Mr. Assistant Secretary- General for Development Coordination, Excellencies, Distinguished delegates,

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

The G77 and China commends the Assistant Secretary- General for Development Coordination for convening this final plenary informal consultation as part of the inclusive dialogue on the Funding Compact for the United Nations support to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The G77 and China stressed that an efficient and well-funded United Nation Development System is key in supporting the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the achievement of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, particularly in developing countries.

The G77 and China expresses its appreciations to you and your team for incorporating some of our issues in this current third draft of Funding Compact and its draft framework for Global Level for Monitoring and Reporting. We also acknowledge that this current draft of the funding compact and its monitoring framework is progressing in the right direction as it contains elements that are important to the group.

The G77 and China reiterates its concerns about the low funding of the UN development activities. We therefore wish to highlight the following issues:

First, the United Nations Development System support to developing countries should be in accordance with their national development needs and priorities. In this regard, we welcome the inclusion of this

key priority of the group in objective one. Developing countries continue to face funding challenges and broadening the funding contributor base for the United Nations Development System should not shift the funding burden to developing countries. Therefore, the group calls upon more developed countries to join the number of contributors to broaden the base of contributors to provide the funding required by the United Nations Development System to support the developing countries in their efforts to accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.

While host governments make contributions in support of national sustainable development results, the group reiterates its call for the deletion of the last sentence of paragraph 10 of the funding compact. The group stresses that the developed countries should bear the primary responsibility of funding the United Nations Development System. We also firmly believe that implementation by the UN Country teams of intergovernmental normative agreements and conventions should be upon request and in close coordination with the host governments in the programme countries.

Second, on the alignment of programmes and capacities to strategic priorities and needs, it is key to make reference to the approval of the strategic plans and budgets by the governing bodies of the UNDS entities, as plans and budgets are not intergovernmentally drafted or negotiated and decisions adopting the plans and budgets might contain some intergovernmentally agreed terms and conditions. Likewise, cooperation frameworks comprise not only priorities but also host country needs. Therefore, the mention of countries' needs and approval by the executive boards should be reflected in objective three of the funding compact and appropriate sections of its framework.

The G77 and China reiterate its call of enhancing the provision of core funding and reducing the levels of earmarking as the best solution to ensure that the UN Development System has adequate, predictable, and sustainable funding required to support programme countries in the pursuit of their national development priorities and needs. We emphasize the flexibility of reallocating resources specifically to fund the underfunded development activities of the

entities. Regarding the UN Resident Coordinator System, the funding compact should not prejudice the ongoing discussions on this matter in the Fifth Committee of the UN General Assembly.

Finally, the G77 and China remains committed to engage actively and constructively on the funding compact. In this context, the G77 and China shall submit its additional specific comments on these drafts.

I thank you.