Statement by Mr. Hiroshi Onuma
First Secretary, Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations

On agenda item 133: Programme Planning
Main Session of the Sixty-Ninth Session
Of the United Nations General Assembly

7 October 2014

 
Thank you, Mr. Chairman,

 

At the outset, my delegation would like to thank Mr. Ramadhan Mwinyi, Chair of the fifty-fourth session of the Committee for Programme and Coordination (CPC), Mr. Johannes Huisman, Director of the Programme Planning and Budget Division, and Mr. Mario Baez, Chief of the Policy and Oversight Coordination Service, for introducing their respective reports on this agenda item.

 

Mr. Chairman,

 

     My delegation commends the Member States for the fruitful discussions they had during the fifty-fourth session of the CPC on the proposed strategic framework for the period 2016-2017. We also appreciate the tireless efforts made by the Member States as well as the Chair, the bureau and the Secretariat of the CPC during the aforementioned session in order to conclude the negotiations on all thirty-four agenda items and adopt the report of the CPC (A/69/16).

Mr. Chairman,

 

Japan wishes to emphasize the significant role the CPC plays in the process of setting the regular budget of the United Nations, and we will continue to actively participate in the deliberations of the CPC. My delegation believes that we should consider strengthening the role and functions of the CPC in order to seek further efficiencies and cost-effectiveness in the regular budget process. On this point, we consider it important that the CPC be given the role and function of identifying areas of overlap or duplication throughout the system.

 

Mr. Chairman,

 

Due to the conflicting schedules of the CPC and the second resumed session of the Fifth Committee, which was extended until the beginning of July this year, Member States and the Secretariat were obliged to address those meetings simultaneously, which imposed a heavy burden on them and affected the progress of both meetings despite the tremendous efforts of the respective participants and the Secretariat. My delegation deems it important that both the Member States and the Secretariat make further and greater efforts to avoid, or at the very least minimize to the greatest extent possible, any potential overlap between them again.

 

Mr. Chairman,

 

Japan is ready to engage constructively in discussions on this agenda, reviewing the conclusions and recommendations in the report of the CPC from the fresh viewpoint of the Fifth Committee.

 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.