Mr. President,

I take the floor to speak on behalf of the Group of 77 and China.

At the outset, let me warmly congratulate you for your recent election as President of this Executive Board. I also wish to thank the UNDP Administrator for her statement on the work of the UNDP and all the relevant associated matters.

Mr. President,

The importance that the Group of 77 attaches to the United Nations Development Programme is reflected in its active participation in the consultative process before the adoption of the Strategic Plan 2014-2017. The Group has submitted detailed comments on relevant aspects of each of the drafts of the Strategic Plan, and has appreciated the efforts made to duly take into account the Group's suggestions and demands. This consultative approach was appreciated particularly given the importance of the Strategic Plan in guiding UNDP's work going forward in the current context.

The period this Strategic Plan will cover will see major developments in the world, notably in the formulation of the post-2015 development agenda. The latter will no doubt give UNDP political guidance on developmental priorities and on the implementation of the Quadrennial Comprehensive Policy Review (QCPR) resolution adopted by the General Assembly in 2012, which the Strategic Plan should be fully aligned with. It is therefore important to recall in this context that the QCPR gave the mandate to the UN Development System to give "the highest priority to poverty eradication" and we hope that UNDP will not lose sight of this overarching objective in all the areas covered by the Strategic Plan.

The Group of 77 and China wishes to recall that the mandate of the QCPR about the strategies for the definition and implementation of the concept of "Critical Mass" of resources by 2013 was not fulfilled in time, as well as the fact that the balance between core and non-core resources is a matter still pending. Constructive and flexible discussions on these matters should lead to the best possible outcome.

Let me reiterate that the Group remains confident that the Strategic Plan's guidance of the work of UNDP will also be important in making the UNDP's work more accessible and understood by the countries it serves. Accordingly, it must be clear that the Vision for the Strategic Plan must find implementation paths in a transparent manner, so it is clear how the process is being conducted. Major institutional changes should be discussed. We also request UNDP to keep its focus where there are development needs, as well as in meaningfully and substantively achieving its own vision of poverty eradication and inclusive growth.

Last year, the Group had made its position known on the use of concepts that have not been agreed to by the UN membership, either as goals or as approaches in the Strategic Plan. The Group therefore continues to urge caution in the use of such a concept in UNDP's strategic approach. The Group would continue to recommend instead that the engagement principles be those of prioritising the needs and approaches identified by programme countries in terms of what is best for their individual situations, and for individual programmes.

Mr. President,

With regard to two of the agenda items for discussion at this Board Session, i.e. Regional Programmes for Asia and Pacific and UNDP's response to EB Decision 2013/28, the Group would like to flag two key concerns and hope that these are addressed:

One, the indicators in the Results Resource Framework for the Regional Programme Document, especially for the Asia Pacific Region, give an explicit impression that UNDP is passing judgments on the legal aid systems in developing countries. Moreover, resource allocations of UNDP have been indicated against outcomes with which UNDP has no relation, and may be achieved by member states either on their own or through partnerships with other stakeholders. We would therefore urge that for the sake of transparency, the RRF indicators should reflect only those projects and programmes which have been implemented with UNDP's assistance in programme countries and not take credit for what other member states or agencies might have achieved on their own. This distinction must be brought about and therefore the need to further refine these indicators in the outcome level.

Secondly, while we welcome the paper presented by UNDP on the explanation for additional resources for security measures on 'new and emerging security mandates', contained in document DP/2014/6, it may be noted that since 2003, all the four instances cited in the paper itself, on when such requirements were foreseen by UNDP, not even once was a dollar spent or utilised towards addressing these. At a time when a shrinking resource envelope for UNDP's programming activities is a cause for worry, to keep USD 30 million locked and unutilised for more than 10 years, without any provision for review, is indeed a cause for deep concern.

Mr. President,

The Group welcomes the Strategic Framework of the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation, 2014-2017 and looks forward to see how the operational approach translates focus areas into action, as committed to in the Strategic Plan. Also, an important contribution of UNDP in this regard would be to help and assist developing countries in implementing South-South projects, wherever such help is requested and wherever UNDP's resources so permit.

The Group of 77 and China looks forward to constructive discussions during this Executive Board session.

I thank you Mr. President.