New Zealand

UN General Assembly
Inter-Governmental Negotiations on the Post-2015 Development Agenda
Declaration



New Zealand statement

Delivered by Angela Hassan-Sharp,
Counsellor


18 February 2015




Check against delivery







Co-facilitators,
New Zealand would like to thank you for the Elements Paper you prepared and to note that we are in general agreement with the content of the Paper. We believe the Paper serves as a useful platform for the development of the Declaration. There are only three points that we would like to emphasis in our intervention today.
Firstly, we concur that the Declaration needs to be “concise, visionary, ambitious, actionable, communicable and simple”. To that list, we would also like to add that the Declaration must be enduring, relevant today, in 2015, and still so in 2020, 2025 and 2029. We will not get an opportunity to update the Declaration over the course of the next 15 years, therefore the Declaration our Leaders sign up to in September will be the enduring touchstone for a generation. To that end, we believe the Declaration should not be a viewed as a resolution to be negotiated, should not be constrained by using only or mostly agreed language, and should not settle for the lowest common denominator. We must view it as a captivating message that must endure over time, and that should outline our highest collective ambitions and aspirations.
Secondly, as we develop the Declaration, we should consider the range of existing and relevant documents that we have as supporting resource. For example, the UN Charter; the first six paragraphs of the Millennium Declaration that highlight our collective values and principles; the chapeau of the Report of the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development.
And finally, ending poverty in all its forms everywhere while leaving no-one behind, is the seminal and overarching theme of the post-2015 development agenda and therefore of this Declaration. To that end, we must pay particular attention to people and countries in circumstances that make them vulnerable to being left behind – in particular SIDS, LDCs, LLDCs and fragile and conflict-affected countries, and to the particular needs of the poor, persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples, older persons, women and men, boys and girls.
New Zealand looks forward to engaging actively in the development of the Declaration over the coming months.
Thank you