STATEMENT BY MOROCCO ON BEHALF OF THE GROUP OF 77 AND CHINA ON THE ORGANIZATION OF WORK OF THE FIFTH COMMITTEE DURING THE FIRST PART OF THE RESUMED FIFTY-SEVENTH SESSION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY

STATEMENT ON BEHALF OF THE GROUP OF 77 AND CHINA BY MRS. AICHA AFIFI, MINISTER PLENIPOTENTIARY, PERMANENT MISSION OF MOROCCO TO THE UNITED NATIONS, ON THE ORGANIZATION OF WORK OF THE FIFTH COMMITTEE DURING THE FIRST PART OF THE RESUMED FIFTY-SEVENTH SESSION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY (New York, 3 March 2003)

Mr. Chairman,

1. I have the honour to speak on behalf of the Group of 77 and China on the organization of work of the first part of the resumed fifty-seventh session of the General Assembly.

2. I would like to avail myself of this opportunity to express appreciation to the delegation of Venezuela for its able leadership during its presidency of the Group in the year 2002. I would also like to assure you, Mr. Chairman, that the Group will continue to operate in such an effective and constructive manner, that combined with the positive efforts of all the members of the Committee, we are convinced that under your able leadership our work will undoubtedly reach a successful conclusion.

3. The Group of 77 and China would like to thank you as well as the members of the Bureau and the Secretariat for providing us with the draft programme of work and the status of preparedness of documentation contained in document A/C.5/57/L.53/Rev.1.

4. Having said that, allow me, Mr. Chairman, to make some remarks on the above-mentioned programme of work and the status of preparedness of documentation.

5. Concerning the status of documentation, it is with deep concern that the Group notes, once again, that some documents are still issued late. This problem, which unfortunately seems to have become a chronic one, would have adverse effect on the smooth functioning of the Committee. Such a situation if not properly corrected, would lead to a waste of time and effort.

6. Once more, the Group of 77 and China urges all concerned parties to address this chronic problem, and asks the Secretariat to strictly comply with the six-week rule as well as with the provisions of relevant General Assembly resolutions and its rules of procedure, in particular the rules of abstaining from publishing any document, in hard copy or on the UN website, before being translated into all official languages.

7. In the light of the successful conclusion of informal consultations on “Pattern of Conferences” deferred during the main part of the 57th session, the Group of 77 and China is of the view that items relating to human resources management and administration of justice awaiting consideration by the Committee since the main part of the 57th session, should be accorded priority attention during this resumed session. In this regard, the Group wishes to request the Bureau to ensure that adequate time is allocated for the consideration of these two items.

8. Moreover, the Group attaches high interest to a thorough consideration of the report of the Office of Internal Oversight Services on the investigation into sexual exploitation of refugees by aid workers in West Africa (doc. A/57/465); report of the Office of Internal Oversight Services on the management review of the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (doc. A/57/488); report of the Joint Inspection Unit on the results approach in the United Nations: Implementing the Millennium Declaration (doc. A/57/372); report of the Joint Inspection Unit on support costs related to extra budgetary activities in the organizations of the UN system (doc. A/57/442 & Add.1); as well as the report of the Secretary-General on measures to encourage Member States in arrears to reduce and eventually pay their arrears (General Assembly resolution 56/243 A, para 6) (doc. A/57/76).

9. The Group emphasizes the role of the Fifth Committee in the consideration of administrative and budgetary reform issues. In this regard, the Group of 77 and China considers it essential that the report on the single intergovernmental review be considered by the Fifth Committee.

10. Concerning the report on single stage intergovernmental review of the programme budget and Medium Term Plan (MTP), the Group could have been disposed to commence preliminary consideration of this subject, if all relevant documentation, including the report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions had been made available within the stipulated timeframe in all the six official UN languages and sufficient time had been given to delegations to obtain instruction from their capitals. Consequently, the Group is not prepared to discuss this issue during this first resumed session.

11. As far as the reports of the Office of Internal Oversight Services are concerned, the Group deems that it would be more appropriate for an easy consideration, that reports dealing with personnel issues be clustered together and considered in the context of agenda item 118 relating to human resources management.

12. Regarding agenda item 123 on the Administration of Justice, the Group is looking forward to discussing the related reports of the Secretary-General and the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions in addition to the report of the Joint Inspection Unit.

13. Although the Group of 77 and China was looking forward to discussing the report A/56/956 on “possible discrimination due to nationality, race, sex, religion and language in recruitment, promotion and placement”, we are however constrained to request for the deferment of this item until such a time that the report is presented in a manner that is consistent with the provisions of UN resolution 53/221.

14. Mr. Chairman, the Group of 77 and China would like to draw the attention of the Committee to agenda item 111 on the review of the efficiency of the administrative and financial functioning of the United Nations, specifically to report on revolving credit fund (A/52/822). Since this subject has already been considered in the context of resolution 52/22B, we would like to seek some clarification on the inclusion of such a report in the programme of work.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.