Madam Chair,

1. I have the honour to speak on behalf of the Group of 77 and China at the closing of the main part of the seventy-ninth session of the Fifth Committee;

2. The Group of 77 and China thanks you, Madam Chair, and your bureau members, for your strong leadership throughout this session. Your leadership played a crucial role in ensuring the successful conclusion of the work of the Fifth Committee.

3. We also thank the Fifth Committee Secretariat, ably led by Mr. Lionel Berridge, for the excellent professionalism shown in facilitating the work of the Committee. Your hard work is always appreciated. We also thank the Controller and Assistant Secretary-General Mr. Chandru Ramanathan and his team for being responsive and helpful throughout the session as well as Mr. Abdallah Bachar Bong, the outgoing chair of the Advisory Committee for that Committee' well-reasoned recommendations to this Committee.

Madam Chair,

4. The Group of 77 and China attaches great importance to the work of this Organisation. We were therefore proud to have contributed to the many notable achievements of the Fifth Committee this session. We concluded items of high complexity, including the scales of assessment, programme budget, and funding for the Resident Coordinator System among others. As a group of developing countries, the Group has consistently focused on funding the development pillar of the United Nations, to ensure the role of the Organisation in helping us turbocharge the Sustainable Development Goals. The Group is therefore pleased to have concluded the agenda items on the funding of the Resident Coordinator System and the revised estimates for the Pact for the Future.

5. On the scales of assessment , the Group has consistently taken a principled position that the assessment for the regular budget should be based on the principle of capacity to pay. While the adopted methodology maintains a fundamental distortion through the maximum ceiling, the Group trusts that keeping the core elements of the methodology was the best decision at this point in time for the Organisation and its membership.

6. The Group is also pleased that we successfully concluded deliberations on other important agenda items, including all the revised estimates and programme budgetary implications for resolutions, the UN Common System, Pattern of Conferences, the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund and the Terms of Reference for the peacebuilding fund that has unlocked the $50M proposed in the regular budget. We are delighted that the Secretary-General's request for the revised estimates for UNRWA was fully granted. We hope that this would represent a relief for UNRWA during this difficult time for the agency. We will continue to endeavour to grant UNRWA all its required resources in the future.

Madam Chair,

7. The Group of 77 and China is proud to have upheld its commitment to engage all negotiating partners in an inclusive and constructive manner. We thank all other groups and delegations for doing the same. Our mutually collaborative approach helped us to ensure that all items reached successful conclusions. We look forward to continuing this constructive approach with all our negotiating partners for the rest of the 79th session, and beyond.

8. Finally, I wish to express my sincere appreciation to members of the Group of 77 and China for their excellent camaraderie and commitment to defending the Group's priorities. We work best when we work together. On a personal note, as I hand over the chairmanship of the Group to my dear colleague Hayder from Iraq, I am certain that all Group members will extend to him the same support that I have received. On behalf of the Chair, Uganda is proud to belong to this great Group of countries. I look forward to continuing working alongside my G77 and China colleagues and other Fifth Committee experts to advance the work of the United Nations.

**I thank and Happy New Year to all!**