Mr. President,

I have the honour to make this statement on behalf of the Group of 77 and China on Agenda Item 43: Report of the Economic and Social Council and Agenda Item 48: Integrated and Coordinated Implementation of and follow up to the outcome of the major United Nations Conferences and Summits in the economic, social and related fields.

Mr. President,

2. The 2007 ECOSOC Substantive Session was special and in some ways historic, because we embarked on the operationalization of the new responsibilities assigned to the Council by the 2005 World Leaders Summit. These were elaborated in the General Assembly Resolution 61/16.

3. For the Group of 77 and China this was a welcome and important step towards revitalizing and further strengthening the ECOSOC with a view to allowing it to perform the central role on economic and social issues envisaged for it under the UN Charter.

4. During the Substantive Session, we were happy to see the Thematic Discussion of the High Level Segment develop a complementarity with the newly acquired functions of the ECOSOC as the Annual Ministerial Review and Development Cooperation Forum. We were able to articulate our views and vision on the theme, which focused on "strengthening efforts at all levels to promote pro-poor sustained economic growth, including through equitable macro-economic policies".

Mr. President,

5. The Group of 77 and China is also satisfied with the convening of first Annual Ministerial Review and the successful launch of the Development Cooperation Forum during the 2007 Session.

6. Nonetheless, we still believe that the first AMR was in a way one sided event with only developing countries making their voluntary national presentations. We would like to take this opportunity to reiterate our call for substantive and equal participation of developed partners in the future sessions of AMR. It would help to know as to how far their policies are in conformity with guidelines of aid effectiveness as well as status of implementation of the commitments undertaken under the Internationally Agreed Development Goals including Millennium Development Goals.

7. It is our hope that the Annual Ministerial Review will look honestly at the status of implementation by both developed and the developing countries and come to conclusions that will invigorate the process of implementation of the commitments undertaken under the MDGs and the IADGs and advance the development agenda in comprehensive and universal manner so that we can make poverty history.

8. We are also glad that consistent with para 8 of resolution 61/16 we have been able to decide on the Annual Ministerial Review themes for the 2007 and 2008 focusing on implementation of agreed development goals and commitments.

9. The G-77 and China is of the strong view that the purpose of the AMR in addition to reviewing the status of implementation of various commitments should also be to identify the gaps shortcomings and successes both at the national level and at the level of our development partners and to further develop policy recommendations to advance the implementation process. We hope that the future Ministerial Declarations to be issued by the ECOSOC after AMR will contain both an assessment as well as recommendations for action.

10. In this regard the adoption of the Ministerial Declaration by consensus at the first session of a reinvigorated ECOSOC was also auspicious and bodes well for our future work.

Mr. President,

11. The Group of 77 and China look forward to the Substantive launch of the Development Cooperation Forum in 2008. We see DCF as an outstanding opportunity to enhance global partnership for development as set out in the Millennium Declaration, the Monterrey Consensus and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation.

12. The overall purpose of the DCF in our view should be to ensure:

One, that development cooperation is responsive to the needs of the developing countries, as set out in their national development plans and strategies and to the IADGs and MDGs.

Two, to ensure that the quantity and quality of development financing is adequate and appropriate to the needs of the recipient countries,

Three, to ensure that development cooperation achieves the desired objectives and results,
Four, that such cooperation is pursued in a coordinated and coherent manner at the national, regional and global level.

13. The effectiveness and relevance of the DCF will depend to a large extent on the ability to monitor implementation. As in the case of the AMR, we would advocate the development of agreed criteria and benchmarks to measure the implementation, effectiveness and results of development cooperation.

Mr. President,

14. The Group of 77 and China has consistently called for effective monitoring of the implementation of the MDGs and the IADGs. We believe that, while there are some indicators to measure progress achieved with regard to  the first seven MDGs, specific benchmarks and targets should be developed to measure the implementation of  MDG 8 as well as the IADGs. We call on UN - specifically DESA, UNCTAD, UNDP, as well as the IMF, World Bank and the WTO, to contribute to the elaboration of such specific benchmarks to facilitate the monitoring of implementation of MDG 8 and the other IADGs.

15. The Development Follow Up Resolution (60/265) reaffirmed the United Nations as the central, fully inclusive global multilateral international and representative organization responsible for development policies, review and progress and for the integrated and coordinated implementation of and follow up to the outcomes of the United Nations major Conferences and Summits in the economic, social and related fields.

16. The United Nations system must, therefore, in adherence to the Development Follow Up Resolution, strengthen the existing mechanisms and where appropriate establish effective mechanisms to monitor, review and follow up the implementation of the outcomes of all the major United Nations Conferences and Summits in the social, economic and related fields as a matter of priority.

17. We also look forward during this session to the convening of a specific meeting of the General Assembly as decided in Resolution 60/265 focused on development, covering among others an assessment of progress made over the previous year.

18. In conclusion let me reiterate the importance of the United Nations playing a central role in the promotion of international cooperation for development. The UN should undertake regular periodic review and assessment of international economic and development policies, including those of the BWIs, and their impact on development. In this regard, we request the Secretary General to undertake an analysis of the resources needed to exercise the mandates, as outlined in decisions taken in General Assembly resolution 60/265 and 61/16.

        I thank you Mr. President.