Mr. President,

On behalf of the Group of 77 and China, I have the distinct honour to introduce before the Plenary of the General Assembly the draft resolution entitled "International cooperation on humanitarian assistance in the field of natural disasters, from relief to development", as contained in document A/71/L.33.

Mr. President,

As we present this draft resolution again this year, the Group of 77 and China continue to reaffirm the importance of international cooperation in providing assistance to countries and peoples affected by natural disasters in accordance with resolution 46/182 and the guiding principles for the strengthening of the coordination of emergency humanitarian assistance of the United Nations system, while also recognising that affected States have the primary responsibilities in the initiation, organisation, coordination and implementation of humanitarian assistance within their territories.

Mr. President,

New elements have been added to this year's text to reinforce the essence of the resolution, in particular to seek strengthened support for capacity and resilience building of affected States and communities as well as the accelerated implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030. It also seeks to promote inclusive participation and non-discrimination and enhancing leadership of those in vulnerable situations, in particular women and persons with disabilities, taking into account the fact that they often are disproportionately affected in humanitarian settings and have less access to humanitarian assistance in response to their differing needs.

Mr. President,

In closing, the Group of 77 and China would like to thank the distinguished representative from the Permanent Mission of Morocco for successfully coordinating the negotiations of this draft resolution. We also appreciate the constructive spirit and the invaluable support shown by all Member States in order to arrive at this final text. It is our hope that this resolution will be adopted by consensus once again at this 71st session of the General Assembly.

I thank you.