Lebanon
Statement by
Mr. Hassan Abbas
at the
informal meetings of the plenary on the process of Intergovernmental Negotiations on the Post-2015 Development Agenda
New York, July 22, 2015
Check against Delivery
Distinguished Co-Facilitators,
Lebanon aligns itself with the statement delivered yesterday by South Africa on behalf of the G77 and China, and with the statement that will be delivered this afternoon by Tunisia on behalf of the Arab Group.
Distinguished Co-Facilitators,
At the outset, allow me to commend you once again for the excellent manner with which you have led our negotiation process since January. Your leadership, patience and wisdom have been instrumental in bridging the gap between the views of the different groups, and for eventually producing this Final Draft that is between our hands today.
We believe that the current draft has edged us closer towards a final agreement on the text; however our delegation would like to address a couple of points in the proposed Declaration.
In paragraph 11, we regret to see that the reference to the “growing migration challenge” in the context of spiraling conflict and humanitarian crises has been struck completely out of the text. We reiterate what we have said in the last round of negotiations, in June, that our Delegation is cognizant of the concerns expressed then by some Member States regarding the use of the term “migration” in a negative context exclusively. And we also said that we support using alternative terminology to “migration” in this paragraph that would take into account everyone’s concerns. In this regard, we recognize the positive tone with which the issue of “migration” has been addressed in paragraph 37, but we still believe that the issue of mass movement and displacement of people as a result of conflict should be addressed in this document that aims at leaving no one behind.
Thus, we propose the following alternative language in paragraph 11: “Spiraling conflict, violent extremism, humanitarian crises and the resulting forced displacement challenge threaten to reverse much of the development progress made in recent decades”.
As for paragraph 37, we support the language introduced concerning the human rights and humane treatment of refugees and displaced persons, but we believe that the needs and rights of refugees and displaced persons will be better realized by strengthening the resilience of host communities. In this regard we propose the following addition at the end of paragraph 37: “We will cooperate internationally to ensure safe, orderly and regular migration involving full respect for human rights and the humane treatment of migrants, refugees and displaced persons, and to strengthen the resilience of communities hosting refugees, particularly in developing countries.”
Thank you.
Mr. Hassan Abbas
at the
informal meetings of the plenary on the process of Intergovernmental Negotiations on the Post-2015 Development Agenda
New York, July 22, 2015
Check against Delivery
Distinguished Co-Facilitators,
Lebanon aligns itself with the statement delivered yesterday by South Africa on behalf of the G77 and China, and with the statement that will be delivered this afternoon by Tunisia on behalf of the Arab Group.
Distinguished Co-Facilitators,
At the outset, allow me to commend you once again for the excellent manner with which you have led our negotiation process since January. Your leadership, patience and wisdom have been instrumental in bridging the gap between the views of the different groups, and for eventually producing this Final Draft that is between our hands today.
We believe that the current draft has edged us closer towards a final agreement on the text; however our delegation would like to address a couple of points in the proposed Declaration.
In paragraph 11, we regret to see that the reference to the “growing migration challenge” in the context of spiraling conflict and humanitarian crises has been struck completely out of the text. We reiterate what we have said in the last round of negotiations, in June, that our Delegation is cognizant of the concerns expressed then by some Member States regarding the use of the term “migration” in a negative context exclusively. And we also said that we support using alternative terminology to “migration” in this paragraph that would take into account everyone’s concerns. In this regard, we recognize the positive tone with which the issue of “migration” has been addressed in paragraph 37, but we still believe that the issue of mass movement and displacement of people as a result of conflict should be addressed in this document that aims at leaving no one behind.
Thus, we propose the following alternative language in paragraph 11: “Spiraling conflict, violent extremism, humanitarian crises and the resulting forced displacement challenge threaten to reverse much of the development progress made in recent decades”.
As for paragraph 37, we support the language introduced concerning the human rights and humane treatment of refugees and displaced persons, but we believe that the needs and rights of refugees and displaced persons will be better realized by strengthening the resilience of host communities. In this regard we propose the following addition at the end of paragraph 37: “We will cooperate internationally to ensure safe, orderly and regular migration involving full respect for human rights and the humane treatment of migrants, refugees and displaced persons, and to strengthen the resilience of communities hosting refugees, particularly in developing countries.”
Thank you.
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