Mr. President,
Distinguished Delegates,

          I have the honour to make this statement on behalf of the Group of 77 and China.

2.       Through you, Mr. President, we are grateful to the UNDP Administrator for sharing his perspectives with the members of the Board on the Draft Strategic Plan and presenting an overview of the work of UNDP. The Group of 77 and China had also shared its thoughts on the draft during the various briefings convened by UNDP to discuss the Plan. We also addressed a letter to the Administrator apprising him of our position on the draft.

3.       Regrettably, so far the views expressed by the G-77 and China have not been taken on board in the current draft Strategic Plan (DP/2007/19). This remains a serious concern not only in regard to the draft Strategic Plan but also in the wider context of the working of the Board and the relationship between the Management and the members.

Mr. President,

4.       The Group of the 77 and China was alarmed the other day to notice a tendency to decide on issues in complete disregard of the strong reservations expressed by members of the Board. We ought to discourage this trend and tendency in the larger interest of the efficient and effective working of the Board. This is also very important and essential to fully realize the development objectives of UNDP.

5.       We would take this opportunity to share with the members of the Board and reiterate to the Administrator some of our views and concerns in regard to the Plan are as under:

1. The G-77 and China reaffirms the importance of the Triennial Comprehensive Policy Review of UN operational activities, through which the General Assembly establishes the system wide policy orientation for the development cooperation and country-level modalities of the UN system, including UNDP. We believe that the TCPR should "determine" the course of action for UNDP rather than "informing it".
2. Presently, we are engaged in inter-governmentally reviewing the recommendations of the Secretary General's High Level Panel Report on System Wide Coherence and preparing for the TCPR 2007. It is our hope that our deliberations in the Executive Boards would not supersede or pre-empt those processes.
3. The core mandate of UNDP and its Strategic Plan should focus on delivering effectively in development related areas. We are concerned that the draft Plan will divert UNDP from its core development mandate, particularly regarding poverty eradication.
4. Another source of serious concern is the selection of: respect for human rights, promotion of gender equality and encouragement of civic engagement as the three operational principles of the draft Strategic Plan and their application to United Nation's development work. This could further deflect UNDP from its primary development and poverty focus, besides compromising national plans and priorities.
5. Respect for national sovereignty is the key principle of UN and its operational activities and must be fully reflected in the Strategic Plan. There are, however, elements in the draft Strategic Plan that amount to undermining the principle of national sovereignty and could entail an encroachment in the internal affairs of States.
6. Similarly, the principle of national ownership should also be clearly reflected in all aspects of UNDP's development cooperation activities. Obviously, UNDP should contribute to the realization of the national priorities of programme countries, rather than determine these.
7. South-South cooperation, we believe, is complementary to North-South cooperation, and is a way to enhance exchange of best practices and support among developing countries, regardless of their levels of development. The attempt to shift the focus and to create different categories of countries under South-South Cooperation, in the draft, is a source of concern for the Group.
8. On financing, it is critically important that resources should not be diverted from the programme budget to meet management costs. Similarly, any cost cuts and savings made should be re-directed to the programme budget. Moreover, funding for development activities should not be tied to any conditionalities, or earmarked for certain focus areas. Instead, it should be allocated according to the respective national priorities and plans of programme countries.

6.       I wish to urge the Administrator to consider adjusting/revising the draft Strategic Plan responding to our comments, which were also presented in Pakistan’s Statement on behalf of G-77 and China during the informal briefing on June 8, 2007. We shall present our detailed views on draft Strategic Plan when this agenda item will be discussed in the Board tomorrow.

7.       On the Audit issues, I would like to reiterate our views we conveyed during the consideration of this item last week. We urge UNDP management to adopt a careful approach based on the decisions of the Executive Board. UNDP should respect the guidance given by the Board Members.

Mr. President,

8.       The strength of UN operational system lies in its legitimacy as neutral objective and trusted partner for both recipient and donor countries.

          I thank you.