EU Statement – UN General Assembly: Ad Hoc Working Group on GA Revitalisation
Excellencies, dear Ambassadors, and Co-Chairs,
I have the honour to deliver this statement on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.
The EU aligns itself with the statement delivered by Mexico on behalf of the Group of Countries on Gender Rotation.
The Candidate Countries North Macedonia*, Montenegro*, Albania*, Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina* and Georgia as well as Andorra align themselves with this statement.
First, let me congratulate our co-chairs, Ambassador Mathu Joyini and Ambassador Cornel Feruță for your appointment and re-appointment, respectively. You can count on the full support of the European Union in your endeavours to achieve concrete results.
Mr President,
Thank you for this opportunity to hear your thoughts on this Debate on strengthening the accountability, transparency and institutional memory of your Office.
This debate, along with the upcoming meetings of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Revitalization of the Work of the General Assembly will help us pave the way to the negotiations of a new Resolution on the Revitalization of the Work of the General Assembly.
Mr President,
We are well aware of the responsibilities that lie on your shoulders. Your impressive programme and commitment as President of the General Assembly are crucial in making the world in 2025 more peaceful, sustainable, equitable and inclusive, while upholding Human Rights.
Indeed, 2025 is a pivotal year, in which we commemorate the UN’s 80th anniversary, the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the Sustainable Development Goals’ 10th anniversary.
2025 for us is the year of the Pact for the Future follow-up and implementation, as the opportunity to reinvigorate multilateralism and trust in the UN and the principles it stands for. Our joint commitment in the Pact to increase our efforts to revitalize the work of the General Assembly plays a crucial role in this regard.
Based on the structure of this debate, we would like to convey the following:
On accountability, we should agree on the expectations of the PGA’s availability in New York to facilitate processes and steer the negotiations forward, so that the schedule of the General Assembly can be defined in an efficient manner.
We should strive for a more coordinated and networked UN, as mandated by Action 42 of the Pact for the Future. In order to achieve that the role of the PGA is key in breaking down silos, bridging gaps and seeking synergies between the GA, the Security Council, ECOSOC, the Peacebuilding Commission and the Human Rights Council. This is especially relevant when we are faced with cross-cutting issues, such as Human Rights and Climate Change.
On its funding, the Office of the PGA should be adequately resourced to fulfill its increasingly important functions, and we underline the importance of the recent increase in resources from the regular budget, complemented by voluntary contributions to the OPGA Trust Fund. We are interested in understanding the impact that the increased funds and staff from the regular budget have had on your Office.
On transparency, we appreciate the efforts carried out on communicating the work of the Office, including, for instance, on High Level events, to Member States and stakeholders in a timely and understandable manner, and we call upon the Secretariat to continue its support on this. We also encourage the OPGA to prioritize multilingual communication to ensure its messages reach and resonate with wider, diverse audiences around the world.
We would like to reiterate our call for greater gender equality in the appointment of the President of the General Assembly, where only four women have held this position in 79 years, a responsibility that lies in Member States when putting forward their candidacies. Furthermore, we note that Resolution 77/335 also calls upon the President of the General Assembly to ensure gender balance when appointing Co-Chairs, Co-Facilitators, high-level speakers and panellists. In the 21st century, it is high time we implement this ambition into practice.
On institutional memory, the annual turnover in the Office of the PGA poses a significant challenge to its institutional memory and efficiency in fulfilling its functions. Therefore, it is vital for incoming PGAs to set clear transition timelines, start recruitment in a timely manner, and ensure that institutional memory and UN experience is maintained in their new team.
We hope that the aforementioned ideas are useful to you, Mr President, the work of your Office, and for the task that lies ahead of us, as we look forward to an ambitious outcome of the negotiations of the Resolution of the Revitalization of the Work of the General Assembly.
We are ready to engage with you, co-Chairs and Member States, on constructive and innovative ideas to make the Office of the PGA fit for purpose.
I thank you.
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North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process