2. The Group would like to thank Mr. Chandru Ramanathan, Assistant Secretary-General and the Controller, and Amjad Alkumaim, Vice-Chair of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions for presenting their respective reports.

3. The Group of the 77 and China would like to reaffirm our strong support to the work of the Mechanism and that consideration and allocation of the adequate resources for the Mechanism particularly in Arusha branch is among our top priority.

4. The Group of 77 and China has taken note of the budget performance for the 2023 which reflects final expenditure in the amount of 77.9 million dollars reflecting under -expenditure in the amount of 4 million dollars to be credited against the Member States for 2025. The Group looks forward to receiving information on the projected expenditure for year 2024.

5. With regard to the implementation of the recommendations of the oversight bodies, the Group notes with serious concern on the slow pace of the implementation of the Board of Auditors recommendations. We concur with the Advisory Committee on the need for the Mechanism to expedite implementation of the remaining recommendations as a matter of priority.

6. The Group of 77 and China would also like to reiterate the need for Mechanism to prompt and efficient complete its remaining work.

7. The Group has also taken note of the discussions related to the administrative and budgetary aspects of possible locations of the archives of the ICTR, the ICTY and the Mechanism and we will be interested to study background for this matter during our informal consultations. The Group would like to reaffirm that, the Fifth Committee is the appropriate Main Committee of the General Assembly entrusted with responsibilities for administrative and budgetary matters.

Madam Chair,

8. The Group notes that the proposed resources for 2025 in the amount of 60.2 million dollars reflecting a decrease of 5.27 million dollars or 8.1 per cent, compared with the appropriation for 2024. The Group notes that, the main underlying assumption for the decrease is the proposed abolishment of 5 temporary posts and 22 general temporary assistance positions by the end of 2025. We note that 4 of the 5 posts proposed for abolishment are located in Arusha and the one post P-4 Chief Security Officer was originally transferred from Arusha to The Hague. We have also taken note of the proposed reduction of non-post resources.

9. The Group of 77 and China is once again concerned of the serious level of bias on the post and GTA reduction which continues to be skewed in one direction of the Mechanism's Arusha Branch. The Group continues to reject the double standards in the treatment of the two branches of the Mechanism.

10. With regard to the question of nationalization of positions, the Group of 77 and China is seriously concerned that, the current proposal continues to ignore the provision of paragraph 12 of the General Assembly resolution 78/249. We strongly encourage the Mechanism to nationalize posts as mandated by the General Assembly resolution.

Madam Chair,

11. With respect to the settlement of claims and liability, the Group welcomes the efforts of the government of the United Republic of Tanzania as a host country in finding solution to the matter which has taken too long to resolve. The Group would like to once again emphasize the need for the Secretary- General to make necessary efforts for the finalization of this matter amicably for the better interest of the Organization as soon as possible, and we will seek for specific information in this regard during our informal consultations.

12. In conclusion, madam chair, allow me to reassure you of our readiness to engage constructively with a view to reaching consensus outcome in a timely manner.

I thank you.

Excellencies,

The fourth international conference on Financing for Development (FFD4) will take place at the critical time when developing countries continue to face limited fiscal space constraining their respective national efforts to implement bold actions to support the pursuit of their national development goals, accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and achieve sustainable development. Financing remains a key driver in the achievement of the sustainable development, including the Sustainable Development Goals.

The G77 and China emphasizes that the outcome document of FFD4 should focus on addressing the financing challenges that developing countries face, including sustainable development goals financing and investment gap, which is currently estimated between USD 2.5 trillion and 4 trillion annually. This widening financing in developing countries is heightened by, inter alia; elevated debt burdens, rising illicit financial flows, trade protectionism, unilateral coercive measures, outdated international financial architecture and adverse impacts of climate change. We reaffirm our long standing position that achieving sustainable development, including the Sustainable Development Goals requires new, additional, quality, adequate, sustainable, and predictable financing.

Excellencies,

The Group stresses that addressing the limited fiscal space in developing countries requires closing financing and investment gaps at a scale and with urgency. The Group emphasizes that urgent actions to address the limited fiscal space and accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and achievement of sustainable development in developing countries should include, inter alia:

a) Urgent reform of the international financial architecture to close the SDG financing gap, including international financial institutions and multilateral development banks governance reform, especially of IMF and the World Bank, to broaden and strengthen the voice, and participation and representation of developing countries in international economic decision making, norm setting and global economic governance;
b) Promote access to grants, concessional finance and affordable, predictable long term financing at scale by all developing countries, in particular African countries, LDCs, LLDCs, SIDS, and MICs;
c) Improve global sovereign debt architecture, with the meaningful participation of all developing countries;
d) Elimination of the surcharge policy by the IMF;
e) Issue new general allocations of SDRs, with distribution to developing countries according to their needs;
f) Rechannelling of unutilized existing and newly allocated Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) from developed countries through MDBs to developing countries most in need of liquidity and to regional development banks;
g) Scale up debt swaps for SDGs, including debt swaps for climate and nature to allow developing countries to use debt service payments for investments in sustainable development and taking multilateral measures to standardize the use of these mechanisms;
h) Fulfil existing commitments, including ODA by developed countries;
i) Support the multilateral trading system, including through the fulfilment of long-standing pending negotiating issues, such as comprehensive agricultural trade reform, and working toward the necessary WTO reform, strengthening the special and differential treatment for developing countries as a multilateral principle and ensuring transfer of technology to deliver on sustainable development;
j) Eliminate immediately all laws and regulations with extraterritorial impact and all other forms of coercive economic measures and trade restrictive measures, including unilateral sanctions, and unilateral and discriminatory border adjustment mechanisms and taxes imposed under the guise of environmental protection, against developing countries;
k) Support structural transformation and enhance productive capacities for building diversified, resilient, and sustainable economies that can generate decent and productive employment;
l) Scale up investments in areas, including infrastructure, connectivity, innovation, technology, education, skills development and capacity building, as well as support for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises;
m) Prevent and combat the illicit financial flows that drain resources from developing countries;
n) Reinforce the commitment to strengthen the inclusiveness and effectiveness of international tax cooperation at the United Nations;
o) Advance the establishment of the set of measures of progress on sustainable development that complement or go beyond gross domestic product to inform access to concessional finance and technical cooperation for developing countries;
p) Further reduce the costs of remittances, recognizing their potential to contribute to sustainable development, while not being a substitute to traditional financial flows;
q) Promote and facilitate investments in developing countries, including though increasing Foreign Direct Investment flows to developing countries, and supporting capacity building for developing countries;
r) Catalyse increased public and private sector financing and investment in sustainable development, including through innovative financing such as blended finance.

Excellencies,

The G77 and China reiterate its call on developed countries and international financial institutions to take urgent actions, including to massively scale up affordable long-term and concessional financing for development and expand contingency financing to developing countries in need. The Group stresses that FFD4 should build on the outcomes of the previous conferences as well as relevant intergovernmentally negotiated outcomes and agree on appropriate actions for implementation to support development countries in their pursuit to achieve sustainable development in all its three dimensions.

Excellencies,

Finally, the G77 and China reiterates its commitment to engage constructively in all conference preparatory activities, and stresses that the outcome document must be inter-governmentally negotiated, with line by line text-based negotiations, with a view of ensuring that developing countries have the fiscal and policy space to support their pursuit to achieve sustainable development.

I thank you.

2. The Group would like to thank Ms. Maria Costa, Director, Finance Division/OPPFB, and Mr. Abdallah Bachar Bong, Chair of the ACABQ, for introducing their respective reports;

3. The Group of 77 and China recalls General Assembly Resolution 302 (IV) of 1949, which established the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) with a mandate to provide humanitarian assistance, protection, and essential services to Palestine refugees, highlighting the vital role UNRWA plays in providing education, healthcare, relief and social services and emergency assistance to Palestine refugees, in all five fields of operation including in particular in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, including East Jerusalem;

4. The Group reaffirms that no organization can replace or substitute UNRWA's capacity and mandate to serve Palestine refugees and civilians in urgent need of life-saving humanitarian assistance, and underscores the responsibility of the international community to support the Agency in enabling the continuity of its indispensable operations in all five fields of operation, while emphasizing that that any interruption or suspension of its work would have severe humanitarian consequences for millions of Palestine refugees who depend on the Agency's services, with further implications for the region;

5. The group expresses deep concern over recent legislative actions by the Israel Knesset, that aim to obstruct UNRWA's operations, which significantly hinder the Agency's ability to fulfill its mandate;

6. The Group is also appalled by the killing of Agency staff and all acts of violence against civilians, including all acts of terror and indiscriminate attacks, as well as all acts of provocation, incitement and destruction of property under the United Nations flag and bearing the United Nations emblem, including UNRWA schools sheltering displaced civilians;

7. The Group appreciates the work of the Agency's staff, including in dire circumstances, in fulfillment of the Agency's mandate. We also extend our deepest condolences to the Agency for the loss of its staff members, which stood at 237 as of 28th October 2024, highlighting the continuous disregard and endangerment of the lives of United Nations staff in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem;

8. The Group stands ready to support the work of UNRWA and all its staff, and to engage constructively in the consideration of this important agenda item during the informal discussions;

I thank you.