G-77 AND CHINA STATEMENT ON THE 5TH SESSION OF THE IMPLEMENTATION REVIEW GROUP DELIVERED BY MR. INDRA ROSANDRY, PERMANENT MISSION OF INDONESIA, ON BEHALF OF H.E. AMBASSADOR ALIYAR LEBBE ABDUL AZEEZ, PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF SRI LANKA
Vienna, 2 June 2014
Mr. Chairman,
1. On behalf of the Group of 77 and China, allow me to congratulate you on your election as Chairman of this 5th Session of the Implementation Review Group. Rest assured of our support for the successful conclusion of the meeting.
2. The Group also commends the Secretariat for the excellent preparations made to support the work of this session.
3. At this juncture, we also welcome Oman, Palestine, and the Czech Republic as new States Parties to the UNCAC since the last COSP held in Panama.
Mr. Chairman,
4. At the fifth session of Conference in Panama, a Decision on the Mechanism for the review implementation of the Convention was adopted. In this regard, we welcome the work of the Implementation Review Group to continue assisting State Parties, through the review mechanism, in effectively implementing the Convention. In this context, it is important to emphasize that the Terms of Reference, especially the Guiding Principles and characteristics of the mechanism, should be fully and consistently complied with throughout the review process.
5. We also note with appreciation the increased participation of a large number of State Parties in the review process, which has produced tangible and useful results, particularly for supporting their efforts in the implementation of the Convention.
Mr. Chairman,
6. The Review mechanism requires funding to ensure its efficient, continued and impartial functioning. Therefore, we reiterate our position that the mechanism should be funded from the regular budget of the United Nations in accordance with the terms of Reference.
7. Furthermore, it is also important to note that the review mechanism should serve as a tool in helping States Parties to identify specific needs for technical assistance, as well as promote and facilitate the provision of such assistance towards the implementation of the Convention. Therefore, we would like to commend the Secretariat for their continuous efforts in providing a broad set of tailored technical assistance activities at the global, regional and national levels to meet the growing demands of States Parties.
Mr. Chairman,
8. As we are in the process of completing the first cycle of the Review Mechanism, we welcome the sharing of experiences and information among States Parties on challenges and good practices in order that States Parties and the Secretariat could draw lessons in the current review process.
9. We take note of the inclusion of a new agenda item “Performance of the Mechanism for the Review of Implementation of the United Nations Convention against Corruption and its terms of reference”. We wish to emphasize that, in accordance with the decision 5/1 of the fifth session of Conference, the purpose of inclusion of this new agenda item is for the discussion of the relevant information collected by the Group, with the support of the Secretariat, in order to facilitate the assessment of the performance of the Mechanism, which itself shall start after the completion of the first cycle as provided for by the terms of reference of the Mechanism. We look forward to a fruitful discussion under this item.
10. We also look forward to the commencement of the Second cycle of the review mechanism and to the review of the whole Chapters II and V of the UNCAC in accordance to Resolution 3/1.
11. In conclusion, we wish to once again reiterate our support and will fully contribute in the discussion in a constructive manner.
