Madam Chair,

I have the honour to make this statement on behalf of the Group of 77 and China on Agenda Items 59(a): Operational Activities for Development of the United Nations system; 59(b): Triennial Comprehensive Policy Review of the Operational Activities of the UN and 59(c): South-South Cooperation for Development.

2. We thank the Secretary General for his useful reports on these agenda items.

3.      The Group of 77 and China attaches high importance to this triennial exercise through which the UN membership undertakes a comprehensive review of the operational activities for development of the UN system.

4. The outcome of our deliberations on TCPR would determine the course of the UN's operational activities for the next three years. Besides, the TCPR process this year will also be relevant in guiding the other two processes that have an immediate and direct bearing on the UN operational activities. The Group of 77 and China will be engaging seriously and constructively in our deliberations on this Agenda Item during the 62nd Session.

Madam Chair,

5. The TCPR process we believe should be driven by a vision of a stronger role of the United Nations on development issues, and by the need to fully implement all agreed commitments from all the major United Nations Summits and Conference in the economic, social and related fields, including the IADGs and MDGs. Let me avail of this opportunity to highlight some issues of importance to the Group of 77 and China in the context of the TCPR 2007:

• One, we reaffirm the importance of the Triennial Comprehensive Policy Review of operational activities, through which the General Assembly establishes key system wide policy orientation for the development cooperation and country-level modalities of the UN system including the UNDP. The TCPR process, therefore, should not be superceded or preempted by any other parallel process
• Two, the fundamental characteristics of the UN operational activities for development must remain, inter alia, the universal, voluntary and grant nature, the neutrality and the multilateralism, as well as their ability to respond to the development needs of program countries in a flexible manner.
• Three, the operational activities should be carried out for the benefit of recipient countries, at the request of those countries and in accordance with their own policies and priorities for development. The recipient country should be in the driving seat.
• Four, the TCPR process should be guided by a vision of a stronger role for the United Nations on development issues, and by the need to fully implement all agreed commitments from all the major United Nations Summits and Conferences in the economic, social and related fields including IADGs and MDGs.
• Five, the need for a strengthened global partnership for development, based on the recognition of national leadership and ownership of development strategies should be a guiding principle of UN operational activities at the country level. Partners should provide support for the realization of the objectives and goals of national development strategies. The entire UN system as well as the BWIs and bilateral donors should recognize the ownership of the concerned developing countries, align their cooperation programmes with the national development strategies and also harmonize their individual cooperation programmes with a view to making the optimum contribution to the realization of national development strategies.
• Six, the most important issue remains the quantity, quality and predictability of development assistance from the UN system. The Secretary-General's report has noted that the share of core resources over the total contributions received by the UN system has been falling continuously. The growing imbalance between "core" and "non-core" resources remains a matter of serious concern. UNDP, for instance, will have $ 1 billion in "core" funding and $5 billion in "non-core" or earmarked funding during this year. This increasing shift from core to non-core funding is tailored to suit the donor more than the recipient. The non-core resources are unpredictable. They increase transaction costs, cause wasteful competition among UN organizations, inefficiency, incoherence and fragmentation of the UN system, including at the country level.  It is essential to restore the balance between core and non-core funding resources as well as to ensure an expanding and adequate base of development assistance from the UN system and other sources." The development assistance offered should be responsive to national policies and plans, free from concomitant conditionalities and ties such as procurement from the donor country and expensive consultants and experts from UN agencies or donor organizations. At present, over 45% of the funding provided by UNDP is devoted to projects and programmes relating to governance, while only 25% is being spent on poverty programmes. This results in distorting the support provided by the UN development system for implementing national priorities of program countries.
• Seven, the guiding principle of the UN operational activities should be to provide more effectiveness and efficiency in delivery. The savings acquired as a result of the streamlining resulting from any system wide coherence exercise should be re-channeled into the development cluster of the UN, and not to be directed into other activities beyond that context.
• Eight, the Bretton Woods Institutions, where they exist, and bilateral development partners should be a part of any integrated approach to development cooperation.
• Nine, there should be no restrictions on the ability and sovereignty of national governments to determine their own development priorities or select their development partners, as well as the type of relation with the UN development entities they wish to establish at the country level. The UN development system should continue to support development efforts of developing countries principally by assisting in the implementation of nationally determined development plans, strategies and priorities.
• Ten, the importance of the regional dimension of development is manifested in the mandates given to the regional commissions in the outcomes of the major UN Conferences and Summits. Improved coherence at the regional level will require strengthening existing UN regional mechanisms for horizontal coordination, and ensuring a vertical link-up and alignment in the UN development and coordination architecture at the global, regional, and country levels.
• Eleven, it is important that operational activities for development, in addressing the long-term development challenges of recipient countries, take into account the need to promote national capacity building in developing countries. For developing countries to address national priorities and achieve internationally agreed development goals, a continuous process of capacity building is required to which the UN system can make a significant contribution. In this regard, the UN system should make optimal use of the available national expertise and technologies, ensuring the promotion and transfer of new technologies to developing countries, increasing system-wide capacity in support of recipient countries by enabling and facilitating the access of the recipient countries to the full range of services available throughout the UN development system, including the regional commissions. The UN system should promote the sharing of information on the best practices in its operational activities at the country level.
• Twelve, developing countries, in order to meet the internationally agreed development goals, including those contained in the Millennium Declaration, should have access to new and emerging technologies, including information and communication technologies.
• Thirteen, the full respect to the national security, territorial integrity and national unity of the States, in accordance with the UN Charter, are general principles that must continue to guide the operational activities of the UN, for in their strict observance lies the key to their success.

I thank you