Egypt
Statement
Of the Arab Republic of Egypt
Delivered by
Mr. Mohamed Khalil
Head of Environment and Sustainable Development Division
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Before
The Informal meetings of the plenary on Sustainable Development Goals & Indicators
in the process of the Intergovernmental Negotiations
on the post-2015 Development Agenda
March 23-27, 2015
New York, 23 March 2015 Check against delivery
Distinguished Co-facilitators,
On the onset, I would like to express my country’s appreciation for your efforts in advancing the post 215 Development Agenda negotiation process.
Co-facilitators,
I would like to associate my remarks with the statement made by South Africa on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, the statement made by Namibia on behalf of the African Group and the statement made by Saudi Arabia on behalf of the Arab Group. My delegation also commends the Chair of the statistical commission and the chief statisticians for their presentations.
Co-facilitators
My delegation would like to highlight the following points:
1. The process of developing the indicators framework for the post 2015 Development Agenda is of technical nature, and we take note of the work of the commission to provide the final framework of indicators by March 2016, in accordance with the time line adopted by the commission during its 46th session. While we acknowledge the technical nature of the process to develop the indicators, a dialogue between the technical level and the political level, would be useful.
2. Time and space should be provided to our statisticians to develop the indicators Framework, in accordance with the time line adopted, emphasizing that these indicators are meant to provide measurability and follow-up as mandated in paragraph 18 of the OWG report.
3. Efforts to develop the indicators framework must not lead to any re-categorization, reinterpretation, or technical proofing of the goals and targets and must not introduce contentious issues or notions that do not enjoy consensus or over emphasize any one dimension of sustainable development.
4. The indicators Framework developed by the statistical commission should be used for global follow up and review, while national indicators will be developed by the national statistical authorities; at a later stage; for national monitoring, taking into account national circumstances, with regional indicators to be developed by the regional organizations in cooperation with its member states.
5. Our national statistical organizations have highlighted a number of challenges in this regard, mainly the need to address the capacity deficit in developing countries, the need for further coordination with different national entities and ensuring that action on part of the Statistical Commission must fully respect the development policy space of developing countries, national legislations and the different cultural and societal values.
6. With regards to the result of the survey provided, we would like to commend the countries which were able to meet the limited time provided to complete the survey, but would like to caution against using the results of the survey as representing the views of the full UN membership, specially that many countries emphasized the challenges to implementing the proposed indicators. Furthermore, some of the indicators included in the survey are conflicting with certain cultural and societal values. Other indicators and targets did not speak to the same thing, and some indicators addressed only some and not all the elements of the targets. This has been particularly the case for the indicators for the targets under goal 17. We need to ensure that indicators are fully responsive to the goals and targets.
7. In this regard we welcome the confirmation by the Chair of the statistical Commission that the proposed indicators, and accordingly the results of the survey, are provisional, as the indicators were not discussed yet with national statistics offices, and consequently they do not, and they should not, prejudge the outcome of our work.
8. We would also like to request clarifications from the commission regarding the absence of certain proposals made by member states during the Commission’s meeting, that were not taken into consideration when formulating the decision, namely, the proposal to expand the interagency expert group on Sustainable Development goals to become an intergovernmental group, and the proposal to ensure financing for the participation of statisticians from developing countries in meetings. We call on the Commission to amend the decisions to ensure these proposals are addressed.
Co - facilitators,
Before I conclude, I would like to seize the opportunity of the presence of the Chair of the Statistical Commission, an seek his views regarding how to deal with the challenges ahead reflected in the presentations in the beginning of this meeting, particularly the need for time and for capacity building in developing countries. Moreover, despite that Statistical Commission’s process will develop indicators only on global level, the Chair of the Commission mentioned that the Commission could be involved in the development of regional and national indicators. We would appreciate if the Chair of the Commission could elaborate on that and how he sees the interaction between global, regional, and national indicators.
In concluding let me assure you of my delegation’s commitment to engage constructively throughout this process.
I thank you.
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