Statement by Mr. Toshiro Ozawa
Ambassador of Japan
At the Informal Consultation of the Plenary of the UN General Assembly
On Mandate Review

12 April 2006

Mr. Co-Chair,

We thank you for providing us with another opportunity to express our preliminary views on the SG report and also for sharing your programme of work with us. We thank Mr. Orr for all his detailed responses and useful information.

ADDITONAL OVERVIEW

In the previous informal plenary, we noted many delegations expressed their support for the Secretary General's proposal to divide our exercise into two (or possibly three) phases. We welcome their comments, and wish to point out that our efforts in the initial months should focus on achieving some tangible results in the short-tem.

CHAPTER III: KEY CHALLENGES

Japan acknowledges that the chapter on "Key Challenges" includes many useful suggestions which deserve careful and serious consideration. My delegation fully subscribes to the view expressed in the report that currently the system does not sufficiently allow an intergovernmental organ, once it has adopted a resolution, to analyze the effectiveness of the mandate within the broader picture of the Organization's work as a basis for subsequent decisions on it.

At the same time, we would like to emphasize again that achieving some tangible results in the short-term is a key challenge we must address first and foremost. Some of the suggestions included in the Secretary General's report may be considered in the short-term. Having said that, my delegation would like to provide our preliminary views on issues covered in this chapter:

We support the view of the SG that for the renewal of current mandates or the adoption of future ones, the system should be significantly strengthened to ensure that the intergovernmental body from which a mandate originated has clear, transparent and timely information about its effectiveness. It appears to my delegation that some items referred to in this chapter deserve expeditious consideration whereas some others may require more time to reach agreement.

First, in order to strengthen the system to ensure more effective implementation of mandates, we should improve and consolidate reporting to provide timely, concise and clear information in a manner that does not overburden the Secretariat. My delegation is interested in seeking the Secretariat's concrete ideas for consolidating specific reporting requirements in the short-term. We are encouraged by Mr. Orr's comments today on willingness of the Secretariat to consider concept papers and concrete proposals. We support the views expressed by other delegations that it would be useful to discuss the matter informally with the programme managers.

Second, we should also strengthen mandate monitoring and evaluation. We support the procedure where the Secretariat provides programmatic implication of proposed mandates contained in a draft resolution vis-à-vis existing mandated activities. At the same time, since the programme performance report of the OIOS is not fully satisfactory for objective evaluation purposes, as suggested by the Secretary General himself, we are very much interested in and fully prepared to discuss this matter in the context of the SG's report on Investing in the United Nations.

Third, we support the idea that the General Assembly should provide strategic direction and objectives when it creates mandates. As stated earlier, we would like to examine the suggestion of the Secretary General that he/she should be able to determine which entity or department is the most competent to implement mandates.

PROPOSED PROGRAMME OF WORK

Mr. Co-Chair,

Now, my delegation would like to refer to your programme of work.

Most importantly, we should initially concentrate on areas where we can achieve tangible results quickly. We feel that the dates could be made even earlier, and the schedule more upfront, because we will need time for deliberation after May 15th.
Having said that, we can express our support to the Programme of Work in front of us.

In addition, my delegation would appreciate any possible clarification from the Co-Chairs with regard to the interaction between the General Assembly and other bodies in the context of our future programme of work.

Thank you.

Related Information (United Nations)
Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations Official Web Site