Mr. President,

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

Mr. President,

2. At the outset, I wish to thank you for convening this important Special Meeting to deliberate on inequality. I wish to also thank the distinguish panelists for providing us with excellent views of this complicated issue.

3. I would like to share with you the Group of 77 and China's general views and observations on inequality which has reemerged as a "new normal" for the global community as follows.

4. First, inequality knows no borders and nationality and has a true universal characteristic. Its comprehensive and multi-dimensional effects on economic and social development pose increasing concerns not only for developing but also developed countries. Inequality is a global problem that requires global solutions. Therefore, it is timely to deliberate and come up with action-oriented outcomes towards the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, especially the SDG 10 on reducing inequality within and among countries.

5. Second, we view that inequality between countries are foremost the more persistent form of inequality than others. We noted an increasing trend of inequality among countries. According to UNCTAD report of 2014, an average income of those richest countries reached 60 times that of the poorest in the 2000s, compared to 44 times in the 1980s. However, it is worth noting that rapid economic growth in many developing countries since the turn of the millennium has contributed to reduction of inequality gap among countries.

6. In this regard, we are of the view that addressing inequality among countries must be one of the main tasks for the work of the UN development system. Equally important, there is a need to tackle systemic issues and shortcomings of international trade and financial systems for more development-friendly rules of the game at the international level to improve the regulation and monitoring of global financial markets and institutions and also strengthening the implementation of such regulations including those laws and regulations to curtail illicit financial outflows. Such unlawful amount of capital flows should be better spent for development resources. Likewise, the infrastructure gap must be addressed, as a key area to support means of implementation.

7. Furthermore, it is important to ensure mobility of labour which promotes responsible migration that facilitates income redistribution through remittance. In this regard, we echo the need to ensure enhanced representation and voice for developing countries in decision-making in global international economic and financial institutions in order to deliver more effective, credible, accountable and legitimate institutions as stipulated in the targets of the SDG 10.

8. Third, to cope with inequality at country level, the development prospects of developing countries should be strengthened. This requires policies that foster dynamic structural change, especially in the least developed countries and countries in special situations, where that process has stagnated. In this regard, there is a need to put job creation and full employment at the centre of economic policies in tandem with coherent macroeconomic, industrial, trade, environmental and social policies that reinforce each other. Furthermore, policy coherence at the national level should be complemented by policy coherence at the international level, providing countries with the policy space needed to implement their national development strategies and achieve sustainable development goals.

9. Fourth, to complement national policy framework to address inequality, the UN system, especially through the ECOSOC, should level up its roles in coordination of policy support among the UN system, the Funds and Programmes and specialized agencies as well as between the Bretton Woods institutions for more inequality-targeted programme of work which will contribute to achieving the targets under the SGD 10 within the foreseeable timeframe.

10. We further underscore that for the least developed countries and countries in special situations, to reverse trends towards marginalization in the world economy, a new international development architecture is needed. For this to work, there is a strong call for the UN to deliver its work on development in a more coherent and coordinated manner.

11. Finally, as today's outcomes will be part of the ECOSOC's contribution to the upcoming High-level Political Forum, we would like to encourage for action-oriented nature of our deliberations which will contribute to the implementation of this important goal.

Mr. President,

12. We wish to reassure that you have our continued support as the Group of 77 and China strongly believes that the implementation of the 2030 Agenda will truly provide a life of dignity for all without leaving no one behind.

I thank you.