As States Prioritize 2030 Agenda Goals, Economic and Social Council Offers Crucial Platform for Fine-Tuning Ways to Deliver Results, Speakers Tell General Assembly
The Economic and Social Council, over the course of 2016, had focused on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’s early implementation while also tackling emerging threats such as the Zika virus, El Niño and widening global inequality, the General Assembly heard today as it took note of the 54-member organ’s latest annual report.
Introducing the 161-page report (document A/71/3), Oh Joon (Republic of Korea), President of the Council for 2016, said the session had provided a common space for Governments and stakeholders to come together to advance sustainable development and other key issues. Among other things, the body had conducted a follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda’s implementation and held the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development under the theme of “Ensuring that no one is left behind”. Twenty-two countries had presented their voluntary national reviews on how they planned to achieve the ambitious vision embodied in the 2030 Agenda.
Meanwhile, he said, the Council’s inaugural Forum on Financing for Development follow-up had provided a solid, dedicated and inclusive platform for substantive deliberations. It had also focused on advancing the Addis Ababa Action Agenda of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development and explored models for the United Nations system to respond more effectively to changes in the development landscape. The dialogue on the longer-term positioning of the United Nations Development System had offered an opportunity for Member States to consider ways to equip the Organization to better support the Agenda’s implementation.
The Council had also enhanced its relevance to global threats, challenges and humanitarian emergencies, he said, recalling a special meeting held on inequality and special briefings on the Zika virus and El Niño. In addition, it had strengthened multi-stakeholder partnerships through its meetings and forums, including the Partnership Forum and Youth Forum, and had heard from diverse voices in civil society, the private sector and academia.
Emphasizing that the Council had a central role in realizing the vision laid out in the 2030 Agenda, he said that, moving forward, there was a need to focus on creating a collaborative platform that would support concrete actions to achieve the “future we want”. A renewed spirit of cooperation would be critical to overcoming the daunting tasks ahead to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. “For the United Nations, development is a realm in which a win-win approach is not only possible, but inevitable,” he stressed, adding that the efforts and commitments of all Member States and relevant stakeholders would be crucial to achieve that goal.
Speaking following the report’s introduction, Mexico’s representative said the 2030 Agenda’s implementation was his Government’s top priority. That process, which he called “transformative change”, placed human beings centre stage, focusing on fostering sustainable and inclusive economic growth, providing peace and security and ensuring access to justice and law for all its citizens.
He went on to say that while Mexico would continue to support the Council’s strengthening as it guided global public policy on sustainable development, in order to remain relevant, the organ must ensure no duplication or overlap with other United Nations bodies. It must also consider the specificities of middle-income countries. For its part, Mexico had been focusing on the sustainable use and protection of biodiversity and disaster risk reduction based on goals outlined in the Paris Agreement on climate change, he said, stressing that “there is never zero risk” when addressing the widespread effects of climate change.
In a similar vein, India’s representative expressed his Government’s full commitment to ensuring a life of dignity for its people and outlined various ways it had integrated sustainable development in its national agenda. Emphasizing the importance of partnerships, he said that India’s success in achieving sustained economic growth would assist it in developing technologies to share with other developing countries. However, developed countries should also do their part to share technology with developing countries.
Among other things, he commended the intergovernmental nature of the Council’s work on disaster risk reduction. India had already taken steps to combat climate change by significantly reducing its gas emissions and combating deforestation on the basis with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, he said, adding that the Government would soon be co-hosting a conference on that issue with the United Nations.
During the morning meeting, Member States also had before them a number of reports by the Secretary-General: one transmitting the report of the Secretary of the Committee for the United Nations Population Award (document A/71/155); one transmitting the report of the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on literacy for life: shaping future agendas (document A/71/177); and one transmitting the draft Charter of the Technology Bank for the Least Developed Countries (document A/71/363).
The Assembly will reconvene on Thursday, 13 October, at 10 a.m. to take up the issue of irregular migrants in the Mediterranean basin.