Madam Chair,

1. I have the honour to deliver this statement on behalf of the Group of 77 and China. The Group welcomes this opportunity to present the views of developing countries on issues that are fundamental to strengthening the development pillar of the United Nations. We are of the view that enhancing the UN system's capacity to improve its response to the development needs of countries is vital, and speaks to the relevance of the Organization, in light of the many pressing development challenges we currently face.

Madam Chair,

2. Strengthening the role and capacity of the UN development system to assist countries in achieving their development goals requires continued improvement in its effectiveness, efficiency, coherence and impact, along with a significant increase in resources. The Secretary-General's report (E/2010/70), while noting some positive trends in the levels of contributions received by the United Nations system in 2008 with an increase of 10 per cent in real terms from the previous year, reaching the highest level ever, at $22.2 billion. However, we note with concern that the imbalance between core and non-core funding remains, with core resources representing about 29 per cent of the total contributions. The continuing imbalance between "core" and "non-core" resources highlighted in the report continues to remain a matter of concern and needs to be addressed more clearly. We feel that this is a major cause for incoherence in the UN development system, including at the country level, and leads to distorted and uneven approaches by the UN towards the implementation of development programmes in accordance with national host-government development goals.

Madam Chair,

3. The Group of 77 and China reaffirms the importance of the Triennial Comprehensive Policy Review (TCPR) of operational activities. The General Assembly resolution 62/208 gives guidance to the UN system on operational activities. In this regard, the General Assembly establishes key system-wide policy orientation for the development cooperation and country-level modalities of the UN system, including the UNDP. We would like to note TCPR guidance as follows:

         The operational activities should be carried out for the benefit of recipient countries, at the request of those countries and in accordance with their own policies and priorities for development.

         The fundamental characteristics of the UN operational activities for development must remain, inter alia, the universal, voluntary and grant nature, the neutrality and the multilateralism, as well as the ability to respond to the development needs of programme countries in a flexible manner.

         Recognition of national leadership and ownership of development strategies should be a guiding principle of the UN operational activities at the country level. The entire UN system as well as the Bretton Woods Institutions (BWIs) and bilateral donors should recognize the ownership of the concerned developing countries, align their cooperation programmes with the national development strategies and also harmonize their individual cooperation programmes to make the optimum contribution to the realization of national development strategies. The UN development system should continue to support development efforts of developing countries principally by assisting in the implementation of nationally determined development plans, strategies and priorities.

         The guiding principle of the UN operational activities should provide more effectiveness and efficiency in delivery. The savings acquired as a result of the streamlining resulting from any system-wide coherence exercise should be re-channeled into the development cluster of the UN, and not to be directed into other activities beyond that context.

         There should be no restrictions on the ability and sovereignty of national governments to determine their own development priorities or select their development partners, as well as the type of relation with the UN development entities they wish to establish at the country level.

4. The Group emphasizes the need for a strengthened global partnership for development, based on the recognition of national leadership and ownership of development strategies should be a guiding principle of UN operational activities at the country level. Partners should provide support for the realization of the objectives and goals of national development strategies. The entire UN system as well as the BWIs and bilateral donors should recognize the ownership of the concerned developing countries, align their cooperation programmes with the national development strategies and also harmonize their individual cooperation programmes with a view to making the optimum contribution to the realization of national development strategies.

5. Finally, Madam Chair, the G77 and China salutes the adoption by the General Assembly of its resolution 64/289 on system-wide coherence, which provides a comprehensive review of the current status of the work of the UN regarding the operational activities for development. In this regard, we welcome the emphasis of the resolution on the need for adequate quality and quantity of funding for operational activities, as well as the clear mandate stipulated to the governing bodies of funds, programmes and relevant specialized agencies to explore the definition of a "critical mass" of core resources. This landmark resolution creates a solid ground for the deliberations on the next resolution on the comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations system.

I thank you.