National Statement of Finland at the Executive Board of UNDP, UNFPA and UNOPS, Interactive Dialogue with the UNDP Administrator

Read the National Statement of Finland delivered by Mr. Lauri Voionmaa, Bureau Vice-President of the Executive Board of UNDP, UNFPA and UNOPS, at the Executive Board of UNDP, UNFPA and UNOPS, Second Regular Session, Interactive Dialogue with the UNDP Administrator on August 26, 2026.

President, Administrator,

Finland would like to thank you, Administrator De Croo, for the statement. The message is clear: development plays a critical role in shaping the future of societies and our planet. With clock ticking fast towards 2030, we need to have all hands on deck and accelerate progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. We appreciate UNDP’s continued commitment to shaping the future of development – by exploring new ways of working together in advancing transformative changes.

With public funding under increasing pressure, stepping up efforts in building new innovative partnerships and mobilizing finance is more important than ever. Supporting developing countries in domestic resource mobilization should be one of our key priorities.

We heard you, Finland continues to support the OECD-UNDP Tax Inspectors Without Borders initiative. The initiative demonstrates how relatively modest investments in strengthened capacity of tax administrations can catalyze substantial and sustainable domestic revenues.

In our view, UNDP is uniquely positioned to embed tax cooperation within broader governance, public finance and institutional reforms. It plays a key role in aligning and leveraging revenues towards the SDGs. We have seen this in Africa where stronger tax administrations have significantly improved revenue mobilization, and in Ukraine where tax capacity directly links to fiscal resilience. At a time of constrained ODA budgets, this initiative, which combines technical assistance with systemic impact on sustainable financing, is more important than ever.

We value UNDP’s role in seeking ways to use development resources strategically in unlocking investments, creating opportunities and scaling successful solutions. We are pleased to note your increased engagement with the private sector as a strategic partner.

Finally, we recognize that UNDP is adjusting its approach to development in a rapidly changing world, amidst the UN80 reform. We appreciate your active engagement and contributions in reforming the UN development system to become more coherent and efficient.

Thank you.