Co-Chairs,
Excellencies,
Distinguished Participants,
I thank the President of the General Assembly for convening this first
meeting of the Open Working Group (OWG). We are delighted that the
procedural hurdles that caused delays have been overcome, and look
forward to the OWG beginning its substantive work in earnest.
My delegation congratulates the distinguished Permanent
Representatives of Kenya and Hungary, upon their election as Co-Chairs
to lead the Open Working Group, and pledge our full support. We also
commend them for their tireless efforts earlier as Co-Facilitators.
Uganda associates itself with the statement delivered by the
distinguished Permanent Representatives of Fiji and Chad on behalf of
the G77 and China and the African Group respectively.
Co-Chairs,
At the outset, my delegation would like to stress that the greatest
challenge facing many developing countries, particularly in Africa, is the
eradication of poverty, which is an indispensable requirement for
achieving sustainable development. While we acknowledge that
significant progress has been made towards achieving the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs), many developing countries are off-track to
meeting the goals by the target date of 2015.
Yet even if all the MDGs were met, many challenges would still remain.
For instance, one of the targets for achievement of MDG 1 on eradicating
extreme poverty and hunger is halving the number of people living below
the poverty line, meaning that the other half, over a billion people, would
still live below the poverty line. This is a reality that must underpin the
development of SDGs, which should build on and complement the
MDGs.
We would not like to see a situation where focus is diverted from efforts
to fully achieve the MDGs. We agree that SDGs should be forwardlooking,
but the starting point must be addressing the current pressing
needs that many people in developing countries face. In the Rio+20
Outcome, “The Future We Want,” our leaders committed to mobilizing
means of implementation: financial resources, technology transfer and
capacity building for achieving sustainable development in its economic,
social and environmental dimensions.
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It is essential to ensure that SDGs are accompanied by adequate means
of implementation. To this end, we underscore the urgent need for the
intergovernmental Committee of experts on the financing strategy to start
its work as soon as possible.
In formulating the SDGs, we need to take into account the principle of
common but differentiated responsibilities and recognize different
national circumstances, capacities and levels of development. The SDGs
should be based the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development,
Agenda 21, the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation, among other
major United Nations conferences and summits in the economic, social
and environmental fields. The SDGs should also be linked with, and form
an integral part of the post-2015 UN development agenda.
Co-Chairs,
Regarding the process, we wish to emphasize the need for the Open
Working Group on SDGs to conduct its work in an open, transparent
and inclusive manner. It should take into account all inputs and
contributions from all member states and other stakeholders.
Yesterday’s Panel presentations and discussion put in sharp focus the
enormity of the task before us, as well as the need to get input from
various stakeholders. In so doing, the proposal for SDGs that the Open
Working group will present for consideration and action by the 68th
Session of the General Assembly will be fully owned by the membership.
Thank you for your attention.
