Japan
Intergovernmental Negotiations on the post-2015 development agenda
Second meeting on the “Declaration”
18 February 2015
Statement by Mr. Takeshi Osuga, Ambassador,
Deputy Director-General for International Cooperation and Global Issues
Mr. Co-facilitator,
Thank you for giving me the floor again to share my comments on substantive points Japan wishes to include in the Declaration, which I refrained from doing yesterday.
My views concur with what have already been said by so many delegates, not only from the developed countries but also from developing countries, including the well-balanced and thought-provoking statement by the distinguished delegate of Viet Nam this morning, so I will try to be brief.
I have three points.
Firstly, on the collective vision of the road to 2030. Japan supports all the elements enlisted under “Today’s challenges” of the elements paper and hopes these key words will be kept in the Declaration, with one exception: “institutional failures”.
Institutions, domestic and international alike, are destined to follow and adapt themselves to the reality. The real issue, is not the “failure” of existing institutions, but rather the slow speed with which these institutions are trying to catch up with the rapidly transforming reality of today’s diversified world.
If our leaders are to raise institutional issues at the UN Summit, they should demonstrate the resolve to transform the UN system, and NOT other multilateral institutions on which the UN has limited mandate. Member States should, through their leaders, capitalize on the unique feature of the UN, a universal institution that deals with peace and security, development and human rights, as well as the nexus between the three, to serve the shared objectives of sustainable development
This is my first point.
Secondly, with regard to “The tomorrow we want”, Japan again supports all the points in the elements paper. In short, the world we want to see tomorrow, is the world which places people at its center. A world which ensures freedom from fear, freedom from want and freedom to live in dignity for all people. The Declaration should be clear on this point.
I have nothing against juxta-positioning the “people” and the “planet”. But the main reason why we have to protect our planet, conserve the ecosystem and fight against climate change is because we care about our future generations.
Likewise, the reason why the OWG decided to include a goal on peaceful societies and targets related to violence, rule of law and justice is because people’s well-being can never be achieved unless they are freed from fear.
Why are we talking about shared prosperity, inequality and disparity within countries? Because at the end of the day, it is the people that matters and not the report card on the national aggregate performances on economic and social development.
I can go on and on explaining why people-centered perspective and approaches are important. Only by placing people at the core of sustainable development, we will be able to tackle the universal and multi-faceted challenges in an integrated manner.
This is my second point.
Third and lastly, on “How”. Japan does not support the wide-spread perception that the term “means of implementation” only means finance and technology. In our view, the most important means of implementation are the good policies and widest possible engagement of stakeholders to form a true global partnership.
Stakeholders are national and local governments, parliaments, private sector, civil society and volunteers, academia, international organizations, etc., etc. I do not see much relevance in the North-South dichotomy debate in the context of global partnership for sustainable development.
Finally, I hope we will be ambitious enough to cast off the old languages of decades ago to make our leaders’ Declaration shine.
Thank you very much.
Second meeting on the “Declaration”
18 February 2015
Statement by Mr. Takeshi Osuga, Ambassador,
Deputy Director-General for International Cooperation and Global Issues
Mr. Co-facilitator,
Thank you for giving me the floor again to share my comments on substantive points Japan wishes to include in the Declaration, which I refrained from doing yesterday.
My views concur with what have already been said by so many delegates, not only from the developed countries but also from developing countries, including the well-balanced and thought-provoking statement by the distinguished delegate of Viet Nam this morning, so I will try to be brief.
I have three points.
Firstly, on the collective vision of the road to 2030. Japan supports all the elements enlisted under “Today’s challenges” of the elements paper and hopes these key words will be kept in the Declaration, with one exception: “institutional failures”.
Institutions, domestic and international alike, are destined to follow and adapt themselves to the reality. The real issue, is not the “failure” of existing institutions, but rather the slow speed with which these institutions are trying to catch up with the rapidly transforming reality of today’s diversified world.
If our leaders are to raise institutional issues at the UN Summit, they should demonstrate the resolve to transform the UN system, and NOT other multilateral institutions on which the UN has limited mandate. Member States should, through their leaders, capitalize on the unique feature of the UN, a universal institution that deals with peace and security, development and human rights, as well as the nexus between the three, to serve the shared objectives of sustainable development
This is my first point.
Secondly, with regard to “The tomorrow we want”, Japan again supports all the points in the elements paper. In short, the world we want to see tomorrow, is the world which places people at its center. A world which ensures freedom from fear, freedom from want and freedom to live in dignity for all people. The Declaration should be clear on this point.
I have nothing against juxta-positioning the “people” and the “planet”. But the main reason why we have to protect our planet, conserve the ecosystem and fight against climate change is because we care about our future generations.
Likewise, the reason why the OWG decided to include a goal on peaceful societies and targets related to violence, rule of law and justice is because people’s well-being can never be achieved unless they are freed from fear.
Why are we talking about shared prosperity, inequality and disparity within countries? Because at the end of the day, it is the people that matters and not the report card on the national aggregate performances on economic and social development.
I can go on and on explaining why people-centered perspective and approaches are important. Only by placing people at the core of sustainable development, we will be able to tackle the universal and multi-faceted challenges in an integrated manner.
This is my second point.
Third and lastly, on “How”. Japan does not support the wide-spread perception that the term “means of implementation” only means finance and technology. In our view, the most important means of implementation are the good policies and widest possible engagement of stakeholders to form a true global partnership.
Stakeholders are national and local governments, parliaments, private sector, civil society and volunteers, academia, international organizations, etc., etc. I do not see much relevance in the North-South dichotomy debate in the context of global partnership for sustainable development.
Finally, I hope we will be ambitious enough to cast off the old languages of decades ago to make our leaders’ Declaration shine.
Thank you very much.
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