Statement by the Kingdom of the Netherlands
Tuesday 23 June 2015
Post-2015 Intergovernmental Negotiation Session on the Outcome Document
Thank you Mr. Co-Facilitator.
I have the honor to make this statement on behalf of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. I would like to align myself with the statement made by the European Union and add a few remarks in my national capacity.
Co-facilitators,
As you know we have compared our common endeavor here to constructing a home for humanity. Thanks to the Zero Draft you have provided, the contours of our post-2015 home are coming more and more into focus.
We commend you in particular for your proposal for the political declaration, as stated by Norway, providing the 'why' of our agenda. The text casts complex issues in understandable language, is accessible and in places inspiring.
A few points:
1. The preamble is a good basis for communicating our common vision. We are not suggesting adding a sixth P, but if there were to be one, Participation would be a good one, as it would reflect the inclusive nature of our journey so far, as well as a critical condition for success on our way forward. We need all to join in a collective effort to achieve the new agenda.
2. You will recall our support for your suggestion to keep the declaration concise. Vision does not require many words. Given the current length of 7 pages, we would submit that for every addition that is proposed, something will have to be taken out of the document, in order to avoid a mushrooming document.
3. You will also recall that we would prefer a declaration that does not read like a table of contents or an annotated agenda. We caution against summarizing substantive sections that are addressed elsewhere in the post-2015 agenda such as goals and targets, the means of implementation and the monitoring and accountability framework.
4. If we were to retain the current structure, we would have a number of substantive concerns to communicate our priorities more strongly:
- The importance of the rule of law, justice and human rights can be reflected stronger. Particularly, we would highlight the importance of universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights.
- We would further like to concretize the notion of Leaving no one Behind, elaborate the importance of gender equality and women's empowerment, and the role of young people, including boys and girls.
- One of the major innovations of this agenda is the universal scope of the SDGs and targets. We need to be clear that we are adopting an agenda that is applicable to all countries and is transformative. For implementation, we stress the critical role of policy coherence for sustainable development, as highlighted by Uganda.
- Finally, the importance of inclusive partnerships and participation, we need all actors on board to implement our ambitious agenda.
In closing, co-facilitators, we would like to thank you for your role as formidable architects of our post-2015 home and trust you will create an attractive structure out of the brick and mortar we bring to you.
I thank you.
