My delegation’s deep appreciation goes to all the panelists.
My delegation emphasizes the importance of the regional architecture of the UNDS in carrying out the mandates of the UN.
Also, I want to take the opportunity to thank ESCAP for their work in the Asia Pacific region during the pandemic.
My delegation thanks SG for covering Regional structures in a detailed manner in his Report particularly for giving us details on Regional Collaborative Platforms (RCPs), Knowledge Management Hubs, SDG Gateway, Annual reports on UN system-wide results at the regional level of 2030 Agenda, and Development of regional business operations strategies. While we support these initiatives, we want to be assured that these will not cut the cost of the existing works of the Regional Economic Commissions (RECs). Our question is: Will these initiatives entail additional cost? Or, the cost of these initiatives will be met from the existing resources?
We hope that the original mandates of the RECs will be preserved, and they would enjoy autonomy required to pursue their priorities and plans in consultation with the national governments. Any arrangement undertaken should not compromise the prerogative of the Governments to communicate directly with the regional entities. We understand that the RCPs’ substantive work will be guided by the Issue-based coalitions (IBCs) and the priority issues for the IBCs will be identified by the RECs and regional UNSDG, on the region-by-region basis.
My delegation would like to ask: Is there any mechanism for the Member states to participate in RCPs? How are we going to be informed about its work?
My last point is related to the pandemic: While responding to COVID crisis, what are the challenges the RECs are facing that require to be addressed for better response to such crisis in future? We want to reaffirm that while responding to COVID situation and executing the recovery plans, the pre-existing vulnerabilities of the countries, particularly of the LDCs, LLDcs, and SIDS are not overlooked.
Thank you.