Mr. Chair,

1. I have the honor to deliver this statement on behalf of the Group of 77 and China on Agenda Item 146: Administrative and Budgetary Aspects of financing of the UN Peacekeeping Operations. Budget performance of the United Nations Logistics Base at Brindisi, Italy and the Regional Service Centre in Entebbe, Uganda for the period from 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2023 and the proposed budget for 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025.

2. The Group of 77 and China wishes to thank Mr. Chandru Ramanathan, Assistant Secretary-General, and Controller, and the Chair of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions for introducing their respective reports.

Mr. Chair,

3. Regarding the United Nations Logistics Base at Brindisi, "UNLB", the Group has examined the budget performance report pertaining to the period 2022/2023, we notice that, while there was some unencumbered balance during this period, there was also a spike of more than 20% in the budget line corresponding to facilities and infrastructure. We acknowledge the importance of providing the necessary maintenance to the duty stations in order to ensure proper working conditions at these premises. However, we would like to better understand why the repairs undertaken last year in UNLB had to be done in an urgent manner after being delayed in previous periods, as it is stated in the Secretary-General's report.

4. The Group has also observed that a large number of General Temporary Assistances (GTAs) of UNLB continues to be funded through resources from cost-recovery activities. Considering this funding stream is not new in the case of UNLB to finance posts, we would like to know more about the projections in terms of stability that cost recovery offers. We will be interested as well in obtaining information about the criteria that is followed at the time of recruiting the posts that are funded through cost-recovery resources, even when the Secretariat classifies this as being of extrabudgetary nature, this is certainly not the traditional extrabudgetary source such as donations.

5. Regarding the staff composition of UNLB, the Group notes the significant imbalance in both gender parity and geographical representation. While the number of female staff members is only 66% that of male staff members (169 female and 255 male), Western European and Other Groups account for 80% of the total staff, including all D1 and higher positions. The Group emphasizes the importance of achieving gender parity and calls for maximize efforts to ensure equitable geographical representation across all levels, particularly in high-level positions.

6. The Group also notes with concern that despite the General Assembly decision during the 75th session to maintain the reporting line of the Regional Aviation Safety Office (RASO) to the Director of UNLB until clear and consistent criteria on tenant units was developed, the functional reporting line of Regional Aviation Safety Office (RASO) has been transferred to the Aviation Safety Section of DOS at the UN Headquarters even without having included this proposal in the budget submitted for consideration during the 76th and 77th session of the General Assembly. The Group looks forward to receiving further clarification on this matter during the informal consultations.

7. The Group will also be interested in having a thorough discussion concerning the scalability efforts undertaken at UNLB. We are intrigued by the findings of the Board of Auditors about the impossibility to audit the end-to-end process of the UNLB scalability model because there was no auditable data matrix nor established methods to collect data through Umoja. This contrasts with the results obtained for example by the Center in Entebbe when it comes to its scalability model, which has considerably matured in the recent years.

Mr. Chair,

8. I would like now to turn my intervention to the budget for the Regional Service Centre in Entebbe.

9. The Group wishes to highlight the steps taken by RSCE to improve client satisfaction. As the Secretary General's report shows, client satisfaction increased from 72 per cent in 2018 to 77.5 per cent in 2023. We encourage the leadership of RSCE to continue its efforts to improve the satisfaction of its client missions.

10. The Group will be interested in discussing the evolving landscape of peacekeeping operations and the role of RSCE in this context as also stated by the Advisory Committee. The closure and downsizing of several Missions in Africa invite us to think on how to leverage the expertise that the Center in Entebbe has acquired throughout its years of functioning. We believe that the provision of additional services and greater cooperation with regional organizations such as the African Union is an important aspect to be developed, especially in the context of Security Council resolution 27/19 on the funding of the AU led PSOs.

11. With respect to the 2024/25 budget, the Group notes that the Centre is proposing to abolish 29 posts on the basis of its scalability model in response to the closure and drawdown of MINUSMA, UNITAMS and MONUSCO. While appreciating the responsiveness of the Centre's scalability model, we also note that the three main priorities of the RSCE in 2024/25 will be performing residual activities from the closures of MINUSMA and UNITAMS and ensuring the smooth transfer of activities from MONUSCO and providing efficient service delivery to its 15 client missions which requires adequate resources both human and financial to address this workload.

12. In conclusion, Mr. Chair, on behalf of the Group of 77 and China and my delegation, I assure you of our commitment to engage constructively on these important matters during the course of our discussions this session.

I thank you.