Mr. Chairman,

1. I have the honour to speak on behalf of the Group of 77 and China on agenda item 124, entitled Joint Inspection Unit.

2. The Group would like to express its appreciation to the Chairperson of the Joint Inspection Unit (JIU), Mrs. Deborah Wynnes, for her introduction of the Report of the Unit contained in document A/61/34. We also thank Mr. Orobola Fasehun, Director of the World Intellectual Property Organization, for his presentation.

3. The Group of 77 and China attaches great importance to the work of the Joint Inspection Unit, as the sole independent, external oversight body of the United Nations system. In an attempt to ensure effective oversight, the Group actively participated in the deliberations aimed at strengthening the Joint Inspection Unit, which led to the adoption by this Committee in December 2004 of General Assembly Resolution 59/267.

4. In turn, the Joint Inspection Unit has shown its commitment to the reform process by acting expeditiously on the provisions of resolution 59/267, for example, by submitting an advance version of its Work Programme for 2006 to the Fifth Committee at the first part of the sixtieth session. This has enabled Member States to review the work programme of the Unit in a more timely fashion and we appreciate the efforts of the Unit to fully implement the request made by Member States in 2004.

5. Turning to the Unit’s Annual Report for 2005, the Group of 77 and China wishes to make the following preliminary comments:

• We strongly support the commendable progress made by the Unit in improving the quality, relevance and usefulness of its reports. The potential savings identified by the Unit and reported to the Assembly and governing bodies illustrates inter alia the relevance of the reports.
• As part of the ongoing attempts to avoid duplication of efforts, the Group would like to encourage the Joint Inspection Unit, the Board of Auditors and the Office of Internal Oversight Services to continue with efforts aimed at ensuring greater collaboration and coordination. We also commend the JIU for promoting this interaction, as well as promoting dialogue with oversight bodies at other organizations of the United Nations system.
• The Group welcomes the inclusion of information on implementation and results achieved by the Organizations in their follow-up to the JIU recommendations as endorsed by their legislative bodies. It will be recalled that the Group of 77 and China in 2005 endorsed the Unit’s approach to not only seek to ensure the follow-up of its recommendations but more importantly to measure the impact thereof on the participating organizations. We consequently would appreciate an elaboration of the methodology that was used to determine the acceptance and implementation levels of system-wide reports, as mentioned in paragraph 28 of the Annual Report.
• We support the eight categories of impact adopted by the Unit as an important step to improving its ability to determine and report on both the intended and actual impact of its recommendations.
• The Group would appreciate receiving an elaboration of the difficulties that the Unit faced due to its very limited research capacity, as stated in paragraphs 37 to 40 of its report. We welcome the attention brought by the Unit to the training of its Secretariat and the use of video-conferencing as a means to facilitating interaction with participating agencies. We also have taken due note of the comments made by the Chairperson this morning that the budget of the Unit has remained stagnant during recent years.
• Finally, the Group has noted with concern the issue highlighted by the Unit in relation to the lifting of the immunity of an Inspector. The Group, therefore, would appreciate receiving further details on this incident, as well as an explanation for the apparent lack of adherence to the standards and procedures established for such cases.

Mr. Chairman,

6. Turning to the Unit’s Work Programme for 2006, it will be recalled that the Committee has already acted on it with the adoption of resolution 60/258. The Group of 77 and China wishes to encourage the Unit to continue with the practice of submitting its Work Programme in advance to the Fifth Committee.

7. The Group of 77 and China wishes to commend the JIU for the initiative of providing its assessment on the status of implementation of resolution 59/267, as contained in Annex III of document A/61/34. This initiative will greatly facilitate our consideration of the implementation of the provisions of resolution 59/267 which was called for in paragraph 29 of that resolution. We furthermore concur with the assessment provided by the Unit. We also wish to reiterate our view that reform is a process and we appreciate the numerous improvements that we have witnessed in the Unit’s work over the last two years.

8. Mr. Chairman, in conclusion, the Group of 77 and China wishes to reiterate our support for the continued existence of the Unit and its mandate.

I thank you, Mr. Chairman.