FIRST REGULAR 1996 SESSION OF UNICEF EXECUTIVE BOARD TO BE HELD AT HEADQUARTERS, 22-26 JANUARY

19 January 1996

Press Release
ICEF/1827

FIRST REGULAR 1996 SESSION OF UNICEF EXECUTIVE BOARD TO BE HELD AT HEADQUARTERS, 22-26 JANUARY

19960119 Background Release Topics for Discussion Include Emergency Operations, Strengthening Management, UNICEF Mission Statement

NEW YORK, 19 January (UNICEF) -- Strategies for future emergency operations of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) will be examined at the first regular 1996 session of its Executive Board to be held from 22 to 26 January at Headquarters.

The Board will also discuss progress in the current UNICEF management reform process and will be asked to approve a draft mission statement which will guide the future work of the organization. Other topics for discussion include follow-up to the Fourth World Conference on Women and a series of country programme strategy notes.

UNICEF Emergency Operations

The Executive Board will review two papers on UNICEF emergency operations. The first of these considers the mission and strategies guiding UNICEF emergency assistance (E/ICEF/1996/4); the second provides an overview of the nature and magnitude of the UNICEF response to emergencies in 1995, as well as a review of progress made (E/ICEF/1996/7).

Four key issues shape the strategy for UNICEF emergency operations. The nature of humanitarian crises is constantly changing as new threats to children, such as the HIV virus and new technological hazards, present themselves. The scale of emergencies continues to expand. The severity of emergencies continues to increase and the causes of current emergencies are increasingly complex and multifaceted. Many types of emergencies now constitute chronic realities which blur the traditional distinction between emergency and non-emergency situations.

In response to such acute threats to children, UNICEF commits itself to a four-pronged emergency approach involving preventive actions, preparedness measures, emergency assistance and rehabilitation assistance.

Over the last year, UNICEF has made significant progress in enhancing its capacity to respond swiftly to emergency situations as they arise. Foremost among the accomplishments have been a major strategy review and reflections on lessons learned in Rwanda and Somalia, the creation of Rapid Response Teams of specially trained staff on stand-by arrangement for rapid deployment, the stockpiling of $3 million of emergency supplies and equipment, the establishment of an Emergency Operations Centre at New York headquarters and the hiring of a specialist in emergency operations and logistics. Throughout its emergency-related activities, UNICEF advocates a developmental approach linking relief and development by emphasizing local capacity-building to meet emergency needs, to reduce the vulnerability of children to possible future emergencies and to promote self-reliance.

Management Excellence and Mission Statement

The Executive Board will examine a progress report on management excellence in UNICEF (E/ICEF/1996/AB/L.3) which updates members on the projects to ensure the best management of resources, both financial and human, within UNICEF.

During the past three months, the programme for management excellence in UNICEF has gained momentum and has engaged UNICEF staff worldwide in specific activities linked to the various projects to strengthen management.

The Management Steering Committee will meet at the end of this month, when project team leaders and the Global Advisory Council will report on progress to date; review team results, including draft recommendations related to the structure of UNICEF; and examine the findings and recommendations of the information technology study currently under way.

In response to Executive Board decision 1995/7 and following extensive consultations with members of the Executive Board, UNICEF partners and staff on the mission of the organization, the Executive Director will recommend a text entitled "The Mission of UNICEF" for approval of the Board (E/ICEF/1996 AB/L.2).

Follow-up to Women's Conference

The Board will be asked to endorse the framework for UNICEF follow-up to the Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing, last September (E/ICEF/1996/3).

Three key areas have been identified as priority areas of action in the implementation of the Platform for Action. These are girls' education, adolescent girls' and women's health, and children's rights and women's rights. Specific actions envisaged will include linking advocacy for the

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Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women with national programmes of action for children and ensuring the gender-responsiveness of UNICEF country programmes.

Country Programmes

At its first regular session of 1995, the Executive Board approved a new process for the consideration and approval of country programme recommendations. This involves the submission of brief country programme strategy notes which will serve to inform the Board at an early stage of ideas regarding programme strategies and priorities. For the first time, during the regular session of January 1996, the Board will review a group of 40 country programme strategy notes (E/ICEF/1996/P/L.1 to E/ICEF/P/L.40) which are programmes of cooperation to be implemented beginning next year.

Fifteen country programme strategy notes will be presented for Africa: Comoros, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Sao Tome and Principe, South Africa, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Central African Republic, Cote d'Ivoire, Gabon, Guinea, Nigeria, Senegal and Togo; 12 for the Americas and the Caribbean: Argentina, Belize, Chile, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panama and Uruguay; Five for Asia: Malaysia, Mongolia, Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lanka, and one for the Pacific island countries; two for Central and Eastern Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Baltic States: Moldova and Turkey; and five for the Middle East and North Africa: Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Sudan and Tunisia.

Executive Board Composition and Officers

The officers of the Executive Board, nominated by their respective regional groups, are M. Ion Gorita (Romania), President; John Evonlah Aggrey (Ghana), Vice-President; Jan Top Christensen (Denmark), Vice-President; Lyda Aponte de Zacklin (Venezuela), Vice-President. A formal election will take place on the opening day of the session.

The 36 members of the Executive Board, whose three-year terms expire on 31 December of the year in parentheses, are as follows: Brazil (1996), Burkina Faso (1996), France (1996), Ghana (1996), Indonesia (1996), Italy (1996), Jamaica (1996), Lebanon (1996), Romania (1996), United Kingdom (1996), United States (1996), Angola (1997), Azerbaijan (1997), Burundi (1997), India (1997), Japan (1997), Kenya (1997), Morocco (1997), Netherlands (1997), Norway (1997), Pakistan (1997), Republic of Korea (1997), Sweden (1997), Uganda (1997), Venezuela (1997), Canada (1998), China (1998), Cuba (1998), Denmark (1998), Namibia (1998), Russian Federation (1998), Suriname (1998), Switzerland (1998), Turkey (1998), Ukraine (1998), Viet Nam (1998).

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