Distinguished President of the General Assembly,
Distinguished co-facilitators,

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

2. Let me first express the Group’s appreciation to you, co-facilitators, for accepting this important task of leading the intergovernmental consultations on the alignment of the agendas of the General Assembly and ECOSOC and its subsidiary bodies in the light of the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. I thank you for convening this first meeting to hear the views of Member States. The G77 and China commits to engaging fully and constructively in your work.

3. I would also like to thank you for your letter dated 15 January 2021, in which you provided a comprehensive overview of the alignment process, as well as the useful questions to frame our discussions. The G77 and China takes this opportunity to underscore our key positions and react to some of the questions.

Excellencies,

4. The G77 and China underscores the importance of aligning the agendas with a view to enhancing synergies, linkages and coherence between the work of the General Assembly and ECOSOC and its subsidiary bodies. This process presents a critical opportunity to examine the agendas that guide our work, with a view to making our deliberations more relevant and fit for purpose. Our common objective is to speed up the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda, in this Decade of Action and Delivery.

5. The G77 and China acknowledges that the universal nature of the 2030 Agenda means that this process is inextricably linked to other ongoing processes such as the ECOSOC and HLPF reviews and the revitalization of the work of the Second Committee. We wish to stress that the alignment process should be characterized by a comprehensive and holistic view of the agendas, across all the main bodies.

6. Therefore, the G77 and China is of the view that the alignment process should not exclusively revolve around the Sustainable Development Goals. Due regard and attention should be given to the 2030 Agenda as a whole, of which the SDGs are but a part. This will ensure that relevant issues covered by the Agenda, which are not necessarily reflected in any of the SDGs or targets, would not be left behind.

Excellencies,

7. The G77 and China stresses the importance of building on the work done in previous sessions to advance the mandate and to review our collective efforts aimed at aligning the agendas. The Group believes that the alignment processes this year should facilitate a detailed, thorough and comprehensive analysis of the SDGs and the agenda items of the relevant General Assembly Committees and relevant ECOSOC forums and functional commissions. This analysis should take into account the gaps, possible duplications, and overlaps where these are found to exist. We must carefully consider avenues for creating necessary and productive synergies, particularly between the Second and Third Committees and ECOSOC, that would address these gaps and ultimately contribute to accelerating the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and its SDGs.

8. Regarding the criteria for identifying overlaps and duplication, the Group continues to believe that before discussing them, we need to conduct a detailed, thorough and comprehensive analysis of the SDGs and of the various agenda items. We reiterate that examining possible overlaps and duplication should be considered in a balanced manner throughout the process on a case-by-case basis. In addition, the Group is of the view that the process has been developed in an unbalanced manner, with a focus mainly on identifying overlaps. More effort should now be dedicated to determining the criteria for identifying gaps in the treatment of the SDGs.

9. Finally, the G77 and China takes note of the mapping assessment of the SDGs. While we see this as a useful reference, it remains incomplete. We urge a fuller and more comprehensive mapping and review to guide our discussions, especially in the context of COVID-19. The pandemic has exposed gaps in our agenda. It has severely impacted progress in many areas of the SDGs and these impacts need to be taken into account in order to improve the agenda, recover from COVID-19 and build forward better.

Excellencies,

10. Before concluding, the Group would like to underscore the ownership and leadership of Member States in this exercise. This process cannot prejudge the right of countries and groups to present new issues and/or resolutions on the agenda of the General Assembly, its Committees or the various functional commissions and other relevant organs of the UN.

11. Please be assured of our full commitment to engage constructively in this process and achieve a successful outcome during the 75th session of the UNGA.

Thank you.