Nw York, 21 January 1998

Mr. Chairman,

On behalf of the Group of 77 and China, I wish to express to you and the other members of the bureau, our congratulations on your election, and express our confidence on the successful outcome of the meeting under your guidance.

Although we accept the organization of work as proposed by the Bureau today, we consider that this arrangement should not prejudge the outcomes of the Harare meeting nor jeopardize the common practice of the CSD. Having said that, the Group of 77 would like to make an overview based on informal observations reached after a meeting in Room 7 this afternoon.

In the past, national presentations were always discussed in the CSD. Now, for the first time, it has been decided that they are held during the Intersesional meeting. This would not have the desired impact. If they were held during the CSD, the presentations would get increased attention. But, on the other hand, if held during the intersessional meeting, then little or no attention would be given to them. The UNGASS in paragraph 133(b) spelled out that the Commission on Sustainable Development should "continue to provide a forum for the exchange of national experiences and best practices in the area of sustainable development…". Therefore it should be noted that the Intersesional has no legitimate mandate to discuss national presentations.

With regard to the stipulation in programme of work that there be a one day national presentation during the Inter-sessional Ad-hoc Working Groups of the CSD, it is our view that the CSD should retain one day for national presentations during the CSD, using the allocated time for the industry segment which is two days (For instance, 21 April could be allocated for industry segment and 22 April allocated for national presentations).

Whereas on the focus of the exchange of national presentation, we welcome the decision by the Bureau to change it from "integrated water management" to "strategic approaches to freshwater management". We have to bear in mind that not all countries have developed or have the capability to implement such concept as "integrated water management".

We hope that all documents will be ready by this month. We believe that the quality of discussions depends on the early availability of documents. In the end, if the documentation are delayed, it will also affect the quality of resolutions and decisions.

On the timing and modalities of the High Level Segment, we are willing to work very closely with our partners and we believe that the drafting exercise should end before the High Level Segment begins. In this regard, we should try to avoid the same experiences that took place during the UNGASS deliberations.

We support the deliberations and close interaction with representatives of the major groups. This will provide an inter-active dialogue on this matter between the representative of the business community, trade unions, NGOs, governments and international organizations. The duration of one-and-a-half days, however, would be too long, compared to the one day for national presentation. We are not against the decision of the Bureau, but I have to reflect the concern of developing countries.

To sum up, throughout the ten-day meeting devoted to the CSD, only five days are set for the debate and drafting by intergovernmental meetings, while two days for major groups and three days for high-level segment. We do not believe that this could serve the essence of intergovernmental dialogue among CSD members. Instead, we propose five days to be allocated for debate and drafting, one day for major groups, one day for national presentations and three days for the high-level segment.

It is also desirable that the representatives of the major groups also produce their views in advance so as to enable them to make an active contribution to the discussions. It is also important that the major groups organize themselves in presenting their collective positions.

Finally, the Group of 77 and China hopes that the outcome of this meeting and the work by the CSD will provide the opportunity to complete such a challenging task.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

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