Mr. Chairman,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the Group of 77 and China.

The Group takes this opportunity to congratulate you on your election to the Chair. We also extend congratulations to the other Bureau members and assure you of the Group’s fullest cooperation in achieving our common objectives in the interest of Member States and the Organization.

Mr. Chairman,

We wish to thank you and the Bureau for providing us with the proposed programme of work and the status of preparedness of the documentation.

Regarding the status of documentation, the Group regrets that once more we are constrained to express concern regarding the late issuance of documents. This has become a perennial problem which adversely affects preparation and consequently the effectiveness of the work of the Committee including prolonging the session. Furthermore, it has prevented the Committee from starting the session at the scheduled time.

We are particularly concerned about the time-bound items, not only from the budgetary aspect but also with respect to important items that have been deferred from the previous session. We should also bear in mind that there may be the necessity to make adjustments to the time allotted to some items to facilitate the work of the Committee.

Mr. Chairman,

The Committee should endeavour to conclude as many items as possible, thus preventing deferral of too many items, especially that we may have proposals from the Outcome Document under consideration during the resumed sessions. We therefore underline the crucial role of coordinators in facilitating the work of the Committee. We trust that the Bureau will guide the coordinators and where necessary, amend the programme of work to support the efforts of the coordinators.

The Group would like to emphasize the current practice of coordinating certain agenda items, namely the programme budget, human resources management and scale of assessments, according to which the coordination rotates between negotiating groups.

We acknowledge that a situation may arise whereby a group is unable to assume the role of coordinator of one of those items when it is its turn, and that another group may have assume this responsibility. In this regard, the Group is willing to assist the Bureau in assuming the coordination of any item if the need arises. We do this with the understanding that it would not preclude the Group from performing this role at the time.

Mr. Chairman,

In reviewing the items listed in the proposed programme of work and the documentation available, the Group of 77 and China proposes that, at this stage, the Committee adopts only the first week’s programme of work and that you take up this matter of documentation with the Secretariat and, if necessary, to request responsible departments to give account of the delay in the submission of the documents.

We have a very heavy agenda before us and it is going to demand a lot from the members of the Committee. The Group of 77 and China therefore reiterates its assurance of full cooperation and wish you the very best for a successful conclusion of the session.

I thank you.