Statement by Permanent Representative of Armenia Mher Margaryan during the Meeting between UN Resident Coordinators with Member States

Mr. Vice - President of ECOSOC,

Madam Deputy-Secretary-General,

I thank you for convening this important meeting and providing an opportunity for member states to reflect on the role and contribution of the Resident Coordinators' system in our development efforts.

Armenia recognizes important role that the RC system plays in implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and incorporation of the SDG targets and indicators into the national development policies and programmes on the country level. The current and emerging complex challenges, that undermine the social-economic development in many parts of the world, make the consolidation and increase of the capacities of the RC system more imperative than ever.

Six years into the reform of the RC system, the challenges persist in its activities, especially, due to the lack of the adequate, predictable and sustainable funding. In this regard, we highlight the imperative of comprehensive reforms in the funding model of the RC system to enable more proper delivery of its mandate and more efficient and need-based results.

We appreciate that in March this year, the Secretary-General appointed a full-fledged Resident Coordinator in Armenia, long overdue important step that had its positive contribution to the proper functioning of the UN country team and successful implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework.

The UN Office in Armenia has been an important partner in fostering human capital development, promoting quality education, universal healthcare and equitable social protection service, green transformation, good governance, and economic empowerment, while aligning such comprehensive efforts with the SDGs.

In November last year, the Government of Armenia and the RC Office formally launched the UNSDCF Joint Steering Committee (JSC) - the high-level governing body that brought together representatives from line ministries and heads of United Nations agencies, funds and programmes to ensure strategic oversight and direction of the strategic framework of the country level. As we approach the conclusion of the current framework, we look forward to the next cycle in 2025 to continue advancing these critical efforts.

Distinguished colleagues,

The Resident Coordinators' activities are especially important in the times of environmental, humanitarian and conflict emergencies. In this context, it is of utmost importance to ensure that the RCs are well equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge of the unique situations in the host countries and the neighborhood. We call on the UN Development System to demonstrate the critical degree of institutional resilience, credibility and integrity towards the attempts to instrumentalize the UN programmatic cooperation or indeed, other departmental structures of the UN, for legitimizing gross violations of the international law and human rights law.

A major challenge remains the issue of making the international development assistance available to all people affected by conflict and humanitarian crises. We would like to underscore the need for a closer coordination and synergy across development, peacebuilding and humanitarian action that bridges emergency response with sustainable development efforts, while insuring that no one is left behind.

I would like to reiterate Armenia's commitment to continue to advocate for leveraging the strengths and expertise of the UN entities, while fostering synergies, partnerships and coordination in support of the implementation of the SDGs.

I thank you.

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