Madam Chair,

1. The Group of 77 and China thanks the Secretariat for the reports of the Secretary-General contained in documents A/63/201; A/63/207; and A/63/205, which provide a good basis for our deliberations and our work in the Committee under Agenda Item 54.

2. General Assembly Resolution 62/208 gives comprehensive policy guidance to the UN System on operational activities, including on the issue of funding for development activities. In this regard we note the Secretariat's various responses to the mandates of the 2007 TCPR.

3. The Group welcomes the efforts by the Secretary-General to promote an expanding base of development assistance for developing countries; to promote an upward trend in real contribution to operational activities for development and to identify obstacles and make recommendations to achieve this goal; to promote the predictability of funding, and to promote an appropriate balance between core and non-core contributions.

Madam Chair,

4. The importance of adequate and predictable funding for the UN System - and for operational activities in general - has been emphasized extensively within this Committee during previous sessions, and within various bodies of the UN, most recently the ECOSOC Substantive Session in July. However, as the report in A/63/201 indicates, despite much discussions and several resolutions and decisions on this issue, there has been no significant improvement regarding the adequacy and predictability of funding for operational activities. This situation is now compounded by a number of new challenges, not the least of which is a negative global economic outlook.

5. It is lamentable that, during several years of robust global economic growth, ODA levels never reached that required for achieving even the most modest of IADG targets. Levels even stagnated or dipped while major funding gaps persists. Recent developments now magnify these challenges and increases the urgency of meeting commitments.

6. The Group of 77 and China continues to bemoan the fact that most donors are not on track to meet commitments to increase ODA. We note with concern that, since the G8 Summit at Gleneagles in 2005 at which donors pledged to increase aid to $130 billion by 2010, ODA has increased at only half the rate needed to meet this target. There is an obvious paucity of honouring commitments to raise ODA to the requisite levels to achieve IADGs, including the MDGs.

7. Without significant increases in the level of ODA for operational activities in support of development goals, we, the international community, will fail miserably at accomplishing basic but fundamental goals and objectives that are common to humanity. This Committee should ensure that the General Assembly undertakes the necessary actions to avoid such disastrous failure.

Madam Chair,

8. The Group reiterates its call for the UN System to play a greater role in supporting countries to pursue economic and social development according to national plans and priorities. GA resolution 62/208 gives a detailed mandate to the system in this regard. It is now up to Member States to ensure that the requisite resources are provided on an adequate and predictable basis to carry out these mandates. We share the Secretary-General's view on the need for greater political will. The need for donor countries to increase their funding for operational activities of the UN is a pressing one which we urge Member States to address with urgency. The Group hopes that, through the further implementation of 62/208, there will be significant improvements on funding of operational activities.

9. We note the obstacles to an upward trend in core contributions as outlined in the Secretary-General's report (A/63/201), as well as the recommendations for overcoming them. We urge the Secretary-General to continue and enhance such efforts as a matter of priority. This also applies to addressing the imbalance between core and non-core contributions.

10. The strengthening of the multilateral framework for development assistance is of great importance to the Group of 77 and China. Significant imbalances between core and non-core weakens the multilateral framework of development assistance, perpetuates conditionalities, and can encourage a fragmented approach that can undermine development effectiveness.

11. While recognizing that in order to be effective, implementation should favour system-wide actions  that are coherent and coordinated, the Group of 77 and China stresses that such initiatives must avoid "one size fits all" approaches. In the continued implementation of resolution 62/208, the UN System should ensure that operational activities respond to the development needs of programme countries in a flexible manner and be carried out for the benefit of programme countries, at the request of those countries and in accordance with their own national policies and priorities for development.

Madam Chair,

12. With regards to the report on Implications of aligning the strategic planning cycles of the UN funds and programmes with the comprehensive policy review of operational activities, the Group of 77 and China is still considering the options as contained in the report. We find the information useful, and it provides a good basis for us to make a decision, if necessary, on this issue. The Group would however like to stress that any final decision taken regarding moving from a three-year to a four-year comprehensive policy review cycle must ensure to the greatest extent possible that the strategic plans of the funds and programmes take their policy guidance from the General Assembly. The comprehensive policy review resolution of the GA is the overarching inter-governmentally agreed policy guidance and should therefore guide the strategic planning of the funds, programmes and agencies.

13. The Group of 77 and China takes this opportunity to again underscore the importance of South-South cooperation for development, within the context of operational activities for development. In this regard, we highlight and welcome the Fourth Cooperation Framework for South-South Cooperation discussed and adopted in the Second Regular Session of the UNDP Executive Board. We urge the UN System to make implementation of this framework a priority, including through the mainstreaming of SSC throughout the operational activities.

14. Finally, the Group looks forward to the convening of the High-Level UN Conference next year to mark the 30th anniversary of the Buenos Aires Plan of Action for promoting and implementing technical cooperation among developing countries. This will provide a major opportunity to comprehensively review and renew efforts to enhance and support South-South Cooperation for development. In this regard we note the deliberations and report of the President of the General Assembly High-level Committee on South-South Cooperation and we encourage that efforts be enhanced regarding finalizing preparations for this Conference.

Thank you.