STATEMENT BY TURKEY
ON DISCUSSION DOCUMENT FOR DECLARATION
(20 February 2015/New York)
Mr. Co- facilitator,
I want to thank you for the discussion document, which broadly reflects the views expressed during our deliberations last three days. We think it facilitates our work towards a draft Declaration.
We are pleased by the strong emphasis put on “ poverty eradication” and on the concept of “inclusiveness“ at the national and international levels. We believe that the motto “Leave No One Behind” should be one of the main messages of our Declaration, as an overarching concept at all levels. We might even consider using “Leave No One Behind” as a catchy title for our Declaration.
We would like to share some additional observations on the text.
If eventually we all agree to use “six elements”, wholly or in part, as a communication tool, it would be useful to use them in paragraphs where we explain our new vision for 2030 to our people.
We think that the reference made to MICs as “countries facing special challenges” in paragraph 8 may run the risk of diluting our objective to highlight specific challenges that LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS face and the need for special attention to these countries. Therefore we may consider making a reference to MICs in another paragraph.
As we all agree that “political will” and “ national ownership” of the SDGs are critical, we should mention them at the paragraphs on HOW we will achieve our Goals, instead of paragraph 9. Therefore, we should highlight these concepts as essential requirements of successful implementation.
Linked to this, we should have a strong narrative on the Means of Implementation, beyond a mere welcoming of Addis Ababa Conclusions, if we want a persuasive Declaration for the public.
We think that it would be better to add “food security and nutrition” to paragraph 7 as it is indivisable part of ending hunger and eradicating poverty.
Thank you.
