STATEMENT ON BEHALF OF THE GROUP OF 77 AND CHINA BY MR. MISHAL MOHAMMED AL-ANSARI, STATE OF QATAR, ON THE PROGRAMME BUDGET IMPLICATIONS OF DRAFT RESOLUTION A/59/L.53 ENTITLED "MODALITIES, FORMAT AND ORGANIZATION OF THE HIGH-LEVEL PLENARY MEETING OF THE SIXTIETH SESSION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY" (New York, 17 December 2004)

Mr. Chairman,

The Group of 77 and China attaches its full support to the high-level plenary meeting of the General Assembly to be convened on 14-16 September 2005 to undertake a comprehensive review of progress towards the implementation of the United Nations Millennium Declaration.

According to the terms of draft resolution A/59/L.53, we commend the leadership of the President of the General Assembly His Excellency Mr. Jean Ping, in guiding the review process towards a successful outcome. The Group of 77 and China would be ready to support the approval of a charge against the contingency fund to ensure the necessary resources for the high-level plenary meeting as prepared by the Secretary-General.

The Group of 77 and China regrets that the ACABQ, without proper justifications, recommended that the resources requested by the Secretary-General should be absorbed within existing resources.

Consequently, the Group of 77 and China can neither endorse, nor note the report of the Advisory Committee for Administrative and Budgetary Questions.

The Group of 77 and China fully supports the implementation of General Assembly resolutions 41/213 and 42/211. Therefore, the Group believes that the resources requested by the Secretary-General should be financed under the provisions of the Contingency Fund.

However, taking into account time constraints facing the Fifth Committee and the General Assembly, the Group of 77 and China will accept, on an exceptional and extraordinary basis, to revert to the issue of additional appropriation in the context of the Second Performance Report to be submitted to the General Assembly at its 60th session.

Thank you.