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Statement of H.E. Ambassador Mohamed Khaled Khiari, Permanent Representative of Tunisia to the United Nations on behalf of the ECOSOC Bureau on the intergovernmental negotiations on the Post-2015 Development Agenda
(22 May 2015)
Distinguished Co-facilitators,
Excellencies, Colleagues,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
On behalf of the ECOSOC Bureau, I am delighted to make this intervention as we address the follow-up and review architecture of the post-2015 development agenda.
We know that the world has changed dramatically since the adoption of the Millennium Declaration nearly 15 years ago. Some achievements have been made on the path of development but much remains to be done while poverty and hunger continue to affect the lives of millions of people through the world. As the world has become more interconnected, countries and peoples are now increasingly affected by what happens elsewhere.
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Addressing these complex development challenges at the country, regional and global levels has become a shared responsibility of all Member States. The post 2015 agenda we are designing is for the first time universal in nature. It is also of a transformational nature and it will require us to implement it in an integral manner as the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and their targets are interconnected. For its effective implementation the new post-2015 development agenda will require strong follow-up and review, supported by an inclusive, effective, transparent and robust architecture, to keep our work on the right track, identify gaps and detect the support needed.
To facilitate our continued open and inclusive dialogue, the ECOSOC Bureau will shortly be submitting to the co-chairs a few proposals for the review and implementation architecture of the post-2015 development agenda. We will request this document to be published in the web page of the intergovernmental negotiations so it is available to all delegations.
In particular, the implementation and review architecture for the post-2015 development agenda should:
Ensure the highest level of political engagement;
Be voluntary and built around a common review framework;
Be based on rigorous analysis and draw on expertise from throughout the UN system;
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Use all existing mechanisms and systems;
Not overburden Member States with reporting requirements; and
Be consistent with the spirit and letter of General Assembly resolutions 67/290 and 68/1.
Excellencies,
The Rio+20 outcome document called for the establishment of the HLPF and the strengthening of the ECOSOC in order to provide the necessary framework for the post-2015 development agenda.
ECOSOC is the relevant and appropriate Charter body for pursuing the twin objectives of eradicating poverty and achieving the integration of the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development.
In particular, the principle of integration will be at the core of the post-2015 development agenda, as its implementation will require countries and the UN system to stop working in silos.
Integration is already at the center of the work of the ECOSOC system, at both the conceptual and analytical levels of policymaking, as well as in policy implementation.
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The ECOSOC system is an interlocking framework that covers a broad range of substantive areas and connects functional and regional commissions, expert bodies and specialized agencies. Taken together, they advance ownership, engagement, implementation and follow-up and review at the global level.
ECOSOC’s new platforms include the convening of the High-level Political Forum under the auspices of the Council and the new Integration Segment. They are convened together with the full range of ECOSOC’s existing platforms and processes which could and should be used in the future architecture, including
- the Development Cooperation Forum;
- the Financing for Development follow-up process;
- the work of ECOSOC’s functional commissions and expert bodies;
- the Quadrennial Comprehensive Policy Review follow-up process; and
- the ECOSOC Dialogue on the Longer-term Positioning of the United Nations Development System.
I am especially pleased that the ECOSOC Humanitarian Affairs Segment has served, since 1998, as an essential part of the ECOSOC platform for integrating the United Nations work in the humanitarian dimension.
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Dear Colleagues,
In the post-2015 era, we must mobilize our common resources and energy to face our two major challenges – the fate of human beings and of our planet.
The United Nations needs a strong General Assembly, and a strong ECOSOC and High-level Political Forum to offer strategic substantive guidance and support for inclusive and effective follow-up and review of the post-2015 development agenda.
You can count on me and the entire ECOSOC Bureau to facilitate our work and common vision.
Thank you.
