Ministry Statements & Speeches:
First, let me join others in congratulating you on your recent appointment as UNDP Administrator. You have New Zealand’s full support in your efforts to steer this organisation and its important work through these challenging times.
New Zealand is pleased to join this First Regular Session of the Executive Board for 2026, and we look forward to supporting UNDP as it begins implementing the Strategic Plan for 2026–2029.
UNDP plays a critical role in helping countries address complex global challenges - from climate impacts and fragility to economic pressures and growing inequality. We welcome UNDP’s continued commitment to human rights, gender equality, and leaving no one behind. These principles are foundational to achieving sustainable and inclusive development outcomes.
New Zealand recognises the difficult resource environment in which the multilateral system now operates. Predictable, flexible core funding remains essential, allowing UNDP to maintain agility, uphold its normative commitments, and sustain long‑term resilience work. In that regard, New Zealand was pleased to confirm last year a new multi‑year core contribution, and we encourage partners to continue prioritising core resources to ensure UNDP can meet the expectations placed upon it.
As a Pacific nation, New Zealand emphasises the importance of ensuring that UNDP’s work continues to reflect the priorities of Pacific Island Countries, including climate resilience, economic stability, and the needs of Small Island Developing States. Partnership, listening, and respect for Pacific leadership remain central.
New Zealand acknowledges the changes the UNDP leadership have made to align the organisation’s operations with the realities of a drastic reduction in voluntary funding. While such measures are clearly essential, we recognise the difficult decisions this has required, and the toll this will have taken on staff.
New Zealand also wishes to underscore the importance we attach to the UN80 initiative, which represents a generational opportunity to strengthen the effectiveness, coherence, and impact of the UN development system.
We appreciate the continued updates, including the update from you and the Deputy Secretary‑General yesterday. These briefings are crucial – they enable Member States to track momentum, understand challenges, and support timely decision‑making. Reform at this scale requires discipline, transparency, and sustained engagement, and we value the Secretariat’s commitment to these principles.
New Zealand would like to emphasise several points:
- First, UN80 must remain focused on the end goal: a UN system that is leaner, more coherent, and more effective, capable of delivering stronger impact amidst shrinking resources and rising global needs. Reforms should reinforce – not dilute – the core mandates and normative functions that underpin UN credibility and effectiveness.
- Second, transparency is essential. Member States must have clarity on what decisions are required, who must take them, and when.
- Third, reforms must be shaped through broad, meaningful consultation with Member States and UN stakeholders. Proposals for country and regional‑level reform will have significant implications for operations on the ground, including in the Pacific. These proposals must be adaptable to diverse contexts, tested where appropriate, and informed by those who will be directly affected.
- Fourth, we look forward to receiving further information on the timelines and processes for assessing potential organisational adjustments, including any proposed mergers. Decisions of this magnitude must be based on robust business cases, grounded in operational efficiency and enhanced impact, and must not reopen the core mandates of UN entities. Executive Boards must remain integral to this process.
New Zealand remains committed to working with UNDP, the Secretariat, and Member States to ensure UN80 delivers a more coherent, effective UN development system – one capable of meeting global challenges, supporting the most vulnerable, and directing resources where they have the greatest impact.