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Statement By Mr. M .Wali Naeemi Minister Counsellor and Reporter of the 4th Committee, UNGA-65 At the 4th Committee Meeting on UNRWA

March 24, 2011 By

Mr. Chairman,

Allow me to thank you for organizing this meeting and I also wish to thank the Commissioner-General for his self-explanatory and informative briefing on the situation and activities of the UNRWA.

It is a great honor for me to speak on behalf of my delegation on this very important issue.

My delegation aligns its statement with the statement delivered on behalf of NAM and welcomes with appreciation the report of the Secretary-General on UNRWA, which pointed out very important issues on the financial situation faced by the Agency.

Mr. Chairman,

In November 2010, the Commission-general of UNRWA presented a comprehensive report to the General Assembly, explaining in detail the challenges and constraints that UNRWA is facing at the present time.

Furthermore, he elaborated upon recommendations on necessary steps for the improvement of the Agency’s work at the regional and global-level.

UNRWA has been working for more than 60 years and providing humanitarian assistance and technical support to over 4.7 million Palestinian refugees in the Middle East.

The Agency is running education programs for young Palestinian girls and boys in more than 58 recognized refugee camps; delivering vital medical services throughout the refugee camps; and providing food and immediate assistance, in particular for disabled people, in the refugee camps.

Mr. Chair,

A real improvement in the lives of Palestinian refugees across the region requires a permanent solution with justice and the establishment of two independent states living side by side within the 1967 borders.

The international community’s support to UNRWA is of the utmost importance and must continue until a permanent solution for the long lasting conflict between Palestinians and Israelis is achieved.

In conclusion, while the humanitarian and advocacy character of UNRWA has played a decisive role since its establishment in 1949, it is now more than ever crucial for it to continue its efforts dedicated to the implementation of relief programs and services to all Palestinian refugees.

The continued successful implementation of the Agency’s programs requires the strengthening of its management capacities, an increase in the number of employees, improvement in the quality of work and expansion of the Agency in the areas of education, health, water sanitation, and strengthening the rules and assistance for Palestinians in refugee camps as well as for IDP’s.

In this regard, the grave financial situation of UNRWA, due to 12 % underfunding for the last four biennium and rising costs with refugee numbers approaching 5 million, requires many measures for improving the outlook facing the Agency, including its capacity to utilize voluntary funds more effectively and in a long perspective.

As the Secretary-General already emphasized in his report of 1 February 2011,

“UNRAW needs access to a greater share of predictable, secure funding”.

While the support of traditional donors must be sustained and increased, at the same time the income from non-traditional donors including the public and private sector needs to be enhanced and strengthened.

Hence, the international community and special-financing institutions and other entities must redouble their contribution and assist the agency’s services and programs.

I thank you, Mr. Chairman.

H.E. Zahir Tanin

January 21, 2011 By

Ambassador Taning at the United Nations Security Council Meeting: Open debate on Post-Conflict peacebuilding on January 21, 2011.

Ambassador Taning at the United Nations Security Council Meeting: Open debate on Post-Conflict peacebuilding on January 21, 2011.

International Conference on Population and Development “ICPD at Fifteen”

October 12, 2009 By

Statement of H.E. Zahir Tanin

Permanent Representative of Afghanistan to the United Nations

At the General Assembly plenary debate

On “The ICPD at Fifteen”

Mr. President,

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

At the outset, let me thank you for convening this meeting to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development and the resulting Programme of Action. Afghanistan aligns itself with the statement delivered on behalf of the G77 and China, and thanks UNFPA for the leadership role it has taken in implementing the ICPD since its inception. We hope that all nations will take this opportunity to recognize our substantial progress and take stock of our remaining challenges.

Mr. President,

The International Conference on Population and Development, held 15 years ago in Cairo, was a breakthrough in the way we collectively understood the relationship between people and economic development, and it ushered in a revolution in our attitudes towards reproductive health and human rights. This understanding heavily informed the Millennium Development Goals, whose tenth anniversary we will be celebrating next year.

Mr. President,

Afghanistan remains strongly committed to the ICPD Programme of Action, the Millennium Development Goals, and to other IADGs. Through the framework of the Afghanistan National Development Strategy and other National Strategies, Afghanistan is aiming to systematically rebuild the shattered infrastructure of the country, build a dynamic national economy, and improve the daily lives of Afghans by providing security, access to basic services and healthcare, and through a focus on human rights, particularly the rights of women and girls.  We have made progress in each of these areas, and we are certain that, with the help of the international community, we will eventually be able to guarantee a dignified, healthy life for all Afghans.

In particular, health indicators in Afghanistan have improved since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. The percentage of access to basic health services has increased from 9% in 2001 to 85% in 2008. There has been a threefold increase in use of modern contraceptives in rural Afghanistan, from 5 percent in the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) 2003 to 16 percent in the Afghanistan Health Survey (AHS) conducted in 2006. Trends in antenatal care use in rural Afghanistan show a several-fold increase from 5 percent in the MICS 2003 to 32 percent in the AHS. Use of skilled birth attendants was substantially lower than use of skilled antenatal care, but a threefold increase was observed in rural Afghanistan, from 6 percent in MICS 2003 to 19 percent in AHS 2006. Overall approximately 15 percent of women who had delivered in the last two years had their delivery in an institution.

In addition, over six million children are now in primary and secondary school in Afghanistan, up from one million in 2001. Tens of thousands of students are in higher education, and more institutions to accommodate them are being built every year. Most notably, these students include more than 30% women and girls; something which was unthinkable under the Taliban.

However, Mr. President,

In Afghanistan, a particular challenge remains the high levels of maternal and infant mortality. In addition, illiteracy, lack of roads and transportation, inadequate financing for many of the key programs; inadequately trained health staff at all levels, including a general lack of female health staff, has contributed to impeding access to health services.  Moreover, the deterioration of the security situation in certain parts of Afghanistan, especially in the south and south east, have impacted on the gains made in the past years in the area of health and gender and are impeding the successful achievement of MDGs in Afghanistan. Finally, the lack of comprehensive, up-to-date data is a serious impediment to our efforts in Afghanistan, and we ask UNFPA to continue to support us with technical and financial assistance as we seek to undertake the Afghanistan Population and Housing Census, rescheduled from 2008.

Mr. President,

Globally, according to the most recent MDG report, we are still lagging behind in several areas, particularly in MDGs 3, 4, 5 and 6. We encourage the international community to take this conference as a call to redouble our efforts towards achieving the MDGs and the other IADGs in the larger framework of the ICPD Programme of Action. In particular, South-South cooperation, through regional groups and other multilateral organizations, will be crucial to achieving our goals. We must also ensure that the financial crisis and other constraints do not restrict the technical and financial aid to developing countries, least developed and post-conflict countries. Though the past fifteen years have seen groundbreaking progress, we must sustain our achievements to date and recognize that all of our efforts will be required if we are to successfully achieve the ambitious goals we have set for ourselves.

Thank you, Mr. President.