Mr. Chair,

1. I have the honour to deliver this statement on behalf of the Group of 77 and China on agenda item 135: Assessment of the Police Division and in particular, the Report of the Secretary General in respect of the foregoing.

2. At the outset, the Group of 77 and China would like to express its appreciation to Mr. Luis Carrilho, Police Adviser and Director of the Police Division, Office of the Rule of Law and Security Institutions, Department of Peace Operations for introducing the report of the Secretary-General, contained in document A/74/223 and Mr. Abdalla Bachar Bong, Chair of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions for introducing the related report contained in document A/74/702.

Mr. Chair,

3. The Group wishes to further express gratitude to the Secretary-General for this comprehensive report, which assesses the functions, structure, capacity and level of the Police Division in the context of the reform of the peace and security pillar.

4. The Group notes with satisfaction the various findings and supports the recommendations contained in the report on ways to further strengthen the Division to deliver on its mandated tasks and to effectively support Member States and the Organization in a new operating environment.

Mr. Chair,

5. The Police Division of the United Nations undoubtably plays a crucial part in the maintenance of global peace and security, and often plays a key role in restoring stability to their countries of deployment. For this reason, the revitalization of this Unit remains an essential part of the Secretary General’s peace and security reform.

6. The Division also plays a critical role in the revised pillar as the Centre of excellence and focal point for all policing matters across the United Nations system, ensuring coherence in the delivery of policing expertise and technical assistance in accordance with the strategic guidance framework for international policing.

Mr. Chair,

7. The Group supports the recommendation emanating from the Report that there should be a commensurate increase in the capacity resources of the Division, given the enhanced role of the United Nations police within the reformed peace and security pillar, and the growing need for specialized expertise.

8. This is aligned with the routine considerations of the legislative bodies of the UN, including the Security Council in its resolution 2382 (2017) and the General Assembly in its resolution 72/304, endorsing the conclusions of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations in its report (A/72/19).

9. The Group also believes that given the centrality of the role of the Division to peace operations, as highlighted in the report, adequate resources in certain critical gap areas are necessary to enable the Division to provide cross-pillar assistance and police expertise to agencies, funds and programmes.

10. In concluding, the Group would like to call for the continued streamlining of the work of the UN Police Division, and commits to engaging constructively in the consideration of this agenda item, with a view to reaching a conclusion in a timely manner.

I Thank you.