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11th Session of the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals
5. – 9. May 2014
Statement by Austria
Focus area 15. Means of implementation/Global partnership for sustainable development
Austria believes, that at this stage of the preparation for the post 2015 agenda and by that we mean that important processes such as the UN Expert Committee on Sustainable Development Financing have not yet delivered their report, it is better to address “means of implementation” in a clustered way. Therefore we welcome a separate focus area on MOI.
With regard to the principle of ownership, to which this focus area should adhere, we welcome that the full spectrum of possible resources for development has been included and in particular the inclusion of measures such as for example “strengthening capacities for tax collection” or “reducing corruption” that strengthen domestic resource mobilization. In this regard a greater involvement of the private sector in the context of partnerships is very important and should be based on a sound framework of regulation (( to avoid negative social or environmental impacts)).
Concerning technology transfer Austria would like to stress that the transfer has to happen on “mutually agreed terms”. Emphasis should be given to local and national innovations as well as adaptations of technologies to the respective context.
On target l) we suggest adding at the end: “and increase/maximize investments in gender equality and women’s empowerment.”
Lastly, we suggest adding an additional target that reads: “By 2030 implement gender responsive budgeting.”
Focus area 16. Peaceful and inclusive societies, rule of law and capable institutions
Austria supports the call for a division of focus area 16 in two focus areas:
One entitled“Peaceful, non-violent, stable and inclusive societies”
And the other one entitled “governance, transparency and accountable, inclusive and effective institutions”.
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Peace and development as we have heard so often are intrinsically interlinked and go hand in hand.
We would like to propose three additional targets within this topic:
1. “ensure the promotion and protection of civil society space, including for human rights defenders”
2. “eliminate sexual and gender-based violence in conflict, post-conflict, disaster and post-disaster situations“
3. „ensure women’s full and effective participation and leadership in conflict prevention, resolution, and mediation efforts, peace processes and peacebuilding and post-conflict reconstruction at all levels“
Austria strongly advocates a standalone goal on rule of law, governance, transparency and accountable, inclusive and effective institutions. Rule of law has without doubt an enabling character as it is crucial for sustainable development. But in our view, we should have rule of law as a stand-alone goal, and we should also mainstream it throughout the SDGs ; one does not exclude the other. We call for strong rule of law related targets under other goals.
On the level of targets, it is vital that effective accountability is embedded with the post 2015 framework. We therefore strongly call for adding an additional target: ensure accountability for violations of human rights.
Regarding target b) which deals with equal access to justice systems, we call to add “for all” after “equal access” as all persons have an immediate right to a remedy; this must be explicitly stated in the text. Furthermore, we call for the inclusion of sexual and gender based violence in this regard.
On target d) (sic) we suggest beginning with “ensure” and adding: “including on gender responsive PFM and tracking allocations of gender spend” after “national development plans”
Furthermore we would welcome a reference to free and fair election systems.
The text regarding freedom of media, association and speech (target f) should be strengthened, since we have to ENSURE these rights, not only remove unnecessary restrictions.
We also welcome a strong target on anti corruption.
Thank you!
