INTERVENTION ON BEHALF OF THE GROUP OF 77 AND CHINA BY MS. THANAVON PAMARNON, FIRST SECRETARY OF THE PERMANENT MISSION OF THAILAND TO THE UNITED NATIONS, AT THE OPENING SEGMENT OF THE HABITAT III INFORMAL INTERGOVERNMENTAL MEETINGS (New York, 8 June 2016)

Co-facilitators,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the Group of 77 and China.

The Group wishes first to express our sincere appreciation to the Permanent Representatives of the Philippines and Mexico for accepting to be the Co-facilitators for the negotiations on the zero draft outcome document for the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Development(Habitat III). We welcome the overdue appointment of the two Co-facilitators as the remaining time to negotiate the zero draft and discuss convergence and divergence points is pressing us. We have three days this week and three days during the third informal intergovernmental meeting later this month before the third PrepCom in Surabaya.

In this regard, we must work tirelessly and undertake the challenging task ahead of us in the next months.

We would like to also commend Ecuador and France for the able leadership in steering the first Informal Intergovernmental negotiations in May.

Co-facilitators,

During the first Informal negotiations based on the zero draft, the Group provided our preliminary comments in order to help guide the Bureau to produce a revised version of the outcome document for the second Informal Intergovernmental negotiation. At the closing segment, the Group entrusted the Bureau to manage the process for securing co-facilitators, and requested a revised outcome document, which we expected to receive on 27 May, in order that we would have adequate time to prepare for the second informal meeting this week. We also supported the idea of appointing two Co-facilitators to facilitate our discussions.

However, we did not receive the revised outcome document and were informed of the appointment of the Co-facilitators this morning. We received the compilation of the inputs of 104 pages which we think could be useful as a reference, not as a basis for our negotiation or discussion. Despite the limited options that we have, the Group's intention is to engage and contribute to the process in a constructive manner. In this regard, we will be making our comments based on the zero draft.

The Group is of the view that given the time limitations, we urgently need to change gear, and significantly accelerate our progress towards the final Quito outcome. We will thus provide more specific comments and inputs throughout this week and we will submit our amendments to the zero draft in writing so that it can be taken into account in the revised outcome document.

The Group would like to request the Co-facilitators to provide a revised outcome document that reflects the discussions of both informal intergovernmental meetings, including suggestions made on structure and content of the document, at the earliest opportunity, in order to provide sufficient time for delegations to adequately prepare for the next negotiation session.

Co-facilitators,

The Group is confident in your able leadership and please rest assured that you have the Group of 77 and China's commitment and full support. We will continue to engage in the preparatory process for the Habitat III Conference actively and constructively with the aim to reach a meaningful and ambitious New Urban Agenda.

I thank you, Co-facilitators.