STATEMENT ON BEHALF OF THE GROUP OF 77 AND CHINA BY MS. CHERRYL GORDON, PERMANENT MISSION OF JAMAICA TO THE UNITED NATIONS, TO THE GENERAL SEGMENT OF THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL ON AGENDA ITEMS 6 AND 8: IMPLEMENTATION OF AND FOLLOW UP TO MAJOR UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCES AND SUMMITS (New York, 19th July 2005)

Mr. Chairman,

I am honoured to speak on behalf of the Group of 77 and China on agenda items 6 and 8, concerning the role of the Economic and Social Council in the implementation of and follow-up to major United Nations conferences and summits.

The G-77 and China expresses its appreciation to the Secretary-General for his comprehensive report, which included some interesting proposals for implementing the provisions of General Assembly resolutions 50/227, 52/12 B and 57/270 B. We also thank the Director, Office of ECOSOC Support and Co-ordination, for his introduction of this Report.

In particular, the Report emphasises the key issue of the strengthening of the Economic and Social Council and the General Assembly in the integrated and co-ordinated implementation and follow -up processes.

In this context, Mr. Chairman, the Group of 77 and China stresses that these follow-up processes must preserve the distinct identity of each conference outcome, as outlined in resolution 57/270 B, adopted in 2003.

For the G-77 and China, this particular resolution (57/270 B) provides the framework for further work on the integrated follow-up of UN conferences and summits. It is therefore unfortunate that the implementation of this resolution has been less than satisfactory; and we urge that action be taken to reverse this trend. To this end, the G-77 and China calls for he Council, to take advantage of the ongoing efforts to strengthen the role of the functional commissions in the co-ordination exercise, by, inter alia, the urgent completion of the multi-year programme of work of the co-ordination segment of the ECOSOC. This will enable both the Council and its functional commissions to introduce thematic coherence and predictability into their work programmes and periodically undertake comprehensive reviews of the implementation of specific conferences or of progress around a common theme.

In addition, the G-77 and China reiterates the call for greater efficiency in the reporting procedures of the Council, in particular, between the Council and its subsidiary, regional and related bodies. This would go a far way in improving the Council’s ability to exercise its co-ordination and assessment role in furtherance of its mandate.

Finally, Mr. Chairman,

The Group of 77 and China cannot emphasise enough the fact that the realisation of the Millennium Development Goals and other internationally agreed development goals will only be achieved through the full implementation of the Millennium Declaration and the conference outcomes, with the provision of the requisite means of implementation including, inter alia, the provision of financial resources, transfer of technology and capacity-building to developing countries.

Mr. Chairman,

This concludes my intervention on this aspect of Agenda Items 6 and 8.