Liberia
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CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY
STATEMENT
BY
HER EXCELLENCY MRS. ELLEN JOHNSON SIRLEAF
PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF LBIERIA
AT
THE UNITED NATIONS SUMMIT FOR THE ADOPTION
OF THE
POST-2015 DEVELOPMENT AGENDA
FRIDAY, 25 SEPTEMBER 2015
UNITED NATIONS HEADQUARTERS
NEW YORK
2 | P a g e
Mr. President,
Mr. Secretary General
Distinguished Co-chairs (President Museveni and Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen)
Excellencies Heads of State and Government
Delegates Ladies and Gentlemen
Our new global development agenda, “Transforming Our World, "The 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development” is the result of the most consultative process in history. Consultations
and negotiations spanned many years, starting with the 2010 Millennium Development Goals
Summit and proceeding to the 2012 Rio+20 Conference on Sustainable Development, which
crafted a vision of the future we want. Our sustainable development goals and targets were
formulated following protracted negotiations in 2013 and 2014. This year's negotiations
culminated in the consensus document which we adopted this morning.
I commend member states, regional groupings, civil society organizations, private sector actors,
and all stakeholders who worked tirelessly to create this new framework. Given the complex
nature of the intergovernmental negotiations, we offer deserving commendation to outgoing
President of the General Assembly and the Co-Facilitators, the Permanent Representatives of
Kenya and Ireland who skillfully navigated the process.
We pay tribute to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon for his leadership in guiding the process. I was
honored in 2013 to serve, along with Prime Minister David Cameron of the United Kingdom and
President Susilu Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia as one of the three co-chairs of the Secretary-
General's High Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Agenda. We worked with27
panelists from around the world to set the vision and policy framework for a bold, strategic and
universal agenda. The membership of the Panel comprised representatives from every segment
of society, including governments, academia, civil society organizations and the private sector.
Fifteen (15) years ago the MDGs were launched with a vision to build a better world. At the
Millennium Summit in September 2000, we set time-bound targets to address critical challenges
confronting.
The world has made significant progress in achieving many of the MDG targets. Average overall
incomes have increased, extreme poverty has declined, child mortality rates have fallen, life
expectancy has risen and more people in the developing world have access to improved
sanitation services.
3 | P a g e
But progress has been far from uniform across the world-or across the Goals. There remain huge
gaps across and within countries. Poverty remains the greatest challenge especially in rural areas,
though urban poverty is also extensive, growing, and underreported by traditional indicators.
We are grateful that the new development agenda calls our attention to the unfinished business
of the MDGs while broadening the vision to incorporate new challenges. This is why every
segment of the global community contributed to making this agenda a reality.
In Africa, a High-Level Committee was established by the African Union in 2013, which I was
honoured to chair. The Committee launched a consultative process culminating in the adoption of
a Common African Position reflecting the priorities of our continent. I am very pleased to
acknowledge today, that our priorities are substantially integrated into both the 2015 agenda and
the Addis Ababa Action Agenda. Together these documents demand a universal commitment to
the share vision of eradicating poverty and hunger, safeguarding our planet and opening the
doors to prosperity for the benefit of people everywhere. Peaceful Societies and the revitalized
global partnership are essential requirements for the achievement of these aspirations.
Excellencies,
We must pursue single mindedly achievement of the goals enshrine in this agenda. It can be done.
Our world has never been richer, more integrated and better educated than now. Therefore, with
the resources at our disposal, and the creative power of all, especially those left in the margins of
progress - women and youth, we will achieve success. Dignity for all, peaceful societies all around
the globe, providing every human being with the means to live to his or her full potentials are
well within our means. We cannot afford to fail. And we must truly leave no one behind.
The Addis Ababa Action Agenda provides the toolkit for countries, especially poor and postconflict
countries to galvanize the needed resources to implement the new global agenda. It
challenges all of us to take concrete measures that will transform our commitments into practical
solutions that improve the lives of our people. Base on this common framework, with
sustainability at its core, we will move forward in crafting national development policies and
strategies, but with the recognition that while the goals and targets are universal in nature, every
country will have to develop its own priorities towards the achievements of the global ambition
of a new world of peace, prosperity and dignity in a safe planet.
The post-2015 development agenda, giving its scope and level of ambition will require more
effective, strengthened and improved modes of development cooperation to support its
implementation. We call for a renewed and revitalized global partnership amongst nations,
4 | P a g e
underpinned by North-South, South-South and triangular cooperation with specific attention on
fair trade, taxation and technology, while combating illicit financial flows and terrorism. At the
core of our actions, we must confirm commitment to transparency, accountability and mutual
respect. These are the fundamentals of genuine partnership.
Excellencies,
The successful implementation of the 2030 Development Agenda will depend largely on the
concrete measures taken at the sub-national, national, regional and global levels. We must craft
ambitious national responses towards implementation of the Agenda. We must set in motion
national processes that will guide member states’ efforts to integrate and domesticate the new
Agenda into local content that will engender national ownership in the implementation process.
Strong follow-up and review mechanism will enhance an effective implementation process where
citizens have the means to assess their countries progress in implementation. We must also
embark on a data revolution, geared towards developing capacities for development planning,
monitoring and evaluation.
Finally, as we made history today by adopting the 2030 Development Agenda to replace the
Millennium Development Goals. In so doing, we have assumed a challenge and responsibility to
deliver to the future generation, in the next 15 years, a world free of poverty and hunger and a
more secure planet for everyone. This must be our legacy.
I thank you.
CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY
STATEMENT
BY
HER EXCELLENCY MRS. ELLEN JOHNSON SIRLEAF
PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF LBIERIA
AT
THE UNITED NATIONS SUMMIT FOR THE ADOPTION
OF THE
POST-2015 DEVELOPMENT AGENDA
FRIDAY, 25 SEPTEMBER 2015
UNITED NATIONS HEADQUARTERS
NEW YORK
2 | P a g e
Mr. President,
Mr. Secretary General
Distinguished Co-chairs (President Museveni and Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen)
Excellencies Heads of State and Government
Delegates Ladies and Gentlemen
Our new global development agenda, “Transforming Our World, "The 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development” is the result of the most consultative process in history. Consultations
and negotiations spanned many years, starting with the 2010 Millennium Development Goals
Summit and proceeding to the 2012 Rio+20 Conference on Sustainable Development, which
crafted a vision of the future we want. Our sustainable development goals and targets were
formulated following protracted negotiations in 2013 and 2014. This year's negotiations
culminated in the consensus document which we adopted this morning.
I commend member states, regional groupings, civil society organizations, private sector actors,
and all stakeholders who worked tirelessly to create this new framework. Given the complex
nature of the intergovernmental negotiations, we offer deserving commendation to outgoing
President of the General Assembly and the Co-Facilitators, the Permanent Representatives of
Kenya and Ireland who skillfully navigated the process.
We pay tribute to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon for his leadership in guiding the process. I was
honored in 2013 to serve, along with Prime Minister David Cameron of the United Kingdom and
President Susilu Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia as one of the three co-chairs of the Secretary-
General's High Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Agenda. We worked with27
panelists from around the world to set the vision and policy framework for a bold, strategic and
universal agenda. The membership of the Panel comprised representatives from every segment
of society, including governments, academia, civil society organizations and the private sector.
Fifteen (15) years ago the MDGs were launched with a vision to build a better world. At the
Millennium Summit in September 2000, we set time-bound targets to address critical challenges
confronting.
The world has made significant progress in achieving many of the MDG targets. Average overall
incomes have increased, extreme poverty has declined, child mortality rates have fallen, life
expectancy has risen and more people in the developing world have access to improved
sanitation services.
3 | P a g e
But progress has been far from uniform across the world-or across the Goals. There remain huge
gaps across and within countries. Poverty remains the greatest challenge especially in rural areas,
though urban poverty is also extensive, growing, and underreported by traditional indicators.
We are grateful that the new development agenda calls our attention to the unfinished business
of the MDGs while broadening the vision to incorporate new challenges. This is why every
segment of the global community contributed to making this agenda a reality.
In Africa, a High-Level Committee was established by the African Union in 2013, which I was
honoured to chair. The Committee launched a consultative process culminating in the adoption of
a Common African Position reflecting the priorities of our continent. I am very pleased to
acknowledge today, that our priorities are substantially integrated into both the 2015 agenda and
the Addis Ababa Action Agenda. Together these documents demand a universal commitment to
the share vision of eradicating poverty and hunger, safeguarding our planet and opening the
doors to prosperity for the benefit of people everywhere. Peaceful Societies and the revitalized
global partnership are essential requirements for the achievement of these aspirations.
Excellencies,
We must pursue single mindedly achievement of the goals enshrine in this agenda. It can be done.
Our world has never been richer, more integrated and better educated than now. Therefore, with
the resources at our disposal, and the creative power of all, especially those left in the margins of
progress - women and youth, we will achieve success. Dignity for all, peaceful societies all around
the globe, providing every human being with the means to live to his or her full potentials are
well within our means. We cannot afford to fail. And we must truly leave no one behind.
The Addis Ababa Action Agenda provides the toolkit for countries, especially poor and postconflict
countries to galvanize the needed resources to implement the new global agenda. It
challenges all of us to take concrete measures that will transform our commitments into practical
solutions that improve the lives of our people. Base on this common framework, with
sustainability at its core, we will move forward in crafting national development policies and
strategies, but with the recognition that while the goals and targets are universal in nature, every
country will have to develop its own priorities towards the achievements of the global ambition
of a new world of peace, prosperity and dignity in a safe planet.
The post-2015 development agenda, giving its scope and level of ambition will require more
effective, strengthened and improved modes of development cooperation to support its
implementation. We call for a renewed and revitalized global partnership amongst nations,
4 | P a g e
underpinned by North-South, South-South and triangular cooperation with specific attention on
fair trade, taxation and technology, while combating illicit financial flows and terrorism. At the
core of our actions, we must confirm commitment to transparency, accountability and mutual
respect. These are the fundamentals of genuine partnership.
Excellencies,
The successful implementation of the 2030 Development Agenda will depend largely on the
concrete measures taken at the sub-national, national, regional and global levels. We must craft
ambitious national responses towards implementation of the Agenda. We must set in motion
national processes that will guide member states’ efforts to integrate and domesticate the new
Agenda into local content that will engender national ownership in the implementation process.
Strong follow-up and review mechanism will enhance an effective implementation process where
citizens have the means to assess their countries progress in implementation. We must also
embark on a data revolution, geared towards developing capacities for development planning,
monitoring and evaluation.
Finally, as we made history today by adopting the 2030 Development Agenda to replace the
Millennium Development Goals. In so doing, we have assumed a challenge and responsibility to
deliver to the future generation, in the next 15 years, a world free of poverty and hunger and a
more secure planet for everyone. This must be our legacy.
I thank you.
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