Madame President,

I have the honour to deliver these points on behalf of the Group of 77 and China.

With the dawn of the Post-2015 development agenda, training and research will be of paramount importance. This will require capacity building and to this end, the United Nations Research and Training Institute (UNITAR) will be especially poised to carry its mandate. Delegates in New York, particularly new ones, need to be prepared for the negotiations and we trust that we can count on the UNITAR New York Office.

Our trust in the New York Office is based on the positive results of training sessions at the UN Headquarters. During the last four years, the UNITAR New York Office has strived to serve delegates from the Group of 77 and China Member States. The UNITAR New York Office has carried out about 120 workshops with nearly 70% of the delegates trained coming from the G77 and China. While this has not been profit-driven, the New York Office has been a guardian of the General Assembly mandate of UNITAR, enhancing the capacity building and dynamism of delegates. This is the spirit that will guide the Post-2015 Development Agenda.

Madame President,

We appreciative the work of the UNITAR New York Office under its current leadership, and we trust that it will continue to expand the understanding and cooperation between itself and the Group of 77 and China Member States. The courses provided must be in line with the needs and priorities of Member States, as we enter into the post-2015 Development Agenda.

I thank you.