Mr. President,

At the outset, may I congratulate you on your election as President of the Executive Board of UN-Women. I believe that, under your leadership, the Executive Board will be able to continue its effective and fruitful work.

The Chinese delegation has taken note of the statement by Ms. Michelle Bachelet, Under-Secretary General and Executive Director of UN-Women, on UN-Women’s report on operational activities. We thank its secretariat for the preparations made for this session.

Mr. President,

2011 witnessed the setting of rules and formulations for UN-Women. Over the past year, UN-Women has, under the relevant mandate of General Assembly, carried out its operational activities and enhanced coordination within the United Nations system, with positive results. The Chinese Delegation would like to express its appreciation in this regard.

Mr. President,

Having carefully studied UN-Women’s report on operational activities, China is ready to share its views as follows:

First, operational activities should be carried out in further integration with the inter-governmental process. The report stresses that UN-Women is operating in coherence with the UN development system. Under the relevant UN resolution, UN-Women is a hybird of inter-governmental process and operational activities, and cannot be positioned as a mere development agency. Last year UN-Women has achieved positive results in strengthening its coordination with other development agencies though the inter-governmental process aspect needs to be further bolstered. China believes that UN-Women should prioritize the enhancement of its coordination and interaction with the Commission on the Status of Women and, in operational activities, follow the principle of “country ownership”, increase consultation and communication with the recipient states, and avoid coupling development aid with gender or human rights indicators.

Second, UN-Women should play a better role in promoting the development of women. The report introduces the work carried out by UN-Women in strengthening policy coordination, stopping violence and abuses, increasing women’s empowerment and promoting South-South cooperation. While appreciating all this, China is of the view that UN-Women has yet to increase enough attention to development issues and that its work in poverty alleviation, employment, education and health, among others, has to be further improved. As the improvement of economic conditions provides the material basis for the attainment of gender equality, poverty eradication represents the primary task for women in developing countries. For the next step, UN-Women should devote more resources to advancing the development of women. In particular, it should pay attention to their aspirations for development.

Third, in expanding its field operations, it is imperative to ensure transparency of financial and human resources. The report says that in the next two years, UN-Women will increase 102 field officers and bring the number of country offices to 55. UN-Women’s active effort at integrating human resources and expanding its field presence has helped lay the foundation of its operational activities, a move that China welcomes. We also believe that, in carrying out its field operations, UN-Women should strictly follow its mandate and systematically report to the Executive Board on the progress in such activities. In strengthening and adjusting its field staff, in particular, it should uphold the principles of fairness, openness and equitable geographical distribution by taking effective measures to address the under-representation of developing countries.

Mr. President,

China has always attached great importance to the role of UN-Women, actively supported its work in all areas,and participated in depth in the work of the Commission on the Status of Women and the Executive Board of UN-Women in a constructive manner. China is ready to work, on the basis of mutual respect, consultation on an equal footing, mutual benefit and win-win results, to maintain its sound relations with UN-Women and other board members, engage in constructive dialogue and cooperation in a concerted effort to promote the robust development of the global cause for women.

Thank you, Mr. President.