Statement by the delegation of Algeria on behalf of NAM, at the meeting of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Revitalization of the General Assembly. Wednesday, 15 April 2009.

Co-Chairs, I have the honor to speak on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement. First of all, I would like to congratulate the two Co-Chairs, Ambassador Espinoza of Ecuador and Ambassador Wetland of Norway for their appointment and to reiterate our readiness to cooperate with them in bringing the process of General Assembly revitalization forward. I would like to seize this opportunity to thank the previous CoChairs, Ambassador Loizaga of Paraguay and Ambassador Towpik of Poland Co-Chairs, The General Assembly has decided by adopting resolution 62/276 on September15th, 2008 to establish an ad hoc working group on the revitalization of the General Assembly with a specific mandate for the 63rd session: 1- To evaluate and assess the status of implementation of relevant resolutions, in reference to its Landmark resolutions 58/126; 58/316; 59/313; 60/286 and 61/292. 2- To identify ways to further enhance the role, authority, effectiveness and efficiency of the assembly, inter alia, by building on previous resolutions. The NAM Working Group may need to devote appropriate attention to the various aspects of General Assembly revitalization identified in previous resolutions, including the enhancement of the authority and the role of the General Assembly. In this regard, the co-chairs may wish to propose to the membership a few issues to focus on. We believe that a thorough evaluation of the Status of implementation and a common understanding of the underlying causes behind any lack of implementation are necessary and constitute, as a matter of fact, a prerequisite if the Working Group is to engage, at a later stage, into the identification of ways to move forward the revitalization process in a realistic and pragmatic manner. In this regard, the Secretary General reports on the implementation of resolutions on revitalization, taking the chart of former facilitators as a model is useful. Co-Chairs, The NAM takes note with satisfaction of the implementation of various decisions such as the reinforcement of the office of the President of the General Assembly, the improvement of the transitional arrangements between the outgoing and the incoming President of the General Assembly as well at the level of the bureaus of the main committees, the valuable efforts deployed by the main committees to improve their methods of work and to rationalize their programs of work. Further satisfaction can be expressed with respect to the holding of important thematic debates and to the improvement of the working methods of the General Assembly.
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In this respect, the NAM wishes to extend its appreciations to the President of the 63rd session of the General Assembly, His Excellency Father Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann, for the manner he made best use of the General Assembly resources provided in relevant resolutions on the revitalization to lead the membership into a truly and effective revitalization of the work of the General Assembly during the current session. In this regard, the NAM welcomes the decision made by the President of the General Assembly of the 63rd session to hold, from 01 to 03 June 2009, an international Conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis and its Impact on Development. On the other hand, very little has been achieved to ensure increased cooperation, coordination and complementarity of the work programmes of the principal organs. The Security Council continues to ignore the request of the General Assembly to submit special subject-oriented reports on issues of current international concern, to take substantive initiatives to improve the quality of its annual report and to recognize the need for vital cooperation with the General Assembly on matters related to the maintenance of international peace and security, as stipulated in articles 10, 11,12,13,14 and 35 of the Charter. On the contrary, the NAM notes with growing concern continuous attempts on the part of the Security Council to encroach on issues which clearly fall within the functions and powers of other principal organs of the UN, particularly the General Assembly, and their subsidiary bodies. Co-Chairs, The NAM reiterates that the primary objective of the revitalization of the work of the General Assembly is to continue to strengthen the role and position of the General Assembly as the chief deliberative, policy-making and representative organ of the United Nations, including by reaffirming its prerogatives regarding administrative and budgetary questions. Along those lines, the NAM expresses its readiness to continue to support all ongoing efforts to strengthen the central role and authority of the General Assembly. At the same time, the NAM would like to emphasize that it will continue to oppose any approach that seeks to or could result in undermining the achievements of the General Assembly, diminishing its current role and functioning or raising questions about its relevance or credibility.

I thank you.

 

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