Statement by H.E. Ambassador Jun Yamazaki
Deputy Permanent Representative of Japan to the United Nations
Agenda: Organization of Work
First part of the resumed session of the Sixty-Eighth Session
of the United Nations General Assembly
3 March 2014
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 in December. We were able to adopt many resolutions, including the ones on the regular budget. I look forward to working with you during this session so that we may achieve tangible results on the items before us, including the ones which were deferred to this session.
Among the deferred items, I would like to touch upon the mobility proposal. My delegation has been a supporter of management reform initiatives that could make the organization sustainable, efficient and effective. In this context, we welcome the proposal.
As I said in my closing remarks in December, it was very unfortunate that we could not arrive at an agreement on the mobility proposal. My delegation looks forward to and intends to participate actively in the discussions in this session on this important proposal so that we may quickly resolve all outstanding issues and adopt a consensus resolution. We should strive to avoid replicating the same discussions, and be forward-looking in our deliberations.
Mr. Chairman,
The limited time allotted for this session is filled with many important items to discuss, including subvention to the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), accountability as well as construction issues like CMP (Capital Master Plan) and UN Headquarters long term accommodation. As my delegation believes that this session would be one of the busiest sessions in the past several years, all Member States should share a sense of urgency to conclude the various items by the end of the session.
My delegation recognizes that the ECCC faces serious financial difficulties, and believes that we need to deal with the situation without delay so that the ECCC can continue carrying out its important activities. My delegation looks forward to swift convergence of views，based on the various efforts already made by all the stakeholders, so that we may arrive at a consensus on the draft resolution that we were very close to agreeing in December.
In order to make the UN more accountable, efficient and sustainable in the future, the Fifth Committee needs to discuss important items such as accountability and UN Headquarters long-term accommodation needs for 2014 through 2034. My delegation believes that these items have important implications for the future of the UN. Therefore, we need to arrive at appropriate outcomes for these items.
Mr. Chairman,
Through the hard negotiations that we had at the last session in December, we once again were reminded of the importance of all parties needing to show flexibility to arrive at consensus outcome. This should not be seen as a loss to some parties. Rather, it means we are aiming for a situation where all win. The collective effort that we are undertaking as the United Nations wins. We know that the delegates to the Fifth Committee are bright, wise and thoughtful people. 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 may finish our work by 28 March, the scheduled end date of the session.
I thank you, Mr. Chairman.
