Permanent Mission of India
Geneva
*****
Statement made by Shri Ajit Kumar, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations and other International Organizations in Geneva at the International Organization for Migration (IOM) 18th Session of the Standing Committee on Programmes and Finance (SCPF) (16-17 June 2016)
16.06.2016
Mr. Chairperson,
1. At the outset, my delegation wishes to place on record our sincere appreciation to the distinguished Chair for successfully steering the proceedings of the meeting of the 18th Session of the Standing Committee on Programmes and Finance and the IOM Secretariat for detailed documentation for this meeting.
2. My delegation wishes to commend the able leadership of Director General Ambassador Swing and his team, both at headquarters and in Missions abroad, for embarking on action-oriented plans and programmes. We also want to place on record our appreciation to Mr. Ovais Sarmad, Chief of Staff for his dedication and determination.
3. We thank Mr. Bruce Reed, Director, Department of Resource Management, for his detailed financial report of the year 2015. We also thank the External Auditor, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, represented by Mr. Parvindra Yadav, for precise and objective Audit Report. I expect IOM to comply and implement the recommendations of External Auditor in time bound manner.
4. We fully recognise the proactive steps taken by IOM to address the humanitarian needs of affected population by taking up challenging and often dangerous field operations. IOM’s efforts in ensuring continuity, coherence to strengthen the organisation’s role during crisis situation is commendable.
5. A perusal of the Financial Report of 2015 shows that there is increase in operational programme of US$ 50 million for response to Ebola crisis, similarly there is allocation of higher resources to address the ongoing crisis in Iraq and Syria. We see this increase in allocation as the need of the hour and deeply appreciate the flexibility shown by IOM. We wish IOM to maintain such flexibility to address unforeseen challenges in future.
6. Under Programme and Budget for 2016, we observe higher allocation in percentage terms towards Migration Policy and Research; Emergency and Post Crisis Migration Management; and Regulating Migration. We support this increase; meanwhile, we request for strengthening of Migration and Development Services through higher budgetary allocation.
7. In order to further strengthen operational capability and efficiency, we urge IOM to deepen its partnership with regional economic communities, civil society organizations, public-private entities among other important stakeholders.
We may like to suggest IOM to keep the interest of affected people first while designing and implementing new policies and programmes. IOM should conceptualize and develop its programme based on local requirement through maximum utilisation of local resources.
8. Under IOM’s initiative for good migration governance, we support humane and orderly migration with obligation for States to respect, protect and fulfil the rights of individuals within its territory and practice non-discriminatory approach to preserve safety, physical integrity and dignity of the migrants.
Mr. Chairperson,
9. We recommend IOM to embark on the path of assessing and reporting its programmes and activities, on quantifiable parameters, based on the Principles of Outcome Based Assessment. An institutional mechanism should be put in place to receive feedback from the end users and beneficiaries on quality of services offered and seek suggestions in order to continuously improve the programme and its delivery. Analysis of IOM’s cost of operations vis-a-vis its peers should also be routinely carried out.
10. We believe, these inputs will provide valuable insight to the member states and serve as a tool to further improve upon and develop efficient programmes and models of operation for IOM.
I thank you Mr. Chairperson.
