1. Art and Diseño

Statement by Grete Faremo
Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director UNOPS,
to UNDP/UNFPA/UNOPS Executive Board First Regular Session
New York – 29th January 2015
Mr. President, Distinguished Members of the Executive Board
I would like to congratulate the President and Vice-Presidents on their
appointments, and welcome all the new members of the Board. Together with my
colleagues, I look forward to working closely with you in 2015.
As you know, this is the second occasion that I have spoken to the Board as
Executive Director of UNOPS.
Since my appointment in August I have come to further appreciate UNOPS
achievements, and to understand how the commitment of the Board underscores
our results in greater depth. UNOPS has strong foundations, stable finances and
is in a healthy position. This is testament to your guidance and support.
2015 is also cause for celebration – we have a birthday. Twenty years ago
UNOPS became an independent, self-financing part of the United Nations.
Over the past twenty years the organization has matured. Key milestones in this
journey include the General Assembly’s adoption of a UNOPS mandate in 20101,
and the Board’s decision on our current strategic plan, which further clarified our
mandated areas of work2.
Today our role is clear. We provide advisory, implementation and transactional
support services in project management, infrastructure and procurement.
We support the development, humanitarian and peacebuilding objectives of our
partners.
1 A/RES/65/176, December 2010
2 Executive Board decision 2013/23
In 2015, Member States will make key decisions that will define the future
development landscape, including on development financing, climate change and
sustainable development goals.
We follow this process closely, and together with partners we are ready to
support Member States to implement the post-2015 agenda.
We contribute to a UN system fit for purpose from a management perspective.
UNOPS complements the mandates of our sister organizations, through best
practices and technical knowledge in our areas of expertise.
We have long-standing and highly valued partnerships across the United Nations
family. During 2015, we look forward to further refining the ways we work
together for mutual benefit to help more people in need
At UNOPS we embrace change, which is often aided by modern technology. We
believe that improving the processes, methodologies and tools at our disposal
offers the potential to focus on what matters to a greater degree – delivering
efficient and effective development solutions on behalf of our partners.
To that end in 2015, we intend to implement our business innovation and
improvement programme, to transform the technology underpinning UNOPS
delivery platforms into a smarter, more agile and better integrated set of
processes.
Distinguished members
As you know, at UNOPS we measure our work against independent external
standards.
We have been recognized for excellence based on independent assessments3,
and our quality management system is certified against ISO4 standards.
3 European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM)
Our project management practices are certified against the four major
international standards5.
Our sustainable procurement practices have been certified by CIPS6. In our
infrastructure practices we have adopted FIDIC7 contract standards, and our
environmental management system is certified against ISO standards.
I am proud to report that since our last meeting in September, UNOPS has added
one of the world’s most respected standards for occupational health and safety to
that list. UNOPS is the first UN organization to be OHSAS8 certified in its
infrastructure practices.
UNOPS adoption of external standards ensures that we continuously enhance
our ability to mitigate operational risks, in the projects we implement on behalf of
our partners. this year we will embark on a programme to further improve and
integrate the management of strategic risks and compliance across UNOPS, in a
comprehensive manner.
The development world is a rapidly changing environment. I am committed to
ensuring that at UNOPS we will always work towards strengthening our capacity
to manage risks, be they operational or strategic.
This is why today I have put forth a proposal to further strengthen the UNOPS
Audit Advisory Committee, and to establish a separate Strategic Advisory Group
of Experts to advise us on industry best practices and standards.
4 The International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
5 Project management practices certified against Prince2™ and the standards of Project Management Institute (PMI); and
registered consultant with PMI and accredited consulting organization by the Association of Project Managers Group
(APMG)
6 The Chartered Institute for Purchasing and Supply (CIPS)
7 The International Association for Consulting Engineers (FIDIC)
8 Internationally applied British standard for Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems (OHSAS)
Your favourable consideration of this proposal would further align UNOPS
governance and accountability with those of sister agencies under the boards
oversight, while preserving the features that respond well to the UNOPS
business model.
On a related note, the establishment of the Policy Advisory Committee in 2008,
predates the decisions on UNOPS mandate which define our role today.
In the coming months I expect to attend my first Policy Advisory Committee
meeting, and I will be seeking the advice of its members on how this mechanism
of the Secretary-General can best respond to our evolving needs.
Distinguished members,
Through our work supporting the UN family, governments and other partners, we
are strengthening our capacity to support global disaster risk reduction and
resilience efforts. Solid infrastructure plays a fundamental role in mitigating risks
of disasters, and enhancing the resilience of communities.
At UNOPS, we have been developing infrastructure in a variety of forms, globally,
for 20 years. In support of system-wide efforts and global goals, we are bringing
this experience to the table.
Our new disaster risk reduction strategy sets out to ensure that the consideration
of risks – threats as well as opportunities – is further integrated across our
organizational culture and activities.
In the run up to the World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Sendai next
month, our new Disaster Risk Reduction for Resilience programme has been
widely acknowledged by UN agencies as a best practice example of innovative
approaches in this area.
As I said in my speech to the Board in September of last year, the need for us to
adopt new models of cooperation, to work together across the UN as well as the
public and private sector to a greater extent, has never been so pressing.
Partner satisfaction is a key indicator of UNOPS success. We measure it every
year to ensure that what we do remains relevant, addresses the priorities of our
partners and is implemented to the best of our ability.
We are currently in the process of analyzing the feedback from hundreds of
partners across hundreds of projects, which UNOPS supports around the world
each year.
High-level results of this exercise are encouraging. Overall satisfaction levels
with UNOPS work remain high, and there has been a significant increase in the
number of partners actively recommending UNOPS to others.
It is essential that UNOPS partners are satisfied with our work, but most
importantly that we learn from our partner’s feedback and that we continue to
focus on improving our operations and ability to deliver.
In alignment with the Secretary-General’s call for a data revolution9, our work in
partnership with UNDP on the International Aid Transparency Initiative is an
example of how data-driven solutions can drive innovation, and can reinforce a
culture of accountability and transparency.
I look forward to exploring this and other opportunities for innovation, with you
further in our upcoming joint meeting on Monday.
At UNOPS we have also been exploring the potential to understand the
contributions we make to the sustainable results of our partners, to a greater
degree.
9 A World That Counts: Mobilising The Data Revolution for Sustainable Development. The UN Secretary General's
Independent Expert Advisory Group on a Data Revolution for Sustainable Development
In combination with this work, and alongside our UN, governmental, and private
sector experience, we believe we can play a vital role. We can act as a link,
connecting best practices across a wide range of interests and objectives, in
support of the development objectives of our partners.
Within this context, UNOPS encourages private investors to finance sustainable
economic development. In a gradually changing donor environment investments
that prioritize social or environmental development could become important
contributions to enhancing a sustainable world.
Distinguished members,
I would like to finish on a positive note.
Today, through the advancement of sustainable development goals, there is a
real chance to address some of the major challenges of the world, to underscore
the fundamental concept of working towards a fair and just society.
I look forward to presenting our 2014 Annual Report in June, and to building on
the foundations that, with the Board’s active support, have been laid over recent
years.
Over the coming years and decades, I am convinced UNOPS can continue to
make a difference, supporting the peacebuilding, humanitarian and development
activities of our partners, and delivering results that matter.
Thank you.
ENDS