08 Nov 2019
Mr President
1 I join other speakers in commending Ambassador Sima Sami Bahous of Jordan and Ambassador Michal Mlynar of Slovakia for their work as Co-Chairs of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Revitalisation of the Work of the General Assembly during the 73rd session. We look forward to the continued stewardship of Ambassador Mlynar, and congratulate Ambassador Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee of Ghana on her appointment to lead our work for the coming year.
2 Singapore aligns itself with the statements delivered by Algeria on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), and by Thailand on behalf of ASEAN. I will add a few points in my national capacity.
3 The revitalisation of the work of the General Assembly is an important issue for Singapore. The General Assembly is the main deliberative, policymaking and representative organ of the United Nations. It is the only UN organ with universal representation, where all member states, big or small, can play an equal role. This is the reason that Singapore has been such a strong supporter and advocate of a more efficient, effective and accountable United Nations, and of a revitalised General Assembly.
4 Unfortunately, today, we are grappling with the United Nation’s worst budget and liquidity crisis in a decade. The organisation is barely able to keep itself running. We are facing delays in the issuance of documents and a reduction in the availability of key Secretariat services, such as interpretation and translation. Separately, there have also been delays in the work of several of the Main Committees due to organisational issues that have continued to remain unresolved.
5 The commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the United Nations next year will be an opportunity for us to renew our commitment to multilateralism and the international rules-based order. It will be a chance to reaffirm the international community’s commitment to tackling complex global problems such as poverty eradication, pandemics, climate change, and conflict prevention, towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. It will be a timely juncture for us to redouble our efforts to (i) reinforce the role and authority of the General Assembly; (ii) enhances its effectiveness and efficiency; and (iii) increase the transparency and inclusiveness of its work. This is crucial if the General Assembly is to keep up with the challenges of the day, and to discharge its responsibilities.
6 Efforts to revitalise the work of the General Assembly have produced tangible and encouraging outcomes over the past few years, and I will highlight just a few. 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) the elections process has been made more efficient and guidelines have been put in place for election campaign materials; and (v) the introduction of regular informal dialogues between the PGA, the Secretariat and Member States have improved communication and understanding of priorities and challenges on all sides. In this regard, we welcome the convening of the first Morning Dialogue with President Tijjani earlier today on the important topic of Inclusive Quality Education and Lifelong Learning.
7 But the task ahead is more difficult, as we must now tackle some of the more intractable issues. On this, I would like to highlight three points of particular interest to Singapore.
8 One, steps must be taken to preserve the primacy of the General Debate during the High Level Week. This means engaging in a serious discussion about how to rationalise and limit the number of high-level meetings and side events held in parallel with the General Debate. Singapore is prepared to support initiatives that will streamline and limit such side meetings, including proposals to develop a set of clear guidelines to manage the overall activities in a manner that will benefit all Member States.
9 Two, Singapore looks forward to continuing the discussion on the rationalisation and streamlining of the agenda of the General Assembly. This is important and necessary, as the continued proliferation of agenda items and resolutions will lead to an unsustainable volume of work that will dilute the focus, effectiveness and efficiency of the General Assembly.
10 Three, more consideration must be invested in the scheduling of meetings of the General Assembly to allow for meaningful consideration of the issue being debated. I am referring specifically to the consideration of the work of the United Nations and its principal organs, and to the “Report of the Security Council” and the “Report of the Secretary-General on the Work of the Organization”. These reports are an opportunity for Member States to scrutinise and ask questions about the work of the United Nations and its organs, and an important exercise in transparency, accountability and legitimacy. There have been issues in the past with the timing of these debates. It is therefore important that the discussions on these reports and other important issues be scheduled to allow the wider membership sufficient time to consider the reports, in order to have a meaningful debate on them.
Mr President
11 Singapore is committed to the revitalisation of the work of the General Assembly. We will continue to work with the President, the Co-Chairs of the Ad Hoc Working Group, and other delegations to further enhance the credibility, accountability, efficiency and legitimacy of the General Assembly.
. . . . .