Least Developed Countries

SIXTY NINETH SESSION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
*******
INTERGOVERNMENTAL NEGOTIATIONS
FOR THE ADOTION OF THE POST 2015 AGENDA

(THE DECLARATION)

STATEMENT
BY

H.E.MR. JEAN -FRANCIS R. ZINSOU
AMBASSADOR PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF BENIN
TO THE UNITED NATIONS,
CHAIR OF THE GLOBAL COORDINATION BUREAU OF LDCs





















NEW YORK, 21 JULY 2015


Distinguished Co-Chairs
Excellencies
Ladies and Gentlemen,

I have the honor to deliver this statement on behalf of LDCs. The Group aligns itself with the statement made by the G77 and China. The LDCs, would like to address some specific points about their concerns in the post 2015 process, in addition to the statement made yesterday morning.

We said last time that the declaration should accord a balanced treatment to all three areas of sustainable development. The balanced treatment of the three dimensions of sustainable development should be given the rank of a major principle of the Agenda and should be visible throughout the text. In this sense we suggest to add at the end of paragraph 10 the following sentence.

“We commit to addressing the three dimensions of sustainable development in a balanced manner harnessing their interlinkages and synergies, seeking optimum results for people, economy and the planet.”

As regards the social dimension, we need to focus on the people as actors and beneficiaries of the structural and social transformation we are calling for. Social transformation means bringing the poorest to move from extreme poverty into the middle class, to make of them people enjoying good health, social protection, endowed with education, and skills to battle through life.

In paragraph 19, we would like to propose a reference to the full realization of the human rights of women and girls and to the systematic mainstreaming of gender perspectives in the implementation of the Agenda, including targeted actions and significantly increasing investment to close the resource gap as well as strengthened support for institutions on gender equality and the empowerment of women at global, regional, national and local levels.

Further, we should refer in paragraph 22 to the need to make use of disaggregated data to identify the most vulnerable and those most in need.

In paragraph 25 we should stress that prosperity will be possible if wealth generated by human activity is shared through adequate policies aiming at fair redistribution, beyond access to public services.

The point about the people needs to be strengthened. We would like to make following suggestions.

In the Preamble, under People, in the second sentence, we suggest to replace a “heathy live for all” with the words “physical and mental health and well-being for all”. This puts education and health firmly on the well-being foundation.

In paragraph 24, we suggest to add a sentence to the end to read: “These efforts together achieve our vision of integrating physical health, mental health and well-being.” This paragraph currently expands on NCDs but leaves out mental health and wellbeing. It is important to highlight the strong interlinkage existing between physical and mental health. A visionary, transformative, holistic view requires that health always refer to both physical and mental health.

In paragraph 28, in the last sentence, we suggest to insert the words “structural and psychosocial” before the word “resilience,” to indicate that resilience means resilience of the people. The word “psychosocial” is consistent with the Sendai Framework, paragraph 33 (o) that states: “Enhance recovery schemes to provide psychosocial support and mental health services for all people in need.”

Finally, as regards paragraph 40, we would like to draw your attention once again on the Declaration adopted by the LDCs at the High Level Meeting held in Addis Ababa, on 14 July 2015, on the margin of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development. The Meeting addressed the following theme: “Global Partnerships for a Transformative Agenda for the Least Developed Countries”

The High Level Meeting was co-chaired by the President of Benin, Prime Ministers of Ethiopia and Sweden, Deputy Prime Minister of Belgium, Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey and the USG and High Representative for LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS. As we are discussing the action to be taken to strengthen the global partnership for sustainable development, we call upon the international community to take into account the Declaration of the LDCs as an important toolkit for the implementation of the Post 2015 Agenda in LDCs.

In this regard, we would like to stress the bold vision of the future expressed in the Declaration as follows" :

"We stress that the LDCs continue to confront high levels of poverty and hunger and reaffirm that solidarity and partnership with the poorest, weakest and most vulnerable countries and their people is not only a moral and ethical imperative, but also an economic and political one, which corresponds to long term interests of the international community and serves the cause of peace, security and prosperity for all".

"We underscore that LDCs represent an enormous untapped reservoir of human and natural resource potential, in particular their young populations, to contribute to national development, poverty eradication, job creation and represent the final frontiers of global economic growth and welfare".

I thank you all for your kind attention.