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16. mars 2009 Utanríkisráðuneytið

Tækifæri til endurbóta á skipan jafnréttismála

Á óformlegum fundi allsherjarþings Sameinuðu þjóðanna sl. föstudag flutti Gunnar Pálsson, fastafulltrúi Íslands, ræðu fyrir hönd Norðurlandanna um skipulagsendurbætur í starfi SÞ með áherslu á skipan jafnréttismála. Þetta var fyrsti fundurinn undir stjórn nýrra formanna í endurskipulagsstarfinu.

Ræða fastafulltrúans fylgir hér á eftir (á ensku).

 ______________

United Nations System-wide Coherence

Informal Consultations in the General Assembly

 

Statement by

H.E. Dr. Gunnar Pálsson

Permanent Representative of Iceland to the United Nations

On behalf of the Nordic countries

13 March 2009

 

Mr. Secretary-General, distinguished Co-Chairs,

 

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the five Nordic countries: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.

Like previous speakers, let me begin by congratulating you, the co-chairs, on your appointment to steer the System-wide Coherence informal consultations during the 63rd General Assembly. We are convinced that this important process will benefit greatly from your skilful guidance.

Allow me also to thank the Ambassadors of Tanzania, Mr. Augustine P. Mahiga, and Ireland, Mr. Paul Kavanagh, for their extremely valuable work as the co-chairs during the 62nd session. During their able stewardship the General Assembly reached milestone resolution 62/277, the basis for our challenging work over the months ahead. We look forward to receiving the reports on Governance, Financing and Gender and assure you, co-chairs, of our full support of a process leading to substantive action during the present session, as called for in the resolution.

 At the beginning of our meeting today we have heard a most important statement by the Secretary General on the subject of our deliberations. Let me say that the Nordic countries very much share the perspective laid out by the Secretary-General in his statement, including his observation that the UN system suffers from internal contradictions and challenges that hamper the organization in its efforts to fulfill the expectations of member states.

Distinguished co-chairs,

While fully committed to making progress in the important areas of governance and financing, the Nordic countries would like to take this opportunity to draw special attention to the considerable advancements already made in our consultations on the UN gender architecture.

Last year marked a defining moment, when the General Assembly considered substantive proposals on how to address the gaps and challenges that have held up progress and rendered the system less capable in advancing gender equality and women's empowerment. Based on those deliberations, the Nordic countries remain of the view that a composite entity appears to be the most promising option in dealing with the current shortcomings.  We are encouraged that the Sexcretary-General, in his statement today, has endorsed this view.

 Now, it is our strong belief that the time has come to build on our momentum and move towards concrete action during the 63rd session. Therefore, we were gratified to witness the sense of urgency that the President of the General Assembly, Mr. d´Escoto, brought to the issue in his statement on the occasion of International Women’s Day. We fully agree with the President when he states (Quote) “Let us commit to establishing an entity during this session. It should be fully funded; led by an Under Secretary-General; and equipped with a full complement of expert staff and targeted programs. It should be represented in all the most important forums, and should have real operational capacity on the ground” (Unquote). The Nordic countries welcome and appreciate the leadership the President is taking with regard to this important issue.  

Distinguished co-chairs,

We now have an opportunity to bring about a significant improvement in the way our organization works. In the view of the Nordic countries we should seize that opportunity. We look forward to participating with you in a process of vigorous consultation to that end.

Thank you



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