(Check against delivery)
Statement by Mr. Toshihiro Aiki
Minister, Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations
Agenda: Organization of Work
First part of the resumed session of the Sixty-Seventh Session
of the United Nations General Assembly
4 March 2013
Mr. Chairman,
At the outset, since this is the first time for my delegation to address the fifth committee in this session, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to you, Mr. Chairman, for your tireless efforts in making this Committee function in as efficient and effective way as possible. My delegation believes that both the Member States and the Secretariat need to make sure that all the Resolutions adopted last December would be implemented in a timely manner. I also hope to see you lead the discussions of this session toward tangible results, including the discussions on items which have been deferred until now.
I believe most of us recognize that the limited time allotted for this session is filled with many important items to discuss such as implementation of the report of the Senior Advisory Group, procurement and the deferred items like human resources management including the proposed mobility framework. As my delegation believes that this session would be one of the busiest sessions in the past several years, we hope all member states will share a sense of urgency to conclude all items by the end of the session.
Mr. Chairman,
Among the many important items to be discussed, my delegation would like to comment on a few at the beginning of the session. First of all, my delegation attaches great importance to the report of the Senior Advisory Group, because implementation of the report would be essential for the UN to realize sustainable peace-keeping operations. My delegation believes that it is imperative that the Fifth Committee endorses the report as a whole and that the implementation would start from 1 April 2013.
Second, in order to make the UN more accountable, efficient and sustainable in the future, the Fifth Committee should discuss the important items of accountability, procurement and the UN Headquarters accommodation needs from 2014-2034. My delegation believes that these agenda items have important implications for the future UN. Therefore we will be actively and positively involved in the negotiations on these items, so that we may arrive at an appropriate outcome.
Third, we must conclude the deferred items, especially human resource management including the proposed mobility framework. As we all know, we had an ad referendum agreement on the proposed mobility framework during the last discussion in December. We should, therefore, maintain this agreement in order to conclude this issue without any unnecessary delay. We should avoid replicating the same discussion, and be forward-looking in our deliberations.
Mr. Chairman,
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 with a view to achieving consensus on all items in accordance with the General Assembly Resolution 41/213, by 28 March, the scheduled end of the session.
I thank you, Mr. Chairman.
