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Statement by Mr. Sho Ono
Counsellor, Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations

Fifth Committee
First part of the resumed session of the Sixty-Ninth Session
of the United Nations General Assembly

2 March 2015

 

Mr. Chairman,

 

            At the outset, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to you, Mr. Chairman, for your untiring efforts during the main session up to December. Furthermore, I appreciate your efforts to improve the working methods of this committee. I look forward to working with you during this session so that we may achieve tangible results on the agenda items before us, including the ones which were deferred to this session.

 

            In this connection, I would like to touch upon Japan’s views on the deferred items, which we need to address during this session in an effective and efficient manner with a view to concluding them at the earliest possible date.

 

            First, on a partnership facility - the importance of which was reiterated by the Secretary-General in his remarks at the beginning of this year - my delegation believes that a dedicated partnership facility would enable us to realize great potential while providing necessary coherence, oversight and accountability. I believe that it is imperative that the Member States show sufficient flexibility during this session so that the office may be able to commence its work before this September, when the Sustainable Development Goals are to be adopted.

 

            My delegation attaches great importance to the successful implementation of Umoja and expects a return on our massive investments. I am happy to note that the CMP is almost finishing and I stress the importance of our being creative in making a decision on our final appropriations, including that of the cumulative associated costs and the cost of the secondary data center, while closely monitoring the changes in the cash balance as a result of making use of the cash bridging mechanism.

            On the recosting study, after a hard negotiation during the last session, the Member States agreed to consider and decide on the report and its recommendations. My delegation expects that, with necessary inputs from the Secretariat, the Member States will be engaged in discussions in a proactive manner to find a common ground with a view to technically improving the current dysfunctional recosting system.

 

          On human resource management, my delegation believes that it is a core element of the effective and efficient operation of this organization. We were disappointed when we did not manage to reach an agreement last December on this agenda item. My delegation looks forward to continuing the discussion on this issue with the Member States, while avoiding the repetition of the previous stale-mated positions. In connection to agenda item, we would like to stress the important role of the Young Professionals Programme (YPP). We welcome the Secretary-General's report, in particular, the changes to mitigate the challenges in conducting exams simultaneously in multiple time zones and to reduce costs associated with processing and marking these exams.

 

Mr. Chairman,

 

            In addition to the many deferred items, the limited time allotted for this session is filled with many new important items to discuss, including accountability, air travel, procurement and the strategic capital review. As my delegation believes that this session will be one of the busiest sessions in the past several years, we call upon the Member States to share our sense of urgency to conclude all these important items by the end of the session.

 

Mr. Chairman,

 

            Through the difficult negotiations that we had at the last session concluded in December, we were once again reminded of the importance of all parties showing flexibility in order to arrive at a consensus. Such flexibility should not be seen as a loss to some parties. Rather, it means we are aiming toward a situation where all win. This collective effort, which we are undertaking as the United Nations, wins. We must, therefore, tackle the difficult tasks before us in cooperation, not in opposition, working together flexibly and constructively.

 

            Allow me to conclude by saying that my delegation will engage in all the discussions of this session in a positive and constructive manner. We look forward to working together with other delegations so that we will finish our work by 27 March, the scheduled end date of the session.

 

I thank you, Mr. Chairman.