Agenda Item 3 – Review of the Technical Cooperation Activities of UNCTAD and Their Financing

Mr. President,
Dr. Mukhisa Kituyi, Secretary-General of UNCTAD,
Excellencies, Distinguished delegates,

1. At the outset, allow me on behalf of the Group of 77 and China to congratulate you on your election as chair of the 71st session of the Working Party on the Strategic Framework and the Program Budget. The Group is confident that under your leadership, this session of the Working Party will achieve its objectives. I would like to assure you of my Group’s full support.

2. The Group of 77 and China thank the Secretary-General for his introductory statement and we would like to express our most sincere appreciation to the UNCTAD Secretariat for organizing this meeting and commend it for its preparations.

3. The Group of 77 and China recognize the importance of this session of the working party as it deals with issues crucial to the developing world. In this regard my group wishes to emphasize the importance of enhancing the technical cooperation work of UNCTAD as put forth in the Accra and Doha outcome documents. Funding for UNCTAD’s technical activities must be predictable and sustainable. In light of the adoption of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and the agreement reached on the Post 2015 Development Agenda, the technical cooperation work of UNCTAD must ensure that States are able to meet their obligations as a result of the AAAA and the document entitled Transforming Our World: The 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda that will be adopted at the High Level Summit on 25-27 September 2015.

4. The Group of 77 and China view this session as an opportunity to examine UNCTAD’s work in the area of technical cooperation and to take the necessary steps to implement recommendations included in the Accra Accord. We commend the Secretariat for efforts undertaken and insights provided in the documents presented to the Working Party, which reflect the spirit of Accra.

5. The Group would like the Secretariat to continue to conduct its technical cooperation based on the main principles and goals of UNCTAD technical cooperation, as follows: they must be demand driven, there is ownership of developing countries, there is predictability of funding, as well as transparency and efficiency. Furthermore, we must remember that the role of technical cooperation is to support the work of the intergovernmental machinery and operationalize the intellectual work of the analytical pillar. It is not an end in and of itself.

6. UNCTAD technical cooperation should be able to respond to the needs and priorities of beneficiaries, in particular developing countries. In this regard, the Group calls on donors to use the indicative list of formal requests for UNCTAD assistance updated by the Secretariat as a tool in terms of making decisions on fund allocations. The Group of 77 and China see this 71st session as an opportunity to exchange views among the various stakeholders and allow for a better understanding between donors and beneficiaries.

7. The Group of 77 and China note with appreciation that in 2014 the contributions from developed countries increased significantly compared with the low level in 2013. Developing countries also made record high contributions to UNCTAD trust funds in 2014 and surpassed the contributions of developed countries for the fourth consecutive year. It is of concern however, that in spite of the increase in contributions from all sides, there was not enough funding to meet the rising demand for technical assistance, which will only continue to grow in light of the Post 2015 Development Agenda. The Group is also concerned with the earmarking of funds and their lack of predictability, which limits the ability of the Secretariat to effectively respond to the needs of developing countries. The Group further recalls the previous discussions on the fundraising strategy and expresses its willingness to continue to work on this issue.

8. The Group of 77 and China call on UNCTAD to continue to prioritize the least-developed countries (LDCs) in terms of UNCTAD’s technical cooperation work. The Group is pleased that in spite of a small decline in the level of expenditures in 2014, the share of LDCs in UNCTAD total technical cooperation delivery remained stable at about 40% of total delivery. It is of grave concern however, that the UNCTAD LDC Trust Fund received very limited funds in 2014.

9. The Group of 77 and China recognize UNCTAD’s active participation and contribution to the United Nations system-wide coherence reform, in particular through its leading role in the UN Inter-Agency Cluster on Trade and Productive Capacity, which has been instrumental in accessing additional funds at the country level for the delivery of joint technical cooperation activities.

10. In closing, the Group of 77 and China commend the UNCTAD Secretariat for its close coordination and collaboration with member States on these important issues and we would like to reiterate the importance of this technical cooperation pillar of UNCTAD to developing countries and the need to continue to fund it, especially as we embark on achieving the difficult but not insurmountable task of achieving the 17 goals and 169 targets as laid out in the Post-2015 Development Agenda.