Madame President, Distinguished Members of the Executive Board, Excellencies,

It is my pleasure to welcome you to the agenda item on the Cumulative review of the United Nations Capital Development Fund Strategic Framework, 2018-2021, and annual report on results for 2020.

UNCDF plays an important strategic role in the UN development system, with its dedicated focus on supporting the least developed countries (LDCs) and with its unique capital mandate and ability to use performance-based grants to support early-stage ventures, and loan and guarantee instruments to accelerate their growth and attract other forms of capital.

This substantively distinct offer makes UNCDF a critical partner both to governments and other LDC stakeholders, private entities, as well as to UNDP and other UN entities.

UNCDF has made solid progress in expanding its offer and delivering on its Strategic Framework in the past four years. It has expanded its focus from financial inclusion and local development finance, to pioneering work on inclusive digital economies and municipal finance, and a new innovative finance arm, the LDC Investment Platform, that is modeling new ways for the UN system to mobilize SDG financing, including from private capital, to SMEs and local governments.

With a set of robust approaches to support the LDCs to finance their sustainable development aspirations and with strong results, UNCDF has now built a solid foundation to allow it to scale and accelerate its contributions to LDCs in the Decade of Action and support the next LDC Programme of Action.

It is also worth highlighting that UNCDF has taken quick action in assisting LDCs to respond to COVID-19, based on its expertise in relevant areas of digital finance, local government financing and innovative finance for small and medium-sized enterprises.

UNCDF is a strategic partner for UNDP, with dozens of joint initiatives, including our recent joint offer on digital finance and joint work with member states and other partners to keep remittances flowing through the COVID-19 crisis.

As both UNCDF and UNDP prepare our new Strategic Framework and Strategic Plan this year, we see great opportunities for defining further areas for strengthened and more systematic collaboration. By combining our expertise and capabilities, I am certain that together we can more effectively support a post-COVID recovery that ensures a broad and lasting increase in prosperity especially for the poorest and most marginalized in the LDCs.  It is an opportunity that together we cannot afford to miss.

I would also like to take this opportunity to express a warm welcome to the new UNCDF Executive Secretary Ms. Preeti Sinha in her first formal engagement with the Executive Board.

Let me also express our strong commitment to supporting her in helping to scale UNCDF’s work to the next level. Preeti, we look forward to working with you over the next years.

Thank you.