Matters requiring action by the Board in the follow-up to the thirteenth session of the Conference

GROUP OF 77
GENEVA

STATEMENT DELIVERED BY THE VICE-CHAIRMAN OF THE GROUP OF 77 AND CHINA IN GENEVA (PHILIPPINES), AT THE 69TH SESSION OF THE WORKING PARTY ON THE STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK AND THE PROGRAM BUDGET (PROGRAM NARRATIVE FOR THE BIENNIUM 2016-2017)
(Geneva, 1 December 2014)

Madam Chair,
Mr. Petko Draganov, Deputy Secretary-General of UNCTAD
Excellencies,
Distinguished delegates,

1. At the outset, allow me on behalf of the Group of 77 and China to congratulate you on your election as Chairman of the sixty-ninth session of the Working Party on the Strategic Framework and the Program Budget. The Group is confident that under your leadership, this session of the Working Party will achieve its objectives. I would like to assure you of my Group's full support.

2. The Group of 77 and China also expresses its thanks to Deputy Secretary-General Draganov for his introductory statement and we would like to express our most sincere appreciation to the UNCTAD Secretariat for organizing this meeting. The Group of 77 and China recognizes the importance of this session of the working party as it deals with issues important to the developing world. In this regard my group wishes to emphasize three points. First, it is crucial for member States to manifest political will and commit to strengthening UNCTAD, which is one of the most important development forum in the UN that definitively addresses the integrated treatment of trade and development and interrelated issues in the areas of finance, technology, investment and sustainable development, and this can be done through the other two points. First, by ensuring that the proposed program budget for the biennium 2016-2017 is maintained, if not increased, given the significant work that will need to be undertaken in terms of the post-2015 Development Agenda. Second, by having a fundraising strategy that ensures funding for technical cooperation and that this funding is both predictable and sustainable. The Group of 77 and China is confident that if these three points are met we will be able to face up to the development challenges post 2015.

Madam Chair,

3. Going into specific issues, such as the outcome of the 54th session of the Committee for Program Coordination (CPC), the Group of 77 and China takes note with appreciation of the decision of the CPC to maintain balance when referring to the different groupings of countries in the biennial program plan that was proposed by the Working Party at its 66th session.

4. On the issue of planning and production of publications, the Group of 77 and China calls on the Secretariat, in coordination with the United Nations Office in Geneva and other relevant actors, namely the Publications Board and the management of the Department of General Assembly Affairs and Conference Management, to ensure that there is efficient and timely translation of UNCTAD publications wherever applicable. Furthermore, a sufficient number of copies should be printed so that countries with limited internet access may have these important publications in order to make full use of them and the important knowledge and analysis they provide.

5. The Group of 77 and China further recalls the role of the Trade and Development Board (TDB), in accordance with resolution 1995(XIX) to carry out the functions of the Conference when it is not in session. In this connection, the group reaffirms that the decisions of the TDB should be considered as valid mandates for all purposes of production of publications and other related documents.

Madam Chair,

6. In closing the group wishes to recall the outcomes of Doha and requests the secretariat to make relevant provisions at the appropriate juncture, in line with the established practice of allowing Member States to consider how to reformulate the outputs and activities detailed in this narrative in order to bring them in line with the outcomes of the fourteenth session of the Conference to be held in 2016 in Lima, Peru.

I thank you Madam Chair.