Distinguished Co-Chairs,

I have the honour to deliver this statement on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.

The Candidate Countries North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, the Republic of Moldova and Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the potential candidate country Georgia align themselves with this statement.

Let me express once again our appreciation for convening and thoroughly preparing this important 2^nd thematic debate of the Ad-Hoc Working Group on GA Revitalisation, including by circulating the concept note and written update from the Secretariat well in advance to the meeting

Given the GA’s function as chief deliberative, policymaking and representative organ of the UN and the President’s key role in steering this body, the EU considers efforts focused on strengthening the accountability, transparency and institutional memory of the Office of the President of the General Assembly as essential.

This has become even more important amidst the increased role and visibility of the Assembly, over the past year in particular. The General Assembly lies at the core of this organisation and hence of our multilateral system, which we seek to strengthen, including through the various concrete proposals made in ‘Our Common Agenda’.

Against this background, having an adequately-staffed and funded Office is essential for the President to fulfil his role and mandate in steering this Assembly towards implementation of our agreed priorities. The EU has been very committed towards seeking ways to further support and strengthen the Office of the President of the General Assembly.  

First, when it comes to strengthening the institutional memory of the office, we commend the opportunity provided by the secondment of national staff to the office, which the EU and its Member States have actively contributed to in recent years. Other commendable measures include Member States’ financial support to the transition period between outgoing and incoming Presidents and the trust fund in support of the OPGA, the convening of annual retreats and transition workshops as well as the delivery of induction programmes to the office These are all innovative approaches, which strengthen the office’s effectiveness and efficiency.

We are aware that for many in the membership those steps are not sufficient, calling for additional resources. The EU considers briefings as the one provided by the Under-Secretary-General this morning are vital to better understand the actual needs of the Office to allow the President to deliver on his mandate in full. But, equally important, is the question – as the Concept Note kindly prepared for this meeting rightly asks – what the core functions of the Office should be and how the mandate could be better defined to bring greater consistency, coherence and continuity to the role. The EU stands ready to engage constructively in this conversation.

Second, when it comes to enhancing accountability, the EU maintains a strong focus on the importance of striving for gender balance: when it comes to the composition of the Office of the PGA, when setting up panels for high-level meetings well as when putting female candidates forward for the position of the President. The energy and determination displayed by thousands of strong and courageous women during these CSW weeks speaks for itself. The EU was very happy with the strong language introduced during the 73th session, which we collectively agreed to strengthen further in the resolution adopted during the 75^th session. Lastly, accountability also means that both the composition and the modalities of work and interaction of the OPGA should well reflect the cultural and linguistic diversity of the Membership, recalling multilingualism being a fundamental principle of the Charter.

Thirdly, the EU supports further efforts towards enhanced transparency across the board. This starts with the commitment by the candidates for the position of President of the General Assembly to submit a thorough vision statement and engage on that basis in an informal interactive dialogue with the membership – an exercise that has clearly demonstrated its added value and one that would further benefit from the inclusive engagement of civil society. The EU, in fact, support the systematic engagement of civil society, youth, the private sector and other stakeholders across the board.

I would like to close by reassuring the co-Chairs of our continued support and our readiness to continue to engage constructively for the remainder of the session. I thank you.