STATEMENT AT THE SECOND THEMATIC DEBATE OF THE AD HOC WORKING GROUP ON THE REVITALISATION OF THE WORK OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, 27 MARCH 2019

                   Thank you co-Chairs for convening the interactive dialogue this morning.

2                 Singapore associates itself with the NAM statement delivered by Algeria and would like to make following points in our national capacity.

3                 First, we strongly support the holding of handover meetings between outgoing and incoming bureaux of the Main Committees, and of a report by the outgoing Chairs on best practices and lessons learned. This is an useful resource and can be used as benchmarks to measure progress each year. We also support the holding of periodic meetings between the Chairs of the Main Committees, to improve the planning, coordination and complementarity of their programmes of work and to avoid overlap. 

4                 Second, we hope to see progress this year in our efforts to achieve greater alignment and coherence, address gaps and reduce duplication in the work of the GA, the ECOSOC and its subsidiary bodies, and the high-level political forum on sustainable development, to support the effective implementation of the 2030 Agenda.

5                 On a broader and related issue, Singapore supports continued discussions on the rationalisation of the work and streamlining the agenda of the GA, including the biennialisation, triennialisation and clustering of items and resolutions, and the introduction of a sunset clause, with the agreement of sponsoring state or states. As my delegation has mentioned previously, this is both important and necessary as the continued proliferation of agenda items and resolutions is leading to an unsustainable volume of work. Quality must take precedence over quantity, to ensure the continued credibility and relevance of the UN. 

6                 Third, we need to take concrete steps to preserve the primacy of the General Debate.  There must be serious consideration of how to rationalise, better coordinate and deconflict the number of high-level thematic meetings and other high-level events taking place in parallel with the General Debate during High Level Week. My delegation supports reducing and imposing a limit on the number of high-level events but to make them more focused, effective and relevant.  Ultimately, our objective must be to increase attendance in the GA Hall during the General Debate, enhance the participation of and ensure a more enriching interactive engagement by our leaders. We look forward to further discussion on this issue.

7                 Fourth, we support starting discussions on the elaboration of a Code of Conduct or guidelines for the conduct of election campaigns, to improve transparency, accountability and equity. This would give a more level playing field to all countries, especially smaller ones with fewer resources. We had suggested previously that countries could declare their campaign activities in a voluntary campaign statement, including information on type of activities or gifts, to be shared on an entirely voluntary basis and demonstrate the country’s commitment to running a transparent election campaign.  At the same time, as we have said before, Singapore does not think it would be productive to have a discussion on setting substantive and qualitative criteria for candidates standing for election. 

8                 Fifth, Singapore supports bringing forward the date of the start of future GA sessions if this can be done in a reasonable and logical manner.  We believe this will give incoming Presidents of the GA, the Main Committee Chairs and Bureaux more time to plan, prepare and coordinate their work ahead of the High Level Week.  In this regard, we note the SG’s report providing three options. Singapore is open to all three options. The full impact and financial implications of Options A (Tuesday of third week in January) and B (Tuesday of first week in August) would need to be studied further. While that is being done, we are prepared to consider Option C as an interim solution. Going forward, it would be useful for the Secretariat to provide a more in-depth briefing to Member States.

9                 To conclude, we remain open and flexible to consider all ideas and look forward to our discussions.  Thank you.

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