Ministerial Meeting of the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development
“Our HLPF in the next 15 years”
New York, 7 July 2015
Trusteeship Council Chamber
Lead Discussant
Ambassador Pio Wennubst, Assistant-Director General,
Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation, Federal Department of Foreign Affairs
Mr. President,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I. The HLPF in the next 15 years will need to communicate the post-2015 agenda in a compelling way and create a space to advance its implementation. An HLPF successfully delivering on its function of reviewing the implementation of the post-2015 agenda will be crucial in this respect.
The next meeting of the HLPF under the auspices of the UN General Assembly in 2019 must be a landmark event, informed by an authoritative and concise state-of the art Global Sustainable Development Report (GSDR), to mobilize action and provide meaningful political guidance.
Therefore, in its first 4-year cycle it will be crucial to shape the work of the HLPF and to guide the follow-up and review framework. We need a roadmap indicating the key milestones for a successful HLPF under the auspices of the UN General Assembly in 2019.
In our view, the milestones to get there are the following:
First, an inclusive and transparent process to prepare the upcoming HLPF meetings, including the meeting in 2016. This will also help to define an appealing agenda which takes into account the inter-related and integrated nature of the post-2015 agenda while leaving space for flexibility and emerging issues.
Second, Country and thematic reviews as well as the Global Sustainable Development Report should be key components of the HLPF meetings leading up to 2019, bearing in mind that all goals should be reviewed within a 4-year cycle.
Third, The HLPF meeting under the auspices in 2016 should:
- Allow for sharing of experiences and lessons learned between member states regarding the elaboration of national strategies and plans, including national commitments, for the implementation of the post-2015 agenda,
- Discuss and consider a proposal of guidelines to help countries to report on their progress by the UNSG, informed by inputs from Member States,
- Include a dialogue on the indicator framework presented by the UN Statistical Commission,
- Allow for a thematic review discussion focusing on a theme based on a group of goals and targets in an integrated manner. This discussion should draw from existing thematic UN platforms. What about starting with a group of goals and targets which can also build on existing data, including from the MDG experience?
II. Another key ingredient for a successful HLPF in the next 15 years is inclusion.
An engagement with non-state actors, including civil society, academia and the private sector is a must. In this respect we want to underline the unique modalities for stakeholder participation in the High-Level Political Forum, set out clearly in the UNGA Resolution 67/290. This provides a real opportunity to modernize the way that the UN should work with non-state actors in its deliberations.
III. Synchronization of processes and cycles is key. Therefore, the UN General Assembly, the ECOSOC, relevant sector- and theme-specific institutional arrangements, platforms and bodies and the HLPF should all be aligned in time, with meetings scheduled in a logical cycle and aligned in substance. This way we build on the synchronization work which was already done in the past.
Actually, we expect the Heads of States in September 2015 to launch the post-2015 agenda, including by providing guidance to the UN. We need to ensure that the UN system will be ready and able to support countries in implementing the universal and integrated post-2015 agenda. In this regard, we consider that it would be appropriate to call for a UN system-wide strategy to be elaborated at the highest managerial level, such as the Chief Executives Board (CEB), to guide coherent and effective implementation of the post-2015 agenda across the UN system. Guiding elements for such as strategy would be taken up by an enhanced QCPR in 2016.
Our message today is simple: the post-2015 agenda offers the opportunity to modernize the way the UN System works together and how it interacts with stakeholders. The High-Political Forum on Sustainable Development acting as the central locus of the follow-up and review architecture for the post-2015 agenda will have a key role to play in this regard.
Let’s make sure we use this opportunity.
Once again, I confirm Switzerland’s commitment to contribute and making progress on these challenging issues.
Thank you.
