Mr Chairman,

1. Allow me to express some observations on behalf of the Group of 77 and China concerning the request by the Audit Operations Committee of the United Nations Board of Auditors to meet with the Bureau to address the issues related to proposals by the administration to present a single financial statement for the three separate entities namely the International Tribunal for Yugoslavia; International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals.

2. The Group has carefully studied the information as provided under this specific subject as well as the IPSAS principles and we would like to express our disagreement on said proposal. The Group is of the view that these entities have different mandates, different lifespans and function under unique circumstances. The Group is also not convinced of the reasons/rationale provided by the Secretariat which we consider as an attempt to undermine transparency and accountability of the financial aspects and other administrative elements related to these entities.

3. We would like to emphasize the need for the Secretariat to ensure timely preparation and presentation of separate financial statements to the Board in line with the given mandate and allocation of assignments.

4. In this regard the Group would like to request the ACABQ, through you Mr Chair, to transmit our position on this matter to the AOC/ Board of Auditors and that no audit should be carried out on the packaged approach for these three (3) separate entities. The Group has also communicated our position, on this matter, to our respective Bureau representatives. The Group would not be in a position to consider any accounts of any of these entities that deviate from said principle.

5. I would like to assure you of our continued commitment and support on all issues related to external oversight matters.

I thank you Mr Chairman.