Mr. President,

1. It is my honour to deliver this statement on behalf the G77 and China.

2. The Group would like to thank you for convening this meeting for the purpose of considering the report of the Joint Inspection Unit on South-South and triangular cooperation in the United Nations system (A/66/717) and the related note by the Secretary-General (A/66/717/Add.1).

3. The Group values highly the work of the Joint Inspection Unit as the sole independent, external oversight body of the United Nations system and wishes to reaffirm its full support to its mandate. We wish also to express our thanks to the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation under the able leadership of Mr. Yipping Zhou.

4. The Group appreciates the report of the Joint Inspection Unit on South-South and Triangular Cooperation in the United Nations system, and thanks the Secretary-General for the related note transmitting his comments and those of the United Nations System Chief Executives' Board for Coordination on the report of the Joint Inspection Unit.

5. The Group acknowledges the supportive nature of the report and commends the Joint Inspection Unit for its work and valuable contribution.

6. The Group welcomes the recommendations in the report, particularly those that call for dedicated structures and resources for South-South Cooperation and regular reporting on South-South cooperation activities. The G77 and China urges all UN system organisations to support the role of the UN Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC), including reporting regularly on progress made in implementing the Nairobi Outcome Document of the High-level United Nations Conference on South-South Cooperation, held in Nairobi from 1 to 3 December 2009, and endorsed by the General Assembly in its resolution 64/222, as well as the Secretary-General's operational guidelines for the implementation thereof.

7. The Group concurs that the implementation of South-South cooperation has been slow across the UN system and other stakeholders. We welcome with appreciation the initiatives taken by various United Nations specialized agencies, funds and programmes to establish, within their respective mandates, new units and work programmes to support and promote South-South Cooperation, and the decisions taken by the governing bodies of the funds and programmes to integrate South-South cooperation into their programmes of work.

8. The Group notices the dual nature of the former Special Unit for SSC, as a semi- independent office within UNDP with multiple reporting lines, as highlighted in the JIU report. The Group wishes to recall the decision of the HLC in 2012 to rename the SSC unit to the UN Office of South-South Cooperation, hosted by the UNDP, as a separate entity and coordinator for promoting and facilitating South-South and triangular cooperation for development on a global and United Nations system wide basis. For the G77 & China, the renaming is a substantial step forward to more effectively respond to the relevant mandates of the G-77 South Summits and subsequent GA resolutions as well as the Nairobi Outcome Document.

9. The Group considers the continued strengthening of the UNOSSC as one concrete measure the Secretary-General should take in order to meaningfully strengthen the whole UN system's commitment to and support of the agenda of the South. In this regard, the Group supports the upgrading of the UNOSSC into a UN Entity for South-South Cooperation.

10. The Group supports those recommendations of the JIU report which asks for allocation of adequate human and financial resources to South-South cooperation, particularly the UN Office for South-South Cooperation as the platform for overall coordination and strategy on South-South cooperation within the UN System. The Group calls for strengthening the Office for SSC and we look forward to the implementation of Decision 17/1. In particular, the implementation of the SG's report concerning specific proposals for strengthening the Office, including through the revision of the governance structure, secretariat support and financial assistance is of vital importance. The Group considers that the lack of dedicated financial resources is a serious obstacle in implementing the Nairobi Outcome Document.

11. On the question of definition of South-South cooperation, contained in recommendation 1 and 2 of the JIU Report, the Group does not see the need to engage the UN system in further defining South-South cooperation. The advantage of all available definitions lies in their flexibility, a major assumption in any South-South activity, against a rigid conception which may hamper cooperation in some areas. The Group believes that it is the Member States that have the responsibility of defining South-South cooperation. Instead of engaging in an endless negotiation of an "agreed" definition of South-South cooperation, Member States decided to set the broad principles for both South-South and triangular cooperation, which are clearly set out in the Nairobi Outcome document of the UN High-level Conference on South-South Cooperation. Existing definitions and principles provide the guidelines for the application of South-South cooperation in UN Development Assistance Frameworks (UNDAFs) and other programming tools.

12. Concerning recommendations 4, 5, 6 and 7, we would like to recall what the inspectors stated that the lack of collaborative arrangements not only affects the work of the Office but also has a negative impact on project implementation. We therefore call for the elaboration of collaborative arrangements between the UNOSSC and the UNDP as the entity that hosts the Office. This should include a clarification of reporting lines of the Office, clear division of roles and responsibilities, accountability mechanisms and the relocation of regional representatives of the Office for SSC to the regional commissions, with direct reporting to the Office of SSC in headquarters. We stress that this call for a collaborative arrangement was also part of the 2007 UNDP evaluation on SSC.

13. The UNDP is one of the main operative arms of SSC but not a decision making entity for SSC matters. Its role and comparative advantage lies in its support for implementation, especially given its presence at the country level. UNDP should focus on having a coherent and not fragmented operative approach and not to duplicate, overlap or undertake the Office´s functions. In this regard, we would like to express our disagreement with paragraph 15 of the Note of the Secretary General since it is not a competence of the Executive Boards of the Funds and Programs to decide on the Program of the Office that should respond to Member States.

14. As stated in the UNDP Evaluation in paragraphs 40, 83 and 84 a re-examination of the existing division of labour and responsibility between UNDP and the Office is needed to improve coordination and synergy. The Office has a broad mandate and a thin resource endowment, both human and financial, and requires further institutional strengthening, as has been called frequently by Member States.

15. A clear definition of responsibilities and a collaborative framework will be of much help in the coherence approach and in closing the gap in how South-South and triangular cooperation are promoted and their practical and functional integration into programming, as conveyed in paragraphs 26 and 29 of the UNDP evaluation on SSC. That collaborative framework will also impact the lack of sustainability of UNDP support to SSC through clear delimitation of roles and responsibilities and lines of accountability for outcome achievement.

16. Concerning Recommendation 9, the Group fully supports the JIU report findings with regard to funding issues. Funding has been a major stumbling block in advancing support to South-South cooperation within the United Nations system. Much higher amounts of core budgets must be devoted to South-South cooperation, and the Organizations within the system need to step up their efforts to raise funds that are free from conditionalities in support of South-South cooperation. Further efforts are required to differentiate between funding for conventional technical cooperation activities, and those specifically related to South-South cooperation. Increasing the funding and the Secretariat support to the Office are key elements for its strengthening.

17. In this regard, the Group would like to reiterate General Assembly resolution 60/212 in which it designated the UN Fund for South-South Cooperation managed by the UN Office for South-South Cooperation, "as the main United Nations trust fund for promoting and supporting South-South and triangular cooperation." The Group therefore supports efforts to upgrade the UN Fund for SSC into a fully functioning voluntary trust fund, and expand the core resources of the G-77 Perez-Guerrero Trust Fund for South-South Cooperation in accordance with the with relevant General Assembly resolutions and South Summit decisions.

18. The Group welcomes suggestions for revitalization of the High Level Committee and is concerned about the lack of efficiency of the HLC meetings, specifically regarding the agenda, working methods, composition of the HLC, and attendance at its meetings. The report also highlights the lack of tangible deliverables and follow-up between HLC sessions. These recommendations reinforce the assessment of the Group that the HLC should be transformed into an effective and more responsive standing mechanism. As such, the Group considers that consideration should be given to the HLC being transformed into a fully functioning United Nations Commission on South-South Cooperation. The Group, therefore looks forward to action on recommendation 4 in the JIU report, which requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly a proposal to review the current SSC governance structure and its secretariat support within the United Nations, so as to ensure more efficient and effective work procedures for the HLC, and better delineation of responsibilities and interaction among all stakeholders. The Group would like to have an indication of the status of this recommendation.

19. Finally, the G77 and China will present a draft decision on this matter and have mandated the G77 Coordinator on this issue, the delegation of Peru, to introduce the draft decision on behalf of the Group.

Thank you, Mr. President.