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Thank you, Mr. Co-Chairs. I have the honour of delivering this statement on behalf of Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
CANZ is pleased to participate in these discussions following the release of the Co-Chairs’ and the Deputy Secretary-General’s reports in July. We would like to begin by thanking both Ambassadors Mahiga and Kavanagh and Deputy Secretary-General Migiro for the extensive efforts to date.
The findings in the Co-Chairs’ report are clearly based on empirical evidence, and they adequately reflect the messages coming from the consultations. CANZ generally supports the findings and recommendations in the report. As noted, some areas are being implemented under the TCPR and other mandates, such as the Delivering as One pilots, business practices and funding. We agree that while positive thus far, such initiatives need further experience before conclusions can be made. We request – as previously suggested by the Co-Chairs – that the membership be kept informed of developments.
We congratulate the Deputy Secretary-General for presenting to member states the gaps and challenges in the UN’s current institutional arrangements for gender equality, and the most recent paper presenting four possible options to address them. The papers bring gender equality considerations up to where we are in other areas addressed in System Wide Coherence, which already have action mandates through the TCPR and other instruments. They have been effective in fostering greater analysis, discussion and understanding among member states on the challenges and possible solutions.
Mr. Co-Chairs, as we have indicated in our remarks during previous consultations, CANZ concurs with the Deputy Secretary-General’s assessment of the key gaps and challenges facing the UN’s present gender architecture. The system currently falls short of delivering results, particularly at the country level. As outlined in the most recent options paper, the status quo cannot produce the desired results, even with additional financing.
Three primary elements need to be incorporated in any new gender equality institution to resolve the challenges in fulfilling existing mandates. First and foremost, it needs to enhance performance at country level to better support national ownership and leadership. It needs to strengthen policy coherence in the UN system on gender equality and the empowerment of women. And finally, it needs to ensure adequate authority in the organization’s leadership to strengthen integration and uptake of gender issues in the UN system. In short, we need to adopt a flexible model to deliver better results on the ground, and we need to ensure a strong voice on women’s equality issues in the United Nations.
When reviewing the models set forth in the Deputy Secretary-General’s options paper, CANZ believes that some of the options presented are not necessarily going in opposite directions. A new gender equality entity should be designed to bring together the positive elements of the options laid out, selecting those that most effectively address the specific challenges we have been discussing. Perhaps this could take the form of a composite entity. We would encourage further discussion and evidence-based exploration of institutional elements in the next session of the General Assembly with a view to making a decision. This might include considerations such as governance and oversight, Charter obligations and gender mainstreaming within the system. Lessons learned from the few existing composite-like entities will also be useful.
Finally, Mr. Co-Chairs, CANZ would like to lend support for the adoption of a decision in the current session of the General Assembly. Almost two years on from the release of the report, there has been substantial discussion, consultation and analysis of practices and experiences. It is, thus, timely for the General Assembly to address the report. We would support a simple decision that
CANZ remains firmly committed to engaging and contributing to improvements and greater coherence in the United Nations development system.
Thank you.
