Denmark
Statement by the Permanent Representative of Denmark to the United Nations Ambassador Ib Petersen
___________________________________________________________________________
Intergovernmental negotiations on the post-2015 development agenda
Stocktaking session 19-21 January 2015
___________________________________________________________________________
New York Tuesday, 20 January 2015
Check against delivery
E-mail: nycmis@um.dk http://fnnewyork.um.dk

Mr. Co-facilitator
Denmark aligns this statement with the statement made by the EU on behalf of its Member States.
Since this is the first time I take the floor, I would like to thank the co-facilitators for their leadership and express our strong support to the transparent and consultative approach with which you have outlined for the upcoming sessions. The engagement of all stakeholders during the sessions is crucial. The success of this process and the post-2015 agenda depend on the ownership and engagement of all parties - governments, civil society, the private sector and other actors.
We are at a critical juncture in time. We have entered a year, which will celebrate the UN's 70th anniversary, take stock of the achievements of the MDGs, and which will bring together several critically important processes that will determine our path of development for coming decades – the conference on financing for development, the summit on the post-2015 sustainable development agenda and the COP21 conference on climate change.
In totality, we are presented with an unprecedented opportunity and responsibility to forge and operationalize a common vision for a peaceful, sustainable and climate safe future free from poverty. A vision, with a human rights based approach, and which brings both people and the planet at the center, leaving no one behind and putting us on a path that is profoundly sustainable in all the three dimensions of sustainable development. Gender equality, rule of law, peace and stability are important cross- cutting issues. We owe it to future generations to deliver on this promise. They will eventually judge us on our ability to step up to the challenge.

I would like to highlight two other elements that will determine the transformative capacity of the post-2015 agenda and should be repeated in the Declaration:
- Universality in scope and approach. We have both universal and individual challenges, but none will be overcome if not through a joint approach. Denmark is ready to do its part.
- Multi-stakeholder partnerships to secure solutions to the complex challenges we face. We need innovative partnerships, which enable action and learning through a multitude of actors, recognizing that success in delivery goes beyond the capacity of any government, and any one typology of financing and resource.
We welcome the innovative approach by the UN Secretary General to use an integrated set of essential elements capturing the political ambition of the Sustainable Development Goals to facilitate the communication of the post-2015 agenda and look forward to further discussions on this.
We also welcome the proposal from the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals, which shall be the main basis for integrating sustainable development goals into the post-2015 agenda, while recognizing that other inputs will also be considered. We should maintain the balanced and integrated approach of the OWG proposal for SDGs, which bring together the many interrelated challenges and opportunities.
We see merit in undertaking a technical ‘proofing’ of targets under the condition of clearly defined criteria. Such technical proofing should ensure that we do not backtrack on existing agreements and commitments. Furthermore, some targets still have an ‘X’ and would need to be further specified. We believe that the UN Task Team is well placed to advice on these issues, together with other relevant technical and scientific expertise.

Another important area for work is indicators. We encourage the UN system and in particular the UN Task Team to engage in the work to develop indicators together with UN statistical commission, and also to draw on technical and scientific expertise in this exercise. Their work should build on existing approaches on indicators and should also include considerations on the disaggregation of data by income, gender, age and other factors.
I will come back to the important issues of Means of Implementation, review and monitoring and follow up in my statement tomorrow.
Thank you.

___________________________________________________________________________
Intergovernmental negotiations on the post-2015 development agenda
Stocktaking session 19-21 January 2015
___________________________________________________________________________
New York Tuesday, 20 January 2015
Check against delivery
E-mail: nycmis@um.dk http://fnnewyork.um.dk

Mr. Co-facilitator
Denmark aligns this statement with the statement made by the EU on behalf of its Member States.
Since this is the first time I take the floor, I would like to thank the co-facilitators for their leadership and express our strong support to the transparent and consultative approach with which you have outlined for the upcoming sessions. The engagement of all stakeholders during the sessions is crucial. The success of this process and the post-2015 agenda depend on the ownership and engagement of all parties - governments, civil society, the private sector and other actors.
We are at a critical juncture in time. We have entered a year, which will celebrate the UN's 70th anniversary, take stock of the achievements of the MDGs, and which will bring together several critically important processes that will determine our path of development for coming decades – the conference on financing for development, the summit on the post-2015 sustainable development agenda and the COP21 conference on climate change.
In totality, we are presented with an unprecedented opportunity and responsibility to forge and operationalize a common vision for a peaceful, sustainable and climate safe future free from poverty. A vision, with a human rights based approach, and which brings both people and the planet at the center, leaving no one behind and putting us on a path that is profoundly sustainable in all the three dimensions of sustainable development. Gender equality, rule of law, peace and stability are important cross- cutting issues. We owe it to future generations to deliver on this promise. They will eventually judge us on our ability to step up to the challenge.

I would like to highlight two other elements that will determine the transformative capacity of the post-2015 agenda and should be repeated in the Declaration:
- Universality in scope and approach. We have both universal and individual challenges, but none will be overcome if not through a joint approach. Denmark is ready to do its part.
- Multi-stakeholder partnerships to secure solutions to the complex challenges we face. We need innovative partnerships, which enable action and learning through a multitude of actors, recognizing that success in delivery goes beyond the capacity of any government, and any one typology of financing and resource.
We welcome the innovative approach by the UN Secretary General to use an integrated set of essential elements capturing the political ambition of the Sustainable Development Goals to facilitate the communication of the post-2015 agenda and look forward to further discussions on this.
We also welcome the proposal from the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals, which shall be the main basis for integrating sustainable development goals into the post-2015 agenda, while recognizing that other inputs will also be considered. We should maintain the balanced and integrated approach of the OWG proposal for SDGs, which bring together the many interrelated challenges and opportunities.
We see merit in undertaking a technical ‘proofing’ of targets under the condition of clearly defined criteria. Such technical proofing should ensure that we do not backtrack on existing agreements and commitments. Furthermore, some targets still have an ‘X’ and would need to be further specified. We believe that the UN Task Team is well placed to advice on these issues, together with other relevant technical and scientific expertise.

Another important area for work is indicators. We encourage the UN system and in particular the UN Task Team to engage in the work to develop indicators together with UN statistical commission, and also to draw on technical and scientific expertise in this exercise. Their work should build on existing approaches on indicators and should also include considerations on the disaggregation of data by income, gender, age and other factors.
I will come back to the important issues of Means of Implementation, review and monitoring and follow up in my statement tomorrow.
Thank you.

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