framework.  Veneman noted that 
she had created separate auditing, evaluation and 
investigation departments at UNICEF  A separate office for 
investigation ensures that auditors keep personal names out 
of audit reports, that a separate process exists to address 
suspected fraud and other problematic issues, and that 
regular audits proceed quickly.  Johnson said that UNICEF was 
working on stricter rules on the retention of funds by UNICEF 
national committees/funds.  Following the crises at the 
German National Committee, UNICEF is working to increase 
transparency and accountability of the national committees 
and modifications of UNICEF headquarters' interaction with 
them. Johnson views the U.S. National Fund as the most 
professionally run and doing well.  The National Fund in 
Germany has recovered from its recent crises, but the events 
have cost UNICEF a 30% decline in donations from Germany, and 
corporate donations have particularly suffered.  According to 
Johnson, the problems in Germany have been a painful learning 
experience for UNICEF on the importance of accountability and 
transparency. 
 
¶16.  (U)  (SBU) On child protection, the U.S. delegation 
voiced its special interest in the Child Protection Unit, and 
concern that the Unit is not sufficiently funded and staffed. 
 Johnson admitted that the Unit had gone through a difficult 
period and is not appropriately staffed.  She added, though, 
that it was UNICEF's intention to strengthen child protection 
as a whole.  She specifically mentioned that UNICEF would 
name a new Director for the Child Protection Unit and 
undertake other measures.  Johnson added that donors 
traditionally do not tend to give earmarked funds to child 
protection, unfortunately making the unit somewhat of an 
"orphan" among donors. 
 
¶17.  (U)  The texts of USDEL statements at the February 4-6 
UNICEF Executive Board meetings can be found at: 
http:www.usunnewyork.usmission.gov/press_rele ase.pho?i-O 
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