[as delivered]Professor Manukid Parnichkun, Vice President for Academic Research at the Asia Institute of Technology,Professor Abhishek Datta, Acting Dean, Faculty of Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources at the Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Mr. Jo Kyu Song, Director, Department of Science and Technology, Central Bureau of Statistics of the DPRK and Head of Delegation,Mr. So Kyong Won, Director, Department of External Affairs, Central Bureau of Statistics of the DPRK, and all other members of the CBS DPRK delegation,Mr. Sheikh Ahaduzzaman, Deputy Representative of the FAO in the DPRK,Colleagues and friends,Good morning.I am delighted to join you this morning for the opening session of this study visit and training program.Thank you, first of all, to our hosts, the Asia Institute of Technology, represented here by Professor Parnichkun, and the FAO, especially my friend and colleague Sheikh Ahaduzzaman.I also wish to thank our guests, Mr. Jo Kyu Song and his colleagues from the Central Bureau of Statistics of the DPRK, to whom goes my warm welcome to Bangkok. I am especially happy to have you here in person, for the first time after more than 5 years.As you know, the United Nations system works in over 160 countries around the world, by deploying its agencies at the invitation of the host governments, with the mandate to support country’s national priorities.In the case of the DPRK, 13 UN agencies have co-signed a Strategic Framework of Cooperation with the DPRK government, and, of these, six UN agencies are meant to be resident in Pyongyang. However, UN international staff left DPRK at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and has not been able to return since. These circumstances make today’s in-person meeting all the more significant. As the UN Resident Coordinator in the DPRK, the message I bring you is the same I always bring to the representatives of any member state of the United Nations: direct dialogue is critical to belonging in the international community, to building trust and managing differences, especially at this juncture of the geopolitical landscape.For us of the United Nations Country Team in the DPRK, it is especially important to meet colleagues from the Central Bureau of Statistics. The UN work in country is meant to support governments’ efforts to realize the Sustainable Development Goals, in line with all international norms and standards. Our work needs data. Since the SDGs were first discussed, mobilising a “data revolution” has underpinned international efforts to achieve them. And indeed Data Management is one of the key priorities of the Strategic Framework for Cooperation agreed between the UN and the DPK. Because data are the lifeblood of decision-making and accountability. Without high-quality data providing the right information on the right things at the right time; designing, monitoring and evaluating effective policies becomes impossible.Nowhere is this more relevant to the DPRK and its people than in the agricultural sector, where the introduction of international standards to statistical methodologies, including on openness and transparency, will lead to the production of more efficient and accurate data for the successful implementation of the country’s agricultural policies. I commend the Central Bureau of Statistics for seizing the opportunity of this training for statistics capacity building in agriculture, fishing and forestry, which marks the resumption of the collaboration between the United Nations and the Central Bureau of Statistics after five years. May it also mark the beginning of a renewed and reinvigorated overall partnership between the UN and DPRK, one based on trust and mutual respect, in line with international norms and standards, and in pursuit of shared objectives.My warmest wishes for a successful program. **END**

Excellencies,Distinguished guests,Sisters, women champions, young changemakers, and leaders,It is an honour to speak to you today and I’m glad to be back in Australia.My thanks to Aunty Di Kerr for the “Welcome to Country”, and to the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation, on whose land we gather.I want to begin by paying my respects to Elders past and present, and to the First Nations, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, Māori and Pacific women in this room.Ngoon godjin.Friends,We are gathered today - for the first time in the history of this Conference – in Oceania.And let me say this: it is long overdue.Securing the rights of women and girls is the world’s unfinished business, if anything, it is moving backward with new technologies amplifying misogyny and online violence.  Women’s rights are human rights: non-negotiable, universal and essential for peace and prosperity.Yet three decades after Beijing, thirty-one years after Cairo, we are still arguing with men over whether a woman’s body belongs to her.That is the work we inherited, and that is the work that has brought more than five thousand of you to Naarm.We are all here – civil society, governments, academia, grassroots organisations, women with disabilities, young people, members of the LGBTQI+ community - to move the women’s rights agenda forward.This gathering……is the momentum and the muscle we need to keep the fight for women’s rights going….…It is the chance to hear your voices and amplify them….…It is the reminder that we have to fight to keep the ground we have won, and that there is a great deal more of it still to take, by using the tools and the mechanisms we have.Because right now the world is in a mess more than a decade in the making, from Covid19, to conflicts and countless climate disasters.And as ever, the weight of that mess lands on our shoulders.The resources to respond to the challenge are shrinking, not growing.The decade-long trend where development assistance for gender equality was on an upward trajectory, is coming to an end.I was in Nigeria recently, and I went to see what the new “scramble for Africa” looks like on the ground, and it looks like artisanal mining.Women and children with shovels, hauling loads that should not be on any human back.Whole communities damaged and suffering so that their own minerals are extracted for foreign use.And not only are they eking out a living, they are risking their lives by doing this against a backdrop of conflict and insecurity.And that, I am afraid, is the pattern. Wherever the extraction is hungriest, wherever the conflict is sharpest, wherever the climate is cruelest, you will find women and girls carrying the weight of it.Do I accept what I saw in Nigeria?No, of course I don’t.No more than I accept what is being done to women and girls elsewhere in the world, including in the Pacific.That is why we stand here.To bring visibility to it.To amplify the voices that the world is tuning out.And to call it out.Nowhere is that clearer than here in the Pacific.  You are suffering from multiple shocks caused by the climate crisis, and you are on the front line of the response. But you are not victims of climate change, but leading the solutions that the world urgently needs, so we need to listen to the Pacific.This is the same fight: women and girls carrying the weight of a crisis they did not create.And so we have to keep going.Those pushing back against the rights of women, girls, and gender diversity are organised, they are well resourced, and they are playing the long game.We will not cede this space, not an inch of it.We need to take back ground from the people trying to drag it away.You, the governments, have to back your commitments and then deliver on those promises with legislation.You, civil society, have to push harder on holding power to account.We, the United Nations will do what only the United Nations can do, which is to convene the world, defend the values and principles of the Charter, and continue to fight for human dignity, justice, and solidarity.And together, all of us must act on those values and principles in every corner of the earth where they are being tested.In a moment where multilateralism is under attack and the crises keep on coming, the United Nations is responding.The Secretary-General's UN80 reform is about making the United Nations fit for the world we are in today.We are proposing to bring UN Women and UNFPA together into a single entity delivering for women, girls, and youth.On the ground, it could mean a presence in over one hundred and thirty countries.It could mean a combined operational budget of around two point two billion US dollars.And for civil society, it would mean a single entry point, with greater access and amplification of your message for your advocacy and rights work.The savings could be redirected back into programming.The bottom line is that it means a footprint that is broader, stronger and more impactful than we have had before.That said, a bigger footprint on its own will not be enough.We need to go further, faster, together.So, you will see us push to strengthen our partnerships with civil society.Gentlemen and ladies,We are nowhere near done and the United Nations cannot do this without you.We will not achieve the Sustainable Development Goals without the full, equal and meaningful participation of women and girls.I will take what I hear in this room and bring it back to New York, and I will amplify your voices in the conversations happening there.So, I urge you to keep the faith, keep showing up.Change called us here, and now the rest is in our hands.Thank you.*****[source]

Chancellor Merz, Excellencies,The Petersberg Climate Dialogue has long helped bridge divides, build trust, and drive ambition.That matters more than ever.The conflict in the Middle East has triggered the most severe energy crisis in a generation.And it makes one fact crystal clear: fossil fuels are not just wrecking our planet – they are holding economies hostage. There is another way.Last year, clean energy investment surged to 2.2 trillion dollars worldwide – double fossil fuel investment.Homegrown renewables are the cheapest, fastest and most reliable source of new power.They deliver what fossil fuels never can: real and lasting energy security.But that requires action on three fronts.First, we must respond to the energy crisis without deepening the climate crisis.The world has just endured the hottest 11 years on record – and every major climate indicator is burning red. Short-term measures must not lock in long-term fossil fuel dependence and expansion.Transition roadmaps can help countries manage urgent choices while advancing a just transition to a clean and secure energy future.Second, we must build the infrastructure that can deliver this transition.That means expanding grids, storage, and modern power systems;To carry clean power to every home.Third, it is time to mobilize finance at scale.In many developing countries, clean energy finance costs are two to three times higher than in advanced economies.Without support, the transition will be slower, less fair, and less secure.Yet many developed countries are backing away from climate and development finance commitments.We need climate justice. That means keeping climate finance promises, with no backsliding.Replenishing multilateral climate funds.Mobilizing 1.3 trillion US dollars a year by 2035 for developing countries.And significantly scaling up adaptation finance.This is a matter of survival.The communities on the frontlines did least to create this crisis – yet they are paying the highest price.Adaptation saves lives, protects livelihoods, and strengthens economies.And every dollar invested today saves many times more in avoided losses tomorrow.Excellencies,We can repeat the failures of the past – or we can unleash the renewables revolution.Let’s make the right choice.For climate stability.For energy security.For a liveable future.Thank you.*****Link to Video.[source]

Excellencies,Today we gather for an update on our shared efforts to strengthen this system. But first, I want to thank you for your partnership in this journey over the last 9 years.Back in 2017, you told us to do the impossible – to advance structural changes.You asked us to create a dedicated, independent, impartial and empowered coordination function – reforming the Resident Coordinator system for greater efficiency and impact.8 years on, the Resident Coordinator system is the core of  United Nations country team’s – coordinating and convening in over 160 countries and territories.Along the way, Member States guided critical functions to maintain the system’s independence and ensure alignment with the priorities of host countries.Together, we delivered.Resident Coordinators were given enhanced authority, direct reporting to the Secretary-General, and responsibility for leading implementation of the Cooperation Framework ensuring Member State priorities remain central to our work.These efforts established a fully dedicated development coordination function – designed to support the integrated, cross-sectoral approach required to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals. It also enabled the RC to convene across the UN system and its partners in support of the sustainable development agenda.The delinking of this function from UNDP has allowed the agency to fully focus on its mandate and key role as the lead UN field agency for sustainable development.The outcome is clear. Surveys, independent evaluations and system-wide reviews consistently show that the strengthened Resident Coordinator system has improved coordination, mobilized collective action and strengthened support to countries. It has also convened across sectors and constituencies – key to delivery of the SDGs, including the private sector.A recent synthesis by our System-Wide Evaluation Office of 33 evaluations from 2021 to 2024 – found that Resident Coordinators have enabled integrated policy coordination, strengthened joint programming and facilitated engagement by smaller entities and those without a country presence.The reformed system has quickly proven its value in times of crisis. During COVID-19, the global impacts of the war in Ukraine, and now the repercussions of the Iran conflict, Resident Coordinators have enabled rapid, coordinated responses. Across regions, they are activating contingency measures, providing real-time analysis and working with the UN system navigate cascading impacts on energy, trade and development programming.Excellencies,Against this backdrop and through your engagement, we have worked to further recalibrate the Resident Coordinator system.We have taken stock of the General Assembly’s guidance in resolution 79/258, examined the resource requirements and workload needs of the offices, and reviewed the one-size-fits-all approach to ensure that the teams are tailored to the context and needs of host countries.We have also followed through on the resolution’s requests, including for updated performance frameworks for the Resident Coordinator system and reviewed the funding stream. Our team will give detailed briefs on these in subsequent engagements. These efforts build on eight years of reform and underpin the Secretary-General’s UN80 initiative. Many of the changes envisioned under UN80 rely on the Resident Coordinator system to be strengthened at country level.Since delinking from UNDP, Resident Coordinators are accountable to all Member States, with full transparency through ECOSOC, ACABQ and the Fifth Committee. We have reported annually through the QCPR on progress and results.These results are tangible.Eighty-nine per cent of host countries report that Resident Coordinators now focus more on common results — a 29 per cent jump since 2019. This means more resources are being mobilized collectively, rather than through fragmented, agency-specific initiatives, to support nationally defined SDG priorities. Through the Joint SDG Fund, the UN system – under the leadership RCs - unlocked over $8 billion in additional resources for the SDGs – with a leverage rate of 1:20.Eighty-four per cent of host countries say the Resident Coordinator is now a strengthened gateway point to the United Nations — rising to 95 per cent in multi-hatted settings. These gains show that governments increasingly rely on Resident Coordinators to navigate the UN system, with lower transaction costs and closer alignment between UN support to national and regional priorities.Excellencies,While the system is delivering, the global context has evolved. Countries face mounting climate pressures, soaring debt, rising humanitarian and development needs, and constrained fiscal and operational space — even as the timeline to 2030 narrows. Sustainable development remains our most effective tool for prevention, and demand for coordinated UN support continues to grow.Resident Coordinators today play a broad and demanding leadership role. They:Work with Governments to implement the 2030 Agenda.Lead Country Team implementation of integrated responses to national priorities.Oversee the development and implementation of Cooperation Frameworks – providing continuous support across the lifecycle – and ensuring alignment of agency specific plans.Broker transformative partnerships and financing with the international footprint in country, including IFIs and the private sector.Support governance and management of pooled funds.And drive system-wide operational efficiencies and transformation.Demand is also growing in areas such as integrated national financing frameworks, pooled funding mechanisms, and partnerships with international financial institutions.Resident Coordinators are increasingly convening governments, international financial institutions, the private sector and civil society to support coordinated responses and sustainable financing pathways.Despite growing demands, the fiscal context of the Resident Coordinator system has not improved. There continues to be a high degree of variability in the levy – $36 million projected for 2025 but not all of it has been received. While agencies are indicating they may not be able to pay their cost-sharing commitments.Voluntary contributions have also continued to fall short – by $61 million in 2025 – but the assessed contributions have provided an essential lifeline. I want to acknowledge the Member States that have continually supported the RC system.The Secretary-General has been clear from the outset in 2018 that this system needs predictable funding to deliver. In its absence, operations will be perpetually strained and impact will be reduced or delayed – undermining the ability to deliver on Member State and UN country team’s expectations.Resident Coordinator Offices remain stretched between growing expectations in country and constrained, unpredictable resources.Recruitments have been paused, surge assignments have been shortened when countries need them most, and intake into the RC recruitment pool was paused for 2024 as a result.Excellencies,It is against this background and the success achieved that we have undertaken the recalibration exercise. The objective is simple: to ensure the system is configured to enable Resident Coordinators to deliver the leadership role envisioned by Member States.Several takeaways emerged from these consultations.First, there is strong agreement that the Resident Coordinator system is delivering and remains essential for delivering on the countries’ priorities for SDG implementation.Resident Coordinators must be enabled to focus on strategic leadership and policy coherence.Second, new capacities must be strengthened – including data, digital, innovation, behavioural insights and foresight.Third, economic expertise, partnerships, planning, communications and reporting are critical — along with flexibility to tailor capacities to country context.Fourth, the recalibration must position Resident Coordinators to deliver on the UN80 agenda — including better configured country teams, stronger regional support, expanded expertise-on-demand and mergers that deepen our response to women, girls and youth, and coherence SDG policy and project delivery.  Fifth, accountability to Member States must continue to be strengthened.Finally, system-wide efficiencies remain central — including UNINFO, common back offices and common premises.Excellencies,These findings call for a shift in capacities within Resident Coordinator Offices and stronger alignment with DCO headquarters support. In complex settings and multi-country offices, this will mean additional coordination and convening capacity. This will be complemented by enhanced regional surge support available for countries as needed.At headquarters, we are reorganizing to better align support with country needs. Two divisions will be established — one focused on partnerships, pooled funds and regional engagement, and another on SDG coordination, policy and programme support. Efficiencies will also be strengthened and linked directly to the ASG’s leadership – enabling delivery across the over 160 countries and territories.We are now seeking your guidance on several key questions that have arisen during our consultations:How have you seen demands on the Resident Coordinator system evolve?Where has the system delivered, and where can it improve?What skills and expertise should be strengthened?What are your expectations for the Resident Coordinators’ role in coordinating UN country teams?And how should Resident Coordinators facilitate access to expertise, particularly as some entities scale back their presence?We will follow today’s discussion with technical-level engagements.I welcome your frank feedback and continued guidance to ensure the Resident Coordinator system delivers for you — the countries we serve.Thank you.[source]