AS DELIVERED

Deputy Secretary-General, thank you for the presentation. The United States is committed to the Secretary-General’s reform efforts and initiatives to make the UN system more transparent, accountable, and efficient. Our President’s UN reform event on the margins of UNGA, September 18, brought together 128 countries who signed a joint declaration of support for Secretary-General’s leadership and transparency to initiate effective, meaningful reform. We are happy to see the growing momentum for this initiative, with 131 signatories to date, and encourage others to sign on.

Since we are here in ECOSOC today, it is a good opportunity to focus on ECOSOC reform. One of our goals is a significant reduction in wasteful duplication across the development system. For example, the Secretary-General’s June report proposes redesigning ECOSOC’s Operational Activities Segment. We would welcome further information on a redesign which could help reduce duplication and increase ECOSOC’s efficiency. It also recognizes the importance of Member State work on ECOSOC and GA alignment and revitalization – another important initiative which we support. As such proposals are considered, we must ask how they reduce duplication, add coherence, and allow us to better focus our work.

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