Mr. President, 

 

We thank the UNDP Administrator Mr. Achim Steiner for his comprehensive statement and for presenting UNDP STRATEGIC PLAN along with the UNDP Integrated Resources plan and Integrated Budget Estimates for the next 3 years period. 

 

Mr. President 

 

2. UNDP is the lead agency within the UN development system. Its core mandate remains poverty eradication, which is also at the heart of the 2030 agenda for sustainable Development.  

 

3. Long term sustainable development is essential to build better resilience to deal with humanitarian emergencies as well as sustaining peace.  

 

4. UNDP must continue to focus on its core areas of strength in accordance with national priorities while guarding against any politicization of the agenda. 

 

5. These are times of change at the United Nations. The SG's reform proposals for the UNDS are under active discussion. We hope that the exercise will strengthen the UNDS by improving the effectiveness and efficiency of its ability at the country level. 

       

Mr. President 

 

6. We value our long-standing partnership with UNDP in its more than 50 years of existence. India has been among the largest contributors to UNDP amongst developing countries.  

 

7. This year we have established an India-UN development Partnership Fund in association with the UN Office of South South cooperation at the UNDP. We would like to avail the opportunity to renew India's commitment to work closely with UNDP. 

 

8.  In conclusion, we would like to reiterate that while a more comprehensive approach is useful, substantially increasing the non-earmarked funding for development purposes remains of critical importance.  The UNDP must continue to build on and leverage its core competences which is to extend development assistance where needed to help achieve SDGs.    

 

I thank you Mr. President.