Mr. Chairman,

1. I have the honor to speak on behalf of the Group of 77 and China in this organizational session of the first part of the resumed sixty-fourth session of the Fifth Committee of the General Assembly.

2. Let me begin by expressing our sincere appreciation to you for your excellent leadership at the main part of the sixty fourth sessions of the Fifth Committee of the General Assembly and bringing it to as successful conclusion. As we begin the first resumed session, I would like to wish you all the best in guiding our discussions and to assure you of our full cooperation during the session.

Mr. Chairman,

3. The Group of 77 and China also takes this opportunity to thank you and the bureau of the Committee for preparing the draft programme of work, and the Secretariat for issuing the document A/C.5/64/L27 reflecting the status of preparedness of documentation for the first part of the resumed sixty-forth session of the Fifth Committee of the General Assembly. However, and in this context, the Group would like to underline its concerns for the continuing phenomenon of the late issuance of the reports, which should be considered by the Committee during the resumed session, despite the fact that several specific resolutions of the General Assembly require the Secretariat to issue documents six weeks prior to their consideration.

4. I would like to stress that the delay in presenting the reports is unacceptable, as it negatively affects the fulfillment and implementation of mandated activities and the work of the Fifth Committee. It is therefore important that the Secretariat should submit the reports without any further delays and comply with the resolutions and decisions of the General Assembly in this regard. Moreover, the Secretariat should indicate the reasons for the delay of presenting the reports at the time they have been submitted. And in this regard, the Group would like to remind Committee members that the Secretary-General's report on accountability was issued only one working day before the beginning of the session, and that the ACABQ's report is not yet issued. Therefore, we would like to postpone the introduction of the accountability item to Monday, 8 March.

Mr. Chairman

5. We are going to consider within this session important issues, some of which have been previously considered by the Fifth Committee and are of great importance to the work of the Secretariat of the United Nations and the Organization in general.

6. The programme of work presented to us anticipates a rather smooth and swift session and as such, that is the hope the G-77 and China. However the Group will be in a position to endorse only the first week of the proposed programme of work as amended above, since there might be changes to make along the road, depending on the evolution of the debates and consultations.

7. Accordingly, and in conclusion, I assure you that the Group of 77 and China will do its best to have a successful session, and that it will cooperate with all other groups of States to facilitate your job in having the smooth and successful session we all look for.

Thank you