Statement of the Group of 77 and China during the Joint 57th reconvened session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) and the 23rd reconvened session of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ), delivered by H.E. Ambassador Lourdes O. Yparraguirre Permanent Representative of the Philippines
Vienna, 4 December 2014
Agenda item 3(b) – Strategic management, budgetary and administrative questions: Work of the standing open-ended intergovernmental working group on improving the governance and financial situation of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
Thank you Co-chairs,
1. I have the honour to speak on behalf of the Group of 77 and China and to convey our pleasure in seeing both of you presiding over this joint reconvened session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) and the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ). I also take this opportunity to thank the Secretariat for the preparations for this session.
2. The Group of 77 and China reaffirms the importance of the decisions taken by the CND and the CCPCJ in 2009 to establish an intergovernmental working group to improve the governance and financial situation of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. In addition, the Group reiterates the vision that inspired its intense efforts towards the constitution of the working group, that is, the setting up of a permanent, open, constructive, transparent, accountable and Member-State driven mechanism to deal effectively with the governance and financial challenges that UNODC continues to face in order to properly fulfill its mandate.
3. The Group believes that Member States have recognized the positive role of the Working Group as an appropriate forum for a fruitful dialogue on UNODC's programme development and implementation, through a process of consultation and review, thereby strengthening the trust, deepening the understanding and enhancing the cooperation between Member States and the Secretariat, as well as among Member States themselves. In this regard, the Group commends the leadership of the Co-chairs of the Working Group, H.E. Ambassador Reza Najafi, Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and Mr. Ignacio Baylina of Spain.
4. The Group notes that the 58th Session of the CND and the 24th Session of the CCCPJ Sessions should carry out a thorough review of the functioning of the Working Group and will consider the extension of its mandate. The Group therefore welcomes the Co-chairs’ Statement, particularly the four salient points with respect to the continuation of the Working Group, for consideration of both Commissions, namely:
• Continuous support for strengthening the financial situation of the UNODC
• Continuous support for promoting an integrated programme approach
• Continuous support for promoting a culture of evaluation within UNODC at all stages of programme planning, development and implementation
• Continuous support for strengthening human resources governance to improve gender balance and geographical representation
5. The Group looks forward to the extension of the mandate of the Working Group and reaffirms its commitment to contribute to its task. The Group believes that Member States and the Secretariat must continue to discuss ways on addressing the persistent unpredictable and constrained financial situation of the UNODC, as well the need to ensure UNODC’s delivery capacity and the sustainability of its thematic, global and regional programmes.
6. The Group expresses concern that geographical representation from developing countries and gender balance, especially at the senior and policy-making levels, are inadequate and affect the highest standards of efficiency, technical competence and integrity of the UNODC.
7. The Group urges the Executive Director to intensify his efforts to ensure, particularly at the senior and policy-making levels and for professional posts requiring specific skills, geographical representation, especially of the developing countries, this will be taken into account at the UNODC headquarters and its Field Offices.
8. The G-77 and China considers that the question of the staff composition of UNODC must be a standing separate agenda item of the Commissions and FINGOV. Furthermore, in order for the Working Group to be able to exercise its function of oversight, the Group urges the Secretariat to engage in an open and transparent dialogue on this issue, including through the provision of disaggregated information required by the Working Group.
Agenda item 3(c) Strategic management, budgetary and administrative questions: Directives on policy and budgetary issues for the United Nations crime prevention and criminal justice programme
1. As stated by the Group at last year’s joint reconvened session, any new funding model should ensure sustainable funding for provision of technical assistance and for supporting activities of field offices. The core technical assistance requirements should be met out of the regular budget of the UNODC and the programme support costs should not affect the performance of the field offices.
Thank you Mr. Chairman.
Intervention of the G-77 and China on the provisional agenda for the reconvened 58th CND and 24th CCPCJ on 4 December 2014
Mr. Chairman,
On this provisional agenda for the 58th session of the CND (and the 24th session of the CCPCJ) as well as meetings of the FINGOV, the Group of 77 and China would like to take this opportunity to reiterate our proposal on the inclusion of a standing agenda item on “Staff composition of the UNODC and other related matters”, in the Commissions and the FINGOV.
This agenda item may discuss details regarding staff strength of the UNODC, including at its headquarters and field offices, based on geographical representation from developing countries and gender balance, especially at the senior and policy-making levels.
