Mr. President, Distinguished Members of the Board, UNDP Administrator,

I have the honor to deliver this statement on behalf of the G77 and China.

Mr. Administrator, the Group of the G77 and China appreciates your comprehensive statement, and reiterates its full and continuous support to the vision and direction outlined in the UNDP Strategic Plan.

As the largest end-to-end UN development organization, UNDP is a crucial partner in enhancing and accelerating assistance to developing countries in implementing their respective sustainable development priorities and supporting their efforts to achieve them through collaboration with the Resident Coordinators.

The Group of 77 and China reiterates its grave concern about the 23.3% decline in official development assistance (ODA) in 2025, with a further decline of 6.9% projected for 2026. The Group is also concerned about the 27% decline in core contributions to the United Nations system in 2025, the largest annual decline on record, and extends its sincere appreciation to all 32 Member States that contributed core resources in 2025. The Group reiterates its longstanding call for a significant increase in core contributions, urging all development partners to reverse the current trajectory by providing adequate, predictable, and flexible funding, which is indispensable to achieving the objectives of the UNDP Strategic Plan.

At the same time, the Group recognizes that, more than ever, it is essential to ensure that every aid dollar is used as effectively and impactfully as possible, and welcomes efforts undertaken to reduce duplication and improve efficiency within UNDP and across the system in the context of the UN80 initiative.

As we approach the final years for implementation of the 2030 Agenda, the Group of the 77 and China stresses that the United Nations development system must intensify its support to programme countries to accelerate progress in line with their national priorities. This requires the timely and effective implementation of the Sevilla Commitment, strengthened multilateral cooperation, fulfillment of official development assistance commitments, technology transfer and capacity-building support, enhanced access to concessional financing, debt sustainability measures, and the termination of unilateral coercive measures that undermine Member States' capacities to achieve sustainable development and constrain UNDP ability to effectively deliver its mandate on the ground.

Mr. Administrator,

As you rightly acknowledged today, developing countries are making significant efforts to invest their own national budgets through UNDP, with Government Development Financing reaching nearly $1.6 billion in 2025 and now representing 29% of UNDP's total contributions. Bearing in mind that public resources are already under increasing pressure, and that the international financing required to achieve national development priorities and the Sustainable Development Goals goes far beyond what traditional aid alone is delivering in the current political context, the Group of 77 and China appreciates your commitment to advancing a new model of development partnerships that strengthens South-South cooperation and mobilizes the private sector as a strategic partner for development, including through initiatives such as the UNDP flagship Investment Accelerator and the SDG Investor Maps.

Amid a challenging development landscape and the multiple global crises we are currently facing, the Group of 77 and China wishes to reaffirm its full support for you and your efforts to adapt and strengthen the development system, based on national ownership, creative international partnerships, and renewed trust through greater coordination and cost-efficiencies, as well as measurable results and deliverables for Member States.

I thank you.