Mr. Chairman,

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

2. The Group of 77 and China would like to begin by expressing its sincere appreciation to you Mr. Chairman, for the excellent leadership you continue to provide to Fifth Committee of the General Assembly during this session.We understand that the extension and suspension of the first resumed session on an exceptional basis was needed in order to enable the Committee to conclude its consideration of all items on its agenda. The Group is happy to note that the Committee was able to arrive at consensus on the critical issue of the SAG report. It would also be pertinent that the Committee at the beginning of the session resumes its informal consultations on other deferred items such as Civilian Capacity in the aftermath of conflict.

3. The Group of 77 and China wishes to thank the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Mr. Hervé Ladsous, the Under Secretary-General of Department of Field Support Ms. Ameerah Haq, and the Assistant Secretary-General/Controller, Ms. Maria Eugenia Casar, for joining us today.

4. 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.5/67/L.32 reflecting the status of preparedness of documentation for the second part of the resumed sixty-seventh session of the Fifth Committee.We hope that the draft programme of work will consequently be adjusted according to the availability of the relevant documents, as well as the progress and evolution of negotiations during in the session.

5. The G77 and China notes in this regard and with regret that the important and thick report of the Board of Auditors, is this year not yet available in its edited version. The Group would thus like to recall articles 10, 15 and 17 of the United Nations Charter and requests the Secretariat to provide in writing detailed information on the reasons of this situation and the status of any other outstanding printing jobs of edited documents related to the current Fifth Committee second resumed session.

Mr. Chairman,

6. The Committee has a heavy agenda to dispense with during the session, most importantly the financing of 16 active peacekeeping missions, cross-cutting issues and the support account.It would, therefore, require that the Committee maintains its focus on peacekeeping related issues with a view to timely conclusion of the session.

7. The Group of 77 and China is of the view that during the session, while examining the proposed budgets of the peacekeeping missions, we will need to tackle three priority areas as follows:

i. First, to address comprehensively the systemic and unresolved issues and difficulties faced by the Troop-Contributing Countries including their under-representation;
ii. Secondly, to explore options to achieve a fair solution for the unpaid assessments, accounts payable and other liabilities of closed peacekeeping missions, so as to settle claims outstanding in the missions with cash deficit;
iii. Thirdly, to ensure that the formulation, presentation, and approval of the peacekeeping budgets is done on the basis of their mandates and the real situation on ground, and not as arbitrary, across-the-board cost-cutting exercise; and
iv. Fourthly, assess the qualitative and quantitative impact and intended benefits of the Secretary-General's reform initiatives, most importantly the Global Field Support Strategy.

Mr. Chairman,

8. The Group of 77 and China would like to state clearly that adequate time should be allocated for the consideration of all items on our agenda. The Group will, therefore, support conclusion of the session within the allocated programme of work.

9. In conclusion Mr. Chairman, the Group of 77 and China would like to assure you of its readinessto engage constructively during the Committee's deliberations on all issues under its consideration during the session.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.