I am again speaking on behalf of the two constituencies, which include Denmark, Finland and Norway, as well as Switzerland, Sweden, Austria, and Iceland.
We welcome the information provided in the update on the Human Resources Strategy. Last year our key ask under this agenda item was that UNAIDS makes sure that the workforce of the UNAIDS Secretariat is well positioned to meet the targets of the SDGs and the Fast Track.
Therefore, we welcome and appreciate the strategic repositioning exercise that the Secretariat has undertaken since last year - both to drive the Fast Track Strategy and to reduce costs. This effort has also been acknowledged by the external auditors.
This was needed, but we also are fully aware that such processes are tough for an organisation to go through. And the process is still at its beginning. The staff distribution changes and re-profiling of positions was the first step. The moving will soon be completed, and then the next and most important step will be to see the strategic repositioning exercise result in actual changes and strong results delivered against the Fast Track strategy.
We are impatient, but realise that more time is needed to judge the results. We also acknowledge that the refined operating model will influence this process, and we are, therefore, looking forward to next year’s reporting under this item.
Finally, we encourage the UNAIDS secretariat to continue its efforts to strengthen its performance culture and to realise the targets of the current gender action plan. We appreciate the increased number of women among the heads of country offices. We are also looking forward to discuss lessons learnt from the current Gender Action Plan at the 42nd PCB and to have the next generation plan presented.