GROUP OF 77
GENEVA

STATEMENT BY H.E. MR. RODOLFO REYES, AMBASSADOR AND PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF CUBA TO THE UNITED NATIONS OFFICE AND OTHER INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS IN GENEVA ON BEHALF OF THE GROUP OF 77 AND CHINA, AT THE FIFTY-SIXTH SESSION OF THE WORKING PARTY ON THE STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK AND THE PROGRAMME BUDGET (TECHNICAL COOPERATION) ON AGENDA ITEMS 3 & 4
(Geneva, 6 September 2010)

Madam Chair, Carmen Elena Castillo,
Mr. Heiner Flassbeck, Officer-in-charge of UNCTAD,
Distinguished Colleagues,

1. I have the honour of making this statement on behalf of the Group of 77 and China. At the outset we would like to congratulate you and the member of your bureau on your election.

2. First, the Group considers UNCTAD's technical cooperation work an essential aspect of the institution, and perhaps the most direct means of translating the work in the other two pillars into direct action on the ground. UNCTAD's technical cooperation represents the practical manifestation of the organization's commitment to national, regional and global development exploiting the interrelationships between policy analysis, intergovernmental deliberations and operational activities.

3. UNCTAD's three pillars of research and analysis, consensus-building and technical cooperation form an organic whole and are inherently interlinked. However, there remains a perception that there is a disjoint between the technical cooperation pillar and the other two pillars. The work of the technical cooperation pillar has not been well integrated into the work of the other two pillars and vice versa.

4. For instance, many of the Group's member states have observed that while UNCTAD has done commendable work in terms of research analysis and consensus building on trade and development issues, the outcomes of these two pillars have not always been applied in the technical cooperation context. Outcomes from UNCTAD's analytical and consensus-building pillars could be transformed into practical tools and integrated in the technical cooperation projects on the ground.

5. Second, it is important for technical cooperation work to address priority areas as identified by member countries, including building productive capacities. This is essential for developing countries to fully and gainfully integrate into the global trading system while retaining their policy space.

6. Third, to meet the needs and priorities of the developing countries, aid effectiveness has to be effectively addressed from their perspective. The aid effectiveness debate has been, for the time being, driven largely by the OECD. While enhancing the effectiveness and impact of aid - including through technical cooperation - is a worthy and worthwhile objective, the manner and direction in which the agenda has been driven does not fully capture the needs and priorities of developing countries.

7. For example, the current aid effectiveness agenda, while ostensibly placing an emphasis on national ownership, sometimes leaves limited scope for developing countries to fully articulate and reflect their needs and priorities. Furthermore, measures to gauge the impact and effectiveness of aid come from the perspective of administrative efficiency, as defined by the developed partners, rather than measures on the actual developmental impact of aid. In this time of budget retrenchment and the danger of aid roll-backs, it becomes even more important to gauge the qualitative impact of diminishing ODA resources on the ground.

8. Hence, there is a need to shift the focus of the aid effectiveness debate from the current quantitative approach to a more qualitative perspective. UNCTAD could help in this regard, including identifying ways and means of: enhancing the effectiveness of aid by focusing on making real and greater impact on the ground; formulating a set of enhanced principles for measuring and assessing aid effectiveness based more on meeting the needs of recipients.

9. Finally, it is important to identify the funding gaps and place UNCTAD's technical cooperation work on a firmer financial footing. While funding from developing countries for UNCTAD's technical cooperation work has increased meaningfully (16% from 2008 to 2009) underscoring the importance that developing countries place on this work, funding from developed countries has been reduced by 13%.

10. While the Group recognizes the financial challenges prevailing today, it is important to recall that many of the development challenges facing developing countries today stem from the actions and policies of developed countries. The Group also underscores the reality that the long-term viability and strength of the global economy, including a sustained global economic recovery from the global financial and economic crisis, requires a prosperous developing world.

11. One area where these various issues can be explored in a specific context is the report before the Working Party entitled "In-depth evaluation of UNCTAD's technical cooperation activities dedicated to least developed countries, landlocked developing countries, small island developing States and other structurally weak, vulnerable and small economies" and contained in documents TD/B/WP/223 and TD/B/WP/223/Add.1.

12. That report, which explores UNCTAD's technical cooperation activities to assist LDCs, LLDCs, SIDS, and other structurally weak, vulnerable and small economies, brings to the fore many of the key issues identified by the Group. While the report highlights the strengths and utility of UNCTAD's work, it does underscore that more needs to be done including a sharper focus on the specific needs of these countries, the lack of predictable multi-year funding, and the need to anchor these activities more firmly and conceptually on UNCTAD's broader work, including in the context of the other two pillars of work.

13. The Group remains committed to constructively engage in the deliberations of the Working Party to collectively bring about meaningful outcome.

I thank you.