AS DELIVERED

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I would like to thank the Controller, Mr. Chandru Ramanathan and Mr. Cihan Terzi, Chair of the ACABQ for introducing their respective reports.

Madam Chair, my delegation remains fully supportive of the Secretary-General as the Organization implements the UN reform agenda. At the beginning of this year, the Department of Management, Strategy, Policy and Compliance (DMSPC) and the Department of Operational Support (DoS) were created, and critical functional areas were restructured to enhance accountability, transparency and efficiency, in key areas such as supply chain management, information and communications technology, and budget and finance. Additionally, the regional structures created in the Department of Peace Operations (DPO), in collaboration with the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA), are intended to promote greater effectiveness of peacekeeping operations.

The Support Account continues to provide necessary backstopping at Headquarters for peacekeeping operations to carry out their mandates. While we recognize that many of the benefits from reform implementation will take some time to be fully realized, my delegation is concerned to see an increase in resources requested for the Support Account, especially given the decreasing numbers of civilian and uniformed personnel in missions due to downsizing and reconfigurations in UNAMID, MONUSCO, and MINUJUSTH. We note that the Support Account budget ratio compared with overall peacekeeping resources reflects a continuous increase since 2014. Like the ACABQ, we are not convinced that mission closures and downsizings require more backstopping resources.

Madam Chair, my delegation looks forward to working constructively in the coming days with all delegations in reaching consensus on this very important agenda item.

Thank you.

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