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Statement delivered by H.E. Mrs. Janine Coye Felson, Ambassador, Deputy Permanent Representative
of the Permanent Mission of Belize to the United Nations to the informal meetings of the plenary on
stocktaking in the process of intergovernmental negotiations on the post-2015 development agenda,
pursuant to resolution 69/244 and decision 69/550
20 January 2015
General Statement
Co-Facilitators,
I have the honor to speak on behalf of the fourteen Member States of the Caribbean
Community (CARICOM).
CARICOM aligns itself with the statements delivered by the distinguished Permanent
Representative of South Africa on behalf of the Group of 77&China, and by the distinguished
Permanent Representative of the Maldives on behalf of the Alliance of Small Island States
(AOSIS).
We are at the beginning of a historical undertaking; that of elaborating a Post-2015
development agenda that meets the sustainable aspirations of the citizens of all our respective
countries. We have much work to do and CARICOM is convinced that we will be able to achieve
our ultimate objective of agreeing on a sustainable development agenda for the next fifteen
years, under your able guidance.
CARICOM welcomes this stock-taking session as an opportunity to appreciate holistically the
myriad inputs from a wide range of stakeholders and from other intergovernmental processes,
and to have an initial exchange of views of how this post-2015 intergovernmental process can
do justice to those inputs. [CARICOM takes note of the Secretary-General’s Synthesis Report in
this regard.] We welcome the views of other Member States and stakeholders whose input will
contribute to our efforts over the next few days.
Co-Facilitators,
For the Member States of CARICOM, our starting point in approaching the task of elaborating a
post-2015 development agenda is the lessons learned from the MDGs and those from the SIDS
sustainable development agenda. Our achievements under these frameworks have been mixed
resulting largely from a mismatch of capacities, support, policies and priorities and insufficient
sensitivity to the peculiarities of our small open economies. We therefore look to the post-
2015 development agenda to build upwards from the areas where we made considerable
progress and to build outwards to integrate other key areas for our sustainable development.
Importantly, we want to ensure that there is a strong mutually re-inforcing link between the
global development agenda and our own regional agenda. We are confident that the
implementation of the agenda can also provide us with opportunities to deepen our regional
integration efforts while pursuing sustainable development.
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Our leaders have thus articulated that their vision for a post-2015 development agenda is for a
comprehensive, integrated and flexible agenda that builds on the lessons of the MDGs, and
that is universal and responsive to the realities and the range of development challenges and
concerns faced by individual Member States.
CARICOM considers certain elements to be a sine qua non for the successful conclusion of the
intergovernmental negotiations on the post-2015 development agenda. Specifically, we expect
that our work will include the preparation of, and agreement on, a concise, visionary
declaration, one that speaks to the importance of all aspects of the agenda, to its potential to
transform global sustainable development prospects and make a difference in the lives of
individuals on the ground in our respective countries, to the importance of mobilising and
leveraging the requisite political will to allow for the full and effective implementation of the
agenda, and the achievement of its goals in a set timeframe. As we advance our work we must
endeavour to secure an outcome that is transformative and that is fully anchored in the
aspirations of our peoples for a more sustainable future.
We recall the decision on modalities of the intergovernmental process which states inter alia
that the post-2015 development agenda may include a declaration; sustainable development
goals and targets; means of implementation and global partnership for sustainable
development; and follow-up and review. CARICOM Member States are comfortable with this
structure and wish to make a few additional observations on substance.
First, we reiterate that the set of sustainable development goals produced through the work of
the Open Working Group on SDGs will be at the core of the post-2015 development agenda and
their integrity must be preserved as we finalise the agenda.
Second, as regards the means of implementation for the post 2015 development agenda, our
Heads of State and Government have called for emphasis to be placed on the development and
implementation of arrangements for the provision of adequate financial and other resources,
trade and market access and capacity building support to developing countries to enable the
full implementation of the post-2015 development agenda.
A similar emphasis will have to be placed on the development of monitoring, evaluation and
review frameworks that could support the implementation of commitments under the new
agenda. For Small Island Developing States such as ours, which face a range of challenges in
relation to data collection and statistical analysis, the successful implementation of the SDGs
will require enhanced support for our national statistical offices to enable the timely collection
of high-quality disaggregated data. It will be important that we ensure adequate financing and
international support for the strengthening of our national statistical offices.
For the post-2015 development agenda to be viable, we must adopt an approach that allows
for the most pressing development challenges to be addressed, including the elimination of
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poverty in all its forms and we must above all appreciate within that agenda the principle that
no one size fits all.
Co-Facilitators,
In the face of the multiple and interrelated global processes in which we are engaged,
CARICOM wishes once again to underscore the importance of endeavouring to maintain
coherence among the processes.
We welcome the fact that the programme for this Session includes an opportunity to exchange
views with the Co-Chairs of the FFD process and call for such consultations to be built into the
post-2015 process going forward. We have no doubt that you and your counterparts in the FFD
process, the distinguished Permanent Representatives of Guyana and Norway, will find efficient
means of continuing effective engagement between the processes.
As a group comprising Small Island Developing States, CARICOM and its fellow AOSIS members
will take steps to ensure that due consideration is given to the concerns of SIDS and specifically,
to the outcome document of the Third International Conference on SIDS – the SAMOA
Pathway.
We will elaborate on some of the ideas we have raised in this statement in the more focused
sessions in the days ahead.
As we engage in this most important undertaking you can rest assured of CARICOM's full
support.
I thank you.
