E/2006/34/Rev.1-E/ICEF/2006/5/Rev.1 United Nations Executive Board of the United Nations Children’s Fund Report on the first, second and annual sessions of 2006 Economic and Social Council Official Records, 2006 Supplement No. 14 Economic and Social Council Official Records, 2006 Supplement No. 14 Executive Board of the United Nations Children’s Fund Report on the first, second and annual sessions of 2006 United Nations • New York, 2006 E/2006/34/Rev.1 E/ICEF/2006/5/Rev.1 Note Symbols of United Nations documents are composed of capital letters combined with figures. ISSN 0252-3507 Contents Paragraphs Page Part one First regular session of 2006 1 I. Organization of the session 1 – 7 2 A. Election of officers 1 2 B. Opening statements 2 – 5 2 C. Adoption of the agenda 6 – 7 3 II. Deliberations of the Executive Board 8 – 129 3 A. Annual report of the Executive Director to the Economic and Social Council 8 – 21 3 B. Approval of revised country programme documents 22 – 25 5 C. Biennial support budget for 2006-2007 26 – 38 6 D. Intercountry programmes 39 – 42 8 E. Report on thematic funding in support of the medium-term strategic plan 43 – 44 8 F. UNICEF health and nutrition strategy 45 – 52 9 G. UNICEF humanitarian response to recent crises: oral report 53 – 78 10 H. UNICEF water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) strategy 79 – 89 13 I. UNICEF education strategy: oral report 90 – 103 14 J. Private Sector Division work plan and proposed budget for 2006 104 – 109 16 K. Pledging event 110 – 112 17 L. Other matters 113 – 127 18 M. Closing statements by the Executive Director and the President 128 – 129 20 III. Joint meeting of the Executive Boards of UNICEF, UNDP/UNFPA and WFP 130 – 154 20 A. Capacity-building and capacity development 131 – 136 20 B. Transition from relief to development, focusing on natural disasters 137 – 141 22 C. HIV/AIDS: Follow-up to the recommendations of the Global Task Team 142 – 146 23 D. Simplification and harmonization, with a special focus on the programming process 147 – 154 24 Part two 2006 annual session 27 I. Organization of the session 155 – 160 28 A. Opening of the session 155 – 158 28 B. Adoption of the agenda 159 – 160 28 II. Deliberations of the Executive Board 161 – 277 29 A. Annual report of the Executive Director: progress and achievements against the medium-term strategic plan (2002-2005) 161 – 171 29 B. UNICEF post-crisis transition strategy in support of the MTSP 172 – 183 30 C. Review of the UNICEF cost-recovery policy 184 – 187 32 iii D. Report on options to improve the harmonized country programme approval process 188 – 198 33 E. Report on the implementation of joint programming 199 – 204 35 F. Report on UNICEF engagement in sector-wide approaches 205 – 211 36 G. Ending Child Hunger and Undernutrition Initiative: oral report 212 – 215 37 H. Report on the evaluation function in UNICEF 216 – 222 38 I. Proposals for UNICEF programme cooperation 223 – 260 39 J. UNICEF Maurice Pate Leadership for Children Award 261 – 262 47 K. Violence related to children and adolescents in conflict with the law: oral report 263 – 265 48 L. United Nations Study on Violence against Children: oral report 266 – 269 48 M. Reports of Executive Board field visits 270 – 271 49 N. Address by the Chairperson of the UNICEF Global Staff Association (GSA) 272 50 O. Other matters 273 – 274 50 P. Closing statements by the Executive Director and the President 275 – 277 51 Part three Second regular session of 2006 53 I. Organization of the session 278 – 282 54 A. Opening of the session 278 – 279 54 B. Adoption of the agenda 280 – 281 54 C. Tribute to Mr. William Sergeant, Rotary International 282 54 II. Deliberations of the Executive Board 283 – 374 54 A. Education update 283 – 284 54 B. Proposals for UNICEF programme cooperation 285 – 317 55 C. Regional summaries of mid-term reviews and major evaluations of country programmes 318 – 327 61 D. Financial matters 328 – 340 63 E. Private Sector Division: financial report and statements for the year ended 31 December 2005 341 – 343 65 F. Report on internal audit activities in 2005 344 – 351 66 G. Report on options to improve the harmonized country programme approval process 352 67 H. Ending Child Hunger and Undernutrition Initiative: oral report 353 – 355 67 I. Decisions taken by the Economic and Social Council at its substantive session of 2006 that are of relevance to UNICEF: oral report 356 68 J. Follow-up to the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board: oral report 357 – 358 68 K. Programme of work for Executive Board sessions in 2007 359 68 L. Reports of Executive Board field visits 360 – 369 69 M. Other matters 370 – 372 70 N. Closing statements 373 – 374 71 Annex Decisions adopted by the Executive Board in 2006 73 iv E/2006/34/Rev.1 E/ICEF/2006/5/Rev.1 Part one First regular session of 2006 Held at United Nations headquarters from 16-20 and 23 January 2006 1 E/2006/34/Rev.1 E/ICEF/2006/5/Rev.1 I. Organization of the session A. Election of officers 1. The Executive Board elected as President H.E. Mr. Andrei Dapkiunas (Belarus) and as Vice- Presidents H.E. Mr. Roble Olhaye (Djibouti), H.E. Mr. Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury (Bangladesh), H.E. Mr. Ernesto Araníbar Quiroga (Bolivia)∗ and Mr. Dirk-Jan Nieuwenhuis (Netherlands). B. Opening statements 2. The President said that December 2006 would mark the sixtieth anniversary of UNICEF, although this “sixty-year old guardian of the world’s children [showed] no sign of indecision, tiredness or frailty”. The deletion of the word “emergency” from the Fund’s original name did not affect its ability to respond forcefully to the hardships and suffering of children caused by natural or man-made calamities, or the “social and economic order of things in our world”. He hoped to work with the Board to further refine its good traditions and best practices. 3. The Executive Director said that as it entered its sixtieth anniversary year, UNICEF looked back to a long record of successes for the world’s children, but also must continue to make bold changes to meet its current needs and new realities. She reviewed some of her major activities since the Board’s last meeting, including the “Countdown to 2015” conference, in London, which had taken stock of child survival in the two years since the Lancet’s series on that subject. 4. The message in London was that progress towards increasing child survival around the world had been unacceptable. She had challenged the participants to focus on three broad areas to accelerate progress: integration of service delivery; scaling up of proven successes such as the Accelerated Child Survival and Development programme in West Africa; and renewed commitment to partnerships. But above all, there must be a focus on measurable results. The Millennium Declaration and Development Goals provided a roadmap for achieving meaningful results for children over the next 10 years. 5. The outgoing President, H.E. Mr. Mehdi Danesh-Yazdi (Islamic Republic of Iran), said that the Executive Board had made good progress on many fronts in 2005, especially the adoption of the medium-term strategic plan (MTSP) for 2006-2009. The Board’s attention must now turn to the successful implementation and monitoring of the plan on the ground. The work of the Board and UNICEF must continue to be inspired and improved by the global commitment to meeting the Millennium Development Goals. ∗ Mr. Aranibar Quiroga resigned on 31 January 2006 and was replaced by H.E. Mr. Javier Loayza Barea (Bolivia). 2 E/2006/34/Rev.1 E/ICEF/2006/5/Rev.1 C. Adoption of the agenda 6. The Executive Board adopted the agenda, timetable and organization of work (E/ICEF/20061) for the session. 7. In accordance with rule 50.2 of the rules of procedure, the Secretary of the Executive Board announced that credentials had been submitted by 39 observer delegations, Palestine, 3 United Nations bodies, 4 intergovernmental organizations, the Standing Group of National Committees for UNICEF and one other entity. II. Deliberations of the Executive Board A. Annual report of the Executive Director to the Economic and Social Council 8. The Director of United Nations Affairs and External Relations introduced the annual report to the Economic and Social Council (E/ICEF/2006/3). The Executive Director said that she was personally committed to the goals highlighted in the report and, for example, had encouraged qualified UNICEF staff to take the resident coordinator assessment course and had proposed the creation of a senior-level adviser on United Nations reform within her own office. UNICEF was working with the United Nations Secretariat on reform issues, and in areas where the Secretariat had already acted, such as financial disclosure and protection of whistle-blowers, UNICEF was working to ensure that its procedures were consistent with those of the United Nations. As stated in the report, the work of UNICEF in the coming year demanded a willingness to question previously held assumptions, all with the goal of producing quantifiable results in the best interests of children. 9. In addition, the Board also had before it an information note on activities of the Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) of relevance to UNICEF (E/ICEF/2006/4). During the reporting period, September 2004 through September 2005, there were five such reports, which were available on the JIU website. 10. Overall, delegations found the report to be clear, comprehensive and concise.