Cyprus
Intergovernmental negotiations on the post-2015 development agenda
22-25 June 2015
Statement by Cyprus on Goals and Targets, 23 June 2015
Mr Co facilitator,
Thank you for giving me the floor. Cyprus aligns itself with the statement made earlier by the European Union and delivers these additional comments on national capacity.
At the outset let me thank you co-facilitators for the zero draft that you have provided us. In our view you have done an outstanding job in capturing in a comprehensive and balanced manner the vast majority of an enormous amount of different views and ideas from the membership and from a wide range of stakeholders who follow this process since the 2012 Conference in Rio. The document is concise and to the point. While it is written in a language that can be easily understood by the public it still keeps its political character and weight. That was not an easy task and we commend you for this.
Mr. Co-facilitator having heard a lot of opinions yesterday and today about the preamble of the declaration we would also like to briefly express our view on that. While we do understand the concerns expressed by some Member States about pick and choose among the SDGs we do welcome your effort which we think is very useful as a means of spreading the messages of our new agenda in a simpler and quicker way. We therefore believe that the preamble is a good basis to build on.
Turning to the Goals and Targets we would like to make two points:
1. We do support the short introduction which accompanies the Goals and Targets and we think that it conveys basic key messages on SDGs in a way that enables the wider public to better understand what we want to achieve in the next 15 years and
2. We welcome Annex 1 on the proposed Target revisions and, as you have recommended Mr. Co-facilitators, we strongly support its integration as a whole in the outcome document. This technical work which is limited to only 21 targets out of the 169 does not in our view upset the delicate political balance of the OWG report neither can be seen as reopening of the OWG report. Completing the unfinished targets with filling the Xs and aligning those with existing international agreements and conventions seems to us a very responsible way to move forward on this issue. We owe it to ourselves who have been in this process for almost 3 years but more importantly to our leaders who will come to New York next September to agree on this document.
Finally Mr. Cofacilitators we would like to thank you for your leadership and hard work and look forward to working with you and all other delegations in order to meet our deadline of 31 July with success.
22-25 June 2015
Statement by Cyprus on Goals and Targets, 23 June 2015
Mr Co facilitator,
Thank you for giving me the floor. Cyprus aligns itself with the statement made earlier by the European Union and delivers these additional comments on national capacity.
At the outset let me thank you co-facilitators for the zero draft that you have provided us. In our view you have done an outstanding job in capturing in a comprehensive and balanced manner the vast majority of an enormous amount of different views and ideas from the membership and from a wide range of stakeholders who follow this process since the 2012 Conference in Rio. The document is concise and to the point. While it is written in a language that can be easily understood by the public it still keeps its political character and weight. That was not an easy task and we commend you for this.
Mr. Co-facilitator having heard a lot of opinions yesterday and today about the preamble of the declaration we would also like to briefly express our view on that. While we do understand the concerns expressed by some Member States about pick and choose among the SDGs we do welcome your effort which we think is very useful as a means of spreading the messages of our new agenda in a simpler and quicker way. We therefore believe that the preamble is a good basis to build on.
Turning to the Goals and Targets we would like to make two points:
1. We do support the short introduction which accompanies the Goals and Targets and we think that it conveys basic key messages on SDGs in a way that enables the wider public to better understand what we want to achieve in the next 15 years and
2. We welcome Annex 1 on the proposed Target revisions and, as you have recommended Mr. Co-facilitators, we strongly support its integration as a whole in the outcome document. This technical work which is limited to only 21 targets out of the 169 does not in our view upset the delicate political balance of the OWG report neither can be seen as reopening of the OWG report. Completing the unfinished targets with filling the Xs and aligning those with existing international agreements and conventions seems to us a very responsible way to move forward on this issue. We owe it to ourselves who have been in this process for almost 3 years but more importantly to our leaders who will come to New York next September to agree on this document.
Finally Mr. Cofacilitators we would like to thank you for your leadership and hard work and look forward to working with you and all other delegations in order to meet our deadline of 31 July with success.
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