Mr. President,

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

2. We thank you for convening this meeting, and we particularly thank the Secretary General for providing us with this briefing about the UN 80 initiative.

3. The members of the Group have followed with deep concern the dire liquidity situation of the Organization which has seriously impacted mandate delivery. The Group stresses that the most fundamental and effective answer to the recurrent liquidity problems of the Organization depends on Member States fulfilling their obligations to pay their assessed contributions in full, on time and without conditions.

4. This also requires, in certain instances, the removal of any impediment to enable Member States to fully and effectively fulfill their financial obligations with the Organization.

5. It is deeply disturbing that not only the Secretariat, but many of the agencies, funds and programmes of the UN system are at grave risk because of the delinquency in or the withdrawal of financial contributions.

6. We also emphatically recall that one single Member State, which is also the only beneficiary of the maximum ceiling on the scale of assessments, continues to be responsible for more than 90 percent of arrears to the regular budget.

7. Regarding the effort that the Secretary-General has launched to seek efficiencies in the functioning of the Organization, the UN 80 initiative, the Group sees strong merit in the idea of optimizing the use of scarce resources as a measure to ensure enhanced effectiveness in delivering the mandates established by Member States.

8. In order to ensure the best outcome to this process, the Group is of the view that it requires regular, meaningful and constructive exchanges with its entire membership at the level of the General Assembly, while noting that the Fifth Committee remains the appropriate main committee of the General Assembly entrusted with responsibilities for administrative and budgetary matters. We would like to underscore as well the role of ACABQ in this regard.

9. The Group would also like to point out that any proposals aimed at achieving efficiencies by reducing duplications and redundancies across the UN system should not aim at dismantling the UN agencies/funds to the detriment of due support to Member States. Most of the UN agencies accumulate specific institutional know-how that must not be lost in the process of streamlining. In this regard, the Group underscores the vital role of the Regional Commissions as indispensable institutional assets with deep regional knowledge, policy integration functions, and proximity to country needs that need to be strengthened not diminished.

10. In this context, we emphasize that reforms that may be foreseen under the UN80 Initiative must preserve, first and foremost, the multilateral and inclusive nature of the United Nations, while also avoiding austerity-driven models that may ultimately compromise the effectiveness of our organization, particularly with regards to the implementation of its multiple mandates, as approved by Member States.

11. The Group also encourages a strategic approach to the structural reform based on evaluation of outcome of previous reforms in the past so as to identify the measures required to enhance the overall effectiveness throughout this process.

12. In conclusion, while we firmly support the notion of eliminating inefficiencies, we insist that this process requires consistent, permanent and transparent engagements with the membership. The Group of 77 and China looks forward to further periodic consultations and engagements with the Secretary General and reaffirms its commitment to engage constructively in this process and ensure that the Organization continues to serve its member states more effectively.

Thank you.