Statement by Mr. KAWASAKI Yuta, First Secretary, Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations, Item 143: Human Resources Management, First Resumed Part of the 77th Session of the Fifth Committee of the United Nations General Assembly

Mr. Chair,
 
I would like to express my delegation’s appreciation to Ms. Martha Helena Lopez, Assistant Secretary-General for Human Resources; Ms. Elia Yi Armstrong, Director of the Ethics Office; and Mr. Amjad Al-Kumaim, Vice Chair of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions, for introducing their respective reports.
 
Mr. Chair,
 
Human resources management is one of the key elements of an effective, efficient, and inclusive organization, and the United Nations needs to acquire and invest in highly skilled and motivated staff. However, regrettably, we should be mindful that we, as Member States, have failed in previous years to give appropriate guidance to the Secretary-General and to promote his efforts toward a more effective, efficient, and inclusive organization. As Member States, we should redouble our efforts in this regard and strive to give proper guidance, while fully taking advantage of negotiations by clusters and more focused discussions on each item.
 
Let me stress that it is our common priority to achieve a more diversified organization based on Article 101 of the United Nations Charter, which affirms “the importance of recruiting staff on as wide a geographical basis as possible.” We must address the long-standing challenge of the under-representation and un-representation of some Member States and reiterate our request to the Secretary-General to redouble his efforts to address this issue. Also, Japan welcomes the continuous improvement toward gender parity in staff composition, and encourages the Secretary-General to strengthen his efforts, inter alia, towards mainstreaming gender in the field.
 
Mr. Chair,
 
Japan is concerned about the long-standing trend against the rejuvenation of the UN workforce, in particular, the imbalance between the number of entry-level professional posts and the number of senior-level posts within the Secretariat. Such a distribution of posts makes the organization increasingly top-heavy. Our delegation encourages the Secretary-General to make further efforts to rejuvenate the organization, bring in fresh ideas, and promote workforce succession planning and agility to further advance management reform.
 
Mr. Chair,
 
We acknowledge that the Secretary-General will begin implementing a new framework for staff mobility in 2023. Japan recognizes that facilitating staff mobility would strengthen the Organization. My delegation is looking forward to discussing how this framework will work more effectively and efficiently, while examining some elements that remain unclear, such as the timeline of its implementation.
 
Mr. Chair,
 
In conclusion, my delegation stands ready to engage in negotiations constructively to reach a consensus for better human resources management.
 
I thank you, Mr. Chair.