Your Excellency, Ambassador Alexander Marschik, Chair of the Third Committee,
Other members of the Bureau,
Distinguished delegates,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Let me start by congratulating all Bureau members on your election.
My colleagues and I look forward to supporting your work throughout the current session.
Excellencies,
Just last week, world leaders gathered here at UN Headquarters to galvanize and accelerate action on many issues that underpin your work.
As they took stock of SDG Progress, rallied behind reform in development financing, addressed pandemic preparedness and healthcare and sought to raise the level of collective climate ambition, the need to centre on people’s well-being, dignity and collective resilience, remained a core theme.
Across the breadth of their discussions, Member States made clear that the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development remains the best framework for building our way out of current crises towards a greener, more inclusive world.
Yet, as we assessed progress towards the SDGs at the halfway point, it was disappointing to find that the approach to implementation thus far had led to slow and fragile gains.
With only around 15 per cent of the SDG targets on track, we are definitely not faced with a rosy picture.
Nevertheless, it is still possible to build a world that is just, peaceful, inclusive and sustainable. But this requires a fundamental shift.
It is time to act on holistic, cross-sectoral approaches that leverage co-benefits, assess and account for trade-offs and value the greater public good as the greatest profit.
A truly people-centred approach to development can help inform our path. This is why the work of this committee really matters.
Distinguished delegates,
This committee is expected to consider more than 50 draft resolutions in the current session, across its various agenda items, addressing gender equality, youth policies, the rights of persons with disabilities, older persons and Indigenous Peoples, effective humanitarian assistance and approaches, and so many other areas critical to rescuing the future we want.
During the discussions in the coming weeks, you could help connect the dots across the seemingly disparate issues that have dominated the dialogue among world leaders to create a clear picture of the policy choices that should be made.
Your decisions here could help guide policymaking that recognises human rights and social development as both means and ends on our road to a better future.
You could help ensure that clear links are made between greening the economy and securing sustainable social development.
You could highlight how laws that respect the rights of Indigenous Peoples can accelerate our climate ambitions and help preserve biodiversity.
You could also remind that real progress won’t be made if we leave half of the world behind, and that progress and peace are inextricably linked.
In short, your outcomes can guide and inform actions that lead to acknowledgment, acceptance, empowerment, and inclusion of all peoples, everywhere on a pathway to shared prosperity and sustainability.
Excellencies,
As we look ahead towards 2030, this committee must play a pivotal role in keeping us on track.
This committee’s areas of expertise have been identified as cross-cutting issues to be addressed across all focus areas of the upcoming Summit of the Future. The outcomes of this session will help guide the way.
The Secretariat will also be looking to you for guidance on the proposed convening of a World Social Summit in 2025, to secure an action plan for social development fit for the 21st century.
In closing, allow me to reiterate the call made by many over the past week, that we must move towards 2030 and the achievement of the SDGs in a spirit of unity and solidarity.
I look forward to the progress that will be made as we support you in implementing the outcomes of this session.
I thank you for your attention.