Mr. President,

1. I have the honour to deliver this statement on behalf of the Group of 77 and China.

2. The Group welcomes this opportunity to discuss the role of the United Nations in implementing the Ministerial Declaration of 2010 High-level Segment of the Economic and Social Council on implementing the internationally agreed goals and commitments in regard to gender equality and the empowerment of women.

3. The Declaration addressed the link between gender equality and the empowerment of women to the broader development agenda, and recommended a series of gender-related policy measures considered essential to achieve the internationally agreed development goals (IADGs), including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), for all men and women.

4. We are still far from achieving real gender equality and empowerment of women are still far to achieve. Women still constitute the majority of the world's poor. Challenges continue to prevent women and girls from exercising their right to education. Significant constraints on women's access to full employment and decent work remain in many parts of the world. National mechanisms for gender equality and empowerment of women continue to face constraints and challenges in the implementation of their mandates, including inadequate human and financial resources. Environmental degradation results in negative effects on the life of population at large and on the women in particular.

Mr President,

5. It is important to highlight that the adoption of the Ministerial Declaration coincided with the establishment of UN Women, by the General Assembly. In that regard, the coordination segment also provides an opportunity to assess how the new architecture contributes and will contribute to promoting attention for gender issues across all areas and its strong linkages with the broader development agenda.

6. In particular, it is important to enhance the economic empowerment of women in the context of the global economic and environmental crises. In that regard, the United Nations system must play an active role in promoting the integration of women into the formal economy, including through equal access to education and decent work.

7. At the same level it is also relevant to acknowledge the crucial role and contribution of rural women, including indigenous women, and to advance the recognition of the role of rural women as agents of change and drivers of agriculture and food security. Efforts to promote decent work for rural women are urgently needed in areas such as access to productive resources, credit and technology.

8. The G-77 and China believes that greater efforts are needed to support developing countries towards achieving the internationally agreed goals and commitments on gender equality and the empowerment of women, including through the fulfillment of all commitments on official development assistance, debt relief, market access, financial and technical support, technology transfer and capacity building.

9. In conclusion, Mr. President, the Group reiterates its support to the importance of the ECOSOC in guiding system-wide coordination of UN activities and programmes in the economic and social fields. At this point, we call to further strengthen coordination between and beyond the United Nations system agencies addressing all the international agreed development goals and commitments in regard to gender equality and the empowerment of women, and we stress the support and recognition of the Group of 77 and China to the new institution of UN-WOMEN and call for its adequate, sustained and predictable funding so that it can fulfill its lofty goals.

I thank you Mr. President.