Mr. Assistant Secretary-General,
Excellencies,
Colleagues,

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

I would like to thank Mr. Oscar Fernández-Taranco, Assistant Secretary-General for Development Coordination for his briefing and for convening this meeting. Rest assure of our support to your task and leadership.

The Group reiterates that a more predictable, sustainable and flexible funding for United Nations development activities is key to poverty eradication, which is the overarching goal of 2030 Agenda and the cornerstone of United Nations Development System (UNDS) activities. Such funding must be aligned with national development priorities and strategies of programme countries with a view to reflect national ownership of their development trajectory. In this vein, the overall funding of the UNDS, especially for areas related to poverty eradication, should be increased and accelerated.

We express our concern at the continuing decline of core contributions to the UNDS, which negatively affect the efficiency and effectiveness of its functions. Reversing this trend, along with enhancement of core contributions to UNDS entities, will ensure achieving the objectives of operational activities for development. In this regard, core funding continues to be the key of the Funding Compact and needs to be at its center in its renewed version.

As we examine the Funding Compact, we must reflect on what worked and what did not work and the reasons. This is crucially important if we are to have the sort of renewed Funding Compact that would reflect the ambition and the commitments expressed in the Political Declaration of the SDG Summit adopted a few months ago. The Compact should seek to address the needs of developing countries that are underfunded, according to their national priorities and circumstances. Increasing our investment in the development needs of developing countries is the more effective way to prevent future crises. It should also contain clear and measurable indicators to assess their impact at the country level.

The renewed Compact must be a stronger commitment between the entities of the UNDS and Member states, and must serve to really enhance development activities on the ground in a coherent and consistent manner to address the needed collaborative action required in this current global context, where the achievement of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals is in peril.

To conclude, the Group reaffirms its continued support to deliver a fit-for-purpose UN Development System that would help programme countries implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Group will continue to engage in these consultations and would appreciate being informed in advance with enough time on the upcoming meetings in order to allow delegations to make the necessary prior consultations.
 
A fruitful and inclusive exchange will promote a better understanding of not only the progress made, but more importantly, the key challenges and gaps that still remain. Ultimately, the objective of the process must be to address the interests and needs of programme countries.

I thank you.