Mr. President,

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

2. At the outset, the Group congratulates you and other members of the Bureau for your able leadership of the work of the Executive Board.

3. The Group commends the work of the United Nations Development Program under the able stewardship of the UNDP Administrator, Mr. Achim Steiner, and reiterates the importance it accords to the core development mandate of the UNDP in supporting national efforts in sustainable development and the achievement of the SDGs, in line with countries’ national need and priorities.

4. The Group further reiterates our overarching common goal to eradicate poverty in all its forms and dimensions, which is the greatest global challenge and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development, while making linkages with the cross-cutting nature of all the SDG’s. To do so and truly leave no country and no one behind, poverty eradication needs to be an integral objective of all policies and be addressed as a multidimensional phenomenon.

5. In conducting its work, the UNDP should coordinate its development work, while taking into account that the interlinkages between sustainable development, humanitarian action and peacebuilding activities should be undertaken in accordance with the mandate of OP24 of the QCPR resolution, and as reaffirmed in the GA resolution on the repositioning of the UNDS.

6. The Group reiterates that securing sufficient and predictable core resources for development activities is key to enhance advancements in achieving the 2030 Agenda, and gives the UNDP and many other entities the ability to respond to rapidly changing and new country priorities. In this regard, the Group emphasizes the significance of ODA allocation to the poorest and most vulnerable countries by meeting ODA commitments.

Mr. President,

7. The Group would like to take this opportunity to welcome the successful conclusion of the Second UN Conference on South-South Cooperation held in Argentina in March 2019. In this regard, we commend the UN Office for South-South Cooperation for carrying out their work in a transparent and efficient manner, and we stress that the Office is the articulator of South-South cooperation in the UN system, and we appreciate the countries of the South who have stepped up their cooperation with UNOSSC which has also enhanced its role and impact by up-scaling it in terms of financial, human and budgetary resources for the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

8. In this connection, the Group also stresses that South-South Cooperation continues to be a bold and growing mean in strengthening international cooperation for the achievement of SDGs, and re-emphasizes that South-South Cooperation is a complement to and not a substitute for North-South Cooperation, which remains the main channel for international development cooperation.

9. In conclusion, the Group looks forward to a constructive discussion during this session of the Executive Board and we look forward to strengthening our close cooperation with UNDP with the aim of achieving long-term development.

I thank you.