Co-Chairs,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.

Turkey, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova, and Georgia align themselves with this statement.

 Thank you, dear Co-Chairs, for convening this first thematic meeting of the Ad-Hoc Working Group on GA Revitalization, dealing with the role and authority of the Assembly.

We very much appreciate the targeted and action- and results-oriented approach you outlined in the concept note for today’s session, recalling that this year’s session should be first and foremost about implementation of what had been agreed in Resolution 75/325.

Our starting point is OP11 of that resolution, which stressed the importance of “implementing all GA resolutions on a non-selective basis, including those related to GA Revitalisation that requite follow-up or further actions”.

Allow me to convey six main points related to today’s item of discussion:

First, our overarching objective – as outlined in OP12 of last year’s resolution - remains enhancing this body’s efficiency and effectiveness in delivering on its mandate, while making better use of the limited resources at our disposal. We must focus on measures that reinforce synergies, coherence and complementarity between the agendas of the GA and main committees as well as ECOSOC and its subsidiary bodes, while avoiding overlaps and duplications.

Regular and close coordination between the Presidents of the three main bodies – the GA, the Security Council and ECOSOC – is vital in this regard. We must also reduce the size and number of resolutions and other outcome documents – as we have demonstrated with our decision to bi-ennialise this resolution - and focus on their operational aspects.

We must ensure that the agenda corresponds to the challenges before us – all well outlined in the SG’ ‘Our Common Agenda’ - and put stronger focus on implementation, rather than adding new resolutions and mandates to an already quite charged agenda.

Secondly, we collectively agreed on the importance of focusing on concrete measures that “effectively and efficiently” support the accelerated implementation of the 2030 Agenda. The pandemic has put us even further behind in reaching our goal, and the global ramifications of the unprovoked and unjustified Russian military aggression against Ukraine are likely to aggravate this situation even further. ‘Our Common Agenda’ is well positioned to help accelerate the implementation of the SDGs – if we act decisively and use it as a unique opportunity to make advances during the decade of action. There is no further time to waste.

In this regard, we recall the invitation to the GA as well as to ECOSOC to continue considering gaps, overlaps and duplications in their respective agendas, in order to align them with the 2030 Agenda.

Thirdly, closely related to the previous point, we must continue making credible efforts towards better aligning the work of the GA and ECOSOC with the 2030 Agenda. For this, close coordination between the co-chairs of the Revitalisation and Alignment processes is vital.

Fourth, during the last session we made further progress towards collectively committing to limit the number of side events of and activities happening in parallel to the general debate during High-Level Week to those of “key importance “ and require immediate attention of our leaders. The pandemic has shown that all of us can be more targeted.

Cinquièmement, nous nous félicitons de l'engagement collectif des membres et du Président de l’Assemblée générale en faveur de la parité entre les sexes, parmi les orateurs et les intervenants invités aux réunions de haut niveau et aux autres réunions pertinentes de l'Assemblée. Cela devrait également être la norme lorsqu'il s'agit de nommer des co-facilitateurs. Nous voulons envoyer le message d'une ONU moderne et progressiste, qui regarde vers l'avenir et n'est pas coincée dans le passé.

Talking about messaging, and this is my last point, increasing the visibility, transparency, and inclusivity of our work at the GA is essential for being able to explain to our citizens, why the UN is so important and how the decisions we take here affect their daily life. In this regard, we welcome the briefing just given by the Department of Global Communications. We commend the progress made in terms of a more citizen-friendly communication as well as the strong emphasis on providing accurate and reliable data.

This is key amidst the scourge of disinformation as we have been witnessing across the board – most visibly in relation to the myths spread during the pandemic, but also when it comes to Russian attempts to spread disinformation about its horrific, indiscriminate attacks against the civilian population and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine. We welcome the SG’s strong focus on science and data as key elements of a UN 2.0 through a ‘Quintet of Change’, and look forward to engaging towards a Global Code of Conduct that promotes the integrity in public information.

Ensuring inclusivity and transparency also requires full respect to multilingualism. It goes beyond the obligation of interpretation and translation of statements and documents into all six languages. Multilingualism must permeate all our actions as a crosscutting policy. It is about seeing this core UN principle as an opportunity to enrich our debates and widen our audience, for instance, by inviting panellists with different mother tongue, as to make the GA’s voice heard amongst the people we serve.

Lastly, a UN 2.0 cannot become a reality without the systematic engagement of and partnerships with civil society, youth, academia, the private sector and other stakeholders in and outside our halls – true to the notion of an inclusive and networked multilateralism and the proposals in ‘Our Common Agenda’. Opening the UN up does not stand in the way of Member States taking the final decisions, but our decisions would be better informed. This is vital to ensure the UN’s accountability and legitimacy. We reiterate our request to make a broad range of GA meetings accessible to external stakeholders.

Let me conclude by assuring you, co-chairs, of the EU’s readiness to continue to engage in a constructive manner in the proceedings of the Ad-Hoc Working Group.

I thank you.