Mr. President,

1. I have the honour to deliver this statement on behalf of the Group of 77 and China.

2. At the outset, the Group of 77 and China would like to congratulate you on your able leadership in steering the Executive Board this year. Also please allow me to express appreciation on behalf of the Group to you for convening this very important session of the Executive Board. The Group would also like to thank the Administrator for her comprehensive report and statement. UNDP indeed remains an important agency among the funds and programmes in supporting Member States in their efforts to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in the years ahead.

Mr. President,

3. The Group would like to reiterate that the upcoming deliberation on the new Quadrennial Comprehensive Policy Review (QCPR) will be very crucial in providing the UN development system with a much needed strategic guidance overhaul vis-à-vis the 2030 Agenda that is universal, integrated and sustainable to leave no one behind. It is crucial that the future work of the Executive Board will seriously take into account such new development into the upcoming deliberation and drafting of the new strategic plan of UNDP. Relevancy of the agency and the entire UN development system will very much depend on how they can use their comparative advantages in response to the new global ambitions in a coordinated and coherent manner with the new QCPR as the guidance.

Mr. President,

4. The Group remains concerned about the growing imbalance between core and non-core resources. We have raised concerns times and again regarding the continued prioritization of non-core resources which are earmarked for specific areas. Non-core resources tend to skew the overall mandate of the UN funds and programmes in terms of the implementation of their operational activities for sustainable development. We should not forget to improve funding for the core resources of the UN development system, as interventions emanating from these mainly conform to governments' respective national policies and priorities.

5. The funding report indicates that the decrease in core resources in 2015 was at an astonishing 11 per cent, a repeat of the same percentage in 2014. As highlighted in the same report, this poses "a key challenge, constraining the ability of UNDP to ensure global development effectiveness" which "could also accentuate organizational risks due to adverse effects on institutional capacity for quality assurance, monitoring, accountability and oversight". The current trend indicates that core resources continue to shrink, which by implication makes the capacity of UNDP to properly deliver and achieve its mandates contained in its Strategic Plan to be adversely affected. UNDP that is non-core dependent would not be fit in its mandate to deliver a universal purpose of development and its support to Member States in their sustainable development efforts.

6. In this adverse financial situation that the UNDP faces, it is important to highlight that contributions provided by programme country governments in the form of government cost sharing have increased between 2014 and 2015. The Group would like to reiterate that government cost sharing is a voluntary funding mechanism that strengthens national ownership and contributes to the achievement of country programmes of developing countries. In this regard, we would like to request UNDP to bear the special characteristics of government cost sharing in mind when considering mechanisms to incentivize less restricted or earmarked resources.

Mr. President,

7. The new Agenda envisages development efforts to be universal on all Member States. In this regard, the Group is of a strong view that there is an urgent need to further democratize the participation of developing countries in the Executives Boards, as well as an equitable geographic representation in the UNDP governance structures. The current model based mainly on contributions has led to an over-representation of the donor countries and the institutions more susceptible to the non-core leverage.

Mr. President,

8. The Group would also like to reiterate a number of additional points that we raised during the Annual Session of the Executive Board in June this year as follows:

8.1 In line with the overarching objective of the 2030 Agenda, eradication of poverty in all its forms and dimensions, including extreme poverty, remains the top priority of the work of operational work of UNDP as well as all the UN funds and programmes. The Group would like to see continued reflection of this priority in the upcoming new Strategic Plan of the agency in the months ahead, including by working with developing states in measuring poverty in all its forms and dimensions and broader measures of progress to complement gross domestic product.

8.2 There is a need for a review of the monitoring, aggregation and reporting systems related to the Integrated Results and Resources Framework (IRRF), as reaffirmed by the Executive Board Decision 2015/7, to enhance its credibility and accountability, as reiterated by the Group in previous sessions of the Executive Board.

8.3 There is an urgent need to increase collaboration in the areas of harmonized or common approaches to procurement, human resources and financial management. It is imperative and important that coordination and collaboration, within UNDP and between UNDP and other UN funds and programms and agencies, are enhanced to ensure effective response of the UN development system to the development needs of Member States.

8.4 The UNDP Funding Windows is a step in the right direction in terms of enhancing flexibility for non-core resources. However, it should be noted that the Funding Windows do not constitute a response to the current situation of imbalance between core and non-core resources. As reiterated times and again, the Group would like to be clarified on the current status of this Funding Windows and how UNDP intends to bring that to the attention of the Executive Board and wider membership of the UN.

8.5 The UN development system, in particular UNDP, should enhance its efforts in aligning its operational activities with national priorities, in order to ensure national ownership over the Member State-led implementation of the 2030 Agenda. In accordance with the QCPR, country-level presence of the United Nations development system should be tailored to meet specific development challenges and needs of programme countries. In doing so, it is crucial to ensure the alignment of the UNDAF's preparatory process with national planning cycles, incorporating the incumbent national priorities as defined at the beginning of their terms.

8.6 Lastly, there is a need for full support of UNDP in the areas under South-South framework through its South-South and Triangular Cooperation Strategy discussed earlier this year. In doing so, we would like to reiterate that South-South Cooperation is complementary to but not a substitute of the traditional North-South Cooperation.

Mr. President,

9. The Group of 77 and China looks forward to constructive discussion during this session of the Executive Board and hopes that the Board will play a significant role in strengthening the overall work of the UN development system in light of the upcoming negotiations on the QCPR among other important works we have during the upcoming main session of the General Assembly. It is of critical importance that we work together in an open, transparent and inclusive manner in order to bring about progress towards the achievement of sustainable development.

I thank you.