Mr. Chairman,

1. I have the honor to speak on behalf of the Group of 77 and China on agenda item 140, entitled Joint Inspection Unit.

2. The Group would like to express its deep appreciation to the outgoing Chairman of the Joint Inspection Unit, Mr. Jorge Flores Callejas, for the outstanding work during his tenure. The Group welcomes and thanks the new Chairman of the Joint Inspection Unit, Mr. A. Gopinathan, for introducing the Unit's Annual Report for 2015 and programme of work for 2016 as contained in document A/70/34. We also thank the Senior Adviser on Information Management and Policy Coordination of the Secretariat of the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination, Mr. Kenneth Herman, for introducing the relevant note of the Secretary-General.

3. 2016 will be the year that the Joint Inspection Unit observes the fiftieth anniversary of its founding. Allow me to express my congratulations to the Unit on behalf of the Group on this occasion. Fifty years had been a long way for the Unit as the sole independent, external oversight body of the United Nations system, mandated to conduct inspections, evaluations and investigations system-wide.

4. The Group continues to attach great importance to the work the Joint Inspection Unit carried out under its Statute. The Unit provides valuable reports on systemic issues which are relevant and beneficial to participating organizations and Member States, despite its continued limited budgetary situation. In this regard, the Group is concerned that the current budget submission process of the JIU is not in full conformity with Article 20 of the Statute of the Joint Inspection Unit which could affect its operational independence.

Mr. Chairman,

5. The Group underlines the important role of the Unit in assisting legislative organs of the participating organizations to meet their governance responsibilities in respect of their oversight function concerning management of human, financial and other resources by the secretariats, and also in contributing to the improvement of the efficiency and effectiveness of the respective secretariats in achieving the legislative mandates and the mission objectives established for the organizations. In this regard, the Group believes that the legislative organs of participating organizations should fully consider and discuss the Unit's reports and the accepted recommendations should be fully implemented by respective secretariat entities.

6. The Group welcomes the will of the Unit to adapt to new priorities defined by the legislative bodies, which include the implementation of the recently adopted 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. We consider that the JIU can be a constructive and useful partner in this endeavor.

7. The Group appreciates the efforts and progress made by the Unit in carrying out its program of work for 2015. We note that the Unit published five system-wide reports; one report covering several organizations which reviews the cooperation among the United Nations regional commissions; and a series of management letters; as well as the final launch of five additional reports will be closely followed. The Group welcomes, in particular, the two pilot projects for independent system-wide evaluation in the context of the quadrennial policy review of the operational activities of the development system. We also welcome the concrete application of the role of the Unit as the only system-wide external oversight body with a broad mandate for inspection, evaluation, and investigation to examine the impact of the United Nations system support for development objectives, in addition to the traditional focus on improving management, methods and efficiency in the use of funds.

8. With regard to the internal operations, the Group of 77 and China encourages the JIU to continue to improve its internal working procedures, to develop a biennial work-planning cycle, and to continue to take measures to carry forward relevant recommendations that emanating from the peer review regarding resource mobilization strategy, outreach and building internal expertise.

9. The Group reiterates also the value of the web-based tracking system developed and used by the Unit for monitoring the acceptance and implementation of its recommendations. Nevertheless, the Group still sees that its periodic upgrade and maintenance remains a challenge. In this regard, the Group recalls that the General Assembly in its resolution 70/247, requested the Secretary-General to provide options for hosting the Unit's website within in-house capacity which the Group considers as the opportunity to resolve the issue. We will continue to pursue this matter during the informal consultations under this agenda item.

Mr. Chairman,

10. Bearing in mind the Unit´s Statute, the Group takes note of its programme of work for 2016, which consists of seven new projects, and welcomes the fact that the projects cover system-wide issues and seek to address them from a strategic and risk-based perspective. The Group will look into deepening the discussion on the scope and objectives in finding the reasonable balance between the system-wide and single organizations reviews during the informal consultations.

Mr. Chairman,

11. The Group of 77 and China would like to take this opportunity to bid farewell to the four inspectors who left the Unit at the end of 2015 and extend a warm welcome to their successors. The greater gender balance in the new composition of the Unit is welcomed and should be sought further in the future.

12. To conclude, the Group expresses its commitment to constructively and efficiently engage with all side in the discussion to ensure successful conclusion of this agenda item.

I thank you, Mr. Chairman.