Least Developed Countries

SIXTY NINETH SESSION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
*******
INTERGOVERNMENTAL NEGOTIATIONS
FOR THE ADOPTION OF THE POST 2015 AGENDA
(Adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development)



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, 2 August 2015


Distinguished Co-Chairs
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

As the report of the High Level Panel on the Post 2015 Agenda was issued, I sent a letter to the Secretary General of the United Nations voicing the concerns of the LDCs about the fact that the LDCs did not get focus they deserve in the HLP report. Already at this stage we made clear that the Group of LDCs will not accept any kind of attempt that may undermine the focus on LDCs, as the poorest and the most vulnerable countries and those who are furthest behind on the global development ladder.

Since we came back from Rio, in June 2012, the LDCs held three High Level Events with the effective presence of Heads of State and Government of the LDCs and of many of their development partners. The last one took place on the margin in Addis Ababa, on 14 July 2015, on the margin of the Third International Conference on financing for development.

The LDCs also held in the meantime six ministerial meeting both here in New York and abroad, including one in Benin in July 2014, in Kathmandu, in December 2014 and in Milan (Italy),in May 2015. The Declarations adopted by those meetings were forwarded to the Secretary General for publication as UN documents.

And to be more specific the LDCs held in the FFD and Post 2015 process seven retreats to analyze their situation and work out precise demand which have been forwarded to the Co-facilitators. It is a fact that many of our proposals have nurtured the process of the SDGs because they were well thought and well documented. The many references to LDCs in the report of the OWG are testimony for the endeavors of the LDCs to make their voice heard. The special value of the SDGs were for us in that the formulation set the right emphasis and identified clearly the LDCs as focus of the measures identified most specifically in the targets.

The LDCs would like to take this opportunity to thank the Group of Friends of the LDCs who spared no effort to strengthen our voice in the process. We would also express our recognition to the Office of the High Representative for LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS who supported day and nights my team throughout the process. I would also thank the many Members of the Major Stakeholders that provided us with evidence based and very relevant proposals that enriched the demands that we made in the hope to open new horizons for the people in the LDCs and reflect their aspiration for a just and equitable world. We were under the illusion that the Membership shared that vision to certain extent. We would like to express our special appreciation to the United Nations Foundation for its steady support to the LDCs during this process.

We have the full ownership and deep respect for SDGs and their respective targets. The process started since Rio + 20 Conference. It had 13 dedicated sessions spanning over more than one and a half years. The SDGs were mostly based on science, research and analysis, statistics, facts and figures. The entire membership of the UN, whole UN machinery, scientific community, think tanks, academia, private sector, civil society, youth organizations provided their inputs to this process. The 20 page document on SDGs is the culmination of thousands of pages of research works, thousands of hours of brainstorming, and thousands of hours of negotiations. The SDGs formulated in the OWG report were crafted in a most inclusive and participatory manner. Group of LDCs undertook rigorous preparations for the SDGs. Our contributions to the process were substantive, backed by statistics, facts and figures and legislative mandates. We succeeded in a more convincing way to rally the world behind LDCs with special support measures, based on the Istanbul Programme of Action.

We agreed on SDGs and the targets about a year ago. This agreement was reached so painstakingly and with so much passion and compassion. It is a balanced document. We could not support reopening the SDGs for intrusive reshuffle, in an unscientific way and depending on a mere counting of how many references are there for each group of countries. As we stressed again and again, there is no orphan goal, there is no orphan target.

Doing this would imply losing the weight, value and overall balance of the document. Doing so, we will not be able to claim that our document is based on science, backed by statistics and based on earlier agreed legislative mandate. We would have put a big question mark to the legitimacy of the whole process. We commend you, Co – Facilitators for having refrained from engaging us in that direction.

Henceforth, I would like to state here that every change made and presented by the Co-Facilitators were negotiated and agreed by the Parties directly concerned. As regards target 13 b, it remained unchanged because there was no agreement to change it. It is not an omission. And there is nothing to be corrected. The Secretariat is not entitled to perform a change of such a nature. We will not accept any change behind the curtains of this scene.

As we say it in French “trêve de modifications”.

The Agenda as it stands is what is possible to reach at this time, as negotiations are being concluded.

During this process we experienced the true spirit of multilateralism. Multilateralism is playing by the rules of multilateral cooperation respecting the sovereignty of Member States. It is about pooling our minds and means together across block borders to reach the best outcome possible for humanity, taking into account the capabilities of each country.

For this reason, we declare that the Agenda worked out has kept upright the spirit of leaving no one behind, by focusing on those who are furthest behind and represent a credible framework for ending poverty and preserving the planet for the benefit of the Humankind. We recommend it for adoption, as it is without any further modifications.

I thank you all for your kind attention.