Mr. President,

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

2. At the outset, the Group wishes to thank you, Mr. President, for initiating this decision to establish an ad hoc working group on Work Stream 2 on mandate implementation review. We also thank the Secretary-General for his report on this Work Stream.

Mr. President,

3. The Group views the UN80 Initiative as an important step in enhancing the role of the United Nations in addressing global challenges. The Group continues to stress that any proposals under this Initiative and its three workstreams must fully respect the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, as well as the intergovernmental nature of the Organisation. Therefore, the UN80 process should strengthen, not dilute, multilateralism, ensure equitable participation of all Member States, and address the priorities and concerns of developing countries. In this regard, the Group underscores that reforms under the three workstreams, across all three pillars of the United Nations, particularly in the Development pillar, should address the priorities and concerns of developing countries, enhance their voice and representation, and be conducted through a transparent, inclusive, effective and Member State-driven process.

4. It is in this vein that the Group of 77 and China regrets that its concerns on the draft decision, conveyed in writing twice, have not been addressed. In particular, we remain concerned with the current timeline for the establishment and work of the ad hoc working group set out in the decision under consideration today. As in any given year the main segment of the UN General Assembly is an extremely busy time with full concentration being given to the many resolutions under consideration in the plenary and its six Main Committees. Convening the working group concurrently with the main session would not foster the right environment to undertake the extremely important work of the ad hoc working group as it would add further strain on smaller delegations within our group. We expect that the co-chairs of the working group would take these constraints into account.

5. Further, the Group underscores the importance of ensuring that negotiations and decision-making processes are carried out in an open, transparent, and inclusive manner, through established intergovernmental arrangements, norms and procedures. The Group trusts that future consideration of such important matters will be pursued on the basis of broad consultations, through consensus and shared ownership among all Member States.

Mr. President,

6. Please be assured of the Group's constructive engagement in this process. We look forward to the appointment of the Co-Chairs of the ad hoc working group, which should be one from a developing country and one from a developed country.

I thank you.