Excellencies, Co-Chairs,

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

As the Group remains engaged in internal consultations on the revised draft, the Group will offer preliminary comments at this juncture and will subsequently provide additional input through a written submission.

At the outset, the Group wishes to convey its appreciation to the Co-Chairs for the work undertaken to advance the mandate implementation review under the UN80 Initiative, for the continued engagement with delegations throughout this process, and for their committed work on the revised draft resolution presented on 23 February.

The Group fully supports the objective of striving for consensus in the deliberations of this Working Group. In that same spirit, we trust that the views and perspectives of our Group will be given careful and balanced consideration as the process moves forward.

The Group welcomes the recognition that any decisions on mandates are the exclusive prerogative of Member States, which is basic to preserving the intergovernmental nature of decision-making. The Group believes that the resolution should safeguard the authority, procedures, decisions and established practices of relevant intergovernmental bodies.

On the issue of the diversity of mandates, membership and governance structures, the Group welcomes the elevation of respect for and preservation of their distinct nature to the level of principle. The Group believes that the same recognition should be granted to the diverse financial and administrative arrangements across the United Nations system.

In the same vein, the Group reiterates its position that system-wide initiatives should be implemented based on accurate data and evidence, while recognizing mandate diversity. The Group therefore encourages the use of stronger language that recognizes the differentiated nature of the Organization's work as a core characteristic and stresses that efforts to improve the mandate lifecycle should preserve it.

At the same time, the Group stresses that approaches derived from best practices across the UN system may be applied throughout the mandate lifecycle to maximize impact and efficiency, while recognizing that no "one size fits all" formula will help address the diverse nature of mandates.

On mandate creation, the Group supports practical improvements that can facilitate better-informed negotiations without prejudice to intergovernmental negotiations on a given mandate. In this regard, the Group reiterates the importance of safeguarding the ability of Member States to exercise their sovereign right to draft proposals and bring issues to the UN, ensuring that such improvements do not inadvertently constrain that prerogative.

On mandate implementation, the Group welcomes the recognition that implementation assessments should be grounded in outcomes and impact, rather than solely in activities and outputs.

The Group also supports encouraging to review the frequency of resolutions and decisions consideration, within the respective intergovernmental bodies.

Additionally, the Group supports a set of practical requests to the Secretary-General to continue to provide administrative and technical Secretariat support to Member States upon their request. The Group is of the view that this should be done by minimizing its budgetary implications.

Regarding institutional follow-up, the Group takes note of the proposal to continue the work of the Informal Ad Hoc Working Group on the Mandate Implementation Review as the Working Group on Mandate Reform, as outlined in Article 34 of the draft. At this stage, we wish to inform delegations that the Group remains engaged in internal deliberations on this matter.

Excellencies, Co-Chairs,

The Group recognizes the progress reflected in the revised draft, and is of the view that a more balanced approach is required, regarding the role of Member States in the mandates lifecycle, particularly the creation and review processes, and the need to ensure that the objectives of this resolution are pursued without prejudice to the mandating bodies rules of procedure, financial and administrative arrangements as well as their distinct governing structures across the system.

The Group of 77 and China remains ready to engage constructively to ensure that the outcome of this process strengthens mandate delivery, enhances transparency and coherence, and preserves the intergovernmental nature of the United Nations.

I thank you.