Mr. President,

Distinguished Delegates,

1. Mr. President, I have the honor to deliver this statement on behalf of the Group of 77 and China on the document presented before us for consideration, namely the background document, Reinforcing State Capacity: A harmonized United Nations  system approach to national capacity development.

2. The Group is of the view that in responding to the priority development needs of program countries, Funds and Programs should fully operationalize the principle of "national ownership of the development process." Numerous intergovernmental agreements, have highlighted and emphasized the importance of national ownership and leadership for the success of development assistance, including the 2007 TCPR that clearly provides the ground for better coordination among these institutions.  Mr. President, the positions expressed by the Group during the discussions around the UNDP Strategic Plan remain valid. We would like to reiterate the paramount importance that the Group accords to the core development mandate of UNDP and the particular attention it should pay to advancing efforts towards the achievement of development goals and priorities, particularly through concrete actions at the country level in support of national efforts aimed at poverty eradication and the achievement of sustained economic growth and sustainable development.

3. While the document presented highlights the importance of State capacity development, we question the value of the harmonized approach to this issue, as suggested there, through the establishment of four priorities which in our view tend to narrow the focus on such an important issue. We are particularly concerned with the priority related to human rights, since it has been made clear that the UNDP has no normative or monitoring role with regards to this issue, while the rest of the Funds and Programs have very limited mandates on this particular question. We should be conscious of the fact that the UN has other mechanisms to deal with these questions in a universal manner, since all States, and not only developing countries, should fulfill their obligations with regards to human rights.

4. We would like to underscore the fact that each Fund and Program should establish its priorities for capacity building and capacity development, in accordance with their respective mandates, and on the basis of the development priorities established by the program countries, based on their own needs and specific circumstances.

5. In conclusion, Mr. President, The Group of 77 and China would like a clarification on the status of this background document, since it has been presented in a segment where we are not supposed to take any concrete action. While we look forward to continue discussions on this very important issue, we would like to make clear that this document should not derive in any particular normative or operational guidance for the Funds and Programs.

Thank you, Mr. President.