Mr. Chairman,

The Chinese delegation welcomes the presentation by USGMlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director of UN Women, and appreciates the work carried out by the Secretariat of UN Women in preparing for this session.

Mr. Chairman,

2013 marks the third year since the inception of UN Women and the last year in the implementation of the Strategic Plan 2011-2013. Over the past three years, UN Women has conducted various activities closely related to its core mandate of promoting gender mainstreaming and empowerment of women within the UN system in an effort to fully implement the Strategic Plan, and has achieved remarkable results in policy making, operational activities and coordination of the work throughout the UN system in the field of gender equality. It is particularly notable since last annual session, UN Women successfully developed its Strategic Plan 2014-2017, convened the 58th session of the Commission on the Status of Women, shifted the focus of its work from improving internal efficiency to reinforcing normative, coordination and operational results and scored a new high in the implementation rate of budgeted activities. China wishes to express its appreciations for these accomplishments.

Mr. Chairman,

Women represent an important force in creating human civilization, and promoting gender equality and safeguarding women’s rights are closely linked to sustainable development. The realization of gender equality and women’s economic empowerment remains an arduous task and UN Women continues to face challenges in this regard. Having studied carefully the 2013 Progress Report of the Implementation of the Strategic Plan 2011-2013, the 2013 Annual Report of the Evaluation Function and the Report of the Internal Audit and InvestigationsActivitiessubmitted by UN Women, the Chinese delegation would like to make the following observations:

First, on the Strategic Plan. China has noted that UN Women has done a lot of work throughout the world and achieved remarkable results in the five priority strategic areas including women’s leadership and political participation, economic empowerment, ending of violence against women, women’s role in peace and security and incorporating gender issues in national planning and budget. The advances in the areas of women’s economic empowerment and ending of violence against women are particularly noteworthy. We hope that UN Women would keep the momentum and make greater input to women’s economic empowerment. Since women’s issues can be fundamentally addressed only through development, UN Women should focus on helping women of developing countries to take part in economic development and poverty eradication. Meanwhile, in providing assistance, country offices of UN Women should frequently consult with the host countries and set priorities in light of their specific national conditions. The year 2015 is both the deadline for the realization of the MDGs and the 20th anniversary of the Fourth World Women’s Conference. As such, it offers a unique opportunity to further forge consensus and plan for the future. China actively supports UN Women in preparing commemorative activities and calls on all parties to make greater efforts to implement the Beijing Declaration and Platform of Action in a comprehensive and balanced manner.China will make its own contribution tocommemoration of the 20th anniversary of the Fourth World Women’s Conference.

Second, on evaluation function and internal audit. China appreciates the establishment of the Independent Evaluation Office by UN Women as a means to strengthen internal management, innovate on working mechanisms and improve efficiency. At the same time, we believe that the principle of “national ownership” must be observed in carrying out evaluation region by region. UN Womenshould respect the national conditions, national laws and cultural traditions of the countries concerned and avoid applying one-size-fits-all standards. In addition, we suggest that UN Women combine internal audit with external audit, increase to an appropriate degree the monitoring and auditing by the UN Board of Auditors and the OIOS with a view to enhancing the transparency and credibility of monitoring. Once problems are identified in the process of evaluation and auditing, relentless efforts must be made to effective rectify the situation.

Third, on finance. 2013 witnessed steady increase of both core and non-core resources of UN Women, with the surplus realized, providing a solid guarantee for the effective implementation of the Strategic Plan. We hope that UN Women will continue to expand financing channels, including the private sector, improve efficiency in fund utilization and reduce the cost of institutional operation. We also call on donors to increase donation to the core resources, and allow UN Women have a greater say when it comes to use of the funds.

The Chinese government highly values the role of UN Women. The one million dollars donation which pledged last year has been completely delivered to UN Women. And we will continue to actively support and participate in its work in various areas. This year, China will continue to donate to UN Women and once decided, the concrete amount will be communicated to UN Women in a timely manner.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.