Mr. President,
Ms. Deputy Secretary-General,
Honorable Co-facilitators,

1. I have the honor to deliver this statement on behalf of the Group of 77 and China. The Group welcomes your timely initiative to commence these informal consultations on the outcome document of the High-level Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly on the Millennium Development Goals.

2. The Group of 77 and China attaches high priority to the High-level Plenary Meeting and its preparatory process. We are, therefore, ready to engage actively and constructively with a view to advancing a concise and action-oriented outcome document that addresses the challenges with the urgency, certainty and resources required for achieving all the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. Among other things, it should also provide a comprehensive assessment and understanding of where we are on each goal and target, and what needs to be done to ensure achievement of each target by 2015.

3. The health-related MDGs are central to meeting all the MDGs. In developing countries, poverty and hunger are major determinants of health. Education and the empowerment of women which could significantly contribute to the improvement of maternal health and a decrease in child mortality have not improved. Many developing countries are off track to achieve MDG 5 to improve maternal health. Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for half of all maternal deaths and south Asia accounts for one-third. This MDG High Level review meeting needs to address the challenges of maternal health and children mortality which has continued to lag behind in all MDGs.

4. The Group of 77 and China, also takes this opportunity to reiterate the importance of achieving the MDG's on time. We must bear in mind that achieving MDG's require a strong commitment of all us. Despite most of the MDGs, including Goal 8 on Global Partnership for Development, have a 2015 achievement target date, unfortunately we are not on track and might be falling even further behind to meet most of the MDG targets. The main shortcoming is in the implementation of our commitments, and the main challenge to developing countries in ensuring full implementation of the commitments on the ground is the lack of financing and a more supportive international environment, demonstrating a failure in MDG 8.

5. The Group 77 and China emphasizes that the outcome document must of necessity tackle the current multiple global crises - financial, food, and energy, as well as the overarching challenges posed by climate change - and the resultant negative consequences for development which impact most severely on developing countries, and particularly on poorest and most disadvantaged groups who are the target populations of the MDGs. These multiple crises will also increase the cost of meeting the MDGs, and the cost will continue to increase at a faster pace with time.

6. In this context, we would like to highlight the fact that there is no development without eradicating poverty and hunger, there is no development without assuring education, health, gender equality and jobs to our populations. Furthermore the achievement of environmental sustainability is crucial. Nevertheless, greater efforts are needed in order to move towards our international agreed goals.

7. The Group of 77 and China also takes this opportunity to reiterate that the outcome document should focus on:

a. Timely framed and action-oriented plan for the realization of already made commitments to achieve all the goals, including MDG 8; and

b. Agreed upon specific benchmarks and targets to properly measure the implementation of MDG 8 as is the case for the other seven MDGs, so as to enable us to guide our progress in the last five years leading up to the target date of 2015.

c. The outcome document should contain an adequate balance between the technical approaches and the political views on MDGs. We need a concrete and effective plan of action to reach the MDGs by 2015; and at the same time, to take this opportunity to send a very strong political message about this important issue for all the countries, especially for developing countries.

8. In the way forward of this process, the Group would like to highlight these points:

i. We have concern regarding the time available before the plenary, bearing in mind that other important meetings, such as the CSD18, ECOSOC and the process of system-wide coherence, will take place during the next few months. Therefore, we need to make the best use of time.
ii. This is a Member State-driven process. As such, we need to have the draft outcome at the latest by the mid- April to give sufficient time for negotiations.
iii. In this regard, it would be important to have a comprehensive work programme for the following months, as detailed as possible.
iv. This process should adhere to the mandate of General Assembly resolution 64/184, and should be inclusive and transparent.

9. Finally, the G-77 and China is committed to working closely with you and our partners in this important process with a view to reaching a successful outcome of the meeting.

I thank you.