STATEMENT BY MR. HASSAN ABOUTAHIR, MINISTER PLENIPOTENTIARY (MOROCCO), ON BEHALF OF THE GROUP OF 77 AND CHINA, IN THE GENERAL DEBATE ON UN OPERATIONAL ACTIVITIES FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION UNDER THE OPERATIONAL ACTIVITIES SEGMENT OF THE SUBSTANTIVE SESSION OF THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL (GENEVA, 7 JULY 2003)

Mr. Chairman,

I would like at the outset, to thank, on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, the Secretary General for the very useful reports on the issue of funding of development cooperation activities, assessing lessons learned the by United Nations Organizations from evaluations activities at the field level and the progress made in the implementation of the General Assembly resolution 56/201. These documents have contributed to structure our discussions on this agenda item and guide us in taking decisions at policy level in the various aspects of the operational activities undertaken by the United Nations development System.

It is perhaps necessary to stress the very crucial importance the Group of 77 and China attaches to operational activities for development of the United Nations System, which should contribute to national efforts in building development and growth, integrate national priorities, and focus on the achievement of development goals and targets set in the United Nations Millennium Declaration and by the major United Nations Conferences and Summits.

It is also useful to emphasize the fundamental principles under which operational activities should be undertaken. Operational activities of the United Nations System should continue to preserve their universal, voluntary and grant nature. They should also preserve their neutral and multilateral character as well as their capacity to respond to the real needs of developing countries, and to be carried out with the their full ownership.

The capacity of the United Nations development system should be strengthen with the aim of assisting developing countries in their development efforts and in the implementation of the internationally agreed development goals, including those contained in the Millenium Declaration.

Mr. Chairman,

The Group of 77 and China is very concerned by the decline and stagnation of core resources available to many United Nations funds and programmes. In spite of the increase in development needs of developing countries as well as the new challenges they arising from globalization and liberalization, core resources devoted to operational activities have been characterized during recent years by a very marked decline or stagnation. We hope that the indicative elements of a trend towards an increase in core resources, shown in the report of the Secretary General, could be confirmed and generalized to all the United Nations Development System organizations, particularly the funds and programmes. .

In this respect, we call upon all donor countries to substantially increase their contributions to the core budgets of the United Nations System organizations in order to ensure a continued, predictable and sufficient funding of the operational activities. The international community should use the momentum of the Monterrey consensus and work towards a real financing for development.

Mr. Chairman,

The Group of 77 and China has taken note with great attention of the Secretary General report on the assessment of the lessons learned by the organizations of the United Nations from evaluation activities at the field level. We are very conscious of the importance of evaluations in the management processes within United Nations organizations, funds and programmes, and more importantly the absorption of lessons learned from these evaluations by future programmes and projects.

In this context, we are convinced that in order to maximize the benefits of evaluations in terms of efficiency and effectiveness at the field level, it is necessary, not only to perform the evaluation methodologies and approaches and disseminate related findings and recommendations at all levels, but also to ensure the participation of national authorities as well as the involvement of relevant stakeholders in the design, programming, implementation and evaluation processes, including the development of indicators to measure the successes or failures.

Without the participation of national authorities as well as the involvement of the end-users of programmes and projects, evaluation and lessons learning process will not achieve set objectives.

Mr. Chairman,

Operational activities segment this year gives us the opportunity to set up the framework of the next Triennial comprehensive policy review (TCPR) to be undertaken in 2004.

In this respect, we want the Secretary General focus its report for the TCPR in 2004 on the assessment of:

(i) ways to ensure adequate funding level for operational activities on a sufficient, predictable and assured basis,

(ii) ways and means to improve assistance that the United Nations development System is providing to developing countries,

(iii) integration of operational activities for development of the United Nations System with national efforts and priorities and enhancement of ownership,

(iv) capacity building,

(v) adequacy of human resources, expertise and skills available at the country level within the United Nations System

(vi) progress in and value of harmonization and simplification processes,

(vii) assessment of impact of the CCA/UNDAF instruments on the effectiveness of the assistance provided by the United Nations operational activities at the country level,

(viii) The value of the contribution of the MDGs in supporting the alignement of the operational activities of the United Nations System with national development efforts and priorities,

(ix) Ways to ensure better use and absorption of lessons learned in future design, programming and implementation of programmes and projects.

Le Groupe des 77 et la Chine voudrait remercier l'Administrateur du PNUD d'avoir fait le point des mesures prises pour la mise en œuvre du Fonds Mondial de Solidarité conformément à la résolution 57/265. Elle se réjouit tout particulièrement de l'achèvement des formalités pour la création du Fonds Fiduciaire "Trust Fund" qui est actuellement prêt à recevoir les contributions. IL s' agit maintenant de mettre en place et dans les meilleurs délais le Comité de haut niveau qui sera constitué de personnalités ayant une expérience pratique dans les domaines de la gestion, du développement et de l' administration et dont la tâche principale, tel que préconisé dans le rapport du Secrétaire général (A/57/137) et dans la résolution 57/265, consiste à assurer la direction stratégique et la promotion du Fonds et à mobiliser les ressources nécessaires pour le financement de ses interventions qui visent à améliorer les conditions de vie des communautés pauvres.

Nous nous félicitons par ailleurs, de la tenue, le 9 juin 2003, de la rencontre organisée par L' Administrateur du PNUD et à laquelle étaient conviées d'éminentes personnalités et qui constitue une opportunité pour le PNUD de promouvoir le Fonds mondial de solidarité. Tout en nous réjouissant de cette initiative, nous appelons le PNUD à lancer une campagne pour mieux faire connaître le Fonds Mondial de Solidarité à travers le monde et essayer de mobiliser la force de l'opinion publique, du secteur privé et de la société civile en sa faveur. Cette campagne est nécessaire si nous voulons que le Fonds concrétise les objectifs qu' il s'est fixés.

Enfin, le Groupe des 77 et de la Chine exprime l'espoir que l'opérationnalisation du Fonds interviendra dans les meilleurs délais et souhaite l'appui de nos partenaires au projet de résolution qui sera présenté, à cet effet, par le Groupe des 77 et de la Chine.