– As delivered –

Statement by H.E. Mrs. María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, President of the 73rd Session of the UN General Assembly

22 December 2018

Excellencies,

Dear Fifth Committee delegates,  

Congratulations. You have successfully concluded your work during the main session fashionably on time, three days before Christmas. And for your record, in the past decade, concluding the work on 22 December is the best record.

I wish to commend the Chair of the Fifth Committee, Ambassador Gillian Bird and her team, as well as members of the bureau, for their dedication and skills in steering the work of the Committee.

I would also like to recognize the outstanding and dedicated Secretariat team, led by Ms. Sharon Buerle, for the tireless support provided to the Fifth Committee. My appreciation also goes to the interpreters and the conference services who are here with us tonight, a Saturday night.

Excellencies,

Distinguished delegates,

The decisions you have taken will have a bearing on how the United Nations functions, today and tomorrow. You have agreed on the scales of assessments for the regular budget and the peacekeeping operations, which set out our collective responsibilities to finance the Organization for 2019-2021.

You have passed a resolution that approves an additional appropriation of the Secretariat’s share for the Resident Coordinator System, reaffirming your strong support for a reinvigorated and independent system.

You have also considered other topics, including special political missions, construction, first performance report, revised estimates resulting from resolutions and decisions adopted by the Human Rights Council, amongst others. 

Decisions on these complex issues require intensive work and countless hours of negotiations. More importantly, reaching consensus requires difficult compromises from all sides, in which you have shown.

Thank you for working in the spirit of cooperation, transparency and inclusiveness.