Check Against Delivery
Thank you, Mr. President, Madam Executive Director,
Let me begin by expressing Denmark’s sincere appreciation to UNICEF staff and partners who continue to deliver for children around the world, including in Gaza and Sudan, despite, as we all know, increasingly difficult circumstances.
We commend UNICEF for its unwavering commitment to its mandate and for bringing the needs of children, adolescents, and women to global attention, even when it is challenging and the stakes are high.
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As 2026 unfolds amid geopolitical uncertainty and a shrinking ODA landscape, Denmark remains firmly committed to the United Nations and to effective multilateralism.
In this regard, we stand behind the Secretary-General’s ambitious UN80 reform agenda as well as the Humanitarian Reset.
Reform should be judged by its ability to enable the UN to act as one coherent system at country level, under clear Resident Coordinator leadership, with no duplication and stronger results on the ground.
We expect all UN entities – including UNICEF – to exercise leadership in furthering the SCDs and focus on their core value added, mandate and comparative advantage.
We note UNICEF’s efforts to streamline headquarter functions, better align resources with strategic priorities, and strengthening of field delivery. We further stress that UNICEF’s Future Focus Initiative should be aligned with system-wide UN80 reform efforts.
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UNICEF now enters the implementation phase of its Strategic Plan 2026–2029. Denmark supported the plan for its clear strategic direction and strong focus on delivering on UNICEF’s core mandate to uphold the rights of all children, everywhere.
The real test now lies in transforming the strategy into results on the ground.
We welcome the work of UNICEF’s independent evaluation office and the Global Evaluation Plan 2026–2029, and we commend its emphasis on evaluation as core oversight and evidence function. We also encourage UNICEF to draw on the forthcoming MOPAN findings to guide its work.
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We look forward to continue and deepening our long-standing partnership with UNICEF, including hosting the Global Supply and Logistics Hub in Copenhagen, that enables UNICEF to respond quickly and effectively to global emergencies.
Denmark remains committed to allocating 0.7 per cent of its GNI to ODA and Denmark is proud to increase its core contribution to UNICEF this year, placing Denmark among UNICEF’s expected top five public core donors.
I thank you.
