United States Delegation Statement by Reva Gupta, Program Officer in bureau of PRM, on UNFPA Draft Country Programme for Liberia, 2013-2017, UNDP/UNFPA/UNOPS Executive Board Meeting Second Regular Session

Reva Gupta, program officer, in the bureau of Population, Refugees & Migration

New York, NY

September 4, 2012

AS DELIVERED

Mr. President, the United States would like to thank UNFPA for the opportunity to comment on the Draft Country Program Document for Liberia.

To ensure that UNFPA can achieve measurable change as a result of the proposed larger investments in gender equality and reproductive rights, we encourage UNFPA to conduct a political economy analysis. We also suggest that UNFPA revisit the planned funding for general equality and reproductive rights activities and consider shifting a portion of that funding to family planning activities, where more tangible results might be achieved within the timeframe of the proposed Country Programme.

We strongly agree with the lessons learned identified in the draft country programme, and we look forward to working with UNFPA to operationalize their recommendations and plans.

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