(Check against delivery)

 

Statement by H.E. Ambassador Jun Yamazaki

Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations

 

At the conclusion of the main part of the sixty-eighth session

 

Fifth Committee

Main Part of the Sixty-Eighth Session

of the United Nations General Assembly

27 December 2013

 

 

Mr. Chairman,

 

​At the conclusion of the session, my delegation would like to welcome the successful adoption of the resolutions.  I would like to make a few remarks related to the regular budget.

 

​But before doing so, I would like to reflect back on how we engaged with each other during this session.  While I highly appreciate that we adopted all resolutions by consensus, it was unfortunate that we were not able to show sufficient flexibility in our negotiations until the very end, and hence we find ourselves sitting in this room on the 27th of December.  It is my delegation’s sincere wish that we do not repeat this experience.  We certainly hope to look to you, Mr. Chairman, for your continued guidance and leadership in guiding our work as well as to the Secretariat for the prompt issuance of relevant documents.

 

Turning to the budget, the budget for 2014-2015 that we have just adopted is $5.530 billion, a level that is slightly below the revised 2012-2013 amounts.  We were able to attain that level, which includes amounts for recosting, because of substantial reductions in posts.  We believe such reductions are quite noteworthy, especially since substantial reduction in posts is happening for the first time in sixteen years.

 

​Second, my delegation firmly believes and expects that the “independent study on recosting and options for the Organization for dealing with fluctuations in exchange rates and inflation” as agreed this year should yield meaningful results that we could act upon in the near future. 

 

Mr. Chairman,

 

As we move into the next year, I would like to reiterate a point that I made in this Committee quite recently.

 

 

It is about “how we might enable this Organization to prioritize its activities and its commensurate staffing, such that we can tackle emerging and urgent issues, while at the same time discontinue other obsolete activities which can be addressed in other ways.”  In this regard, while appreciating the Secretary-General's efforts to conduct a comprehensive review of the staffing requirements, my delegation believes this exercise is an on-going process and should continue in the future.  We strongly hope that the Secretary-General will not weaken his efforts in reviewing the staffing structure.

 

 

Mr. Chairman,

 

Finally, I would like to express my heartfelt appreciation to you for your dedication and hard-work as the Chair of our important Committee.  We spent quite long hours together to figure out how we could solve the issue at hand, especially during this past week. My delegation strongly hopes that all Member States could come together under your able leadership during the March and the May sessions.

 

I thank you, Mr. Chairman.