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New York UN

STATEMENT BY CHARGE D’AFFAIRES OF THE REPUBLIC OF SINGAPORE MS JOPHIE TANG AT THE GENERAL DEBATE OF THE AD HOC WORKING GROUP ON THE REVITALISATION OF THE WORK OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, 28 FEBRUARY 2019

12 March 2019

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          I would like to start by congratulating the Co-Chairs Ambassador Bahous and Ambassador Mlynar on your appointment to lead the work of the Ad Hoc Working Group during this session. My delegation is confident that you will steer our discussions in an inclusive, transparent and efficient manner, and that we will continue to make progress under your leadership. My delegation would also like to place on record our deep appreciation to Ambassador Vladimir Drobnjak of Croatia and Ambassador Maria Emma Mejia of Colombia for their work as Co-Chairs last year.


2         Singapore associates itself with the statement delivered by Algeria on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement. I will add several points in our national capacity.


3          The revitalisation of the work of the General Assembly is an important issue for many states, including my own. Singapore has been a strong supporter of a more efficient, effective and accountable United Nations and General Assembly. As we approach the 75th anniversary of the United Nations, Singapore believes that it is critical for us to redouble our efforts to (i) reinforce the role and authority of the General Assembly; (ii) enhance its effectiveness and efficiency; and (iii) increase the transparency and inclusiveness of the work of the General Assembly. It is clear that the work of the General Assembly has increased, not just in volume, but also in scope and depth. Revitalisation of the General Assembly is crucial if it is to keep up with the challenges of the day, and to discharge its responsibilities as the main deliberative, policymaking and representative organ of the United Nations.


4          Over the past few years, the General Assembly revitalisation process has produced some tangible and encouraging outcomes. There have been improvements in (i) the selection and appointment process of the UN Secretary General; (ii) the Office of the President of the General Assembly has been strengthened with better continuity between PGAs; (iii) informal dialogues between the President of the General Assembly, the Secretariat, and Member States have improved communication and understanding of priorities and challenges on all sides; (iv) positive steps have been taken towards the implementation of the UN’s commitment to multilingualism, through the publication of the Journal year-round in the six official languages; and (v) the elections process has been made more efficient with the introduction of improvements to ballot papers.


5          But these have been the quick fixes and easy improvements, and we have harvested the low-hanging fruit. The task ahead is now more challenging. This was apparent during the last session when we did not make progress on issues such as aligning the agenda of the General Assembly with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Nevertheless, we must build on the progress we have achieved during previous sessions. In their letter of 5 February 2019, the Co-Chairs identified the specific issues that need to be followed up on during this session. My delegation will address these issues in detail during the upcoming thematic debates, but would like to highlight several points of particular interest to Singapore.


6          First, we need to take steps to preserve the primacy of the General Debate during High Level Week, by rationalising and limiting the number of high-level meetings and side events held in parallel with the General Debate. I do not think there is a delegation that has not complained about the number of competing high level events, and that does not recognise there is a problem. We therefore support efforts to consider this matter seriously, including in discussions in the General Committee.


7          Second, Singapore welcomes continued discussion on the rationalisation of the work of the General Assembly. This is important and necessary, as the continued proliferation of agenda items, resolutions and high level meetings will only lead to an unsustainable volume of work. We welcomed Guyana’s voluntary decision during the main session late last year to remove an agenda item that it felt was no longer relevant in the current context. We hope this will generate momentum towards further streamlining of the agenda of the GA. We believe it is also important to redouble our efforts to ensure that the agendas of the GA and the ECOSOC and its subsidiary bodies, are aligned and work coherently to support the effective implementation of the 2030 Agenda.


8          Third, as part of efforts to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the General Assembly, Singapore had supported bringing forward the date of the start of future GA sessions if this can be done in a reasonable and logical manner. We thank the Secretary General for submitting his report on possible alternative start dates, the implications, and potential benefits and shortcomings of the various options. We will address the content of the report during the thematic debate on working methods next month.


9          Fourth, Singapore supports the commencement of discussions on the elaboration of a code of conduct to guide the conduct of election campaigns, with the objective of improving standards of transparency, accountability and equity.  From Singapore’s perspective, the main objective of a code of conduct would be to enhance transparency in election campaigning by all member states. This would give all countries, especially smaller countries and those with fewer resources for election campaigns, the chance to compete on a more level playing field. We were disappointed that the discussion on a Code of Conduct last year focused on introducing substantive and qualitative criteria for candidates standing for election, rather than on setting guidelines for the conduct of election campaigns. We hope to have a more productive discussion this year and to make progress on this issue.


10        To conclude, Singapore supports the Co-Chairs’ approach of focusing our efforts jointly and in a concerted fashion this year to achieve a timely consensus on a streamlined draft resolution that is concise and result-oriented. We look forward to engaging constructively with colleagues to build on our past work and achieve a set of meaningful outcomes that will revitalise the work of the General Assembly. Thank you.


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