STATEMENT ON BEHALF OF THE GROUP OF 77 AND CHINA BY H.E. DR. ABUBAKR A. AL-QIRBI, MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF YEMEN, IN THE HIGH-LEVEL PLENARY MEETING OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY ON THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS New York, 20-22 SEPTEMBER 2010 Honorable Heads of State and Government, Honorable Ministers, Secretarv General of the United Nations. ~istinguished President of the 65'" session of the General Assembly. Distinguished President of the 64"' Session of the General Assembly. Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen, I am pleased to deliver this statement on behalf of H.E. Ali Abdullah Saleh, President of the Republic of Yemen, Chairman of the Group of 77 and China: on this auspicious occasion. Ten years ago. the world joined forces lierc at ilic Unltcd Naiions l lcadquarters to commit to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger. combat inequalities, ensure primary education for all. promote gender equality and the empo~vemientof women. strengthen global public health and promote sustainable development. To that effect. a global partnership for development was established to harness global solidarity and promote national and international commitments in favor of development. The Millennium Declaration and the Millenniuni Development Goals represent worthy commitments by the United Nations and its Member States. Witli less than five years to go until 2015. today's High Level meeting is a timely opportunity for all of us to highlight effective deveiopnient strategies and initiatives that can be serve as guideline in our countries and regions, as well as to reflect on shortcomings and challenges that need to be urgently overcome. Indeed, one of the main goals of this Summit is to scale up the global partnership to mobilize the additional resources urgently needed to address the remaining gaps and continuing challenges. It is incumbent on all of us to ensure that no country will fall short of the MDGs siniply because of lack of resources. In this regard, we ~iiustbe fully committed to assist those countries that are lagging behind, especially the least developed countries (LDCs), the Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDC) and the small island developing states (SIDS): as well as Africa. The Group of 77 and China believes tliat a strong Global Partnership for Development should be the centerpiece of international cooperation: with a view to ensure the timely achievement of the MDGs. We also must he coinmilted lo Suliill our obii~ntionsin collli)rniiiy with inlel-national ]a\\! throufh talting further collective and concrete aclions L remove ail obslacles to the full o realization of the rights of peoples li\:iiif undcr foreign occupation. \\!I~ichcontinuc to acl\!crscly

affect their econoinic and social de\~ciopinent.and arc incompatiblc \\:it11 tile dignity and \vortli of the human person and mirst bc conihatcd and climinatcd.

Mr. President
The development challenges that we face today should not be underestimated. We express deep concern over the multiple inter-related and mutually exacerbating current global crises, in particular the world financial and economic crisis: the \lolatile energy prices and the ongoing concerns over food security, as well as the cl~allengesposed by clinlate change, which could further undermine the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals, including the Miile~liurn Development Goals. The ongoing world financial and economic crisis has reversed many important developmental gains in developing countries and tlueatens to seriously underinine the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. Two years after the outbreak of the global financial crises, developing countries liave still not fully recovered fronl tlte social and economic effects of tile crisis.

Mr. President.
We recognize that all developing countries have made significant efforts towards the achievement of the MDGs. Nevertheless, progress has been uneven from country to country and between MDGs. Despite positive developments, there are still more than 1 billion people living in situations of extreme poverty. The FAO has recently noted a reduction in world hunger, but the numbers of n~alnourishedand undernourished people are still staggering. Progress has also been slow in improving maternal health and reducing inaternal mortality. There has been insufficient advance on gender equality and the empowerment of women. Almost half of the people in the developing world continue to live without access to basic sanitation. Too many people remain jobless or under-employed. And more attention needs to be given to sustained growth and sustainable developn~ent. The G77 and China stresses the critical impo~?anceof Official Development Assistance (ODA) as both a complement to other sources of financing and as a catalyst for development, facilitating the achieveinent of national developnlent objectives, including the MDGs. The global crisis cannot be an excuse to avoid existing aid commitnlents. On the contrary. today more than ever: developed countries must meet and scale-up their existing bilateral and multilateral official developme~ltassistance commitments and targets, in particular the commitment to reach the target of 0.7 per cent of gross national product for official development assistance to developing countries by 2015 and to reach the level of at leasi 0.5 per cent of gross national product for official developme~ltassistance by 2010, as well as a target of 0.15 to 0.20 per cent of gross national product for official development assistance to least developed countries.

Mr. President,

We reaffirn~ tlie importance of the United Nations Millennium Declaration and underscore the continuing relevance of the outcomes of all major United Nations conferences and summits in the economic, social a11d related fields: as well as the inipo~lantcommitmenls contained therein. Together, they constitute a coherent development agenda, providing the bacltbone of international developn~entefforts. We stress that the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals including the h4DGs should continue to be the over-arching framework of the development activities of the UN system. The G77 and China believes that tlie United Nations, given its universal membership, legitimacy and comprehensive mandate, must play a vital role in the promotion of i~lternational cooperation for developnlent and the support to the acceleration of the implementation of the internationally agreed development goals. We stress the pivotal role of the UN in promoting coherence and coordination in global economic governance. We stress the need to increase the UN development system commitment to support national efforts to achieve the MDGs. The United Nations needs strengthened capabilities and capacities to fully implement its mandates and to ensure the effective delivery of its activities for developnlent.
Mr. President,

The current High Level Meeting is an important step towards accelerating development efforts towards the achievement of the h4DGs, but n~uchInore remains to be done. The international community must now focus on implementing agreed commitments and scaling up the global partnership for develop11ient. It is clear that econon~icgrowth is a critical factor: but it alone cannot overcome the profound structural problems that beset most developing countries. In order to ensure effective results. developnlent strategies must be pursued in the context of a supportive international environment with global institutions that fully take into account the needs of developing countries. We have seen that wllerever progress has been made towards meeting the MDGs it has been possible only with combined efforts of national comnlitments, effective programmes, resources and international support. In order to support national efforts of developing countries, scaling-up MDG8 is critically important for the achie\~ement all MDGs. of
Mr. President,

The G77 and China stands ready to do its pall to promote develop~nentand foster gro\vlh in de\~eloping countries with a view to ensure the timely achieven~ent tlie h4DGs everywhere. of Thank you.