Mr. President,

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

2. This year's coordination segment of the Council affords us a timely discussion on the role of the United Nations system in implementing the Ministerial Declaration adopted by the Council at its high-level segment of 2012. We acknowledge the Report of the Secretary-General and concur with its conclusion that the promotion of productive capacity, employment and decent work has proven to be a valuable and effective basis for United Nations system-wide coordination.

3. The stocktaking contained in the Report highlights the UN system's recognition of the importance of this role. It recognises the promotion of full and productive employment and decent work as a central component of international and national policymaking necessary for increasing productive capacity, eradicating poverty and achieving sustainable development, including the MDGs.

4. The Group recalls the original mandate of the ECOSOC Coordination segment, which emphasises the role of the UN system in assisting governments in the implementation of agreements and commitments reached at the major UN conferences and summits. Included within this mandate is the need for improving the collaboration efforts, effectiveness, efficiency and management in delivering development assistance, including the decision to launch the Development Cooperation Forum to enhance international development cooperation for the realization of the internationally agreed development goals, including the MDGs.

5. We agree with the Report's finding that the UN needs a more integrated approach to better link the many relevant policy and programming areas related to employment generation and decent work. This is particularly important in view of the ongoing efforts for the reform of ECOSOC under resolution 61/16 to make the Council more relevant, coherent and effective in carrying out its various mandates, including the integration of the three dimensions of sustainable development. The establishment of a universal, intergovernmental high level political forum (HLPF) offers another dynamic platform, among many of its functions, to provide political leadership, guidance, recommendations for, as well as follow up on, the implementation of sustainable development. It is important therefore, that there is synergy between these two entities to ensure they complement each other, and not duplicate their work or efforts, in their respective pursuit in assisting States, in particular developing countries, to achieve sustainable development.

Mr. President,

6. Having considered the theme of the 2012 Ministerial Declaration, the Group holds the view that the capacity to generate decent employment is fundamentally linked to reviving and enhancing productive development strategies, through adequate finance, investment, and trade policies. In this regard, we recognise the need for significant mobilization of resources from a variety of sources and the effective use of financing, in order to give strong support to developing countries in their efforts to promote sustainable development. While investment and trade policies are critical enablers for States to embark on and carry out national development strategies and to address socio-economic inequities, the existing international trade and investment regimes pose serious impediments for developing countries to take development-oriented actions for achieving sustainable development goals.

7. For a global trade system to facilitate the promotion of productive capacity, employment and decent work for all, it requires the strengthening and operationalisation of the principles of special and differential treatment, involving less than full reciprocity and development-oriented rules for developing countries, particularly the LDCs. Moreover, arriving at development-focused investment policies necessitates the revision of many of the current national and international investment legal frameworks. This involves the need to establish and strengthen the right to regulate for public interest and in support of workers rights. Accordingly, it requires a paradigm shift in the models of international investment treaties that underpin the global movement of foreign direct investment, as well as a rethinking of the desirability of free trade agreements.

Mr. President,

8. The Group recognises the importance of having an enabling national and international environment that supports the creation of productive capacity and decent job creation. An enabling environment is a precondition to the achievement of social, economic and environmental developmental goals. To this end, the Group urges developed countries to positively respond to the call for a fair international trading system and balanced and development-oriented intellectual property frameworks in order to create the necessary policy space for developing countries to take effective measures to eradicate poverty and achieve their development goals. This endeavour also requires sustainable consumption and production patterns across all nations, with developed countries taking the lead.

9. We underscore the importance of securing adequate policy space for developing countries to design and manage their various policy instruments, including macro-economic policies, trade, investment, finance, tax, and social protection to prioritise decent employment generation. We are of the view that decent employment is associated with an active wage policy that aligns changes in wage rates to trends in productivity, as well as minimum wage and comprehensive social protection policies.

Mr. President,

10. While the Group recognises that the UN system has improved its development coordination through various mechanisms, it underscores the need for the enhancement of greater intergovernmental accountability and oversight of these development mechanisms, in particular the UN system's Chief Executive Board. We therefore urge the CEB to consistently enhance its interaction with ECOSOC, through its coordination segment, at its highest level.

11. The Group urges ECOSOC, as the principal body for policy review, policy dialogue and recommendations on issues of economic and social development and for the follow up of the MDGs to give clear and direct guidance to its subsidiary bodies, including the funds, programmes and specialised agencies, to implement measures for coordination within their respective mandates and areas of competence to support this segment. To this end, the Group calls upon the funds, programmes and specialised agencies to ensure that policy guidance from the Council on the implementation of the agreed outcomes, particularly those related to the MDGs, is integrated into the programmes of work and operational activities for development. Such inclusion should provide support for long term development for productive capacity, employment and decent work to eradicate poverty in the context of inclusive, equitable and sustainable economic growth at all levels for achieving the MDGs.

Mr. President,

12. The Group expresses deep concern about the continuing high levels of unemployment and under-employment, particularly among young people, and notes the need for sustainable development strategies to proactively address youth employment at all levels. To this end, the Group welcomes the support of Heads of State and Government, expressed in the Rio + 20 outcome document, for establishing a Global Strategy on Youth and Employment. In this context, the Group urges UNDP and other relevant UN development system and agencies to assist developing countries in projects aimed at generating youth employment opportunities.

13. Moreover, the Group stresses the need for effective development cooperation to facilitate employment generation in developing countries. Efforts towards this cooperation continue to be impeded by the global economic architecture, the gradual decline in the ODA, the widening divide between the rich and the poor countries, rising poverty levels in many countries, the impasse in the Doha round of trade negotiations and the continued marginalisation of developing countries in the international economic decision making. In this context, the Group urges ECOSOC to strengthen genuine collaboration and global partnerships for development and support the effective follow-up of the major UN summits and conferences, including the ECOSOC Ministerial Declaration of 2012.

14. Finally, the Group of 77 and China emphasises the importance of removing obstacles to social and economic development and the promotion of productive capacity, employment, and decent work for all people, particularly the poor and people living in marginalized situations, as well as including those living under armed conflicts, post-conflicts, foreign occupation and those facing threats of climate change, which adversely affect their economic and social development. We call upon all States to give positive consideration to productive capacity, employment and decent work in the elaboration of the Post-2015 Development Agenda.

I thank you, Mr. President.