As delivered
Statement of the Kingdom of Thailand
at the Intergovernmental negotiations on the post-2015 development agenda
22-25 June 2015, United Nations, New York
Co-Facilitators,
Since this is the first time I am taking the floor, I would like to commend you for your able leadership in guiding us through this process, which is now at a critical juncture.
Let me at the outset underline that the Kingdom of Thailand welcomes the zero draft and considers it a good basis for discussion. We also believe that, like all good things, there is room for further refinement. We align ourselves with the statement made by the distinguished Permanent Representative of South Africa on behalf of the Group 77 and China, and I wish to add the following points in my national capacity.
First, I must express my delegation’s satisfaction in the draft Declaration, which duly reflects a great number of issues that member States have been actively advocating in the past 2 years. My delegation is particularly pleased that the draft Declaration addresses poverty eradication, vulnerable groups including women, girls, persons with disabilities, and children, disaster risk reduction, rule of law and good governance, universal health coverage, oceans, climate change, and middle income countries. We also welcome paragraph 29, which refers to culture and highlights its contribution as an enabler of sustainable development.
Second, we believe that the draft Declaration should address the role of the United Nations and its development system in supporting member states in the post-2015 era. The draft Declaration emphasizes the role and commitments of governments and the involvement of stakeholders, however, it does not mention the United Nations development system, which remains the largest multilateral partner for development. My delegation believes that on the basis of mutually agreed terms, the UN development system could be a strong partner to member States in achieving their development needs and support them in translating global norms and standards into national policies. UN development system should therefore be encouraged to continue building its core strengths, be they universal presence, legitimacy, coordination with other international agencies, or depth and breadth of expertise.
Third, it is not clear to us what the value-added or purpose of the preamble is - is it a quick snapshot for the public or is it an executive summary for our leaders? Hence we are of the view that the preamble as it is may not be necessary and could undermine the collective efforts of the past 2 years of negotiation and the 4 major components of the post-2015 development agenda because; first, it appears to be repeating paragraphs 4 and 7 of the draft Declaration; second, the listing of some issues in the new Agenda could be misunderstood as repackaging the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); and third, the listing leaves out not only the Means on Implementation (MOI), but also the Follow-up and review which, in our view, are central and integral to the Agenda.
Fourth, we believe that the outcome of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD3) are not mutually exclusive with and should be complementary to the MOI targets of the SDGs. Rather, we see FfD and MOI Goal 17 as mutually reinforcing. The former serves as policy framework, while the latter provides an implementation platform. In this regard, we look forward to a successful outcome of the Financing for Development negotiation to be concluded at the Addis Ababa Conference next month.
Fifth, the section on follow-up and review requires further discussion as is in our view too prescriptive. The “Illustrative Follow-up and review framework” maps out how governments should conduct follow-up and review at national, regional, and global levels, which cause my delegation’s concern about the risk of overburdening governments, especially those with limited resources. Moreover, it is not yet clear to us how flexible the framework at the global level will be to accommodate thematic focus issues in a particular year or period. In this regard, we support more flexibility that will allow the member States to regularly review and plan their follow up and implementation action in the years to come, may be along the line of Fiji and other member States’ initiative to follow up on the implementation of Goal 14 through Triennial Oceans and Seas Summits to be organized after 2015; an initiative that we indeed support.
Finally, we are of the view that targets of the SDGs should not be revised, as they are an outcome of a delicate compromise. By including Annex 1: Proposed Target revisions, the draft will open a new phase of discussion which my delegation thinks is dangerous and should absolutely be avoided at this juncture.
Co-Facilitators,
These are our preliminary views, which we hope will be taken into account when revising the zero draft. In the Kingdom of Thailand, we put people at the centre of our national economic and social development, as guided by His Majesty King Bhumibol’s Sufficiency Economy Philosophy. In this perspective, please rest assured of my delegation’s full support to you in this final phase of the negotiation, in the hope that together we may achieve a new agenda that is truly a plan of action for people, planet, and prosperity.
Thank you.
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