UN WOMEN EXECUTIVE BOARD NATIONAL STATEMETNT
12 February 2024
Statement by H.E. Mr James Larsen, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Australia to the United Nations
Thank you President, and congratulations on assuming the presidency, and thank you particularly to Executive Director Bahous for your remarks to us today.
I also extend a warm welcome to UN Women’s two new Deputy Executive Directors and look forward to working with both of you.
President,
Australia believes gender equality is a human right that benefits everyone, delivering safety and opportunity, improved health and wellbeing, increased peace and security, and more prosperous, resilient and equitable communities and countries.
We welcome UN Women’s priorities as outlined today.
We value the vital role of UN Women in protecting against the erosion of women’s and girls’ rights and advancing gender equality in challenging political contexts.
We encourage UN Women to continue to support the UN system to mainstream gender equality and to work with other agencies such as UNFPA, UNICEF and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to ensure a coordinated approach to promoting the rights of women and girls.
In a world that is facing increasingly complex and compounding crises, it is critical to understand and respond to the differentiated impacts on women and girls.
Australia commends UN Women on the launch of the Gender Alert to capture the gendered impacts of the crisis in Gaza.
We note UN Women’s ambition to pivot closer to the field, to better respond to target populations, and we support efforts to achieve the best allocation of resources and best value for money. We look forward to continued transparency and engagement with the Executive Board on this initiative.
President,
We are proud of our strong partnership with UN Women.
We underscore the importance of sustained investment and focus by UN-Women in the Indo Pacific – a region where women and girls are disproportionately impacted by crises, including conflict and climate change.
UN Women’s effectiveness is shaped by its people and delayed recruitment processes impact on its capacity to deliver, and we would encourage UN Women to enable and support more effective and efficient recruitment processes, where these are possible.
We would be interested in your plans for engagement at CSW this year, and we also share an interest in your perspectives on how UN Women may best contribute to work as we prepare for the Summit of the Future.
Finally, I reiterate Australia’s strong support for UN Women’s critical work, including the work of our national committee, and thank you for your vital contribution.
Thank you.