Mr. Chairman,

1. Ihave the honor to speak on behalf of the Group of 77 and China in this organizational session of the second part of the resumed sixty-sixth session of the Fifth Committee of the General Assembly.

2. The Group of 77 and China would like to begin by expressing its sincere appreciation to you, Mr. Chairman, for the excellent leadership you continue to provide to Fifth Committee of the General Assembly during this session.

3. The Group of 77 and China wishes to thank the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Mr. Hervé Ladsous, the Assistant Secretary-General of Department of Field Support, and the Assistant Secretary-General/ Controller, Ms. Maria Eugenia, for joining us today.

4. The Group of 77 and China also takes this opportunity to thank you and the Bureau of the Committee for preparing the draft programme of work, and the Secretariat for issuing the document A/C.5/66/L.33 reflecting the status of preparedness of documentation for this second part of the resumed sixty-sixth session of the Fifth Committee of the General Assembly. It is the hope of the Group that the draft programme of work will consequently be adjusted according to the evolution of the general debates and informal consultations in the current session, as well as the availability of the relevant documents.

Mr. Chairman,

5. The workload ahead of us in this resumed session, which is devoted mostly to the consideration of the financing of peacekeeping operations, is considerable and demanding, and therefore requires that we maintain a focus on peacekeeping related issues. We are fully confident that under your able leadership the Committee will come to a timely and successful conclusion of its deliberations on the various items before us.

6. The Group of 77 and China is of the view that adequate time should be allocated for the consideration of all the items on our agenda. In this session, besides the examination of the peacekeeping budgets, we will need to tackle three other priority issues: first to address the difficulties arising out of inflation factors which severely affect troop-contributing countries; second, to explore options to achieve a fair solution for the unpaid assessments, accounts payable and other liabilities of closed peacekeeping missions, so as to settle claims outstanding in the missions with cash deficit; and third, to ensure that the formulation and presentation of peacekeeping budgets is being based on their approved mandates and the real situation on the ground, and not on arbitrary, across-the-board cuts.
 
Mr. Chairman

7. The Group of 77 and China would like to state clearly its commitment to the conclusion of the session within the established timeframe of four weeks. The Group will therefore oppose any attempts to extend the session, as this has proved counterproductive in the past. The time available within the session is sufficient for the consideration and conclusion of all the agenda items, and we therefore urge all delegations to commit to constructive negotiations to ensure we complete it in time.

8. In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, the Group of 77 and China would like to assure you that it will engage constructively in the Committee's deliberations to ensure a successful and timely outcome of the session.

     Thank you, Mr. Chairman.