Brazil

Intergovernmental Negotiations on the Post-2015 Development Agenda
VII Session
Follow up and Review - July 24, 2015

Statement by Brazil


Co-facilitators,

Brazil aligns itself with the statement delivered by South Africa on behalf of G-77 and China. Allow me to present the following comments in my national capacity.

There are three main issues of concern for my delegation at this point in our process: i) to provide clarity on the role of the High Level Political Forum, and strengthen its capacity to fulfill its mandates; ii) to improve the language for greater participation and accountability from the UN System and other stakeholders; and iii) to clarify the complementarity between the follow up and review on MoI under the FfD and under the Post-2015 processes.

Chapter four has evolved positively in comparison with the zero draft. It is now closer to what we believe can be a consensual outcome for this section, taking into account that member States haven't had many opportunities to deliberate on matters related to Follow up and Review and the role of the High Level Political Forum in that context.

Mindful of the need to further deliberate on matters related to Follow up and Review, member States decided last year, in resolution 69/214, that the 2015 High Level Political Forum would "discuss its role and ways to implement its functions in following up on and reviewing the implementation of the post-2015 development agenda."

The motivation for such a mandate came, in our view, from an assessment shared by many member States that the High Level Political Forum may not be fully prepared to carry out its functions, in particular, due to weak institutional support and to the lack of clarity in the modalities for the preparation of its meetings and outcomes.

The fact that the 2015 HLPF could not result in a substantive negotiated outcome confirmed this assessment. A substantive negotiated outcome would have helped us to advance the intergovernmental consensus on the role, functions and methods of work of the Forum.

This is not an isolated example. The Forum was also mandated to consider the scope and methodology for the Global Sustainable Development Report and to provide recommendations for the 10-Year Framework Programme for Sustainable Consumption and Production (10YFP). Both mandates, in our view, remained unfulfilled, as evidenced by the persistence of conflicting views surrounding the scope and methodology for the GSDR.

We have listened carefully to the detailed proposals presented by other delegations. At this juncture, we believe we should spend our precious remaining time trying to define common principles and objectives, as well as identifying ways to gradually improve the institutional arrangements that we have.

The High Level Political Forum was established to replace the Commission on Sustainable Development and its mandate goes beyond performing reviews.

In this regard, we believe that the following text should be added before paragraph 64:

"A robust, effective, inclusive and transparent follow up and review framework for this Agenda will require an HLPF that is capable to perform its functions and fulfill its mandates, as established in resolution 67/290. We decide to strengthen the institutional support and to improve the intergovernmental process dedicated to the preparation of the meetings of the high level political forum under ECOSOC. We commit to discuss ways to improve the institutional arrangement and the modalities of work of the High Level Political Forum with a view to reviewing the format and organizational aspects of the Forum in the 73rd session of the GA."

This language proposal aims at providing a roadmap for our work after September on the basis of the mandates entrusted to the HLPF which are, all of them, of crucial relevance for the governance, implementation, follow-up and review of the post-2015 development agenda. This roadmap would also provide us with the opportunity to ensure the allocation of the necessary financial resources in the regular budget to ensure that the HLPF can effectively deliver on all its mandates.

The decision to review the format and organizational aspects of the high level political forum at the 73rd session of the GA is already contained in paragraph 29, of resolution 67/290. We note that the 73rd session of the GA will start in 2018, precisely before the next HLPF under the GA, according to paragraph 69 of the final draft. That would constitute an opportunity for Heads of State and Government to take stock on the institutional improvements agreed to at that stage and provide guidance on future role of the Forum.

Co-facilitators,

Brazil believes that this agenda constitutes a commitment by all actors engaged in development cooperation. We should therefore formulate language to mobilize and hold all stakeholders accountable regarding their contribution for the implementation of sustainable development goals and targets.

In order to translate this view into concrete language, we propose the following:

In paragraph 57 item "d", we suggest adding the expression "and reporting" after the word participation, as well as moving the reference to "all people". It would then read: "they will be open, inclusive and transparent to all people, and support the participation of and reporting by all stakeholders."

In paragraph 59, in the second sentence, our proposal is to include the words "transparent and accountable" following the word promote. The second sentence would then read: "We will promote transparent and accountable scaling up of public-private cooperation [...]".

In the first sentence of paragraph 66, after UN entities, we would suggest the inclusion of "and other stakeholders, including civil society and the private sector". It would then read: "Review will be voluntary, while encouraging reporting and include developed and developing countries as well as relevant UN entities and other stakeholders, including civil society and the private sector."

In paragraph 70, we suggest to strengthen the language of the second sentence, which could read: "We call on these actors to report and submit comprehensive reviews on their contribution to the implementation of this Agenda".

Co-facilitators,

We are of the view the first sentence of paragraph 66 needs to reproduce the entire language of paragraph 8 of resolution 67/290, not only its first part. It should therefore read:

"We reaffirm that the HLPF, under the auspices of ECOSOC, shall conduct regular reviews, starting in 2016, on the follow-up and implementation of sustainable development commitments and objectives, including those related to the means of implementation, within the context of the post-2015 development agenda."

This reference clarifies the broad scope of reviews to be carried out under the HLPF.

We also believe that paragraph 66 should come before paragraph 65, not after. The reason is that the national-level processes will be the foundation for reviews at regional and global levels, as mentioned in paragraph 57 item "a".

In our view, the references to the reports of the Secretary General should come after all references to intergovernmental processes and thematic platforms. Therefore, current paragraph 65 should be moved after paragraph 68. On the Global Sustainable Development Report, we support the reference on strengthening the science-policy interface, which is the mandate for the report.

We should also include reference to a "call on the scientific community, from all countries, developed and developing, to contribute on the elaboration of such report". Furthermore, we should include language to ensure that "the GSDR will observe the balance and integration of social, economic and environmental dimensions of sustainable development".

In the second sentence of paragraph 67, after intergovernmental forums, we suggest including a reference to the multi-stakeholder forum on science, technology and innovation for the SDGs. It would read: "These will be supported by reviews by ECOSOC functional commissions and other intergovernmental forums, including the multi-stakeholder forum on science, technology and innovation, [...]".

This reference is consistent with the modalities of the TFM and would ensure coherence in the overall arrangement.

Paragraph 68 should reflect the language agreed to in paragraph 132 of Addis Outcome, which defined the modalities and the mandate for the annual ECOSOC forum on financing for development. A possible formulation could be as follows:

"We welcome the annual ECOSOC forum on financing for development, which will, inter alia, discuss the follow-up and review of the financing for development outcomes and the means of implementation of the post-2015 development agenda. Its intergovernmentally agreed conclusions and recommendations will be fed into the overall follow-up and review of the implementation of the post-2015 development agenda in the high-level political forum on sustainable development."

Co-facilitators,

We wish to present one last suggestions:

In paragraph 57, item "e", we wish to include, after circumstances, "capacities, needs and priorities" so the sentence would read "They will build on existing platforms and processes, avoid duplication, respond to national circumstances, capacities, needs and priorities, evolve over time and minimize the reporting burden on national administrations."

I thank you, Co-facilitators.