Mr. President,

Guyana is delighted to see you preside this undoubtedly seminal session of the Executive Board and commends your leadership and that of the Bureau in facilitating appropriate arrangements for our deliberations.

The importance of advancing the work of the UNDP, and the UN development system as a whole, has been brought into sharp focus in light of a challenging global environment, conditioned by the need for transformational changes to advance the SDGs, the COVID-19 pandemic, unrelenting climate change challenge and inequalities at all levels.

For this reason, we are heartened by the presentation of the distinguished UNDP Administrator, Mr. Achim Steiner, on the Midterm Review and the Annual Report. The Report illustrates the severity and significance of the challenges we face. We welcome the advances made with respect to UNDP performance on the core strategic objectives. Someone has well said that a crisis is an opportunity too valuable to squander. Guyana therefore encourages urgent efforts to give effect to a NOW Generation UNDP to deliver in all areas in keeping with high global expectations.

Excellency,

Guyana’s partnership with UNDP at the national level gives confidence that we can and will rise together to the challenge of our times. As a reliable development partner, UNDP has and continues to accompany the development process in Guyana at a juncture in which we are engaged in a number of significant national undertakings designed to assure our progress as a modern, cohesive and prosperous state, including in relation to such aspects as the current electoral process, outstanding support for Guyana’s chairmanship of the G-77 and China this year, the Spotlight Initiative, updating our NDC under the Paris Agreement, the GSDS process, Indigenous Land Titling, ICT Hubs, Building Resilience and Disaster Risk capacity, and of course responding to the COVID – 19 Pandemic. The real challenges opportunities before invest our partnership with UNDP considerable significance and we trust the lessons from our experience will contribute to improving the overall flexibility and effectiveness of UNDP work.

Excellency,

We again commend you and Administrator Steiner and look forward to outcomes from this session that will advance our shared immediate and long term development objectives. 

I thank you.