17 April, 2014 (Suva, Fiji) – A delegation of the Executive Board and governing body of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) will begin a one-week tour of Fiji and Samoa starting on Tuesday 22 April.
The purpose of the Executive Board visit is to enhance the Board members understanding of the extent and ways in which the United Nations organizations, and in particular UNDP and UNFPA, position their engagement with Pacific Island Countries and Territories. The visit is timely given the upcoming Third International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS) scheduled to be held in Apia, Samoa from 1-4 September 2014.
Fiji was appointed to the three-year chairmanship of the Executive Board in January (2014). The Executive Board members will meet government officials and development partners during the tour; the tour will include site visits of various UNDP and UNFPA projects in Fiji and Samoa.
The Executive Board of UNDP, UNFPA and UNOPS, comprised of 36 members, was created by General Assembly resolution 48/162 of 20 December 1993. The Executive Board superseded the 48-member Governing Council on 1 January 1994. The Executive Board is responsible for providing inter-governmental support to and supervision of the activities of UNDP, UNFPA and UNOPS in accordance with the overall policy guidance of the General Assembly and Economic and Social Council, and the responsibilities set out in the United Nations Charter. It must also be responsive to the needs of programme countries. The Board is under the authority of the Economic and Social Council.
The Economic and Social Council elects members of the Executive Board in May each year. Members are elected for three-year terms, with the exception of the Western European and other States group, which has determined its own internal rotation policy. The following geographic breakdown of membership was legislated by General Assembly resolution 48/162: eight from African States, seven from Asian and Pacific States, four from Eastern European States; five from Latin America and the Caribbean States; and 12 from Western European and other States.
PRESS RELEASE