1. I have the honor to speak on behalf of the Group of 77 and China to raise an issue of great concern to the Group.

2. It is with great regret and astonishment that the Secretariat of G-77 and China has received on Thursday, April 02, 2009 an email message from Chief of ECOSOC Affairs Branch, Secretary of ECOSOC and the Second Committee, Department of General Assembly and Conference Management, informing that:

Quote:
"I sincerely regret to inform you that, due to the cut in the funds allocated to the DGACM, the Department will not be able to provide technical support to the Group of 77 and China this coming month of July at the Economic and Social Council's substantive session"
Unquote.

3. The Group was surprised by the substance of the message as well as by the way in which it was communicated. We strongly denounce and reject such a behavior towards the Group and its members. This arbitrary act has no interpretation other than that it was an attempt to create obstacles to the effective and constructive engagement of the Group in the work of the United Nations and the multilateral diplomacy at large.

4. The step taken, if that is the case, is against both the letter and the spirit of General Assembly resolution 63/248 on Pattern of Conferences, in particular its operative paragraphs 6, which recognizes the importance of meetings of regional and other major groupings of the Members States for the smooth functioning of the sessions of the intergovernmental bodies and contains a request to the Secretary-General to meet the requests of these groupings regarding conference services.

5. Moreover, neither during the last session of the Committee on Conferences nor in the debates of the Agenda Item 121, Pattern of conferences, Member States were alerted that there was a cut or problems servicing regional and major groupings. In fact, operative paragraph 7 of the above-mentioned General Assembly resolution acknowledged the high percentage of meetings of these groupings that were serviced by DGACM at the four main duty stations.

6. At this juncture, and just before the Organizational Session for 2009 of the Committee on Conference takes place on April 7, the Group requests the Secretariat to clarify on the reasons behind the measure, as it is well known that there was no cut endorsed by this Committee in the funds allocated to the Department of General Assembly and Conference Management.

7. The Group further requests both oral and written responses to the following queries:
   a. Was there any cut in the funds allocated to DGACM for the biennium 08/09?
   b. What was the level of that cut?
   c. What was the legislative basis of the cut if any? Who authorized it?
   d. What was the implication of the cut on the activities of DGACM?
   e. How did DGACM prioritize the implication of the cut in the funds?
   f. What are the specific elements of technical supports that the Secretariat is intending not to provide the G77 and China in July 2009, and what is the cost of that in terms of money?
   g. What entities other than the Group of 77 and China are affected by the so-called cut in the funds allocated to DGACM?

Mr. Chairman,

8. In conclusion, the Group of 77 and China reiterates its regret for having been faced with such difficulties created by the Secretariat at a time the Group is getting itself ready to participate in the substantive session of the ECOSOC in July 2009.

I thank you Mr. Chairman.