Thank you Mr. President,

    Please accept our compliments on your appointment as President of the Executive Board. We would also like to compliment other elected bureau members.  

2.    We would like to appreciate UNDP Administrator Helen Clark for her comprehensive statement. 

3.    We associate with the statement delivered by  Ecuador  on behalf of the Group of 77 plus China. 

Mr. President,

4.    The international community has realized the importance of long term sustainable development for a peaceful and prosperous world. The landmark 2030 Agenda guides all our work at national and international levels. UNDP has a major role in facilitating this transformation.  As the lead UN Development Agency, UNDP's development activities around the world and its universal presence has been well recognized.

5.    UNDP's efforts to work  with other United Nations organizations by drawing on each organizations' distinct comparative advantages, in support of the 2030 Agenda, are important. In this context, Goal 17 (that emphasizes  Global Partnership for Sustainable Development) is crucial for the success of our efforts.  

Mr. President,

6.    Around the world, governments are giving priority to mainstreaming the 2030 Agenda into national plans and policies. This is evident from a large number of National Voluntary Reviews. India will also present National Voluntary Review this year.  

7.    UNDP, UNFPA, UNOPS and other agencies from the UN Development System have the  responsibility to  support countries to mainstream the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals into their national planning processes, keeping in mind, the principles of national ownership and the need for programmes to be based on national priorities.

Mr. President, 

8.    On 21 December 2016, the UN General Assembly adopted the resolution on 'Quadrennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations system' by which it called upon the United Nations development system to continue to support developing countries in their efforts to achieve internationally agreed development goals and their development objectives.  Further, it requested the UN development system to address the special challenges facing the most vulnerable countries and the need for special attention to countries in conflict and post-conflict situations, as well as the specific challenges facing the middle-income States. We expect that UNDP's Strategic Plan 2018-21 will fully adapt to the  Quadrennial Comprehensive Policy Review (QCPR) 2017-2020.

Mr. President, 

9.    The continuous decline in contributions to UNDP is worrisome. UNFPA's situation is not any different. Both core and non-core resources fell in 2015. This is clearly contrary to the spirit behind the adoption of 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement less than two years ago. UNDP's efforts to broaden its donor base, creating new thematic funding windows, launching the 100 Partners Campaign, and mobilizing programme country contributions, though may not adequately offset the negative trend, are nonetheless important.  

Mr. President, 

10.     We have entered into the last year of  the implementation of the  Strategic Plan 2014-17. We are happy to note that UNDP is on track towards achieving majority of the targets of the Strategic Plan. 

Mr. President, 

11.    On Evaluation Policy, India has long held that the 'independence' of the Independent Evaluation Office should be maintained beyond doubt. 

12.    In this context, we welcome the latest evaluation  carried out by the Independent Evaluation Office of UNDP in order to assess its national-level contributions to anti-corruption capacity development.  

13.    The Evaluation Office has also assessed UNDP's contribution to disability-inclusive development during the period 2008- 2016. An estimated 15 per cent of the world's population  -some 1 billion people- live with disabilities, but they have been consistently left out of the gains made by global development. This has to be corrected; the Sustainable Development Goals are founded on the principle of 'leave no one behind'.  Last month, the Parliament of India had passed the Rights of Persons with Disability Bill 2016. 

Mr. President, 

14.    We value our long-standing partnership with UNDP in its more than 50 years of existence; during this period, we have been the largest contributor to UNDP amongst developing countries.  We would like to avail the opportunity to renew India's commitment to work closely with UNDP.

I thank you Mr. President. 

*****