STATEMENT ON BEHALF OF THE ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS BY ACTING DEPUTY PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE FELICIA CHUA OF SINGAPORE TO THE UNITED NATIONS, ON AGENDA ITEM 139: PROPOSED PROGRAMME BUDGET 2025, AT THE MAIN PART OF THE 79th SESSION OF THE FIFTH COMMITTEE OF THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY, NEW YORK, 16 OCTOBER 2024

Thank you, Mdm Chair.

1 I have the honour to speak on behalf of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (or ASEAN) on agenda item 139 on the Proposed Programme Budget for 2025. ASEAN aligns itself with the statement made by Uganda on behalf of the Group of 77 and China.  

2 ASEAN thanks the Secretary-General for introducing the proposed programme budget for 2025. We also thank Mr Abdallah Bachar Bong, Chair of the ACABQ for introducing the report of the ACABQ. 

Mdm Chair, 

3 We are discussing the budget of the United Nations at a time of rising global challenges, geopolitical tensions, and emerging threats. These challenges have a disproportionate effect on developing countries, posing a real obstacle to our path towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. 

4 Against this backdrop, ASEAN once again highlights its firm belief that the Organisation’s mandates must be adequately funded. Over the years, we have witnessed artificial constraints that set the United Nations up for failure. This includes arbitrary cuts to the proposed budget and the deliberate withholding of contributions. Such actions undermine the United Nations at a time when Member States should work together to strengthen multilateralism to address global challenges. This includes ensuring that regional economic commissions such as ESCAP, and the Resident Coordinator System, are adequately funded to help developing countries in their respective regions meet their socio-economic development goals. 

5 Further, the Pact for the Future, adopted just last month, set out Member States’ ambitions for a better future, including in the areas of sustainable development, digital cooperation and peace and security. The Pact of the Future was the result of patient and painstaking negotiations by member states over a two-year period. It is not a perfect document, but we can all take pride in the fact that it was shaped collectively and adopted by consensus. The time now has come for implementation. Member States must now work together to support the implementation of the Pact of the Future, through adequate resourcing, to ensure that the ambitions in the Pact produce actual results for all our people in all our countries.  

6 At the same time, ASEAN stresses the importance of transparent accounting, and efficient and responsible utilisation of the Organisation’s resources. We note the ACABQ’s observation that there appears to be a high degree of automaticity in post and non-post resource proposals, and agree that more can be done to better evaluate the resources necessary to carry out the mandates of the General Assembly and other organs.

7 ASEAN notes that the initial estimates to finance Special Political Missions in the proposed budget amount to over US$711 million. This accounts for almost 20 percent of the proposed budget for 2025. ASEAN’s views on the issue of funding and backstopping of Special Political Missions are well-known. This discussion is particularly pertinent against the reviews of the UN’s peace and security architecture. We look forward to further discussions on this topic. 

8 ASEAN will take an active interest in the upcoming discussions. We look forward to a constructive dialogue with all delegations.

Thank you. 

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