EU Statement on Programme and Budgets 2024-2025 at the 39th session of the Programme and Budget Committee (PBC) of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), 15-17 May 2023
Mr. Chair,
I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States. The following countries align with this statement: Türkiye§, North Macedonia*, Montenegro*, Serbia*, Albania*, Ukraine*, Republic of Moldova*, Bosnia and Herzegovina*, Norway+ and Armenia.
We thank the Director General for the proposed Draft Programme and Budgets of UNIDO for 2024-2025 (IDB.51/6–PBC.39/6) and for the additional information provided by the Secretariat over the past months.
We also thank the Co-Chairs of the Informal Working Group on Programme and Budget Committee-related issues (IWG) - Mr. Henryk Czubek from Poland and Mr. Gyanveer Singh from India – for the work that has been carried out since March and for their report to this PBC. The report was discussed under item 6 of the agenda and we avail ourselves of the opportunity to welcome it in this statement as well.
We would like to provide the following comments:
On the draft programme, we support the thematic priorities of Director General Gerd Müller as outlined in his Annual Report for 2022, in accordance with the UNIDO Middle Term Programme Framework for 2022-2025: food security and agribusiness; fair global supply chains; energy efficiency and improved access to renewable energy to reduce industrial greenhouse gas emissions. These are all important for the EU and we seek ways to further support UNIDO’s related activities.
We welcome the continued strengthening of results-based management. We encourage the Secretariat to invest more efforts in this regard in view of the Oversight Advisory Committee’s recommendations that “further strengthening of the organisation’s result-based management culture is necessary, particularly in the present period when UNIDO is operationalizing its budget and programme framework” (Document PBC.38/5 of 2022).
We further welcome the emphasis placed on the gender mainstreaming which should be part of UNIDO’s every project and programme. A decision to provide sufficient and predictable funding for the activities of the Unit for Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women from UNIDO’s regular budget should be considered as a step in this regard. The current funding structure based on unpredictable annual allocations and voluntary contributions is neither adequate for a core function nor a sustainable approach in the longer term. More also needs to be done to ensure gender parity at the professional level within the organization, including at senior management level.
We commend the effort by the Secretariat in identifying efficiencies as a continuous management process, as requested by the Policy Making Organs. This effort is helping the Organisation in order to fulfil its mandate during a challenging financial situation.
Finally, the EU attaches particular importance to the reform of the UNIDO field offices and considers it an indispensable part of the overall reform of UNIDO. Ensuring equal geographic representation and gender balance throughout the process remains crucial.
Mr. Chair,
We thank the Secretariat for the timely proposal of the draft 2024-2025 budgets which reflects the ambitious agenda of the Director General. His efforts have our full support. At the same time, we recognise the current financial constraints in many UNIDO Member States as a result of the global pandemic and other crises. We take note of the revised proposal presented today and we believe it will move us closer to consensus on a budget that will allow UNIDO to fulfil its mandate while respecting Member States’ financial constraints.
The current biennium is a period of historically high inflation. UNIDO, as any other Organisation, faces a sharp increase in operational costs which has a significant impact on its budget. We recognise that unlike other Vienna based organisations, the management of UNIDO did not re-open the current budget to seek for a correction of the price adjustment. Thus, we deem appropriate that this could be taken into consideration during the current discussion.
In order to realise the continuous efficiencies together with enhanced delivery of services requested by Member States, we recognise that it is important for the Secretariat to have the necessary flexibility in budget implementation - both vertically and horizontally. This is a well-established practice in the UN system, including for the Vienna based organisations, and UNIDO should not be an exception.
Finally, we recall the need to address the increasing cost of provision and financial liabilities due to the After Service Health insurance (ASHI), considering the discussions in other Vienna-based organizations that face similar issues. We encourage the Secretariat to make due efforts to implement cost reduction measures while preserving fundamental health coverage. We expect the Secretariat to keep Member States informed.
We support the Director General‘s proposal to discuss with Austria the refurbishment of the Vienna International Centre (VIC) and encourage UNIDO to constructively engage in the dialogue between the host country and the VIC based international organisations on the basis of the host country agreement.
With these comments, the EU and its Member States take note of the document IDB.51/6–PBC.39/6. We look forward to a constructive discussion and we believe that with the necessary flexibility from all sides, a decision on the 2024-2024 budget could reached during this PBC session.
I thank you for your attention.
§ Candidate Country
* Candidate Countries North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.