(As delivered)

 

Statement by H.E. Mr. Hiroshi Minami

Deputy Permanent Representative of Japan to the United Nations

 

At the Ad Hoc Working Group of the Revitalization of the work of the General Assembly

19 January 2016

 

Thank you, Mr. Co-Chairs,

 

       At the outset, I would like to extend our high appreciation to the co-chairs, the Permanent Representatives of Croatia and Namibia, who guided us to the adoption of the General Assembly (GA) Resolution 69/321 at the previous session.  My delegation will spare no efforts to extend full cooperation and support to the co-chairs in this session. 

       Today, among the four clusters, I would like to touch upon the selection of the next Secretary-General (SG), transparency of the Office of the President of the General Assembly (PGA) and the improvement of the working methods.

 

(Selection of the next SG)

       With respect to the Selection of the next SG, our basic stance is that it is most imperative to select the best candidate for the next SG.  We should have many candidates from wide ranging areas and backgrounds, including female candidates. At the conclusion of this process, following careful and thorough consideration, we expect the best candidate to be selected.

       In this regard, GA resolution 69/321 provides us with sufficiently solid basis for the process to select the next SG.  During this session, we should concentrate on the implementation of the resolution 69/321, rather than devote ourselves to the discussions on the new elements to be added to the resolution on the selection process of next SG.

       We highly appreciate the joint letter issued by the PGA and the President of the Security Council (SC) on December 15 last year.  This is the important first step of the implementation of the resolution.

       The joint letter clearly states that the SC will begin the selection of the next SG by the end of July this year, and Japan will be the President of the SC in July.  This issue is a matter of interest for most of the Member States and the PGA, and Japan undoubtedly puts strong emphasis on this issue.  Transparency is the key. Therefore, we would like to move the process forward, taking into consideration the views expressed by the candidates and the voices from the Member States of the GA.

       In this context, we welcome the initiative of the PGA to start informal dialogues with candidates in early April, as this initiative will be timely to benefit the transparency of the process and the strengthened involvement of the GA. Now, we should seriously consider the modality of the informal dialogues at the GA.  These dialogues should serve the purpose for the member states to test and understand the vision, quality and capability of candidates.  The dialogues should not be sessions for the presentations of candidates only, but should be interactive sessions involving some stakeholders with knowledge of the three pillars of the U.N., especially civil society.  We also understand that there will be many candidates, and the dialogues should be efficient and effective.  Among these three pillars of the U.N., we also believe that Peace and Security will be the most important to be considered for the quality of the next SG.

       If we can have useful discussions in the informal dialogues at the GA, they will substantially contribute to the process in the SC.  Also, the PGA could make use of the regular meetings with the President of the SC.  These are the practical ways for the GA to convey the voices at the GA to the SC.

 

(Transparency of the Office of PGA)

       On the transparency of the PGA Office, we would like to extend our appreciation to you, Mr. Co-Chairs, for hosting the informal meeting on this issue on December 11.  This informal meeting was highly useful.

       Following the unprecedented and serious allegations relating to Mr. John Ashe, there is an urgent need to ensure the transparency, efficiency and accountability of the work of the Office. We therefore believe that the transparency of the flow of funds to the PGA Office and the professional and ethical qualifications of the PGA are the main points.  In this session, we should focus on these two points to reach practical solutions.  It is not realistic to expand the scope of our discussions in this session to other points such as the budget and human resources of the PGA Office.

       On the issue of the transparency of the flow of funds, we highly commend the initiatives by the PGA, such as “Commitment to Transparency” and “Information Note.”  In this session, we should explore the ways to introduce and institutionalize these initiatives, Oath of Office and Code of Conduct, whoever the PGA will be. We believe that these initiatives will be meaningful outcomes to the revitalization of the work of the GA in this session.

       The timing of the election of the PGA can also be one of the important themes to discuss.  The incoming PGA needs some time for the preparation before he or she takes office formally.  In this sense, we appreciate the CDC of the current PGA for his very informative presentation at the informal meeting in December last year.  According to the rules of procedure, the GA shall elect the PGA at least three months before the opening of the session, namely in June. In order to facilitate the preparation by the PGA-elect, it is worth considering, in the future, the possibility of advancing the election to an early date.  For instance, the elections of the members of the SC and ECOSOC will be advanced from this year.

 

(Working Methods)

       On working methods, in the second committee especially, we will have discussion on the improvement of the working method after the adoption of the 2030 Agenda. 

       It is true that the 2030 Agenda has the wide coverage of the issues, and it is not limited to the second committee only.  However, as agreed in the resolution 69/321, it is highly important for each main committee to discuss and implement the revitalization of its own work.   To this end, the second committee, which is the main forum to discuss the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, should steadily discuss and implement the revitalization of its work.  Japan is looking forward to the leadership of the Chair of the second committee, the PR of Slovenia, and Japan will proactively contribute to the discussion in the second committee.

 

I thank you, Mr. Co-Chairs.