Post 2015 Stocktaking Session: Opening Session
Statement by Kushla Munro, Assistant Secretary, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
As delivered
Firstly, Australia would like to congratulate the co-facilitators on their appointment and look forward to working cooperatively with you and other member states.
Australia is committed to ensuring a post-2015 development agenda that focuses global efforts on eradicating poverty and promoting sustained economic growth.
It must build on the Millennium Development Goals by maintaining a strong focus on poverty, health, education, food security and water.
But it is crucial that the new agenda has a stronger focus on:
• economic growth, including trade, the private sector and jobs as already emphasised by Indonesia and India in their respective statements;
• women’s equality and economic empowerment;
• inclusive and effective institutions and peaceful societies;
• and a revitalised global partnership to deliver the new agenda.
We will need to work cooperatively and efficiently in order to complete our work in the short period of time we have available.
We must avoid duplication with other processes, particularly the concurrent financing for development negotiations.
We must ensure continued access to technical expertise.
We must allow sufficient time for our capitals to consider positions as the negotiations develop.
And we will need to be iterative in our approach and come back to key issues as they develop over the course of the negotiations.
Co-facilitators,
The post-2015 declaration should be succinct and inspiring.
The key element must be our commitment to eradicate extreme poverty and promote sustained prosperity.
It should focus on the major commitments that political leaders will make for the post -2015 agenda and the key principles and values they share.
And it should recognise the changing nature of the contemporary development landscape and the revitalised global partnership.
In this context, the Millennium Declaration and Rio+20 Outcome Document should be the starting point for our discussion on the declaration.
Co-facilitators,
Australia is committed to delivering a compelling agenda that can be implemented at the national level and sufficiently focussed to rally international efforts - with targets that are quantified and measurable and at least consistent with existing commitments and latest technical evidence.
We have made a good start with the proposal from the Open Working Group and we welcome the suggestions of the Secretary General in his Synthesis Report on how we can finalise the goals and targets framework.
In particular, we support the recommendation that a technical review of the targets be undertaken and would further recommend that this review be guided by clear criteria.
We also support the co-chair’s approach to the UN Statistical Commission to develop indicators that will inform progress against the post-2015 targets.
And finally, we are also interested in exploring further the proposed six elements identified by the Secretary-General as a means to frame and better communicate the goals and targets.
Thank you.
