Distinguished Co-facilitators, Excellencies, Distinguished delegates,

I have the honor to deliver this statement on behalf of the Group of 77 and China.

The G77 and China would like me to express, our appreciation to your work on the process of strengthening the Economic and Social Council and review of the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development.

The group wishes to refer to your letter dated 18 March 2024 which included the proposed zero draft proposed by you, in your capacity as co-facilitators of the above-mentioned process.

In this connection, the Group recalls its statement delivered on 15 February 2024 in which the Group stressed that the 2021 was substantive and more time was required to fully implement the provisions contained in resolutions 75/290 A and 75/290 B. Therefore, the G77 and China expressed a strong position that the 2024 review should be limited to a technical update. The group also stressed that any discussions regarding the 2024 review process should be based on these two resolutions as the starting point to the aforementioned technical update.

In the same vein, the Group of 77 and China expressed during informal consultations held on 7 March 2024 that the elements paper proposed by you on 28 February 2024 did not include the position of the Group as expressed during the informal consultations held on 15 February 2024 and hence the group could not go along with element paper as it did not reflect the position of 134 countries. This position was further expressed through an official letter addressed to the facilitators on this matter.

To the surprise and disappointment of the of the Group, once again, the proposed zero draft did not take the position of the Group into consideration, as the proposed draft included several fundamental changes to resolutions 75/290 A and 75/290 B.

In light of the above, the Group of 77 and China regrets to inform that the group does not consider the proposed zero draft a basis of our consultations and will not engage on the current zero draft as it fails to take into consideration the position of 134 countries. The Group of 77 and China reiterates its position that the resolutions 75/290 A and 75/290 B should be the basis to this process, and call for their technical update.

The group wishes to inform this meeting that the aforementioned position of the group was transmitted through an official letter to the distinguished co-facilitators.

Finally, the group remains committed to a transparent and inclusive process that is based on the positions expressed by the member states and negotiating group.

I thank you.