STATEMENT BY MOROCCO, ON BEHALF OF THE GROUP OF 77 AND CHINA, ON AGENDA ITEM 112: PROGRAMME BUDGET FOR THE BIENNIUM 2002-2003

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 AGENDA ITEM 112: PROGRAMME BUDGET FOR THE BIENNIUM 2002-2003, IN THE FIRST PART OF RESUMED FIFTY-SEVENTH SESSION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY's FIFTH COMMITTEE - New York, 10 March 2003

Mr. Chairman,

1. I have the honour to speak on behalf of the Group of 77 and China on agenda item 112: Programme budget for the biennium 2002-2003, namely on the reports of the Joint Inspection Unit related to the results approach in the United Nations: Implementing the Millennium Declaration, contained in document A/57/372, part one, and addendum 1, and the report of the JIU on support costs related to extra budgetary activities in the organizations of the United Nations system (A/57/422 and Add.1 and the report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions A/57/434, paras 5 & 6).

2. The Group of 77 and China expresses its appreciation to Inspectors Sumihiro Kuyama and Doris Bertrand; Mr. Jaime Sevilla, Principal Inter-Agency Officer of the United Nations System Chief Executives Board (CEB) Secretariat; Mr. Qazi Shaukat Fareed, Director of the CEB Secretariat, as well as Ambassador Conrad Mselle, Chairman of the ACABQ, for the introduction of the reports under consideration.

Mr. Chairman,

3. The Group of 77 and China reaffirms that the consideration and implementation of the results based budgeting should be carried out in full conformity with the provisions of resolution 55/231 and the regulations and rules governing programme planning, the programme aspect of the budget, the monitoring of implementation and the method of evaluation.

4. The Group would like to stress that the result based approach is a technical mechanism put in place to improve the evaluation capacity of the performance of the Secretariat in the implementation of mandated programmes and activities in accordance with the intergovernmental, multilateral and international specificities of the Organization, and that this approach is not an end in itself, and should be kept under constant review in order to be improved.

5. The Group of 77 and China notes with appreciation that the Joint Inspection Unit is drawing a clear distinction between the specificities of applying the result based approach at the national level and at international organizations. It also underlined that while it is relatively feasible in the case of national governments, it still remains somewhat complex in the case of the United Nations and other international organizations given the specific nature of their work and decision making process as well as the complexity of their mandates, programmes and activities. This makes it difficult to quantify, measure or assess achievements in a precise manner.

6. The Group of 77 and China would like to emphasize that, while recognizing that the load of mandated work cannot be fully implemented if the resources allocated to that end are not commensurate with their volume, the Group does not concur with the observation contained in paragraph 30 of the report implying that Member States interfere through micromanagement which make them, in part, responsible for the shortcomings of some programmes and/or activities result.

7. With regard to the report of the Joint Inspection Unit A/57/422, the Group of 77 and China notes with concern that dependence on extra budgetary resources for the implementation of mandated programmes and activities has been substantially increased in recent years.

8. The Group also notes that extra budgetary activities do not necessarily cover legislative priorities, nor does existing support-cost reflect the importance of particular extra budgetary activities and legislative priorities.

9. In this regard, the Group of 77 and China, while reaffirming that core programmes and activities should be fully budgeted, concurs with the recommendation of the Joint Inspection Unit in the sense that extra budgetary resources for activities beyond the reach of core budgets should be in line with the broad programmatic prioritization approved by legislative organs.

10. To that end, the Group emphasizes that extra budgetary activities should not be prioritized on the basis of subjective judgment.

11. The Group wishes to seek clarification on the observation contained in paragraph 47 of the report of the Joint Inspection Unit concerning presumed legislative contradictions as regards the extra budgetary support cost policies applied by United Nations system organizations.

12. We are of the view that core activities should not be used to subsidize extra budgetary activities. To this end, support costs should be met by extra budgetary resources.

13. These are, Mr. Chairman, some preliminary views of the Group on the reports under consideration. The Group is willing to further develop these issues during informal consultations.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.