New Zealand's Explanation of Vote at the 31 March adoption of the resolution “Mandate Creation, Implementation and Review for an Effective and Efficient United Nations”

31 March adoption of the resolution "Mandate Creation, Implementation and Review for an Effective and Efficient United Nations"

President, thank you for the trust you and your predecessor placed in Ambassador Wallace and I to co-chair the mandates process.

Secretary-General, thank you for your leadership of the UN80 Initiative and the secretariat support you provided us as co-chairs.

To the Jamaican and New Zealand teams, we couldn't be prouder of you.

When we took on this task, we understood that the UN was facing unprecedented challenges.

We understood that the mandates process was not only about the UN's efficiency and effectiveness, but about showing our political leaders and citizens, and ourselves, that the UN has the ability to transform to meet contemporary challenges.

Today's adoption represents an important step forward in this regard. It reflects six months of dedicated work on the part of Working Group members who contributed constructively and thoughtfully to this process.

As highlighted by Ambassador Wallace in his remarks, so many of you provided invaluable informal support to us as co-chairs throughout the process. We are truly grateful.

Clearly, our work is not done. Adoption of this resolution will mean nothing if we don't do what we have undertaken to do.

This resolution must not sit around gathering dust. It must be a trigger for meaningful and sustained change.

Change on the part of Member States. Change on the part of UN secretariats.

I call on all of you - in your capacity as chairs of committees, co-facilitators of processes, presidents of boards, organizers of groups of friends, co-sponsors of initiatives, and managers of your missions, to join the constellation of leaders required to push back against the gravitational pull towards the status quo.

In the weeks ahead your commitment to transformation will be tested.

• Will you engage your experts to discuss biennializing your priority annual resolution to allow more focus on implementation? Or will you permit them to again hunker down in the negotiating trenches for little gain?
• Will you commit to improving coordination with your capitals and missions in other UN duty stations to challenge whether an issue really needs to come to New York?
• Will you demand from the Secretariat what Member States really need to succeed - so we read the reports we commission, attend the high-level meetings we request, and have the tools to participate in assessments of the mandates we create?

The resolution is not perfect. We know this. But it is a manifestation of your collective priorities and accommodations of your concerns and sensitivities.

Notwithstanding its imperfections, if we abide by its principles, implement its agreed actions, and complete the AHWG's tasks in the year ahead, there is no doubt that we will have brought ourselves closer to the UN we want and need.

A UN more capable of advancing shared goals for the people we serve. Across the three pillars of our work. On the ground. Everywhere. Everyday.

Thank you.

Share:

• Share on Facebook
• Share on Twitter
• Share on LinkedIn
• with Weibo