STATEMENT BY AMBASSADOR BURHAN GAFOOR, PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF THE REPUBLIC OF SINGAPORE AT THE THEMATIC DEBATE ON STRENGTHENING THE ACCOUNTABILITY, TRANSPARENCY AND INSTITUTIONAL MEMORY OF THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, 23 JANUARY 2025

Good morning, Co-Chairs,

Colleagues,

My delegation aligns itself with the statements delivered by Malaysia on behalf of ASEAN and also the statement that was delivered by Algeria on behalf of the non-aligned movement. Let me begin by congratulating both of you for assuming the leadership of this very important process. I assure you of Singapore's full support. I also take this opportunity to thank the President of the General Assembly, His Excellency Philémon Yang, and Under Secretary General, Movses Abelian, for their briefings earlier this morning.

Co-Chairs,

2 Just two days ago, it was in this very room, in the context of the Intergovernmental Negotiations (IGN) process, that we were discussing the question of the veto. That was an issue where there were considerable differences of views on the future configuration and rights to be accorded to members of a reformed Council. But there was an overwhelming degree of convergence that the Security Council has increasingly been unable to discharge its mandate promptly and effectively. And in that context of paralysis and polarization, the role of the General Assembly has assumed greater importance, and it is in such a context that we are discussing the revitalization of the General Assembly. This broader context, in our view, needs to be kept in mind. 

3 I think it is a common refrain at the UN to speak about the important role of the General Assembly, because it is quite clear that the General Assembly remains the only organ with universal representation where all member states, regardless of size, have an equal role and voice. It plays a critical role in setting norms, standards, and developing international law. Most important of all, it expresses the will of the international community. As we have pledged in Action Item 42 of the Pact for the Future, we must increase our efforts to revitalize the General Assembly by continuing to strengthen this authority, effectiveness and efficiency. In this context, your responsibilities as co-facilitators of this process is very important and very timely. 

4 Let me address the issue that we are discussing today, which is strengthening the accountability, transparency and institutional memory of the Office of the President of the General Assembly (PGA). As the role of the General Assembly continues to grow in importance, the work and responsibilities of the PGA have also evolved and expanded, in line with the exponential increase in the number of high-level meetings and activities of the General Assembly. It is therefore politically necessary that the PGA is provided with the resources and support that are commensurate with the position and the expectations of the membership of the United Nations. The report of the Ad Hoc Working Group had outlined a series of practical ways to build the institutional memory and knowledge of the Office, ensure adequate and consistent resourcing and strive for gender and geographical balance among personnel. This is particularly important if the PGA would come from a developing country with limited additional resources available to fund the work of the office through their own means. We must therefore ensure that in looking at the question of supporting the Office of the PGA that we do not end up disadvantaging Member States which are small and that may not have adequate resources. We should also certainly not discourage smaller countries from putting forward well-qualified candidates for the position of PGA, simply because of the financial burden that will arise from occupying this important position.

5 In this context, please allow me to make a few points. First, adequate resourcing and institutional memory is absolutely important for the PGA to effectively carry out his or her mandate. The OPGA should receive consistent and adequate resourcing in terms of human resource and personnel. And my delegation had strongly supported the request, as outlined in Resolution 77/335 to the Secretary General to submit a proposal, including on additional positions to be funded by the regular budget, and   on extending the current overlap period by an additional month for all general temporary assistance (GTA) positions in the OPGA. We are pleased that this has been implemented. In 2023, the General Assembly approved the establishment of three general temporary assistance positions to support the PGA’s mandate. My understanding is that there are now seven positions in the OPGA to be filled annually. 

6 Nevertheless, with the increasing workload of the OPGA, we believe that there is a need for a medium to long term plan to scale up greater staffing support for the OPGA, and not to look at this in an ad-hoc, incremental manner. We should begin to take a longer-term perspective as to what will be required in terms of adequate staffing positions to be funded by the Regular Budget in order to better support the PGA’s work. We hope that this year, we can take a concrete step in that direction, of course, with due regard for gender and geographical balance across various levels of responsibility within the OPGA. We believe that the establishment of Regular Budget-funded positions will substantially ease the transition for each PGA, reduce over reliance on seconded staff and strengthen the institutional memory of the office. 

7 Second is the question of the source of funding that is available to the OPGA. It has become very clear that the OPGA is heavily reliant on voluntary contributions for the PGA’s travel and many other activities. It is time to rebalance the proportion of voluntary funding and Regular Budget resources to avoid an over-dependence on the part of the PGA on voluntary funding. Many delegations have consistently called for more resources for the Office of the PGA to be funded through the Regular Budget. Apart from allowing greater predictability in the planning and organization of the PGA’s work, providing adequate funding to the OPGA, including through assessed contributions, is fundamentally a question of transparency and accountability of the Office. The PGA, we believe, will also have more time and attention to focus on his or her important mandate, instead of having to go around raising funds or lobbying for voluntary contributions. While voluntary contributions can be directed at funding specific initiatives or projects, we all have an interest in knowing where the money comes from, and what the source of funding is. We do want to ensure that the OPGA’s agenda and priorities are not directed and dictated by voluntary contributions or the contributors of voluntary contributions. Therefore, rebalancing the proportion of voluntary and Regular Budget resources is also fundamentally about transparency and assuring the independence and autonomy of the Office of the PGA. We are certainly not calling for an end to voluntary contributions, but a heavy reliance on voluntary contributions, in our view, will not help in terms of the independence, autonomy and transparency in the functioning of the OPGA. 

8 There have been previous discussions within our Working Group on how we can enhance funding for the OPGA through assessed contributions. We are open to further discussions on this question. This is not a question that is going to go away. I do agree with the points that have been made by previously speakers that we have to optimize the resources that we already have. We need to have greater transparency in how these resources are already being spent, and certainly there is scope for greater efficiency in the manner in which these resources are spent. However, these are not arguments to not look at the question of rebalancing the sources of funding over the medium to longer term. And I hope that we, in this Working Group, can make some concrete progress in that regard this year. 

9 Third, the question that I wanted to address was gender representation in terms of electing future Presidents of the General Assembly. This year marks the 80th anniversary of the UN. In almost eight decades, only four women have been elected as President of the General Assembly. As we mark the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and review SDG 5 on gender equality and empowerment at the High Level Political Forum this July, we have to strengthen the representation of women in leadership positions at the UN, including the position of the PGA, which is iconic, emblematic and representative of the UN in so many ways. We support the Joint Statement by Mexico Slovenia and Spain, and hope that Member States will nominate more women as candidates for the position of the President of the General Assembly. We also fully support the call, as contained in Resolution 77/335, to try and achieve, by design rather than by coincidence, gender parity in the appointment of co-chairs, co-facilitators and the chairs of the main committees. Furthermore, given that the PGA is the guardian of the rules of procedure and the General Assembly, there's more we can do on this front, including by rectifying gender-biased language in the General Assembly Rules of Procedure. 

Co-chairs,

10 A stronger, future-ready UN begins with a stronger and more effective General Assembly at its core. Singapore is committed to working with all Member States to deliver concrete and forward-looking outcomes at this session of the working group, especially as we prepare to negotiate the biennial resolution this year. At this session, we should aim for a text of a resolution that is both ambitious and action-oriented. We hope that the co-facilitators will be empowered by these discussions to put forward a very ambitious text that should be succinct and avoid repetition of agreed text if there are no changes needed, for example, and that is also streamlined, so that the decisions and recommendations we make are visible and very clear. I'd like to once again assure you of our full support, and we stand ready to work with you and all other delegations to make our work productive and substantive. 

11 Thank you very much.

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