Mr. Chair,

Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications,
Distinguished delegates,

I am honored to deliver this statement on behalf of the Group of 77 and China at the closing of the 48th Session of the Committee on Information.

At the outset, allow me to express our appreciation to you, Mr. Chair, and the other members of the Bureau, for their effective and inclusive leadership role. We also thank the Department of Global Communications, USG Ms. Melissa Fleming, and her team at the DSG for the quality of the work accomplished during the informal sessions.

Moreover, the Group would like to thank Ms. Kulapa Suaprae, from the Permanent Mission of Thailand, for her excellent work leading the Group of 77 and China through the negotiations of the draft resolutions of the Committee on Information.

I also would like to thank the members of the G77 and China Secretariat for providing an enabling environment and support during the course of this session.

Allow me to congratulate our distinguished delegates on the adoption of the Group's proposed resolution by consensus. We thank all delegations for their constructive engagement with the G77 and China to agree on the technical rollover of the draft resolutions during this session.

This year, the Group wishes to underscore that the biennialization of the resolution is a relevant measure for achieving greater effectiveness in the Committee's work. In this regard, the Group welcomes the opportunity to participate in a substantive dialogue next year, focused on taking stock of the resolution's implementation and exploring further avenues for the DGC's work. The Group hopes that the transition to a longer reporting period will enable the Department to optimize its resources and deliver even more impactful substantive reporting.

We are gratified to see that on this occasion the resolution can be adopted in the six official languages of the Organization, which shows the strong commitment not only of the G77 and China, but also of all the delegations involved in this process, to multilingualism as a core value of the Organization.

The Group will remain ready to engage constructively on future negotiations to further strengthen and support the work of the DGC, convinced that access to impartial, accurate and accessible information is central to the pursuit of sustainable development, leaving no one behind. With the adoption of these resolutions, we are renewing the support for the Department of Global Communications at a crucial time in the media landscape around the world.

I thank you.