Mr. Chairman,

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

At the outset, please allow me to express our heartfelt appreciation to you and the members of your Bureau for the leadership, as well as the flexibility shown on the schedule of negotiations for this very important resolution. I would also like to express our thanks to the facilitator, Mr. Markus Reisle, and his team at the Swiss Mission for their efforts and perseverance throughout the process, who had to conduct virtual negotiations as a response to the unprecedented and challenging times we are all facing.

Mr. Chairman,

The Group of 77 and China reaffirms its support to this resolution, which establishes key system wide strategic policy orientations and operational modalities for the development cooperation and country-level modalities of the United Nations development system as well as an extremely important document to provide strong guidance to the United Nations development system in an effort for it to support countries in their implementation of the 2030 Agenda - an Agenda that is universal and integrated in nature. However, the Group is concerned that this very resolution continues to be undermined as last minute amendments, and votes have to be called for some specific paragraphs.
 
The Group reaffirms our principle - a non-politicized principle - that in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, the United Nations development system must address the special challenges facing developing countries, in particular, African countries, least developed countries, landlocked developing countries and small island developing States, the need for special attention to countries in conflict and post-conflict situations and countries and peoples under foreign occupation, as well as the specific challenges facing the middle-income countries, in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda. This is a unified position of the Group. Therefore, it is unfortunate that delegations continue to call for votes on a paragraph that speaks to the challenges of those most in need of assistance, despite our collective commitment to 'leave no one behind'.

Mr. Chairman,

From the very beginning of the negotiations, the Group of 77 and China engaged constructively and in good faith, giving utmost attention and consideration to each and every proposal made to the zero draft, providing comments and showing flexibility to incorporate the many diverse views of the delegations in the negotiating rooms. However, we noted with great concern that many delegations were more interested in populating the draft resolution with topics of their particular interest in an unbalanced manner, undermining the mandate and remit of the UN development system. In this regard, we would like to underscore that the QCPR is a development resolution and therefore it must continue to maintain a development perspective, with the eradication of poverty in all its forms and dimensions as its overarching objectives. In this regard, we welcome and fully support the strong call for strengthened actions to accelerate progress on poverty eradication included in the text.

Mr. Chairman,

The Group of 77 and China believes that human rights, humanitarian issues, sustaining peace, sexual exploitation and abuse, and gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls, are all matters of extreme importance. However, we note with concern the way in which these issues were introduced into the resolution, often in an unbalanced manner and related to mandates that were beyond the developmental focus of this resolution. We believe that the focus of the QCPR should remain development focus. Nonetheless, in a spirit of compromise, the Group worked constructively with all delegations to find the right balance for their inclusion, and agreed to the language on these areas as part of the package to find consensus.

We were also disappointed with the approach taken with addressing the concerns of peoples in vulnerable situations. The Group continues to believe that we must work to be more inclusive and refrain from picking and choosing those to highlight, as this goes against the whole concept and integrated nature of the 2030 Agenda.

On the other hand, we were pleased that we were able to address the countries in special situations and those with special challenges, in their individual context, based on relevant internationally agreed outcome documents, including the Istanbul Programme of Action, the Vienna Programme of Action, the SAMOA Pathway, the African Union Agenda 2063, among others, including the support to middle-income countries facing specific challenges. These relevant paragraphs are testament of our commitment to reject and move away from a one-size-fits-all approach and they are proof of the significant progress achieved in this 2020 QCPR compared to four years ago.

Mr. Chairman,

As stated by the Group of 77 and China at the start of the negotiations, it is very important that the operational activities for development of the UN development system take into account the need to build, promote and strengthen capacity of developing countries in their efforts to address long-term sustainable development at the national level while, at the same time, emphasizing the importance of national ownership and leadership and bearing in mind the different development levels and realities on the ground in these countries. Therefore we expect the repositioned development system and its components, including the reinvigorated RC system, the UN Country Teams, the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Frameworks, and the country programme documents, to now place their focus on effective delivery of support and services to programme countries, in this "Decade of Action and Delivery for the SDGs", with full respect and in accordance with national development policies, plans, priorities and needs. It is also crucial that the system continues to enhance transparency and accountability at all levels, including through the General Assembly, the ECOSOC, and the relevant executive boards. In this regard, the Group is pleased that strong language on this issue has been agreed and incorporated in the final text. We also expect outstanding issues, such as the regional and the MCOs reviews, to be implemented in a transparent and accountable manner, adhering to relevant guidance and mandates.

Mr. Chairman,

It is in this regard that we would like to place on record the Group's positions on several key issues:

First, we note with concern the lack of flexibility to include provisions for qualified nationals to be recruited by the appropriate UNDS entities with representation in the field, with particular attention to professional and higher categories of staff, which we believe will provide invaluable knowledge of the programme country and support in delivering more tailored approach of the entire UN Country Team.

Second, we continue to highlight the concerns raised around the unbalance of core and non-core resources, particularly in the context of the response to the COVID-19 Pandemic, where more flexibility on the use of funding is needed, which can be better served by a better allocation of core resources.

Third, we forward to the UNSG's review of the reinvigorated RC system that will be presented later this session. It is critical that we build on the progress of the repositioning of the UNDS to review the improvements made, and course-correct, if necessary.

Fourth, the concept of "sustaining peace", as per the twin resolutions under the title "Review of the United Nations peacebuilding architecture" adopted by the General Assembly and the Security Council, has been discussed, negotiated and adopted in a different context. (based on 2016 G77 Statement for adoption of QCPR)

Fifth, since this resolution is and must be development focused, the Group believes that the mentioning of the issue of "humanitarian crises" in operative paragraph 16 is not justifiable. (based on 2016 G77 Statement for adoption of QCPR)

Mr. Chairman,

In closing, the Group of 77 and China would like to express our appreciation to all delegations for their engagement in the negotiations as we set out to provide the United Nations development system with the strategic guidance for the next four years. We look forward to a more coherent and coordinated United Nations development system that can deliver results on the ground, ensure national ownership and leadership, and support programme countries in our efforts to implement the 2030 Agenda.

I thank you.