Mr. Chairman,

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

2. At the outset, please allow me to express our appreciation to you and members of your Bureau for the flexibility shown with regard to the schedule of the negotiation for this very important resolution. I would also like to express our thanks to the facilitator and his team for their efforts and perseverance throughout the process.

3. The Group of 77 and China is gravely concerned that the adoption of this very resolution, which will provide the United Nations development system with long-term strategic guidance to enable it to adapt its work to the new global development landscape under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as well as other inter-governmentally agreed development commitments, had to go through a vote.

4. The Group is of the view that we all had the opportunity to find consensus during the course of the negotiation which lasted more than a month. Even more so, all of us were also provided with the equal opportunity to voice all of our concerns when this text was placed under the silence procedure last Thursday which got extended into the early hours on Saturday. But yet no delegation broke the silence to raise their particular concern which could then be resolved in a timely manner before the adoption of this very critical resolution. However, a delegation resorted to call for an amendment on the agreed text which disregarded the very intrinsic fabric of multilateralism that is to make every effort to build consensus. Attempting to address a delegation's concern in an un-procedural manner by making an amendment on a text that enjoyed silence not being broken is, for the Group, inadmissible and, if I may add, disrespectful to all other delegations that respected the procedure of work. It is even more so unacceptable that this amendment was called for by the very delegation that was not present during most of the course of the negotiation process to listen to what others have to say and explain.

5. How can we then ask the system to deliver, what had been asked of it, in a coordinated and coherent manner when we cannot ourselves do this asking in a collective voice. This, for the Group, is very alarming for the fact that we have just voted on an amendment on the very resolution that asked this very system to support Member States in their efforts to implement the very Agenda that had been adopted by all our leaders just over a year ago. An Agenda that is supposed to be universal and integrated in nature.

6. The Group of 77 and China are of a firm view that the QCPR is a development resolution. We are deeply disappointed that an amendment, which had to be put on a vote, was based on a political motivation. We are extremely concerned that the considerations by the Second Committee on this very critical resolution have to be made within such political circumstances.

7. However, the Group reaffirm our principle - a non-politicized principle - that in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, the United Nations development system must address the special challenges facing developing countries, in particular, African countries, least developed countries, landlocked developing countries and small island developing States, the need for special attention to countries in conflict and post-conflict situations and countries and peoples under foreign occupation, as well as the specific challenges facing the middle-income countries, in line with the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This is a unified position of the Group. Therefore it is, for us, absolutely incomprehensible and downright absurd that just one year after, under this very august organization that we all pledged to 'leave no one behind', that countries find it necessary to call for a vote based on a paragraph that speaks to the challenges of those most in need of assistance based on pure political reasoning.

Mr. Chairman,

8. It is usual in the process of negotiation that all parties to the negotiating table gain some and lose some. Nevertheless, for this particular important QCPR resolution, we are of the view that it is in the best interest of all Member States to be able to provide a consensual and collective strategic guidance to the United Nations development system as we move into the real phase of implementing the 2030 Agenda.

9. In addition, as stated by the Group of 77 and China on 6 October 2016 as we were entering into the negotiation process that led all of us to this end, it is very important that the operational activities for development of the UN development system take into account the need to build, promote and strengthen capacity of developing countries in their efforts to address long-term sustainable development at the national level while, at the same time, emphasizing the importance of national ownership and leadership and bearing in mind the different development levels and realities on the ground in these countries. And in order for the system to be able to do so it is required to continue to improve its effectiveness, efficiency, coordination, coherence and impact.

10. In this regard, the Group would like to express extreme caution against the following paragraphs:

10.1 On operative paragraph 14, the new concept of "sustaining peace", as per the twin resolutions under the title "Review of the United Nations peacebuilding architecture" adopted by the General Assembly and the Security Council, has been discussed, negotiated and adopted in a different context. However, since this resolution is and must be development focused, the Group is of a strong view that the mere mentioning in particular of the issue of "humanitarian crises" in this particular paragraph is not justifiable. In addition, when discussing humanitarian emergencies, the notion of "under national ownership and by request of national Government" must be included and cannot be omitted. In addition, the call for better coordination between development, humanitarian and peacebuilding activities had already been captured in PP7 and OP24. In our view, this paragraph does not have any value-added to the resolution but actually brings in language beyond the scope of the resolution itself.

10.2 On operative paragraph 20, the Group would like to reiterate that the contributions of the entities of the United Nations development system, in particular its funds and programmes, must aim at providing support to Member States in their efforts to fully implement the 2030 Agenda, including service delivery and development of national capacities in various areas, in line with their respective national priorities and plans. This should not in any way preclude or prejudge how funding of the entities vis-à-vis fulfilling their respective functions and mandates thereof. We were appalled that a paragraph related to the mainstreaming of the 2030 Agenda was used to insert a funding proposal that was repeatedly rejected by the Group. The so-called "alignment of funding to functions" does not have the support of the majority of delegations. The questions raised by the Group on the desirability, feasibility and concrete impact of such a proposal in programming remain unanswered. The Group's flexibility to reach an agreement on the non-exhaustive list of instruments used by the system to support capacity development was always accompanied by a clear statement during the negotiation that funding was a separate issue. It is, therefore, unfortunate that such a confusing message made its way into this particular paragraph giving a straitjacket to the system.

10.3 On operative paragraph 57, in particular the cost-sharing arrangement for the resident coordinator system among entities of the United Nations development system under sub-item (g), the Group is aware that this particular issue is being discussed by the Fifth Committee. We are of a strong view that the adoption of this resolution should not prejudge or interfere with the ongoing work and should respect the discussion being undertaken therein.

Mr. Chairman,

11. In closing, the Group of 77 and China would like to express our appreciation to all delegations for their engagement in the negotiation process as we set out to provide the United Nations development system with the strategic guidance for the next four years if not longer. We look forward to a more coherent and coordinated United Nations development system that can deliver results both on the grounds and at all other levels in its support to ensure national ownership and leadership of Member States in our efforts to implement the 2030 Agenda in the years ahead.

I thank you.