Mr. Chairman,

            I have the honour to speak on behalf of Group of 77 and China. 

2.         The Group of 77 and China would like to thank the Under Secretary General for Management, Ms. Alicia Barcena, Under Secretary General for the DPKO Mr. Jean-Marie  Guehenno, Under Secretary General for OIOS Ms. Inga-Britt Ahlenius, and Chairman of the ACABQ Mr. Rajat Saha for introducing their respective reports.

3.         The Group of 77 and China recognizes and deeply appreciates the important contribution of peacekeeping operations in promoting global peace and security. The Group of 77 and China would like to express its deep admiration to the United Nations peacekeepers for their courage, and commitment to this noble cause.  

4.         The G77 and China appreciates the report and its related addenda which provide detailed information on the rationale for the proposed restructuring of the Department of the Peacekeeping and the resource requirements. The Group of 77 and China shares the Secretary-General’s view that extraordinary surge in demand and increasing complexity of multidimensional peacekeeping operations has seriously stretched the managerial and operational capacity of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations. Consistent with its commitment to further strengthening of the DPKO, the Group of 77 and China expressed its support for the Secretary-General’s initiative to restructure the DPKO and strengthening the Organization’s capacity to manage and sustain peace.

5.         The Group of 77 and China in its interaction with the Secretary-General and in the discussions in the Special Committee on Peacekeeping had clearly outlined the key goals of proposed reforms. The Group strongly emphasized that any restructuring and strengthening of the DPKO should lead to the realization of the  following  objectives: unity of command in mission at all levels; coherence in policy and strategy; clear lines of accountability and responsibility at all levels, augmenting the existing capacity of the Military and Police Divisions; close  interaction and coordination with Troop Contributing Countries at every stage of the peacekeeping missions and particularly the integrated peacekeeping missions, ensuring the safety and security of the UN personnel, streamlining the procurement processes to ensure full accountability, oversight and the absence of conflict of interest as well as establishing adequate administrative and managerial capacities that can ensure solid logistics support to the missions.

6.         The Group of 77 and China would closely examine the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed changes in the structure, functions and reporting lines of the DPKO and how they would ensure the unity of command, coherence, integration and accountability.

7.         Given the scale and vital importance of procurement in the peacekeeping missions the Group has had a special interest in the Secretary-General’s procurement reform, in particular those dealing with the internal control regime with emphasis on oversight and accountability.  The Group of 77 and China wishes to stress that procurement reform should be addressed comprehensively and proposals to move functions should clearly illustrate how they will complement the ongoing reform process, as set out inter alia in resolution 61/246.  We believe that receiving the relevant report requested last year on procurement reform would have enabled Member States to assess how the proposals to move procurement functions to the proposed Department of Field Services could contribute to the reform of the procurement system, increase the share of developing countries in the goods being procured by the Organization, in particular in the field, and strengthen the procurement functions of the Organization.  It would therefore be useful to receive a clarification in the informal consultation on the progress made by the Secretariat in implementing resolution 61/246.

8.         The G-77 would engage in the discussions on the Secretary-General’s proposal on restructuring the Department of Peacekeeping Operations with a view to providing the Secretary-General with adequate resources to enable him to make the best decisions, thus meeting the objectives that he has set to allow the United Nations to respond to the new challenges. The G-77 stresses the importance of an inclusive, transparent and open process of negotiations.

9.         The Group of 77 and China would be constructively engaged in these negotiations for an outcome that would meet the core objectives outlined above.

I thank You Mr. Chairman.